Arizona republican., 1898-08-15
European Curiosity Regarding the Course
 Of This Country.
England Hopes That an "Open Door ; Will Be Kept In the Antilles, and That American Sovereignty Will
 Prevail in the Philippines.

London, Aug. 14.-Cuba and Porto Rico have counted for little in Euro pean comment and suggestion as to the terms of peace between the United States and Spain. On all sides it is agreed that even Spanish opinion was prepared for the cession of Cuba, and that the government at Madrid would be likely to be content with stipula- tions for the greater security of Span ish subjects in the island and for the observance of every punctillio in ac tual evacuation. A large part of the Cuban debt is held in Spain, and in some quarters the notion was fostered that such obligations shifted with the island itself, and that the United States would by the fact of control become responsible for them. Doubtless, too, many of the small French holders of Spanish securities were like minded. All this, however, 1 is a natural and soothing wish that is not taken seriously either in Lon don or on the continent, and that at most will afford material only for little of the diplomatic fencing by which Spanish pride is to be mollifieG
 The cession of Porto Rico is re- garded as a hard, but not unjust de- mand on the part of the United States. l Spanish opinion was by no means prepared for =. as it was prepared for the surrender of Cuba A con- siderable body of Spanish opinion, like that of the commercial and in dustrial classes, was prepared for peace upon any reasonable terms, and it will not resist the abandonment of the island. A much larged body is apa- thetic, will grumble little at the cafe, and then go it's way to the. bull fight. Tie outcry will come from few irreconcilables. whose strength the Sagasta cabinet has already weighed and whom it does not fear from newspapers that are the mouth pieces Of politicians, who are ma neuvering for position after peace has heen concluded, from the extreme parties like the Carlists and the re- publicans, who would welcome a tur- bulence that they dare not set afoot and from the little company that sti1l nurse the delusion that continental Europe may intervene to save Spain from too onerous sacrifices. None of these groups, say the men on the ground in Madrid, are able to do more than embarrass the government, and never was there more unwarranted imagining than that of European in reference as to Porto Rico. Outside Spain, European opinion holds the the island to be a fit indemnity to the Tinted States for the burden of the war, and valuable strategical pos session.
 Assuming that Cuba and Porto Rico will continue under the control of the United States, English merchants and pubiicists are already beginning to speculate and inquire about matter that so far as we know, has been little discussed in America. The tele- grams told of the active renewal of trade at Santiago as soon as the Amer .can troops were in possession of the town and the equitable conditions imposed by the American government for the conduct of it. British trade with Cuba and Porto Rico has beer considerable, and the merchants and shippers engaged in it are eager to restore and increase it. They are doubtful, however, as to the future, uncertain whether America, accus- toned to high protection, will throw q wall of duties about the two islands tn the advantage of American <Eods or, with her new liking for "the open door, leave them relatively free to the trade of all the world. The course that the administration followed at I Santago IS accounted token of the latter policy, and there is some i'm pression here that the war has les sened American faith in high tariffs and in the expediency of preferential duties. Be that as it may, every sign that the United States purposes 10 keep a relatively "open door, in the Antilles, as England is trying to keep one in China, will be welcome on this side of the sea. To do so seems to many Englishmen to be the common interest of both countries and a nat ural consequence of the present rap proachement.
 Where there is a word of comment as to the disposition of Cuba and of Porto Rico there are hundred as to the fate of the Philippines; but thus far their tenure is very diverse and uncertain. To write summarily, there is general agreement in London and in the continental capitals that the United States is justly entitled to a naval station there. The Spanish negotiators will 6aggle over it; but in the end they will concede it. For the rest, there is no doubting that the government and public opinions in Madrid expect to re-establish Spanish