The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-08-03
PEACE TERMS ACCEPTED
(ConcIuded from First Page.)

the conclusion of a treaty of peace, which
shall determine the control. disposition and
government of the Philippines.
IF these terms are accepted by Spain in
their entirety it is stated that commission
ers will be appointed by the United States
to meet commissioners on the part of Spain
for the purpose of concluding a treaty of
peace on the basis above indicated"
The full and accurate newspaper publica-
tons descriptive of the peace conditions
made 1t necessary to maintain secrecy no
longer, and when the Cabinet met to-day
it was the understanding that a short
synoptical statement touching the matter,
though not including the text Of the peace
terms. should be made public This was
done.
1t is understood to be the present inten-
ton of the administration to assume LA
bility for the indebted claims preferred by
American citizens against Spain on account
of injury to personal property in Cuba
Some of this liability may be imposed on
the government of Cuba later on. when that
shall have been established and to include
such cases as can be directly charged
against the insurgents. where they have
destroyed the property of American citi-
zens in the course of their operations. This
assumption by the victorious Nation of liza
bility for private claims is not new in the
arrangement of peace conditions. but on the
contrary is rather in the line of the usual
practice. At the conclusion of the Mexican
war the United States assumed all such
claims in behalf of American citizens and
established a special tribunal for their adj
judication and payment. The same course
was pursued in 1919 in effecting a settlement
of the Florida troubles with Spain, though
the decisions announced by the special
tribunal were a source of litigation and ne
gotiation clear down to the present time.
The amount of these claims against Spain
in behalf of American citizens who suf-
fered in Cuba was SIS COO at the date of
the destruction of the Maine. 1t is esti-
mated that this total has been increased 20
$50, 100000 since that time. and no doubt is
entertained that there are many other
claims of large amounts that have not yet
been presented. OF course it is not pos
sible at this stage to indicate what proper
ton of claims are justly charSeable to the
acts of the Cuban insurgents, and it is
known that in many cases the claimants
themselves were unable to tell the source
of the damage to their property, whether
the Spanish troops or the insurgents.
Inc OdDlHeL SESSION To-Day, winch ndQ
promised to be important in view of the
pending peace propositions, proved to be I'M
eventful. 1t occupied an hour and ten min
utes but most of the time was devoted to
the statement subsequently given to the
press, briefly summarizing the terms of
peace. Aside from the discussion of this
statement, which was carefully drawn and
scrutinized line by line, by the members of
the Cabient, with unusual precaution, for
diplomatic reasons, the meeting was devoted
largely to talking over minor war details.
The informal exchange of views of individ-
ual members during the meeting indicated
a strong belief in peace. though no word of
any kind had yet come from the Spanish
government. One member of the Cabinet,
after the meeting, said he expected the
Spanish reply would be made to this gov
eminent some day this week, but when
peace could be made operative is prob
lematic, and might require two months or
more. The session was marked by an alb
sence of news from the front in any direc-
ton.