The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-07-25
CONFLICTING PEACE REPORTS
OPTIMISTIC AND PESSI1IISTIC DTS
 PATCHES TO LONDON PAPERS.

The Times' Madrid Correspondent Says
 Peace Prospects Have Greatly Im-
 proved ina the Last Forty-eight Hours
 Says That According to Ministerial
 Admissions Peace is Further or Than
 It Was Last week-McKtnley the Chief
 Obstacle.
 London, July 25.-The Madrid corre- spondent of the Times says: Peace prospects have greatly improved dur ing the last forty-eight hours. The diplomatic exploration of Duke Almo- dovar de Rio, the foreign minister, has been more powerful than was supposed and it is now tolerably certain that the governments efforts are entertaining a new phase which may gradually lead to tangible results. The precise nature of the change is a secret, but there is little doubt that it tends to direct nego- tiations between Spain and the United Staes, there being no inclination to seek
 mediation of any neutral power The moment has arrive when America, hav-
 ing reached the parting of the ways, must choose between war with speci-
 t1c object and an indefinable war of conquest.
 The present pause in hostilities is ha11 tp hot to1 ie. reluctant to plunge into wider sphere of action, and it may be confidently predicted that, if direct negotiations
 are opened without delay, both coun-
 tries with formulate their views on the
 main point. The growing dissentions
 between the Cuban insurgents and the American authorities are noted here with great satisfaction and on all sides l hear it said: If we must lose Cuba, it Is better than the islands should be annexed by America, because the trait
 ors would thereby be punished and the enormous Spanish interests in the is land would be protected"
 The French embassy at Washington seems the most likely channel for open ing negotiations and the semi official statement that American intends to re-
 tain Porto Rico is regarded here as a hint to Spain to hurry up.
 The Madrid correspondent of the
 Daily News says: The efforts of the government toward peace are meeting with almost insuperable difficulties. ] Ministerialists say that the chief ob- stacle is President McKinley's impress sionable character" which is more in- | huenced, they affirm to believe, by his personal friends and the jingoes in con- gress than by diplomatic counsels. The president sometimes appears inclined they say-to negotiate for peace on reasonable terms, but at others he l seems determined upon a war of con- 1 quest, with view of convincing Eu- 1 rope that the United States is a great
 military power which must be reckon r ed with
 | The Gibraltar correspondent of the | Daily News telegraphing Sunday says: 1 According to ministerial admissions peace is further off than it was last week. The great difficulty is the loss
 of the Cuban cable. Senor Gamazo, the 1 minister of public construction and public works, is much disappointed and | threatens to resign.
 | The administrative haste and hustle | in Spain about port defenses are pro 1 digious, but who can think that all this
 means business after what has hap pened. The heavy French guns SUD-
 piled from the Saint Chamond works have been lying for the last six weeks
 in the navy yard. They are being test | ed and will be sent to replace the brass | and other old d-fashioned pieces at Ca
 dig, but the means of loading them are t defective and so too, Is the smokeless | powder However, the military engin- eers expect that all these defects will
 be set right
 The field artillery, which was supplied 1 by France before war was declared
 was originally centralized at Madrid 1 but it is now being shifted to the north
 ern Sierra, where Carlist risings ap-
 pear. The fire brigades at the various
 seaports are constantly drilling to pre-
 pare themselves to deal with burning
 houses during bombardments. The en- gineers have created what appear to
 be strong defenses at Cadiz but the
 strength must depend altogether upon
 the range of the guns.