The age-herald., 1900-07-28
TWO MORE ISLANDS WILL BE PURCHASED Were Left Out in the Treaty
 With Spain. ARE IN PHILIPPINE GROUP The United States Has Practically Made All Arrangements to Pay Spain $1oc,oOo for the Two
 Little Islands
ARE IN PHILIPPINE GROUP

Washington, July N.-Arrangements have practically been completed for the purchase from Spain by the United States of the islands of Cibitu and Caygayen, which were left in Spanish possession by the treaty of Paris, although part of the Philippine arch ipelago. The purchase price is said to be $lOO, 900.
 Had the peace commissioners at Paris, in arranging for the rehnquishment to the United States of the Philippines, contented themselves with the phraseology, The Philippine archipelago" as descriptive of the territory to be ceded to the United States by Spain, no question, perhaps, would have arisen over the possession of Cibitu and Cagayen islands. But to avoid the least chance of loose definition, the peace commissioners drew a geographical boundary line around the islands to be transferred The bounds were fixed by meridtans of longitude and parallels of latitude. The lines generally described a parallelogram, but at the southwestern cor ner, for some reason, there was an insert, excluding some of the islands off the coast of Borneo. By the terms of the treaty the southern boundary of the archipelago
 
 meridian and ran along parallel of 40 de- grees, 45 minutes westward to the meridian of 119 degrees, 25 minutes. At that point the line ran directly northward to latitude z degrees, 40 minutes, and thence was de- hected westward to the 116th meridian, forming the small inset above referred to.
 Discovered Year Later
 It was year after the signature of the treaty of Paris before the fact was dis covered that in laying down these boun- daries the commissioners had excluded the islands of Cibitu and Cagayen. It was dis closed by the visit to that part of the archi- pelago of the United States ship Concord. The crew landed on the island of Cibitu and was received by the reigning Dato who promptly hoisted the stars and stripes and announced himself under the protec- tion of the United States Attention being to that quarter, the Spanish gov ernmen soon discovered the direct boundary me ana through the Duke d'Arcos set up a claim to the State Department for the pos- session of the islands.
 The department took the ground that the purpose of the treaty of Paris in that sec ton was to convey the entire Philippine archipelago to the United States and the general language of the act of cession was
 
 tion
 negotiations lasted many months and every member of the commission was called upon to give his individual under 5 ss,ahoihg of the proceedings at Paris so Tar as they bore on this point Finally if appeared that an exact boundary would nave to be accepted, instead of one laid uoWh In general terminology, according to the fundamental principles of common law. That being the case it became nee essary In the interest of sound policy and 10 prevent the existence of a probable cause of irritation in the future, to buy out Spain's neighborly rights and continue the two islands as part of the Philippine archipelago.
 The ransfer Favored
 As announced from Madrid, the cabinet. by which is meant the Spanish cabinet. is favoralbly considering the proposed trans- Ter and the negotiations practically may be regarded as closed on the basis of a cash payment to Spain by the United States of $l00,000 for the two islands
 The two islands are small fn area. and thinly populated probably containing from 5000 to 5000 people in all. Cibitu is long narrow island, fourteen miles in length by two across. It is fiat and uninterest- ing save for one small conical mountain In the center, about 800 feet high 1t is by coral reefs with no anchor age to speak of.
 Cibitu lies only four miles outside of the southern boundary fixed by the treaty of Paris.
 Cagayen is about the same area, five miles by eight, with mountains reaching a height of 110O feet. It Is the largest of half dozen tiny islets in the Cagayen Sulu group and owing allegiance to the Sultan They produce tobacco, sugar and similar tropical products. Both the islands are said to be mainly valuable for their pearl fisheries, which it is possible may develop some commercial importance. One impor- tant consideration which has influenced the United States government in these nego- tiations is the desrability of excluding any European power from the possession of xhe islands for use as a naval station, which would constitute a constant menace to the United States sovereignty. There is req son to believe that schemes of that kind al- ready have been put afloat which are now to be thwarted.