The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-08-04
But No Statement of the Matters in COntrO-
versy Given to the Newspapers.
Spain's Alleged Counter Proposition Discussed by the
French Ambassador President Mckinley and
Secretary of State Day for Hour.

of the strtctest secrecy as to the proceed
i'lgs until further progress had been made
Thus it is practically assured in advance
that any attempt to state what occurred at
to-.lays meeting at the White House will
be nothing more than pure guesswork
On the assumption that peace is near at
hand, some attention is being given to the
steps by which this may be brought about
formally and the measures necessary to be
adopted Immediately afterward 1t is
said to be not at all improbable that the
pre1minarieS leading up to the signature
| OF the treaty of peace may consume fully
tnree months SO that 1t may be we'll along
towards the legal date of the assembling
OF Congress before the President will be
prepared to submit a peace treaty to the
senate This allowance of time is rather
moderate than excessive. We were two
years, from 17S1 to 1888, in arranging a
peace treaty with Great Britain to termi-
nate the revolutionary war In the case
OF the Chinese-Japanese war it was sew
eral months before the commissioners were
able to perfect the treaty of Shmonski.
which terminated that war. 1t does not
| follow from this that an actual state OF
war Will prevail during the interval of three
months, Tor, as matter of fact, hostili-
SN~0 VIII ACA WlInln a very Few 0aVS
after Spain has notified the United States
government of her acceptance of the terms
laid down in the Presidents note of last
Saturday. The military establishment.
however, must be maintained during that
time and many acts performed that are in
cident to actual warfare
1t is expected here that the Spanish
pledge to accept the broad conditions laid
Gown by the United States will take the
form OF written agreement, something in
the nature of protocol, which, while
very necessary step in the negotiation of
treaty, is not always part of the docu-
ment The negotiations have not pro-
gressed sufficiently to indicate who shall
be the parties to the agreement, or rather
who shall represent the princpals-the
United States and Spain. 1t is possible that
1T may be signed in Washington, as be-
tween Secretary Day and NJ Cambon, or
on the. other hand, the ambassadors of
spain and the United States in one of the
european countries, probably in this case
france, might meet and by the authorize
tion of their respective governments sign
the agreement The protocol, if it NAV
be so called in either case, would not take
the place in any manner of the treaty of
peace, which would be drawn up later by
commissioners to be appointed for this pur-
pose.
Under the terms of the Presidents note
II they shall be accepted by Spain, the
Spanish government is bound to evacuate
Cuba and Porto Rico Immediately This
action is not to wait on the work of the
peace commissioners, but is to precede it.
and to follow Immediately on the signature
of the memorandum accepting the Presi-
dents conditions. The word Immediately
in this case is, perhaps, a little deceptive.
The experience of the War Department in
the endeavor to remove to Spain the Span
ish troops surrendered at Santiago has not
justified the expectation that the large
force of Spanish regulars can be gathered
up and shipped home to Spain in less than
about sixty days at best. This estimate is
based on the fact that it is not expected by
the Spanish troops transports that they will
be able to return all of the Santiago pris-
oners to Spain before the 1st of September.
Therefore, what is meant by the word 'im-
mediately" is that the Spanish government
shall at least begin the arrangements at
once for the evacuation of the islands On
the whole, it is rather fortunate circum-
stance that the evacuation cannot take
place en- masse and Immediately, for it has
been determined that the Spanish troops
withdrawn must be replaced by United
States troops. This is deemed to be abso-
lutely necessary to guard against anarchy
and to secure the establishment of a stable
form of government in Cuba under proper
constitutional guarantees but in all prob
ability not many of them will have to go
there before the present rainy season has
neared its end