The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-02-03

immediate.
General Gomez was rendered a public
reception this evening, and Mr.. Porter
was among those present.
THE LETTER OF GEN. GOMEZ.
He is Preparing for His Trip to
Havana.
Remedies, Province of Santa Clara,
Cuba, Feb. 2.-Via Camajuan. Feb. q
Immediately after yesterdays confer
ence, General Gomez wrote the follow
ing letter to President Mckinley in
Spanish:
''Republic of Cuba,
Headquarters of the Army,
Remedies, Feb. /, 1899.
president Mckinley, Washington:
1T has been a great pleasure to me
to confer with your commissioner, Mr..
Porter. introduced by my friend, Que
sada, and | am now aware of and pleas
ed with your wishes. In short time
l shall go to Havana and confer with
General Brooke, so that everything will
go We'll Following your advice. I will
ingly cooperate in the work Of recon
structing Cuba.
(Signed) ''MAXIMO GOMEZ,
General"
Today General Gomez is preparing for
the trip to Havana. The whole atti-
tude OF the old fighter is much more
cordial than was anticipated by Mr..
Porter. He told the latter he was
proud to receive the special commissioner
of the President. and he is evidently
much gratifed at the prospect of the
early solution of the disbandment prob
lem.
The money will be sent on Commits
sioner Porter's order to General Brooke
and will be paid out, as called for, by
distribution through subcommittee of
Cuban and American officers in the va
tious provinces. As agreed upon at
yesterdays conference, the entire
amount will be Spanish silver.
At the ratio of sixty it will amount
to $4200,000, or nearly 500 for each
man in the Cuban army. as estimated
~ the delegation from the Cuban mill
tary assembly which went to Washing
ton in December and has recently re-
turned to Cuba.
The late General Galixto Garcia told
President Mckinley this amount would
be satisfactory. The correspondent Of
the Associated Press learns that the
delegation was examined by Mr.. Porter
for the President and that a report was
submitted which has not yet been made
public. The figures given in it, as sup
piled to the correspondent of the As
sociated Press yesterday, call for S57,-
100000 as the first estimate of the dele
cation, but the delegation said they
would take less and acknowledged they
could hardly expect better pay for the
Cuban privates than the American pri-
Yates get, which is $13 a month or 43
per cent of their figures, and the Ameri-
can basis would mean $9,000,000 for
privates. As the sum to be paid is worth
more than $4,000,000 in Spanish silver
here nearly half of the amount calcu-
lated on the American basis is to be
realized by the Cubans.
At the conference Mr.. Porter laid spe-
cial stress on the fact that the $1,000
900 was not to be regarded as wages
due for services rendered, but as a re-
lief fund from the United States to eX-
pedite the disbandment of the army and
TO further the aims of reconstruction
This article of the compact. previously
cabled, was the most delicate point I'M
der consideration, as the question of the
recognition of the Cuban army as a mill
tary body and. tactly of the Cuban
Revolutionary Government, was involv-
ed. General Gomez acquiesced in this
premise more readily than might have
been expected, in view of his reputed
hostility to the United States.
PORTER RETURNS TO HAVANA.
Havana, Feb. 2.-Robert Z. Porter.
the special commissioner of President
Mckinley. to confer with General
Maxine Gomez regarding the disband-
ment Of the Cuban troops, arrived here
this evening from Remedies He met
General Wood at Colon, on his way to
Cienfuegos and Santiago General
Wood, who was delighted to hear of the
outcome of the conference. said it'll
greatly simpliied the problem of Gu
ban reconstruction. Several Cuban Off
GERS who boarded Mr.. P0rter's special
car in the Province of Santa Clara. ex-
pressed their satisfaction at the attitude
that General Gomez had taken, remark
ing that he had felt sighted at being
unnoticed. ard at the failure of the men
of Central Cuba to get appointments and
attention from Havana.
DRIVING CUBANS TO REBELLION
pdov Got.. a.ly nf NTouox-