The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1898-11-10
OUR DEMANDS REJECTED.
Spain FIatIy Refused to Accept Our
Request For the Philippines
MANILA'S SURRENDER INVALID,
Spain Maintained That We Have No Ulti-
mate Right in the Phllippines-The
Dons Demand That the Tariff Dues
Collected at Manila BE Returned-Se-
eotia;ions Not Broken OF.

PARIS, France By Cable).-The Spanish
Commissioners, in the course OF a two
hours session of the Peace Conference on
Friday, fatty refused to accept the propo-
sition made by the Americans on Monday
to take the entire Philippines group and
to reimburse Spain for her "pacinc ex-
penditures" there.
This negative decision was expected.
The Spanish Commissioners had also a
number Of positive declarations which
filed some thirty-seven sheets oftypewrit-
ten presentment. In this statement the
SpaniardS held that the United States had
no ultimate rights in the Philippine Archi-
pelago and could have none, save by the
consent of Spain in these negotiations and
upon terms satisfactory to her.
According to the Spanish contention IN
the formal statement, the United States en-
tertained no thought OF anneXing the Phil
ippines when the protocol was signed, or Il
would have been expressed in the protocol
as clearly as the conditions regarding the
cession of territory in the Antilles and the
Orient. NJ. Cambon, before the signature OF
the protocol, received from Madrid-the
presentment alleged-a cable message
clearly setting forth that the maintenance
of SPANS authority over the Philippines
should not be affected by the protocol, to
which reservation the United States made
at that time no protest or objection.
This dispatch to NJ. Cambon, as the
Spaniards claimed, embodied also the view
that the United States had no valid basis
fer claims in the archipelago.
Ii was further held by Senor Rios and
his colleagues that the capitulation OF
Manila having occurred after the signing
of the protocol, and thus after the sus-
pension OF hostilities, was invalid.
With all this for groundwork, the
Spaniards made their first positive move
against the Americans, and it constituted
their counter proposition, They charged
upon the United States q wrongful appro-
priation of public moneys belonging to
Spain by seizing the tariff duties at Manila,
and they formally demanded the return Of
these moneys in the sum OF nearly q
million dollars.
On the same premises the United States
were declared to have made and held as
prisoners the Spanish troops 1T Manila in
violation of international law, because
done after the suspension OF hostilities un-
der the protocol. A further charge was
that by the imprisonment OF the Spanish
troops at Manila the United States had pre-
vented Spain from quelling the insurrec-
tion, and had thus contributed TO the vio-
lence against Spain after the cessation OF
hoStilities.
The Spanish presentment also cited the
refusal OF the Americans to consider the
Cuban debt on the ground that it was not
mentioned in the protocol, and demanded
an adherence to this az n precedent in the
discussion ofthe Philippines, regarding the
cession OF which the Spanish Commission
crs held the protocol to make no mention.
There was no indication Of rupture be-
tween the American and Spanish Commis-
sionerS.