Barbour County index., 1898-11-09
CHANGE OF ATTITUDE
Spanish Newspapers Demand the
Signing OF the Treaty.
SPAIN WILL YIELD PHILIPPINES.
It h Possible. However. That One or
More Of the Spanish Commission.
ers May Delay Matters
by Resigning.

Paris, October 31.-Ssnor Montero
Rios, president of the Spanish peace
commission, is i'll. This causes some
doubt as to whether there will be
joint session of the commissions to-
day. If he is unable TO attend, it is
unlikely that the Spaniards would
consent to enter the conference TO
take up the Philippine question for
initial consideration.
The strong impression, which has
been growing here recently, that the
Spanish, upon receiving definite as
surances of the American determine
ton to take the entire Philippine
group, would quit the conference and
all negotiations, is modified by the
attitude of the Spanish newspapers
arriving here to-day. These are found
to have wheeled into line with the
Epoca of October 81, which demanded
that the Spanish commissioners
should sign a treaty in Paris, no mat
ter how onerous the conditions inn
posed by the Americans.
Nevertheless, despite this attitude
of the Madrid press and despite the
denial given on Friday last to the
correspondent of the Associated Press
by a Spanish commissioner, who de-
MED that the Spaniards had any in
tention of withdrawing, the Amer
leans here will not be surprised is
one or more of the Spanish commits
sioners resign and practically close
the negotiations.
This feeling is based upon the fact
that Senor Rios early last week would
have resigned if his so doing would
have imperiled the Sagasta ministry;
and the reasoning is that, if, while
pressing the Cuban debt, which is not
mentioned in the protocol, and which
the Spanish commissioners insist
should not be left to Spain alone.
Senior Rios were inclined to resign, he
might, in the open field of contention
as to the Philippines, feel that resig-
nation would help Senor Sagasta, on
the ground that the demand of the
United States for the entire Philippine
group would be extortionate. It il
believed here, on the eve of taking up
the main question, that the Spanish
commissioners are not likely to ae-
quiesce here in any treaty that the
Americans would sign.
In the Philippines discussion, two
wearisome questions are likely to be
raised early by the Spanish. The first
is on the protocol phrase control.
disposition and government" OF the
archipelago, the Spaniards doubtless
holding that the word disposition"
does not involve possession, though
they know that possession" was
originally written in the protocol and
changed to disposition" ON NJ. Cam
bon's insistence in behalf of Spanish
sensibilities.
Collateral to this is a second con-
tentiou, possibly to be merged with
the first, that, when the protocol was
signed, there was an exterior moral
agreement between NJ. Cambon and
Judge Day that neither the protocol
nor it's terms should, in the treaty
negotiations. involve Spanish sover-
eighty in the Philippine archipelago.
On this point Judge Day, through
the Associated Press, has already
pointedly denied the existence of an
actual, constructive or implied UNDER
standing outside of the protocol,
either verbally or in correspondence,
and this denial is supported by the
French yellow book.
M. Cambon, however, has given the
matter some significance by omitting
to deny the report, although the
alleged existence of a secret under
standing, exterior to the protocol,
was first printed in the Paris papers
and reiterated directly and by infer
ence.