The San Francisco call., 1898-02-11

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10.-Up to the close of office hours the State Depart ment had not heard from MT. Wood
 ford. Under the peculiar circum-
 stances existing the ceremonies at tending the departure of the Spanish Minister are in doubt It is usual when a foreign representative leaves the country for him to be received in for mai audience at the White House, when an exchange of well wishes takes place between him and the President. It is hardly expected that this for mality will be observed in the present case owing to the personal aspects of the incident.
 In cases that approach this in most respects the Minister has usually al- lowed his letters of recall to be pre- scented by his successor. Senor Muru
 aga, who was Senor de Lomes pre- decessor, left Washington suddenly on leave of absence shortly after the ap- pearance in a newspaper of an inter view in which he criticized our Govern ment. He did not return to Washing
 ton, but Senor Dupuy de Lome ap
 peared with the letters of recall of his predecessor and letters accrediting him as his successor, so that there is pre- cedent for the failure on the part of the retiring Minister to take leave of our officials. It is said at the State Department that there is no time limit in which De Lome must leave Wash ington, and being now only a private Spanish citizen, he may take a reason- able time to arrange his affairs here without Oa1liOcr fOr. ori+ioicro1
 The De Lome letter has already at tracted the attention of foreign Gov ernments and appears to be regarded by them as an important factor in the general Cuban question. Some of the foreign Ministers at Washington have advised their Governments fully of the occurrence. These were misleading at the outset. for members of the diplo- matic corps assumed that the letter was a forgery and some advices cca- veyed this view of the case. Now that its genuineness has been established the facts have been sent to most of the foreign capitals.
 No incident in recent days has caused such a sensation in the ranks of the diplomatic corps. There is universal regret among the Ambassadors and Ministers who have been brought into close relations with Senor de LOme. It has also aroused a keen discussion as to the right of criticism which a Min fster can indulge in under the seal of private letter. While there is no gen eral consensus of opinion among diplo- matfc authorities, yet many of them take the view that it is not only a ri hut a Int nf sent every detail of a personal nature which in his judgment may aid in a correct understanding of a case.
 When inquiries were made at the Spanish legation as to how the letter reached the hands of the Cuban junta it was said that the statements made by the junta as to Canalejas receiving the letter were absolutely false. Pri- vate inquiries, it was stated, had been made through a New York gentleman which had disclosed that Canaleias never saw the letter. This inquiry was sent by cablegram direct to Canalejas, l now at Madrid, and he was asked if he had ever received a letter of the char acter described. To this Senor Candle ! jas answered that he never received the | letter, and knew nothing of it's con- tents; that if he had received it, he would have made answer to the let ter. There has never been an acknowl- edgment or an answer from Canalejas After this statement direct from Ca nalejas, the Spanish authorities regard 1t as plain that the letter was stolen in transit, and the reports of Canalejas receiving it and reading it to Dr. Con- gosto are fabricatiCns intended to cover 1 up the plan by which the letter was ab- stracted. The fact that the envelope |