The San Francisco call., 1898-08-15

WASHINGTON. Aug. lt.--A hS W ii4'N House. War Department and Navy De- partment day resumed their usual Sunday quiet, a condition Whlch hdS not prevailed since the Maine was blown up in Havana har5or on feo- ruary Is.
 ,.q,ba President believes that the most | serious problem which the peace com mission will be called upon to deal with . is that of the F. -lippi~"e Before the commission assemblies, it is hoped, the | affairs of Cuba and Porto Rico will be found in such process of adjustment as .to.leave little for the commission to consider under that head. The abso- 1 lute relinquish-lent by Spain of all sov- ereignty over the islands in the West Indies will cave only the property questions to be settled-that is, what -SDaiu shall take and what shall remain captures of war. The greater questions growing out of the war as relating to Cuba and Porto Rico will have to be dealt with by the United States alone. The fact that the Philippines will present the difficult problem in the peace negotia- tions has caused the administration to give it a great deal of careful attention. =. Several ugFastions have been made
 
 as to what shall be done. one being the : retention of the bay, city and harbor of Manila, just what the protocol gives temporarily. Another is that Subig Bay and sufficient territory for a naval and eoaling station be secured and the building up of an American city at that place begun. Still another idea which Is beine considered is the reten- ton of the island of Luzon. the ad- vocates of that plan believing that there would be trouble between the governments which occupied a portion of the island with a line of demarca- tion such as would exist in case Manila and the bay only were retained The :4sland of Luzon is the largest of the group and contains about 5000 900 peo- pie. who are said to be the better class in the Philippines.
 :, It is believed that the administra- tion and the commission will be greatly influenced by the reports which Ad- miral Dewey and General Merritt will
 make on the subject. Their reports are expected before the commission meets.
 The final determination as to the gov -ernment of Porto Rico and the settle
 ment of the government of Cuba are problems for settlement, but the inn .pression prevails that these islands will become quite rapidly Americanized and every encourag cement for them to do so will be given. Porto Rico will be under military control for the present. Cuba also will be similarly governed, but it is probable that American reforms in the :, matter of government will be such that the people of Cuba will see the advan- tage of becoming annexed to the United :. States. It is thought that the sanitary improvement of Havana and other
 cities, the management of the munich palities and liberty offered the coun-
 try's people will be of such a character as soon to convince the people that the :. changed conditions are for their good. =. There has been little doubt about soon :. settling the transfer of Porto Rico, which will be treated at once as an American possession.
 No more troops will be sent to Gen. -eral Merritt unless he asks for them It is believed at the War Department that the 160OO men now there are suf- /, .,'.ffcient to garrison Manila and the ground which the United States will oc- ::-cupy for the present.
 . All. of the troops that were with Gen :. eraI Shafter in the Santiago campaign :. will be out of Cuba by Friday Of this
 week. General Shafter will accom- pany them to Montauk Point There = will remain at Santiago five regiments = of immunes to do garrison duty It lS
 vet possible that a battery will be sen1 :. to Santiago to take the place Of the pat :. teries which are to be removed. Gen
 eral Miles has about 15,000 men in Porto Rico. They will be sufficient for the occupation of the island and perhaps ;:more than needed after the SpanlsI :evacuate. The remainder of the troops
 will remain in the various camps t' whic,l they have been assigned for thu -. present, though something may be done . looking toward diminishing the mum Der when It becomes apparent that the! are no longer needed.
 The Government will dispose of th' ~ transports that have been in use as fas :. as; they can be released and are nt .<S longer required for service. All yes sels of the navy that can be spared from service in the West Indies will b. ordered to ports in the States, wher' the men will be given brief holidays =: The big battleships of the fleet will b = put in the drydock as soon as possible = and undergo such repairs as may b. necessary. There is scarcely a vessel O = the navy that does not need repairing =. It is expected that the large dock in tn =. New York yard will be ready to receiv +.- the ships in about two weeks.
 .'< The auxiliary vessels of the nav, = which will not be used for the per nanent navy will be disposed of as sool ..~ as they go out of commission probabl, =. =. being sold at auction.
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