Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1898-11-03

Madrid, Nov. 1.-The news that the
! Spanish peace commissioners at Paris
had referred to the government a for
! NAL demand Of the American commits
| sioners for an absolute cession CT the
entire Philippine group caused the
greatest surprise in Madrid. The
strongest feeling prevails that the
| government should protest energetic
| ally against what is regarded as a yio-
lation of the spirit of the protocol.
To Take the Philippines.
! Paris, Nov. 1.-The American COM
missioners Monday presented to the
| Spanish commissioners a written eX-
preston Of the purpose of the United
| States TO take the entire group Of the
| Philippine ISLANDS and to assume such
| proportion of the Philippine debt as
| has been spent Ior the benefit of the
islands on their inhabitants, in public
works, Improvements and permanent
| betterments. 1t was also set forth
that the United States would not as
| sumo any part of the Philippine debt
which had been incurred by Spain for
| the furtherance of military or naval
| operations to quell instructions IF
! the natives. The session was ad-
| journed until Friday, in order to give
| the SpaniardS time to prepare a reply.
! The session lasted little over an
hour.
The president Of the Spanish COM
mission, Senior Montero Rios, whose
| health al one time was so precariouS
| as to threaten an indefinite adjourn
ment Of the sessions of the commls-
sions, has improved to the extent of
| enabling him to attend Mondays
meeting. He arrived at the foreign
office in a closed carriage with his col
| leagues, shortly after the Americans
reached the meeting place. Shortly af-
| ter 2 o'clock the ten commissioners
confronted each other across the table
on which, in 1888, Benjamin Franklin
and his colleagues signed the treaty
of independence Of the United States.
Secretary Moore, upon the request OF
Judge Day, passed to Ferguson, the
interpreter, the formulated demands OF
the United States regarding the Phil
| ippines, which were read to the Span
iards in their own tongue by rapid
! rendering from English, in which they
were written. Although the Spanish
commissioners did not betray anxiety
their attention to the reading was
| keen. The reading disclosed the fact
! that the United States had determined
to possess for itself certain territory
bounded by and lying within such par
allels of latitude and longitude as
mark the limits of the Philippine
archipelago. The Spanish commits
sioners listened attentively though not
without some evidences of Impotence
and surprise, at the financial sugges-
| lions in the American preSentment,
and asked until Friday to consult with
the Madrid government and make
reply.
After the conference was dissolved,
! the Spanish commissioners expressed
the opinion that the American de-
mands would create in Spain, as they
| had upon her commissioners, an eX-
ceedingly grave impression. Were
the Spanish commissioners pushed to
a final decision at once, they would
have rejected the American demands,
but the changing tone of the Spanish
press recently urges the contamination
OF treaty of peace, however rigorous,
the argument being that although the
| Spaniards bow to the American de-
mands they do not acknowledge the
justice nor admit the legality of them.
The Spanish commissioners feel that the
| United States, to all intents and pur-
poses, has not offered any financial
inducement to Spain to cede by treaty
any part of the Philippines. Had the
American commissioners even offered
to take over the entire Philippine debt
of about $40,000,000, the Spaniards at
feet to feel that it would have been
as nothing, and they regard Mondays
position SO meager as to warrant not
even schedules Of SPANS Pacific ex-
penditures in the archipelago.