The National tribune., 1899-01-26
g WITH COuRThY FOREIGN GRACE"
How the Spanish Peace Commissioner
Play Their Role.

How the Spanish Peace Commissioners
Play Their Role.
| The American Commissioners had come
to Paris to secure the trousseau where
with Uncle Sam enters into his new
estate as world power. The purchase
price of this colonial millinery had already
| been paid not in RUSSIAN roubles, but In
| brave American blood and the five Com
| ilissioners had been sent 10 sign the title
deeds on behalf Of their Government, but
no lawyers ever found more trouble to Sc
cure the enforcement of a courts judg-
ment from unwilling litigants than these
| five to exact from the Spaniards the ad-
/ mission iii words OF the verdict OF war,
| says a writer in the Washington Star.
| Whatever may be the. staying power OF
| Spaniards on the battlefield, they are
long winded at diplomatic chaffering.
Those who represented their country at
Paris believed, or pretended to believe,
| that the war had been a drawn game,
and that the work of the Peace Com
mission was to divide the spoils. The
Americans thought they were there
the conquered. After the Spaniards had
| been made to realize the truth they
| turned their attention to the gallery.
| VI IN one thing to know an enemy as an
outcast in the abstract to denounce him
as an oppressor from hearsay of his
iniquitous rule: to know him personally
rs courteous, pliusilla, cOnsiderate
| gentleman is another thing Courteous
| and plausible the Spanish Commissioners
| always were. One would have thought
| them from their arguments and their
| bearing the vicarious sufferers of the one
| monumental national martyrdom OF all
| history. They were representatives OF a
| ,fsrl,f v hut IN
survivor OF an ancient chivalry that was
being despoiled, outraged, robbed, solely
| to enrich an Overgrown, pig-Sticklng, dOi
lar-grasping young 'upstart. There was
nothing to be done but to yield to brute
| force, but they must yield after the
argument of the Spaniards, explained
partly in words, partly by their bearing.
| They pl ayed the role well.
| On the day after that on which the
peace treaty was signed the chief OF the
| SPANISH Commission Senior Montero FioS,
| received a delcga ton Of correspondents ir
his hotel. lie was an Impressive 1ooklrf
man in any stage setting hut that DAY
ise made a figure to 10 remembered. 1t
| was a Sunday afternoon, somewhat
damp and clsuiy cut OF doors, but ret
| cold enough tn drive Parisians from the Il
sidewalk chairs i'm front o. the cafes. The
Spanisrd seemed to find il fririd. He was
stretched in big chair in front OF fire
tblazing 9ifi the crate and shivered und' !
the warnings If a fur-ined coat. Ore
rcrrcsF endent had described his face at
| isrst sieht rs "yulsine.' strong face
Enthusiastically II was, with nose gis ing
Ia a Shyleck cast, ircn-Gray beard, re-
|sellisi1s hair and eyes that burned darkly
frsan cayerns Overhung by fierce, bushy
hfsws.
The Americans he greeted in the man
ncr that E,ade them appreciate Tenn
| sen's descrisficn OF the Spanisrds with
| their courtly foreign grace. He spoke Oh
ala antagonists, the American Commits
| sieners, in courteous and courtIy Phrases
Then he talked about Spain, her history
her people, finally her future; told how
| they were going home to tell their ccun-
trynen not tn despair, that coming year
held a restoration OF SPANS ancient
| Freatness. Tho m0nologue was delivered
in Spanish, but an English correspondent
who knew the language interpreted SEN
tence by sentence.
| Finally Rifs came to speak Of the one
sore point with the SrHniards, the enc
crsvring injustice, as they regarded 1t.
black shame Iut upon them, under wliif
they sraarted. n VAS the retus al Q. TIE
| = eseTinanS to suh,,1it to arbitration ~.
cue. ii n cf responsibility fer the GeSduc-
i'm Of the Maine.
The old ran raised himself from the
chair, walked across the room to the win
;iew and gazed cut in gloomy silence FOL
n blonaent upon the sky, WHICH seemed u
is,ave taken color irnm his mood. Then he
RACED back to the fireplace, and, facinf
.:is auSithrs uttered one dramatic appeal
which, although in strange tongue, re-
called Cesar's EFT tn, Brute
He says explained the Interpreter
we could have endured every thing else II
s1ly they Rad not aasai!ed cur honor
For the moment ara under the glansc,
nf the attitude and the veice the ATeri-
cans stood STEPPED in treason. They fer
got Cuba, the reconcsntrados, Neylcr
| Santiago, even the hulk OF the Maine in
Havana Harbcr and the hneri an sailors
who were murdered there. They were
.iirpIy dyed-in-t fe-wool SFaniards, VIE
wanted to take the old mans hand and
tell Kim OF their sympathy.
The figure was one that viii stand out
yi1 idly fr,m the many blurred pages o
reporters notebook. And il was genu-
I inely and truly Spanish. Coming out int
the open air was like leaving The play
house after the curtain has fallen on a
well-acted tragedy. Thinking ii over in
cold blood one could not resist sus
| zion that the old gentleman enjoyed play
ing his part It's SAVIOR was mock heroic
ike French duel.