The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-03-12
SPANS REPORT READY.
IT VILE GIVE THE SPANIsB SIDE
OF THE MAINE DISASTER.

or Course Il Will Amrn That the Cause or tho
Accident was wholly Internal - Ir Our
Roard Deesn,t Agree with II = MIXED rri-
sunal viii ne Asked Tor to Decide the
puausr-AsythinG 70 Gniu . Little Time.
HAVANA, March s.-THE Sun correspondent
has reliable information as to the latest reporG
sent to Spain by Gen. Blanco on the Maine af.
fair and concerning what the Spanish Govern
mont is prepared to do as soon as the American
Board Of Inquiry officially reaches q conclusion
~ 10 the cause Of the disaster.
Gen. Blanco has cabled to SaRasta that tho
Board OF Inquiry has collected considerable tes-
timony and expert reports to the effect that the
Maine was blown up by some external agency.
He has advised his Government, furthermore.
that the American officers who arc conducting
the Investigation have made ovSry effort to dis
tort the facts and make them corroborate the
non.accidcnt theory.
The Go~vernor.Genera has the American on
GERS, as we'll az Consul-Genoral Lee and Vice.
Consul Springer. constantly watched by Span.
ish spies who. day by day, are keeping Secretary
Congosto informed OF all their movements.
One Of the causes OF complaint Of the Spanish
authorities ere-and what they call a proof Of
the American boards i'll faith-is the presence
in Havana of Capt. SiRsbee, who, according to
InblT N1tWb, hlly CthObu III DhIiuu nCNu-
papers. ought to oe locked up in q fortress.
which Is tho favorito Spanish procedure. pay.
ing tho penalty for the loss of his battloship.
But all these expressions. which are semi
officially published in order to make believe
that the Government and even tho Spanish peo-
pie are wholly innocent OF the Names wreck.
do not conceal Gen. Blanco's real feeling of APP
prehension over the results of the inquiry. He
realizes the gravity of tho situation. He OK
poets at any moment an international conflict.
and, obeyinR orders from the willy Sehor Sa.
rasta, is ready to put of the American Govern
mcnt, before any demand is made upon Spain,
with n long diplomatic dispute in order to gain
time and delay action indefinitely.
Senior Ruiz del Arbol, an expert officer Of the
Spanish Navy. is inspiring the Spanish Board OF
Inquiry in all its proceedings. As soon as tho
American board has completed Its work. and
probably on tho day 1t leaves Havana for the
last time, the Spanish board. presided over by
Senior Peral, will publish its report saying that
the Maine was blown up by an internal ex-
plosion. THE SUNS correspondent Is positive
that this is the programme, and no is also in.
formed of the main argument OF the Spanish
Board Of Inquiry.
1t will say. first, that tho Maine was split
from the inside to the outside. as the position of
its hull proves. according to them. 1t will assert
that instead OF there being any signs of exter-
nal pressure, the keel was thrown down to tho
bottom Of the harbor and the upper part Of tho
vessel lifted by the internal explosion. 1t has
collected n great number Of cartridges from the
Maine, small pieces of distorted plates and
other objects to compare them. as circumstan.
tial evidence. with others of the same kind COL
lected after the accidental explosion of the
Havana g~unpowder magazines in 1878. What
the board will try to provo with these things is
that even If the plates of the Maine are turned
inside. it is no evidence that the first explosion
came from the outside. According to Capt
Ruiz del Arbol. in all previous instances Of explo-
sions from spontaneous combustion the plates
have been so greatly distorted as to give hardly
any evidence az to where the explosion came
from.
1t is a fact that, notwithstanding the conclu.
sive evidence which. according to the Spanish
court, tho Spanish divers have secured, these
divers have at no time boon down In the Maine
over fifteen minutes. Their work has been
merely formal and their reports have been
drawn by Lieut.. Peral himself.
Whatever demand President Mckinley may
make upon Spain, that country will demand, on
tho ground of tho dissimilar conclusions of tho
two boards, that q mixed commission be ap-
pointed.
Thore is much talk here among the Spaniards
connected with the Government to the effect
that the whole affair of the Maine will be sub
United to arbitration. This idea prevails among
the members of the colonial Cabinet. They arc
all confident that neither on account of the
Maine incident nor on account of the war; In Cuba
will there be any immediate rupture between
tho United States and Spain. In fact, the Span
ish Government expects to gain much time,
which, after all. is tho main object Of Spanish
diplomacy.