The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1898-08-04
THE TERMS oE PEACE.
State Department Makes Public.the An
sWer to Spain.

swer to Spain.
Washington. August 3.-The following
statement was given out at the state
department late yesterday:
I'm order to remove any misappre-
hension in regard to the negotiations
as to peace between the United States
and Spain. 1t is deemed proper to say
that the terms offered by the United
States to Spain in the note handed to
the French ambassador on Saturday
last are in substance as follows:
THE president does not now put for
ward any claim for pecuniary indem
nifty, but requires the REIMBURSEMENT
of all claim of sovereignty over, or til
tie to, the island of Cuba, as well as the
immediate evacuation by Spain OF the
island; the cession to the United States
and immediate evacuation Of Porto Ri
CO and other islands under Spanish
sovereignty in the West Indies; and the
like ceSsion of an island in the La
drones. The United States will hold
and occupy the city, bay and harbor of
Manila, pending the conclusion of a
treaty of peace which shall determine
the control, disposition and govern
ment of the Philippines.
IF these terms are accepted by Spain
in their entirety, 1t Is stated that COM
missioners will be named by the Uni
ted States to meet commissioners on
the part of Spain for the purpose of
concluding a treaty Of peace on the ba-
sis above indicated"
AS will be observed, the statement.
shows that the announcement of the
administration plan in these dispatches
last Wednesday afternoon was authen-
tic. The only point Of divergence is the
inclusion in yesterdays statement of a
proposal to retain possession of one is
land in the Ladrone group.
The Ladrone clause is inserted in the
terms of peace as a sort of make
weight. If Spain consents to all the
rest of the terms and stands out on the
Ladrone question, she can have this
whole group of islands back intact for
the asking.
AS a matter of fact we have no use
whatever for Guam or any other La
drone island in Its neighborhood. II we
should establish a coaling station there
we should probably pay q good round
sum for the expense of stocking it up
and supplying 1t with necessary de-
fences, and then we should find that
it lay too far off the track of any COM
merce now in progress, or any in which
we are likely to engage. This is the
prophecy made by men who have made
study of the Eastern question on it's
commercial as well as it's military side
and from the point of view Of the Uni
ted States some of those who are most
assured that we have no use for the
Ladrones or any part of them are new
ertheless strong advocates OF our pos
sessing and holding the Philippines,
which shows that their view of the La
drone question is not due to any preju-
dice against the imperialistic or colo
NAL idea as a whole.
The supposition has been from the
start that the Spanish government
would stickle ever the terms of peace
when first presented, no matter how
severe or how mild they might be.
Under these circumstances it might be
desirable to give Spanish pride a
bridge on which to cross the abyss Of
total disaster. With the lack of geo
graphical knowledge among the Span
ish people, If the Madrid cabinet should
say, 1--WE have secured an important
modification of the proposals as first
presented, the Americans were glad to
yield what we asked for the sake of
making peace" 1t would help Madrid
out of bad place and 1t would not do
Washington any hurt and the Ladrone
feature OF the peace terms could be
used for the purpose of conceding the
important modification" and afford
ing Madrid cue for harmless but per-
haps necessary dramatics.