The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-02-10

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official attention. Little doubt exists In
official quarters that " the genuinenesn
OF the letter Is fully established ,hatiit
WIN result In tho retirement OF Minister
punuy dc Lame. and his replacement
by anothcrs minister. Whether tn Unl-
ted States government would ask for
his recall IL In doubt. bnt the Spanish
minister himself doubtless wonld .aks
this occasion TO relieve hls government
from any possible embarrassment, and
would seek relief from hla post ut
Washington. l
At tho Spanish legation cvery avenue
OF Inquiry ms TO the letter Is closed. The
minister positively declines to be seen
conceraing the subject. Ht will neither
affirm nor deny the accuracy OF the let
ter az u whole or Ip part. Neither hus
he given any statement denying or az
ilrmlns the letter, and II can be stated
that published statements purportIng to
giye denials nre Inaccurate and un-
warranted. 'sl
The Information OF the state depart
mcnt Is necessarily limited on a COM
inun!eation of this character, as It has
not passed through official channels. 1t
In not n communication OF the Spanish
minister 10 his government. Being to
Senor CanalaJes who Is not member
OF the Spanish cabinet, although OF high
standing rs nn adviser OF the govern
ment the letter Is said to be further re-
moved from such official commun!ca-
tions as come to the attention OF the
state department. 1t Ia not expected,
therefore. that the department will be
able to throw any light on the accur.
acF of the letter. for the present at
least. a FN
The circumstances under which let
te: OF this character could escape from
the privacy OF the two persons between
whom It passed excites much comment.
The general belief Is that It was never
delivered to Senior Canalejas, but was
stolen while ell route.
Canalejas was in Washington some
months ago and then went to Cuba for
the purpose Of observing the condition
OF affairs there AS a former minister In
liberal cablnets-having been mInlster
of justice-anl as the editor OF El Her
aldo at Madrid. he was accorded n
warm reception by Minister de LONE,
who gave banquet In his honor, which
was attended by number o, prominent
public men. He then left for Cuba and
his mission necessarily brought him IN
to continued correspondence with Min
lister de Lone. AS the letter bears no
date the time that It was forwarded
can only be fixed by the context. That
1t was after the Presidents. message Is
evident The mention OF the approach
Ing autonomous cabinet, establishes
that 1t was before the Inauguration OF
the cabinet, January l. This places the
letter. according to the prevailing i'm
preston. as having been written aoou,
the middle OF December.
A. that time Senor Canalajes Is un-
derstood to have been at Havana, prose-
cutting his mission. The handling OF the
mail Is done by the Spanish authorities
SO In this case II Is believed the loss OF
a letter of this character could occur
only in one Of two ways. Either through
t-eache-y Of an official In the postal
service. or by being taken after is had
reached the hotel where Senior Canale-
Jas was stopping.
The effect OF the letter or the future
of Minister de LONE arouses Interest.
His service as minister has now extend
ed beyond three years, and he has
been in charge throughout the most
serious phases OF the Cuban complica.
tior. When the conservative ministry
fell last autumn it was generally sup
posed that Premier S2gasta would send
a liberal minister to succeed Senior de
LONE. who is Z prominent Conserva-
tive, and former conservative deputy.
He was continued at his post, however,
,y1, I u a.
that he had placed his resignation at
ment.
III the absence OF any official infor-
nation OF the writing OF such a letter,
it would be maalfestly unfair to the
Spanish minister ana unjust to make
any statement at this time as to the in
teHtioas OF the state department." said
Asslstan; Secretary Day, in answer to
"a question as 70 what producers would
be followed in treating the letter writ
ten by Senior DupuT dc LONE TO Senior
Canalejas. 1t was said that up to noon
the department was absolutely ignor-
ant officially that such a letter had been
written. or course the publication in
I.iC idu Uttll seen
and they had created sensation In
official circles.
As no denial of the authenticity OF the
publication has yet reached the state
department, Il Is believed that after
reasonable delay the matter will be
brought TO the attention OF the Spanish
government 20 Minister Woodford. pre-
sum!ng that no action has been taken
by the Spanish minister hImzclf before
that time and change In the represen-
taticn OF Spain ut Washington may be
expected In due order. The letter being
genuine there Is no excuse that will be
acceptable to our government. The rule
as laid down In the SackvIlle case Is
generally regarded as the standard pre-
cedent for our guidance In such mat
ters. though there are not lacking 9TH
er 7recedentsI TO plead that the letter
was purely personal: that It was no,
even addressed to an official or to 4 Cit
izen OF the United States will not suf-
flee. Lord Sackrllle set up such an
excuse, but President Cleveland declar-
cd that It was insufficient and the min
lister was compelled to leave Washing
ton.
Tho De LONE letter incident was al
most the sole topic OF conversation
~ thu rnap, hnru 81 tha t,o,,na