Evening star., 1898-08-09

completely responsive to the American
terms. as Indirect opening Of nego-
tiations on subordinate points. What de-
termination Will be made on this question
could he told only when the administration
had the full text of The reply and was
abie to measure the seriousness of the in
sidental points raised. II they were purely
Incidental and formal. strong hope was
entertained in official quarters that peace
would be realized as result of the pres
ent negotiations, but if Spain sought TO
impose important conditions there was
prospect Of delay, and possibly refusal
TO accept the reply responsive. The lat
ter condition was hardly expected, how
ever. in any quarter
Retention of Arms.
Some of the Madrid advices have suggest
ed that the reply might bring crisis on at
least one point involved, and lead to a
sharp and immediate answer from this gov
ernment. From the best information OBJ
tainabl here. there is nothing to warrant
the view that the reply contains any great
surprise or any far-reaching conditions
outside of those which have been rhe sub
iect of general comment. 1t is probable
that the circumstances under which the
Spanish army will be Withdrawn from Cuba
will be one Of the incidental points raised
by Spain's answer, just as it when
Gen. Toral surrendered his forces at Sanu
ago. The Spanish general, while coneedng
the vital point of surrender. was tenacious
that there should be no undue humiliation
Of his forces and he pleaded for the reten-
tiOn Of arms and ammunition. In. the gen.
eral evacuation of Cuba practically the
same conditions arise on a larger scale.
The American terms demanded simply the
evacuation of Cuba. without specifying.
far be learned. how the Spanish
forces would be treated when they evacu-
ated, whether as prisoners of war, without
arms. or with their arms and ammunition.
II is probable that Spain seeks to be as
sured that her forces will depart with their
equipment. arms and flags. Having yielded
the main point of evacuating it is possible
that the officials here may look upon it as
reasonable that Spain should know what
viii become of her troops and their equip
ments. In this connection it is pointed out
that 4 voluntary retirement from a country
might naturally eutitle the retiring forces
TO more consideration than those who re-
tired after battle. by surrender other
wise.
1t is said that the usual military custom
on voluntary retirement from country is
for the retiring party TO carry its
and flags and specific instances of this are
cited in recent wars.
The Cuban Debt.
1t had been thought that the question of
the Cuban deot might raise serious issue.
While this was possible yet it thought
this morning that this matter had not
Ieached a direct. controversial issue. al
though it involves elements making an is
sue possible at later stage. On this ques-
Jion also there are said to be precedents of
International law by which the debt of an
evacuated country continues as d charge
upon that country. There are specific in
stances also of this rule. Whether. how
ever. it would be accepted as a precedence
by this government is still open TO ques-
tion- The time when hostiIfties will cease.
and the reference of the territorial sur
I,.nder 10 the Spanish cortes for approval,
it was believed. might also be incidental
questions raised.
There was said to be no indication of an
extra cabinet meeting to consider the Span
ish reply. The President and Secretary Day
VIII doubtless go over the reply before call
ing It to the attention of the cabinet. 1t
was said that possibly the reply would be
delivered by the ambassador 10 Secretary
Day, for it is complete in itself and has not
reached the stage of argument
Less Hopefniness Apparent.
The cabinet adjourned at 12:5O o'clock.
members stating that nothing had been
heard from VI. Cambon. They admitted
that the President was expecting a visit
from the French ambassador.
Every cabinet officer asserted that the
tenor of the Spanish reply had not reach
cd the administration. This prevented any
discussion in the cabinet.
The President declared that if the Span
ish reply vss different from what was
hoped for he would call the cabinet ii
special session tomorrow morning
Secretary Day informed his colleagues
that he understood the Spanish reply was
long one Nj. Cambon desired to exer-
else great caution in translatlng the note
as every word was of Importance He has
taken time to go over every syllable.
Cabinet officials say that any attempt to
give the tenor of the note is wholly spec
ulative. as NJ. Cambon has not given any
intinlation Of its centents to any official
of the administration. For some reason
however, there is rot the sanguine feeling
OF the past week that Spain has unre-
servedly acceded to American terms. No
direct expression was made showing this
but the members failed to talk in the hope
tul manner that has been customary.
All kinds of gossip were current in unoffi-
cial circles that Spain had accepted the
terms imposed, but incumbered the accept
ance with number of details which prop
erly belong 10 a peace commission 10 settle
An acceptance. with reservations may be
as bad as a rejection. The President will
not commit the government to a variety of
things and will prefer no answer from
Spain to one which seeks to complicate the
straight propositions which were made and
which We're expected TO be answered in like
manner.
Current Speculation.
1t IS probable that there was a design in
not having the reply presented before the
ca abinet meeting and by some it was re-
Earded as significant Of the truth OF the in
ttuations that the reply contained some
qualifications. With an inconcusiye reply
It would naturally be the desire of the
French ambassador. and possibly of the
President, r+Iat an opportunity should be
afforded the President and SECRETARY of