The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-04-03

80, though realizing the imminence of
hostll1tles, the apparent hopelessness of
aVertlng war has come as a shock
1t was generally believed that the
enormous majority obtained by Senior
Sagasta in the new cortes would make
MIN master of Spain and permit him to
yield to the inevitable; but, it seems
that some seventy-fve per cent of the
voters, who did not participate in the
elections, including the army and the
Barcelona and other merchants who are
vitality interested in Cuba, do not pro-
pose to allow him a free hand. They
nave been among the most fervent in
the patriotic demonstrations of the past
few days.
General interest in the situation is
| intense All the news bulletins are
eagerly scanned, and, in the Hobbies
OF the house of commons yesterday
afternoon, there were animated discus
sions of the crisis, which have given
enhanced interest to the statement of
prominent ship-owing member of the
house of commons. that the United
States, during the day, had been offer
ing very large sums for nineteen-knot
steamers.
Although the, concensus of opinion
is that there is no escape from hostili-
ties, unless the unforeseen, as so fire.
quently happens in politics, changes
the course Of events, there are a few
hopeful people left. James Brice NJ.
p, the former president of the board
of trade and author of 1.-The American
Commonwealth" is quoted as saying:
Somehow I fancy that, as near as
the two powers may have drifted to-
wards war. we are not going to wit
ness so frightfu1 a calamity. I know
president Mckinley and all his admin
istratfon, and 1 know they do not wish
for war. In fact, none of the really
clear-headed men in the United States
want war. They can see too far
ahead"
SpeciOus Proposals.
Opinion in London has been little in
fluenced by the specious character of
Senior Sagasta's contemporaries As
an official of the foreign Office remark
ed: "The Americans will naturally de-
cline to accept such proposals as
sufficient guarantee that q power which
has so long patiently failed to dis
charge it's duties, in humane admins
tratiOn cannot be trusted to give eff
feet to it's tardy conversion.
The foreign official added: ''The re-
sponsibility resting upon each party is
terrible. Happily, nothing will tend
so effectively to quicken the feeling of
responsibility among Spanish states
men as the prospect of having to face
immediate consequences of persistence
in an uncompromising force.
Reading between the lines of Senior
Sagasta's proposals, l have reason to
think he does not mean to drive mat
ters to extremes, and that he will learn
from the construction put upon them
that his, conditions will not relieve the
United States of the duty of interven-
ton, compelled, as the Americans are
by sense OF moral obligation, to take
action in the matter. So, if Senior
Sagasta is as strong as he is unQues-
tionably well meaning. he will per
suade his countrymen to accept I'M
deservedly the American conditions"
The positive semi-official declaration
telegraphed last night TO the Associat-
ed Press from Madrid, in which it was
announced that no proposition contain
ing the slightest allusion to the in
dependence of Cuba, either with or
without indemnity, has been made to
the Spanish government: that The gov
eminent would straightway reject any
such propositions, and that there is no
party or statesman in Spain disposed
to listen to such a solution of the crisis,
has created a mild sensation here as
i. has been assumed that the indepen-
dence Of Cuba was the crux of the
difficulty.