The record-union., 1898-04-02
MCKINLEY NOT HOPEFUL.
Has Little Confidence in Peaceful
Outcome of the Affair

has Little commence In eeacefu1
Outcome of the Affair.
| WASHINGTON, April Judge Day,
| Assistant Secretary of State notwith-
standing the late hour which he left
| the White House, was again there at
| 8 o'clock and in conference with the
President, presumably on Spain's reply
| to our latest note and the situation
thereby developed.
Mr. Day remained only a few min
utes and then went to the State De-
| partment. He announced on his de-
| parture. when asked about the note
from Madrid, that the Administration
| would give out statement to the press
| later in the day.
The Congressional callers began to
arrive early. Senator Davis. Chairman
| of the Senate Committee on Foreign
Relations, had an extended conference,
and Senator Pritchard of North Caro-
| lima, Representative Grosvenor of Ohio,
| and x-Representative Thompson of
| Ohio, one of the members of the COM
mission to codify the laws of the Unit
| ed States, were among the visitors.
The President went over the situation
very thoroughly with Senator Davis,
and showed him the dispatch from
Madrid that arrived late last night
! When the interview ended Senator
| Davis jumped into his carriage hur-
| riedly and drove off. with the state
ment that he could not reveal what
| had taken place
| 1t can be reiterated authoritatively
| that the latest dispatch from Madrid
was thoroughly unsatisfactory to the
Administration. It's dissatisfaction was
1 openly announced during several of
the conferences that took place during
the morning hours. The note was re-
| ceived late last night, and after it had
| been read by the President and Judge
] Day an effort was made to communi-
| cate with the several other members
of the Cabinet. In view of the grave
| significance of the dispatch, it was con-
| sidered very deliberately, and the re-
| ply of this Government deferred until
the President could consult with the
| members of his official family advis-
| ors.
! That the President has less conf
| dence in a peaceable ultimate outcome
was apparent from the views he ex-
| pressed to several of his closest friends.
| While he expressly refrained from
stating that he had given up all hope,
one of his close political friends init
mated, Immediately after being closet
| ed with the President that settlement
| on a peace basis seemed exceedingly
unlikely. The President is aware of
the strong sentiment in Congress, and
] is taking the leaders into his conf
| denee- s-t..s the same time he is taking
steps to prevent diplomatic information
that might seriously affect the nego-
| tiations, now rapidly reaching a eli
max, from being made public and car
| ried back to Madrid. This makes the
leaders who see him very reticent
! Representative Dingley of Maine
| floor leader of the Republicans in the
House and Chairman of the Ways and
Means Committee, had long and pri-
vate interview.
Senators and Representatives formed
a continuous stream of callers up to the
assembling of the Cabinet but were
unusually guarded in their expressions
! after they left the President. saying
the situation was too grave to admit
/ of possible misquotation or misinter-
pretation of reports at this time. Rep
resentative Mitchell of New York who
| remained at the White House some
time, but left without seeing the Presi-
dent, stated that he was assured rela-
lively almost next to the President that
when the diplomatic proceedings are
made public they will form a great
surprise to the American public He
1 said from the assurances given him
! that no one Will have reason to criti-
| else the Presidents course. and added
that every fair-minded American
would praise him for the firm stand
[ he l,or fob
Mr.. Adams would say nothing as to
what had passed between them and
! the Executive.
| There was great rush of sight
! seers at the White House, and the
! jostling of an inebriated Frenchman
who attempted to jabber something in
his native tongue under the porte
cochere was an incident that attracted
some little attention
Senators Gray of Delaware. Fair
banks of Indiana and Cullom of Illi-
nois, and Representative Bellamy
Storrer, the present United States Min
lister to Belgium, were among those
who had conferences with the Execu-
! tive.
| The Cabinet members were unusually
prompt in arriving. Before they had
assembled some who had not been
acquainted with tn nature of the latest
note from Madrid, save through the
press dispatches, received their first
| original information upon the
beginning of the deliberations of
one of the most important meet
ings held for long period. Sec
retary Bliss was the first conner. ar
irving a quarter of an hour earlier than
is customary Assistant Secretary Day
followed him. Secretaries Alger and
Wilson came next, and before II O'Clock
every member of the Cabinet was in
| his DIace in the Cabinet room,