The San Francisco call., 1898-08-09

NEW YORK, Aug. S.-The Herald Washington correspondent sends the l following: Spains reply to the peace | propositions of the United States was
 received at the French Embassy this afternoon, and President Mckinley ex- | poets 1t will be presented to him by | Ambassador Cambon to-Erorrow. Pres ident Mckinley and Secretary Day be- lieye this reply is an acceptance of the terms proposed by the American gov ernment as the basis of peace negotia- tions, and the war is accordingly prac- tically at an end.
 | Though believing that peace is as- l sured, the administration is fully pre- pared to carry on the war should l Spain's reply be the rejection of the terms proposed or should 1t insist upon substantial notifications of those terms the President will break off ne- | gotiations, the Eastern squadron will be dispatched to Spanish waters under command of Admiral Sampson, the war will be prosecuted with the greatest vigor in Porto Rico and the Philip pines, and the organization of great army of invasion for the Havana cam
 paign will be pushed forward.
 So thoroughly convinced is the Presi- dent, however, that the Spanish reply
 will be an acceptance of the terms pro-
 posed in all their essential details that | he is giving a great deal of attention
 to the composition of the commission | which will represent the United States | in the final negotiations for peace. The President has already decided that
 there shall be five representatives Of each country on the joint commission | Ia hat n d
 her ablest men to negotiate with the 1 Americans and endeavor to save some
 remnants of the wreck of the Spanish
 colonies and he is anxious to have the | United States represented by the best
 men he can select. The men most
 seriously discussed have practically all
 been mentioned. Two men as to whose
 selection there seems little if any | doubt are Secretary Day and Senator | Allison There will, it is now under l stood, be at least one member of the 1 Supreme Court on the commission and l Justices Harlan and Brown are being considered. Another name that Is be- | ing discussed in administration circles | to-day is that of Senator German of | Maryland.
 i WASHINGTON, Aug. S.-The reply
 of the Spanish Government to the
 peace conditions laid down by the l United States was received by the French Ambassador, M. Cambon, | shortly before o'clock this afternoon | The reply came in sections, the dis l patch first received giving only the | opening passages of the Spanish reply
 A few minutes later came second sec | tion and they kept coming uninterputedly l by a procession of messengers until seven sections of the Spanish reply had | been received at ten minutes to 4, when | the last part was scheduled to arrive. | In the meantime the cipher experts were at work, and by 4:30 o'clock they were abreast of all portions of the re- ply received up to that time, and there was a Hull of some time pending the ar rival of the concluding portions. It was thought a terrific rainstorm which swept over Washington about o'clock might have occasioned delay to the re- mainder.
 Pending the receipt of the complete reply no steps were taken to fix time foI a conference with the Presl- dent, as the time for that depended largely upon some of the features or the reply, and also upon the explicit instructions concerning the delivery of the answer which usually accompanies document of this solemn character. The concluding portion of the Span ish reply was received during the evening, but it was not until late hour that it was deciphered as whole and gone over by the Ambassador. No
 
 the United States Government tonight beyond 0 note to Secretary Day, ad- vising him that the document had been received, but not disclosing its con- tents. It Is probable that the reply will be delivered to the President be- fore the Cabinet meeting tomorrow, although no hour has been fixed. There is complete reticence in all quarters as to the text of the reply, but there is reason to believe 1t Is not an unquali- fled acceptance of the American terms, but is framed on the theory of accept ing the essentials and trusting to hoped for conciliatory spirit on the part of this Government to moderate to some extent features which the Spanish Government seems to regard as unessential
 Pending the official delivery of the answer, speculation was rife as to its contents. There was little or no fur ther doubt that the length of the reply meant that Spain had not given a sim ple and direct affirmative to the Amer ican conditions. It was evident that if the reply was an acceptance it was accompanied by extended discussion and probably by conditions. This caused considerable apprehension in of ficial circles here, for while 1t was felt last week that Spain would surely yield in every particular. 1t began to be felt that possibly there might be another period of discussion and possibly an in- direct attempt to open up diplomatic exchange on the nature of the terms. The prevailing view, however, was that the reply wasson its face an acceptance, although not such a one as precluded all possibility of further discussion All vital points were believed to be con ceded-the abandonment of Cuba, Porto Rico and the Ladrones. and the estab- lishment of a commission to pass upon questions relating to the Philippines
 In the carrying out of this pro- gramme 1t was believed that Spain would seek to secure an understanding on many incidental points involved,