Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-09-08

authorized to accept the surrender. which.
in the interest of his subordinates he gen.
erously declined 10 do, and went away,
leaving all the honor TO his next in rank,
General Shafter.
"on the morning succeeding the first in
terview letter was received from General
Tcral. of which the following is a literal
translation:
Santiago de Cuba, July II, 1895.
General-in-C Chief of the American Forces.
"Honored Sir:-His excellency. the gen.
eral-in-chief Of the army Of tbpsisland of
Cuba, telegraphs from Havsnk Yesterday
at . p. m. the following: 4 T
"'"Believing the business OF such i'm
to be known and decided upon by the gov
ernment Of his majesty, give you notice
that / have sent the conditions of your
telegram, asking an immediate answer.
and enabling you also 10 show this to the
general of the American army, TO see if
he will agree to await the answer of the
government, which cannot be as soon as
munication by way of Bermuda is more
slow than by Key West. In the mean
while, your honor and the general of the
American army may agree upon the capit-
ulation on the basis of repatriation, re-
turning TO Spain"
:" I have the honor to transmit this to
you, that, in case you may consider the
sef,
nate persons in representation of himself
who, with those in my name, may agree
to clauses of the capituIation upon the
basis of returning TO Spain. accepted al
ready in the beginning by the general-in-
chief of this army. Awaiting a-repIy, I
am, very respectfully, your servant.
JOSE ToRALE. Etc
'At the meeting On the following day
General ToraI stated that he was pre-
pared 10 surrender with the approval OF
the captain general of Cuba, but it would
require little time to have his accounts
confirmed by the home government; that,
IN the meantime, he was prepared to ap-
point commissioners to arrange the clauses
of capitulation. Not only this, he offered
TO surrender the balance of his command,
which had not been under fire during the
q. campaign The remarkable offer was on
his motion and was in the nature OF sur
prise to the American generals present.
However. at the conference OF the day
previous, General Miles had reminded him
that he had been rendered the most liberal
terms ever offered to an enemy, that his
fleet was destroyed, and that they were
5000 miles from home. ToraTs offer could
be accounted for in one of two ways
either that the troops were wanted at
home to meet a threatened revolution, or
that they wanted 10 get home, and re-
garded this as the only means of doing
so at the expense of the United States.
Whether Blanco and the rest of the Span
fish forces IN Cuba would have surrendered
on the same terms is not now and per-
haps may never be known.
Miles Prowess in Porto Rico.
''The place Of landing the Porto Rican ex-
pedition had been so thoroughly advertised
in communications sent over the French
cable and in the newspapers of our own
country, and telegraphed to Madrid and
from there TO San Juan, that not having
received the necessary appliances with
which TO disembark, General Miles decided,
after leaving the wfndward passage, to
change his course and land. on the south
side of Porto Rico, where the Spaniards
were the least prepared and the least ex-
pecting TO receive him, and where he knew
that the Decentralization cf the troops and
supplies could be most easily effected. From
the time of that Decentralization, during
the following nineteen days of the cam
paign, he kept the Spaniards guessing what
the next move would be. When they with
drew along the line of the great military
road between Ponce and San Juan, they
destroyed the bridges obstructed the roads
and fortified strong positions in the noun
tain passage and then were surprised that
one column of his army was sweeping
around the west end OF the island, cap
turing the principal cities and towns, while
another had passed over the mountains,
over the trail which the Spaniards had
supposed impossible. and. therefore. had
not fortified or, guarded It. and the first
they knew of the march of the American
army was the appearance of a strong bri-
gade within twenty miles of the northern
coast: at the terminus of the railroad con-
Meeting San Juan with ArecIbo
Won by Right of Conquest.
THE island OF Porto Rico was fairly won
by the right OF conquest and has become a
part of the United States. The sentiment
OF the people was in no sense outraged by
invaders. but, on the contrary, was sue
cessfully propitiated. people who have
endured the severity of Spanish rule for
four centuries hail with Joy the protection
Of the great republic. One of the richest
sections Of the country over which our flag