The herald., 1898-10-30
M'KINLEY CONVINCED
That the Whole Archipelago Must Be
Held

NEW YORK, Oct. pa special to the
Herald from W ashlngton says:
President Mckinley is convinced that
there is no way for the United States to es
cape the responsibility of taking all OF the
Philippines. He has arrived at this con
clusion after mature dellberation lie al
first favored keeping nothing more than a
military and naval base and thought the
United States should in no event retain more
than the island of Luzon. When the Amer
ican Peace Commissioners left tor Paris II
was not contemplated that they should de
mand from the Spanish government more
than the absolute cession of this one island
to the United States, and a reverslonary IN
terest in the other islands of the group.
1t has been found, however, that there
were many practical difficulties in the way
of such solution, not the least of them be-
ing the evident impossibility of the Spanish
re-establishing authority over the remaining
islands without a prolonged and bloody
struggle with the insurgents.
Information, coupled with the opinion OF
military and naval commanders familiar
with the Philippine situation; led the Pres
ident to believe that Admiral Dewey's de
struction of the Spanish fleet in Manila bay
and General Merritt's capture of Manila
annihilated Spanish sovereignty in the is
lands.
The President has been deluged with let
ters from all parts of the United States urg.
ing that United States sovereignty should
be continued. In this same line the Presi-
dents recent trip was a revelation to him
and the members of his Cabinet who accom-
panied him. The further he went West the
stronger he found the sentiment in favor of
holding all the Philippines and establishing
an American protectorate over them. Sec
retary Gage, who went West before the
President, and who went as far as Denver,
found the sentiment there even stronger
than in Omaha. In all the meetings of the
Cabinet before the peace commissioners left
for Paris, Secretary Gage was the most con-
servative of the Cabinet. He doubted the
wisdom of taking even as much as the island
of Luzon and would have been glad if way
had been found of relinquishing all of the
Philippines. Since his return from the West,
however, he is an advocate of holding all the
islands.
Although it has been finally determined
that the Philippines shall be retained, the
Peace Commissioners should be given con-
siderable latitude as to the terms on which
they are to he retained.
The Philippines are regarded as standing
on a different basis from Cuba and Porto
Rico, and some of the members of the com.
mission believe if all the islands are to be
taken Spain should be given some measure
of compensation for them, especially as the
Philippines have been by far the most val
liable of all her colonies. It can be said that
it is quite probable that the American Com
missioners will be authorized to 20 so far as
to offer to pledge the United States to as
sumo the Philippine debt, or at least such
portion of it as had been expended on pub
lie improvements in the islands. The exact
amount of the debt that is to be properly
charged to the United States could not be ac
curately stated without fuller ANALYSIS of
this debt than as yet has been made. but #
is believed that it will be less than forty mil
lions. was told by a high official of the adj
ministration today that it might he decided
an actual cash amount for the Philippines in
addition to the assumption of the debt or
any part of it by the United States. -