The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-02-11
NO TROUBLE ANTICIPATED
UNLESS SPANISH JINGOEs PROVOKE
AN OUTBREAK AT HOME.
Secretary Sherman's Note to Minister
WOOdford Demanding De Lome's
Recall Not Yet Answered.
speclal to the IndianaOOlIs journal.

conversation in congressional, administra-
tive and diplomatic circles. Some of the
hot-headed friends of Cuba are dissatisfied
with the tame ending of what they hoped
would be the signal for letting slip Of the
dogs of war" The truth is that for good
or evil the De LONE letter incident is closed.
He is no longer the official representative
of his country in the united States, but
simply foreigner engaged in preparations
to take his departure from our shores 1t
is but justice to him to say that he has
been shrewd and faithful representative
of the interests of his country during the
three years he has been it's minister here.
His chief fault as diplomat has been his
unconquerable desire to record in writing
his unfavorable opinions Of this country,
its people and it's officials. This
itch for writing has been the
means Of his undoing. He wrote one letter
too many. He committed the objectionable
sin of being found out. For this he is pun
ished. A diplomat must learn to hold his
tongue and let his pen lie idle. He must
learn that language was invented to conceal
thought, not to express it. These primary
| lessons of his trade De LONE scorned.
While this affair will tend to complicate
a situation far from reassuring it will not
lead to an open rupture between the two
countries unless the Spanish government
wants to break with the United States.
Aside from what is going on at the moment
in Cuba, the danger to continued peaceful
relations with Spain lies in Spain itself.
The Spanish populace is almost as exctable
and quite as ungovernable at times as the
Partisan mob. 1t has no liking for the
United States and may at any time force
the Spanish government into hostilities In
deed, it is among the possibilities of the
situation that the Spanish government may
itself deliberately provoke an outburst IL 1T
seems inevitable that Spain is to lose Cuba
in order to save the present dynasty. The
loss of Cuba through war with this coun-
try would not probably endanger Alfonso's S
throne, while it's loss in any other manner
would probably result in it's overthrow In
this consideration lies the most imminent
danger Of war that the Spanish govern
ment would invite it deliberately as the
lesser Of two evils The slight effect the
| letter incident had on the stock market
shows how little it is considered there. The
stock market forms barometer which re-
spends quickly to any sign of a really
Threatening foreign complication.
| HE HATES NEWSPAPER MEN
! De LONE takes away with him a very
| poor impression of American newspapers
| and newspaper men. 1t is one Of his stock
| witticisms to say that formerly writer's on
our papers were paid by the line, but that
now they are paid by the lie. He has tried
| to be very choice in his selection of ac-
| quaintances among correspondents at the
capital. There were certain papers against
| which he entertained an unconquerable
prejudice and would not see any of their
| representatives. One of the yellow jour-
nals' thus blacklisted run it's woman soci-
ETY. reporter in on him as the correspondent
! of a Northwestern Catholic weekly and it
was months before he discovered the decep-
tion. When he did there was an explosion
| The Spanish minister, ex, or otherwise, is
| hurrying preparations for an immediate de-
| parture from Washington. He wants to
| shake the dust of the detestable place from
| his feet without delay. Among the personal
| effects which De LONE will take away with
him will be dearly beloved bicycle. While
| grace and dexterity. On his being relieved,
the first secretary of the legation, Senior
| Pablo Soler. will be charge 'affaires ad in
term. The latter has had long experience
| in diplomacy, and at one time was conf
| Dental secretary to the late premier of
| Spain, Senor Canovas. 1t is not expected
| that the service as charge will be more than
temporary, new minister, chosen from
| Premier Sagasta's Liberal adherents, is ex-
| pected to be named at an early day.
| The State Department here is acting
without reference to the minister's resigna-
tion. 1t shaped its action after receiving
the original letter written by Minister De
Lone to Senor Canalejas. This original
! came into possession Of the department yes
terdays and was carried by Judge Day, as
sistant secretary of state, to the minister S
residence. The meeting could not have
been other than painful. There was no de-
NAL on the part of the minister. When
Judge Day learned direct from the minister
that the letter was genuine. the cablegram
/ to General Woodford was sent These in
structons will go before the Madrid author
| tiles along with the minister's resignation.
When inquiries were made at the Spanish
/ legation to-day as to how the letter reached
! the hands of the Cuban Junto, it was said
that the statement made by the Junto as
/ to Canalejas receiving the letter were alb
solutely false. Private inquiries, it was
stated, had been made through a New York
/ gentleman which had disclosed that Canale-
/ jas never saw the letter. This inquiry was
sent by cable direct to Canalejas now at
Madrid, and he was asked If he had ever
| received a letter of the character described.
TO this Senor Canalejas answered that he
never received the letter, and knew moth
ing of its contents that if he had received
it he would have made an answer to the
| letter. There has never been acknowl-
edgment, or an answer, from Canalejas.
After this statement direct from Canalejas,
the Spanish authorities regard 1t as plain
that the letter was stolen in transit, and
| that the reports of Canalejas receiving it
and reading it to DR.. Congosto are fabrica-
tions intended to cover up the plan by
which the letter was abstracted. The fact
that the envelope was not produced is taken
] as another evidence that the letter was
taken in transit. as the envelope would