The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1898-08-09

Washington, Aug 9-The reply OF
the Spanish government to the peace
conditions laid down by the United
States was received by the French
ambassador, NJ. Cambon, yesterday af-
ternoon. The reply came in sections
the dispatch first received giving only
the opening passages of the Spanish
reply A few minutes later another
dispatch brought a second section, and
these kept coming uninterruptedly by
a procession of messengers until seven
sections Of the Spanish reply had been
received at 4 o'clock, when the last
part was still to arrive In the mean
time the cipher experts were at work
and by 4:30 o'clock they were abreast
of all that portion of the reply received
up to that time, and there was a lull
of some time, pending the arrival of the
concluding portions.
Pending the receipt of the complete
reply no steps were taken to fix a time
for conference with the president, as
the time for that depends largely upon
some of the features of the reply, and
also upon the explicit instructions con-
cerning the delivery of the answer
which usually accompanies a docu-
ment Of this solemn character. Neither
at the White House nor at the state de-
partment was there any official know
ledge that the reply had reached Wash
ington, and the usual office hours closed
with no appointment made for a con-
ference.
Pending the official delivery of the
answer speculation was rife as 70 its
contents. There was little or no further
doubt that the length of the reply
meant that Spain had not given a
simple and direct affirmative to the
American conditions. 1t was evident
that II the reply was an acceptance It
was accompanied by extended discus
sion and probably by conditions. This
caused considerable apprehension in Of
hcial circles here, for while IL was felt
last week that Spain would surely
yield in every particular, It began to
be felt that possibly there might be
another period of discussion and DOS
sibly an indirect attempt to open up a
diplomatic exchange on the nature of
the terms.
All vital points were believed TO be
conceded-the abandonment of Cuba.
Porto Rico and the Ladrones and the
establishment Of a commission to pass
upon questions relating to the Philip-
pines. In the carrying out of this pro-
gram 1t was believed thatSpaln would
seek to secure an understanding on
many incidental points involved, some
of them Of considerable Importance.
Late In the afternoon the president
received an indirect intimation that the
Spanish reply had come to the French
embassy. A cabinet officer who was
with him at this time said on leaving:
THE information that has come from
Madrid about the action Of the Spanish
cabinet indicates the Spanish have ac-
cepted our terms in a general way, but
leaves several questions open that we
did not include In the terms submitted
The communication Offering those
terms was explicit specifically stating
such points as would be left open to
forther negotiation. We will stand on
those terms"
The administration has not yet given
serious consideration to the personnel
of the peace commission, but 1t can be
stated no one not in accord with the
presidents present views as to the dis
position Of the Philippines will he ap-
pointed, and Mr.. Mckinley favors
keeping ct least Manila harbor and
bay and sufficient territory around 1t
for its support and protection, If not
the whole of Luzon Island. As to mem
bers of the cabinet as members of the
commission, there are urecedents for
their appointment, notably the treaty
of Ghent
The concluding portion of the Span
ish reply was received during the
evening, but II was not until late
hour that 1t was deciphered as a whole
and gone over by the ambassador. No
effort was made to communicate II to
the United States government last
night beyond a note to Secretary Day
advising him that the document had
been received, but not disclosing it's
contents, 1t is probable that the reply
will be delivered to the president be-
fore the cabinet meeting today, al
though no hour has been fixed.
There Is complete reticence in all
quarters as TO the text of the reply,
but there is reason TO believe 1t is not
an unqualified acceptance of the Amer.
lean terms, but is framed on the theory
OF accepting the essentials and trusting
to a hoped for conclliatory spirit on the
part of this government to moderate |
to some extent features which the |
Spanish go ernment seems to regard as
uuassantia1