The age-herald., 1898-11-13
OUTCOME OF CONFERENCE Held by the Members of the
 Cabinet at Washington. DAY AND RIOS CORRESPONDENCE Before inc Signing of the Preliminary
 Peace Protocol in August. 7 CONTENTION OF THE SPANISH According to the Terms, the Disposi- tion of the Philippines Was Not
 to be Decided by the
 Peace Commission.
CONTENTION OF THE SPANISH

Washington, November 12.-The cabinet held special session tonight, at which in- structons understood to be Of posltVe character bearing upon the Philippine ques- tion were drafted for dispatch to the Amer ican commissioners in Paris. Inese instruc- tions were the outcome of conference held earlier in the day, and instruct the American representatives to admit or no further discussion as to the right to coh- sider the disposition of the islands, and state that on the point the instructions already sent must stand, the only matters for discussion from the American point of view being the manner of giving over the islands.
 There were only four members of the cabinet present-Secretaries Hay, Alger and Wilson and Postmaster-General Smith.
 Will be Postponed
 Paris, November 2.-It is now believed that the next meeting of the peace com- missions may be postponed until Tuesday next, though no definite decision has been arrived at on ,Ae subject.
 The Spanish commissioners are still busly engaged in the preparation of the documents which they will submit at the next session of the commissioners, and 1t is understood that their presentation will cover matters which render their careful preparation unusually important.
 Some of the original papers and tram scrips necessary for the next presentation of Spain's case will probably not arrive here until too late on Monday to permit of a meeting that day which, of course, would necessitate the postponement of the next meeting of the commissions until Tuesday.
 The health of Judge Day, president of the American commission, was much im- proved this morning.
 Spain may still insist that she effectively reserved her Philippine sovereignty from discussion or disturbance by the United States in note from Duke Almodovar de Rio, the Spanish minister of foreign af- fairs, to Judge Day, then United States sec retary of state, dated Madrid, August '. It is by this message that Spain presum- ably accepted the terms of peace which at Spain's request had been set forth by President Mckinley through Secretary Day under date of July 30 And it is by U s message of Duke Almodovar de Rio and by the response of Secretary Day that Spain seems to prove to the United States peace commission and to the tribunal of nations that Spain's sovereignty over the Philip pine islands was reserved from any dis cussion here and without protest from the United States. While the vital parts of both these historic papers were treated in these dispatches on the day of the last JOlnt session, tneSe communications are now set forth in full and in chronological sequence.
 Duke de Rios Note
 The following is the August note of Duke Almodovar de Rio:
 "Mr. Secretary of State:-The French am- bassador at Washington, whose general of- fcers have enabled the Spanish government to address message to the president of the United States has forwarded by cable your excellency's reply to this document.
 "In examining the arguments used as a preamble to the specification of the terms upon which peace may be restored between Spain and the United States it behooves the Spanish government to deduce from the order of events that the severance of diplomatic relations with the United States had no other purpose than to decline the acceptance of an ultimatum. which Spain could only consider as an attempt against her r,ghtful sovereignty over Cuba.
 Spain did not declare war; she met 1t because it was the only means of defend ing her rights in the Greater Antilles. Thus did the queen and the United States see fit to transform and enlarge the purely local question of Cuba.
 From this fact your excellency draws the conclusion that the question at stake is no longer only the one which relates to the territory of Cuba. but also that the losses of American lives and fortunes n- cident to the war should in some manner be compensated
 ''As to the first condition relating to the future of Cuba the two governments reached similar conclusions in regard to the natural inability of it's people to estab- fish an independent government; be it by r,ason of inadequate development, as We believed or on account of the present dis tYacted and perturbed condition of the island as your excellency states. the fact remains that Cuba needs guidance The American people are willing to assume the responsibility of giving this guidance by substituting themselves for the Spanish nation, whose right to keep the island Is indisputable. To thls intimation we have nothing to oppose. The necessity of with drawing from the territory of Cuba being imperative, the nation assuming SpaiRs place must as long as this territory shall not have fully reached the conditions re- quired to take rank among other sovereign