The San Francisco call., 1898-04-20
BERNABE IS
 READY TO 60 Virtually, the Spanish Le- cation at Washington Is Already Closed. There Will Be No Attempt of the Powers to Inter-
 fere.
It Is Conceded on All Hands Now That War Cannot Be
 Averted.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

parture and is calmly awaiting mo- 1 tification that the President has affixed 1 his signature to the Cuban resolu-
 tions, at which time the Minister will
 take his leave. He had expected this
 would come to-day and every arrange ment had been made with that In view. | Now that the signing is deferred until l tomorrow, it Is probable that the
 Minister and his staff will depart be- | fore another twenty-four hours pass l by. Before leaving he will transfer the legation archives and effects to the French embassy.
 Whether the State Department will
 send Senor Polo his passports or he i will ask for them is felt to be an im- material detail. He intends to go with out reference to these formalities, and there is every reason to believe that the State Department will afford him the protection of passports and any other attentions usual in the enforced departure of a Minister on the breaking out of a war. The entire staff of the legation will accompany the Minister. | Their exact movements after leaving Washington are not known, except that they will return to Spain at the earliest possible moment. It would not be surprising if the Minister and his staff went by way of Canada, instead of New York, taking one of the At lantic liners from Halifax.
 The Spanish legation has been the center of great activity throughout the day. The Minister was up practically l all of last night, retiring shortly after daylight this morning, after having in- formed his Government of the final passage of the Cuban resolution, He O ofy, o+ h iC htrQ
 municating with his Government and awaiting the next and final move in making the resolutions effective AL though of sturdy physique, the Minister showed signs of the great strain and the responsibility put upon him during the last few days. He saw a number of friends, mainly of the diplomatic corps, and to them expressed the view that all hope of a peaceful settlement appeared to be at an end, and that Spain now left with the United States the responsibility for war. Being con- vinced that all hope of peace was over, the Ministers personal desires were that the remaining formalities might be dispatched as speedily as possible. He was rather surprised late in the day when told that the Presidents signing of the resolutions would be deferred un- til tomorrow.
 Early this morning the large metal l Spanish Legation was wrenched from its place on the gate and carried off by vandals. The Minister made no complaint to the State Department or to the police, as he has sought to minimize the petty dep relations against the legation, although this was the most fragrant one com mitted.
 The various foreign embassies and legations were intensely active to-day | in the expectation that hostilities were near at hand. The several foreign of- fees were fully advised of the passage of the resolutions and were kept posted
 as to the prospects of the Presidents signature.
 Some of the Ambassadors and Min | isters called at the State Department
 to learn whether the President would
 sign the resolutions. They were in-
 formed by Judge Day that the Presi-
 dent intended to sign them. This, in | turn, was communicated to the foreign
 offices and was regarded as placing
 the matter beyond any question of doubt. The representatives of the pow
 CTS of Europe held no meeting during the day, nor is any meeting at present in prospect Those who have been most hopeful of the bringing about of Euro pean coalition now concede that such a move is impossible. There seems to be l | ernments to observe strict neutrality. Already, 1t is said, Great Britain has taken steps, not only to maintain d passive neutrality, but to enforce it with arms if necessary. Two regiments of British soldiers are now in the Brit ish West Indies, and these are about to be augmented by another regiment en route from Halifax. They are concen- trated in the belief that the West h. dies will be a center of conflict and that the stress of war may lead one or the other belligerentS to occupy neutral | British territory.
 If that occurs British force will see that the territory is vacated and that British soil is not used as a base of ope- rationS for hostilities for either party to the conflict. So far as Is known, the French Government will observe the same neutrality. Its West Indian pos- sessions are considerable and 1t has several ships in those waters. Germany and the other powers are expected to take the same attitude.
 | In connection with the cable report that the Dreibund has sought to effect plebiscite in Cuba, 1t was stated at one of the embassies that this branch of the negotiations occurred last week and embraced some circumstances not made known In the cable dispatches. About | the middle of last week one of the en- bassies here was informed from its Foreign Office that it's ambassador at Madrid advised them that Minister Woodford had suggested in tentative way plebiscite as a possible solution to the Cuban problem. This embassa- dor also advised his Foreign Office that the suggestion did not meet with favo- and had not been followed up. Since then there has been no talk of pe- biscite, so far as is known here.
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