The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-08-16


eral August on Thursday to offer no
further resistance and to capitulate if
compelled to do so. This, however, has
not been verified and as a proceeding
utterly foreign to meagre exhibitions
of forethought heretofore manifested
| by the Spanish government, it receives
no credence from the anxious authorl-
ties in Washington.
SENDING THE NEWS.
When the protocol was signed, fol-
| lowed Immediately by the sending of
cable dispatches to Admiral Dewey and
General Merritt, it was broad daylight
Saturday morning at Manila. 1t takes
| fully a minute at the most generous
calculations to send a single word to
Hongkong by cable. Acting Secretary
! Allen and Adjutant General Corbin
each sent several hundred words of in
structions to the respective command
ers under them. including copies of the
presidents proclamation, and it is,
! therefore, unlikely that the vessel was
able to start before Saturday afternoon.
! Manila is 62S miles from Hongkong,
and at Is knots the distance might be
made in Sc hours, which would enable
I the dispatches to reach the American
forces Monday morning, or, according
to Washington time, Sunday night. I'm
less General Merritt had taken Manila
! by that time the instructions sent him
prevent any further military operations
and the truce will have to be agreed to
similar in all respects to that imposed
upon General Miles in Porto Rico
MANILA SITUATION.
The official messages relate solely to
hostilities and have no bearing upon
the third article Of the protocol, which
provides that the United States will
hold the city, bay and harbor Of Ma
Mia until the meeting of commissioners.
This is an exceedingly peculiar feature
of the situation, but it gives the au-
thorities less concern than the fear of
further fighting. That article was
worded in accordance with the presi-
dents original proposition two weeks
ago, which had been made when there
was momentary expectation that the
starved city would surrender at once,
and it was evident that the United
States forces would remain in power in
the Philippines. 1t was, therefore. con-
sidered unnecessary to stipulate in the
protocol that q commission should be
appointed within ten days and ar
range the details of evacuation, as was
the case of Cuba and Porto Rico.
If the position of beSieged and be-
siegers at Manila has not materially
changed in the last two weeks. when
the leaders of the opposing forces re
ceived their orders establishing an arm
istice, such a military commission
would be essential unless the Spanish
general throws himself upon General
Merritt's protection and conpels the
Americans Immediately to assume re-
sponsibility for the protection of pri-
vate property and the inhabitants as
well as the Spanish garrison from the
insurgents under Aguinaldo.
Secretary Alger is confident that the
Spanish general will welcome the news
and cheerfully obey the instructions
cabled to him from Madrid to lay down
his arms, and no serious complication
is expected to arise with the insur-
gents at present at least, regarding
the change of government The chief
alarm relates to the sacrifice of life
which may have taken places since
Aug. 4, and to the possibility that
Aguinaldo and his soldiers may have
entered the city from a point on the
north while the Spaniards were en-
gagged with the Americans on the
south In that case it is feared whole
sale nlassaeres may have taken place,
and much valuable property ruthless
ly destroyed.