Evening star., 1898-08-08

At 2:4o o'clock a dispatch was re-
ceived at the French embassy,
The dispatch, it is learned, was
the Spanish answer to America S
terms of peace. 1t was in cipher
and is quite long The embassy
staff began its translation at once,
but it will take some time to COM
plete the work
1t is not anticipated by the State De-
partment that the reply of Spain will be
communicated to the President before I
or o'clock this afternoon. and it is re-
garded as not improbable that the commu-
n;caton will be delayed until tomorrow
The tenor Of the dispatches from Madrid
this morning. instead of being reassuring
Is regarded as indicating that the accept
ance announced by Spain is not satisfac-
tory in form. No official or semi-offlcial
Information on the subject has been re-
ceiVed, and judgment, therefore, Is based
entirely on the announcement in the press
dispatches. These dispatches. while stat
Ing that the terms submitted by the United
States have been accepted, add that the
tiers of interest to Spain are by the reply
referred to the peace commissioners to be
appointed How accurate this description
Of the terms of Spain's reply may be the
department has no means of determining
II Spain mel ely expresses the wish, after
fully accepting the terms submitted by
this government, that the question of the
Cuban debt, etc, shall be considered by
the commission. this expression of a wish
may not be regarded as in any way i'm
pairing the fIll acceptance of the very
plain terms laid down by the President
II, however, any propositions of the kind
Indicated are presented as a qualification
OF the acceptance of the terms, the reply
of Spain will be regarded by this country
as utterly unsatisfactory.
No Modification VIII BE Allowed.
The terms submitted by the President
were very carefully considered before being
decided upon and were again carefully re-
viewed and analyzed in a conference be-
tween the President and the French am
bassadcr. There was nothing either in
cluded excluded by inadvertence and
the French ambassador as the representa-
tive Of Spain was given to understand un-
mistakably that no modification OF qualif1ca-
ton would be considered after the form was
NSbAAlcAy OSCAutu upon, ana spain hdQ
either to accept or reject the terms as they
stood 1t is the purpose of this govern
nent not only to decline responsibility for
the sO-ealled Cuban debt. but to absolutely
exclude that debt from consideration with
the possibility of any responsibility for it
being assumed hereafter. The position as
sumei by the State Department is that
this is debt of Spain which has no place
for consideration in peace negotiations be-
tween the two governments
The fact that such a burden of debt rests
upon Spain may have inspired the mag
nanimous and generous determination of
this government not 10 exact d money in
dennity from Spain, but this is a matter of
generosity and not OF bargain. There is
entirely satisfactory authority for the
statement. In view of the Madrid press dis
patches. that If the reply of Spain is an ac-
ceptance with such qualifications as indi-
Gated it will not be satisfactory, and that
an unqualified response will have to be
made by Spain within probably forty-eight
hours or the terms offered will be with
drawn, and no such favorable terms will
again be yielded. The question Of the time
TO be allowed for the withdrawal of troops
the method of their withdrawal the dis
position Of war material, as well as the fu-
ture OF the Philippines, may properly go
before the peace commission and would be
considered by them without regard to any
expressed wish on the part of Spain at this
time. But the preliminary ter-,; as a basis
OF negotiations were stated in concise and
unequivocal form, and the priv ege is not
accorded Spain TO change or qualify them
in any respect or to accept ths N with any
reservation.
1t may be that the description given in
Na 9 tE,-
o. if accurate. ii is possible that the French
ambassador will be empowered to withdraw
the qualifications if found to be unaccept-
able TO this government There is a ques-
tion as 10 what the powers of the French
ambassador are in this matter, and It NAV
be that he Will have the authority. even If
the quaIincations are suggested to accent
the terms exactly submitted In this
event hostiiities will be Immediately sus-
pended.
War to he Prosecuted
On the other hand, If Spain offers but a
conditional acceptance, 1t is not the fnten-
ton OF this government to permit any fur
ther palaver, but will be compelled 10 an
swer definitely, yes or no, or the offer q,
terms WIFI be withdrawn, and the war will
be pressed with vigor and without further
consideration of generosity toward a helm
less Zoe II Is regarded as entirely prob-
able that in the event OF any ATTEMPT on
the part Of Spain at tricks of diplomacy
she will lose all prospect of recovering tba
philippines and have fixed upon her a
money indemnity which will cost her the
revenues Of the Canaries and put upon her
crushing burden of debt. which would he
fatal to the present dynasty.
The eastern squadron is ready TO sail for
Spanish waters at most any hour, and the
period of comparative inaction since peace
negotiations Were proposed has not been
wasted by either the army or navy There
has been no relaxation. and this govern
ment is even better prepared to proceed