Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1898-09-21
SPAIN MUST GIVE UP ALL
President is Convinced Of Our
Broad Responsibility.
YIEDED TO SENTIMENTS
Plain Statement of the Case, and
There Must be No Temporiz-
ing on Spain's Part.

Washington, D. c.. Sept. 16.-The tail
goes with the hide. Spain must give al
Of the Philippines.
This is the conclusion reached at 4
series of conferences between the Presi-
dent, the cabinet and the members Of the
peace commission, eliminating in the
state dinner at the white house last night.
Starting with Manila bay as a mini
mum demand ON the part of the United
States, the President and his advisers
progressed, first, to the island of LuzOn,
and then to the whole group.
The instructions as finally drafted are
more specific than at first contemplated,
especially as regards methods OF proceed
ure.
onqueror and Conquered.
The commission is to proceed always
on the assumption that the United States
has conquered Spain.
Strictly speaking there will be no nego-
~tiations whatever, but the Spanish COM
missioners will be informed that the
United States will stop the war if Spain
yields all her colonial possessions peace
ably.
Otherwise the war will go on, and the
Spanish peninsula will be attacked by
sea and land.
The President felt at first that the pos
NcclO VI -hoIllld OdS NOuAI SNbIC ~
the United States all the commercial, po-
litical and military advantages to be de-
sired.
Subsequently it appeared that the
whole Island of LuZon would be Eeces-
Sary to the safe occupation of Manila
bay.
Last of all. and by the same process of
reasoning, it became evident to the admin
istration that the permanent control Of
the whole philippine group is indispens-
able to the establishment of a military
base and the opening up of the
of the islands to the whole world.
The President did not want any of the
Philippines outside of Manila bay, but to
secure that has at last been convinced
that the whole group must fly the Amer
lcan flag.
Where Responsibility Begins and Ends
Public opinion had much to do with
this decision, but logical sequences of the
possession of the scene of Dewey's great
victory were the strongest motives. The
President, the cabinet and the peace COM
mlsSlOnCrS were of one mind on this sub
ject, all agreeing that while direct ad-
yantageS probably terminate with Manila
bay, responsibility does not.
The dinner at the white house last
night, therefore, was an exchange of
views, all tending i'll the same direction.
1t was attended by the President, the
cabinet, except Secretary Alger; the peace
commissioners, except Senator Gray: eX-
Secretary of State j. w. Foster, Assist
ant Secretaries of State Moore and Adee.
and Adjt.-Gen> Corbin. The dinner was
a short one, as the guests were leaving
by 1880, and did not sit down until s
o'clock.
The President expressed himself in gen.
eral terms to the effect that the commits
sioners would be expected to present the
ultlnatum of Il victorious nation to a con-
J. nlvn-AI nnAIlxr nnl tho ~,ria
pressed by the President in so many words
that the cession of the whole Philippine
group to the United States was inevitable.
From the tenor of his talk it appeared
that he was not particularly anxious about
the LadrOnes, and CarClineS, except
Guam, which is to be retained as a coal
ing station, but the opinion was expressed
that Spain might not care to assume the
burden of governing islands which never
could be revenue producers.
Previous conferences with the President
were so satisfactory that the talk at the
dinner was general and social.
Glad Aguina1do Has Quit.
One feature was, however, particularly
touched upon. and that was the recent
kilograms from Gen. Otis, reporting the
unexpectedly pacific attitude of Aguinal-
do and the other native chiefs. The Pres
ident seemed peculiarly g~ratified over this
outcome, and the opinion was generally
cADItSSCu tIldI Tic lIIclluIy dllltuuc u Tie
natives solved much of the problem. as it
seemed to indicate that the United States
could govern the islands with a smaller
army than had been contemplated at first,
thus removing entirely one argument
which has frequently been used with eff
feet by the opponents of expansion.
The guests of the President, of course,
refuse to repeat his language, but the hap
Ply frame of mind of broad Americans like
Senators Frye and Davis is a sufficient in
dication Of the general trend of the talk.
A Formal Statement.
The state department has given out the
following statement concerning the dis
cussion between the members of the cabi
net and the peace commission:
The members of the peace commission,
with the exception of Senator Gray, whose
absence was due to his inability to withdraw
as counsel in a case in which he was en-
gagged some time before his appointment as
one of the peace commissioners have spent
much time in a free discussion Of the duties
with the discharge of which they have been
entrusted by the President. Senator Gray is
expected soon and before sailing will have a
full conference with the President and his
associates
While for obvious reasons it was deter
mined that the nature of the instructions as
to the negotiations about to be entered upon
should for the present be kept a secret and
made known only after definite results shall
have been reached it is possible to state
authoritatively that the commission goes to
Paris fully prepared to follow a course of
action mapped out for it as the result of
the consultations of the last two days.
at the very outset it will be made clear
to the Spanish commissioners that as in the
case of the preliminary protocol there can
be no deviation from or modification of the
demands made by the United States. The
decision arrived at by the President after a
full consultation with the member of the
commission subsequently received the cordial
and unanimous approval of the cabinet.
AS previously announced the commission
sails from New York on the Campania at ,
O'Clock on Saturday afternoon.
PhiIinninn Con OynSS