The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-09-08

dt hllleS lell w bollillSo hIii etlAiN-
 ing at Santiago July Il, not as pri-
 Vate individual nor as visitor. Any pretense that he went there disrobed of his authority or official capacity Is | to childish to be considered by sensible men, From the moment he arrived at l Santiago he was responsible for what
 might occur. He arrived there with
 the Yale, Columbia and Rita, loaded
 with infantry, and three ships loaded
 with artillery besides those already
 disembarked. He designed to disem-
 bark the troops and artillery named on
 the west side of Santiago, as was un-
 derstood before leaving Washington,
 and before he went ashore he made the
 necessary arrangements accordingly. ] He then proceeded to the front and
 after consulting with General Shafter
 a note was sent to the Spanish com
 mander by General Shafter, saying
 that the commanding general of the
 United States army had arrived in his | camp with strong endorsements, and would meet him between the lines at ! any hour agreeable to him. The reply
 of the Spanish commander was that
 he would meet him at 12 o'clock next ! morning. The meeting was held, and after some conversation between Gen. eral Shafter and General Toral, General Miles frankly informed the spanish | general that he had left Washington | six days before and that 1t was then {, the determination of the government
 that this portion of the Spanish army
 must be captured or destroyed. He al- so informed the Spanish general that his endorsements had already arrived with him, that some of these forces had already disembarked and the re-
 mainder will be disembarked on the west side of the harbor, and that it | was useless for him to contend against | the inevitable. Three transports could | also be plainly seen by the spanish 1 from Morro Castle and other paints. | General Toral replied that so long | as he had rations and ammunition he | had to fight in order to maintain the | honor of the Spanish army. In re- 1 sponse to that he was informed that he | had already maintained the honor Of | the Spanish army and that further ef- l forts would be useless and would result l in the wanton sacrifice of human life. | He then said that he was waiting to | hear from his government and was in- l formed by General Miles that he had | already taken much time for that pur- pose, and would be given until day l light on the following morning, 1t be- | ing then 3 o'clock, to submit his final l answer He begged for longer time and earnestly requested until l o'clock | next day. This was finally granted by | General Miles, the meeting dissolved and the officers separated. On return l ing from the conference a dispatch was received by General Miles from Wash | ington as follows:
 NEGOTIATED TORALS SURREN- | DER.
 Washington, July 1S, 1898.
 "'Major General Miles:
 "'You may accept surrender by granting parole to officers and men, the | officers retaining their side arms, the l officers and men after parole to be per i mitted to return to Spain, the United 1 States assisting. If not accepted, then
 assault unless in your judgment an as-
 sault would fail. Consult with Samp- | son and pursue such course as to the assault as you jointly agree upon Mat ! ter should be settled promptly.
 1 "'R A. Alger, Secretary of War | LEFT THE HONOR TO SKATER. l This does not look as if General l Miles was there as a visitor. He was l charged with the responsibility of or l dering an assault upon the entrench-
 ments and Notifications of an army, | which, if successful, would have cost
 at least 5000 lives, or of withholding | the assault, if in his judgment such | assault would fail. No greater discre- 1 tion was ever given to any general com
 manding an army, and what is more, l as will be observed, he was authorized l to accept the surrender, which in the | interest of his subordinates he gener- | ously declined to do, and went away | leaving all the honor to his next in | rank, General Shafter. On the morn | ing succeeding the first interview let
 ter was received from General Toral, l of which the following is literal trans | lation
 | Santiago de Cuba, July 14, 1898. I" 'General-in-Chi of the American | Forces:
 | sHonored Sir-His excellency the | general chief of the army of the isl- ] and of Cuba telegraphs from Havana | yesterday at p. m. the following: Be- | lieving the business of such importance as the equalization of that place to be 1 known and decided upon by the govern
 ment of his majesty, I give you notice | that 1 have sent the conditions of your | telegram, asking an immediate answer, | and enabling you also to show this to l the general of the American army, to
 see if he will agree to await the answer | of the government, which cannot be as
 soon as the time which he has decided,
 as communication by way of Bermuda
 is more slow than by Key West. In the
 meanwhile your honor and the general | of the American army may agree upon
 equalization on the basis of repatriation | (returning to Spain).'
 | T have the honor to transmit this
 to you that in case you may consider
 the foregoing satisfactory, he may des- ignate persons in representation of him.
 self, who, with those in my name, may
 agree to clauses of the exploitation up-
 on the basis of returning to Spain, ac-
 cepted already in the beginning by the
 chief of this army Await l ing a reply, 1 am, very respectfully, | your servant, Jose Toral, Etc. 1 "At the meeting on the following day