The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1900-05-25
AN UNOFFICIAL AUDIENCE.
The noer Envoys Received by seeressrj
Hay. UaoniciAiiy at the state
Depart msnt.

Depsrtm snt.
| Washington, Nav eth. state de-
part ment has met the issue raised by
the coming committee 10 Washington
of the l,oer delegation by declining e
interfere i'm behalf of the South AIN
can republics in the present struggle.
PcwerIcss 10 Act.
| In view of this announced decision
all questions as 10 the character OF thi
recognition 10 he extended 10 the dele
gates, and the sufiiciency of their ere
dcntials dropped nj once into the back
ground. III was. after all. of little
moment whether or not the l'oers wee
received as diplomatic agen,s or min
listers. so long as they were powcrlcss
10 promote the prime objec' OF their
mission, namely. cause thr inite1
States government TO intervene to
bring about peace.
A Meeting Procured.
The meeting between the delegates
lnnd Secretary Hay was brought abou,
in the simplest manner. Gen. O'eirne
had secure, from the department. last
Saturday. "A promise 10 entertain any
credentials that might he presented.
Yesterday morning a note came IL
the state department from the dele
gates asking that they be permitted
10 present themselves at the dcpar'
mem, \ prompt acquiescencc was
returned by Secretary Hay. and the
hour OF ?:3o was fixed for the meet
ing. At that time the tire" delegates
appeared. They were unac companicd,
and were shown at once into the dir
lomatic room.
Beers Had Nothing to say.
Secretary Hay. accompanied by Mr..
Babcock. his private secretary AMI
stenographer. entered the diplomatic
room. and cordially greeted his WISH
tors. just what passed between them
probably viii never be exact, knowa,
for when The meeting was over. after
lasting an hour. the Beers in departing
stated 10 a number of anxious news
lpapcrmsn that they had, and woul
eiayc. nothing TO say as 10 what hap
rcned.
secretary Hays Statement.
For his part. the secretary of state.
was more communicative. but. before
making any statement. made his way
TO the White House. and consulted the
president. Then he gave our. through
his secretary. the following statement
"Messls A. Fischer. G.. ii. Wesse
and \. ID. W. Nomarans. the dele
gates IN tits country Of The South
African republics. called today. by ap-
poinfmcnt. at the state department.
They were cordially received aud re-
maincd with the secretary Of state
for more than an hour. Tn " laid be-
fore the secretary. at much length
and with great energy and rloquenc'
the merits - the controvers. in South
Africa. and the desire Of tn, Boer re-
publics tina, the United States should
intervene IL the interest Of peace and
use its influence 10 that enc with the
| British government"
His Reply Ia the Conn ssioners.
"The secretary of state made the
following reply:
The president. in his message t.
"'This Government has maintained
m attitude of neutrality IN the I'M
fortunate contest between Great Brit
ain and shc Boer states of N,rica. We
have remained faithful to the precepi
Of avoiding rntangling alliances. as &c
affairs not Of our direct concern. liza
circumstances suggested tina, the par
a
coined any kindly expression of The
hope of the American people that wal
might bc averted. good offices would
have been gladly tenderer.'
CouId Only Preserve Neutrality.
"'As the war went on the president
Will, regre'ting the suffering and the
sacrifices endured by both 60 the com
batants could do nothing bur preserve
q strict neutrality between them
This he has steadily and consistently
done. but there never has been mo
mcnt when he would have neglected.
any favorable occasion 10 use his good
offices in the interests Of pescc.
"'On the tenth Of last March we re.
cci,ed from SIR. Hay. the United States
consul ~ Pretoria. this telegram:
vcIcg ram from Consul Hay.
81 am officially requested by III,
governments Of The republics to urga
your intervention. with a view To cc~-
sation of hostilitics. Sam, request
made 10 representatives of European
powers.
| Conveyed - British Government.
"Thc president al once directed me
to convey the substance of this tele.
gram 10 the British government. AM
IL communicating this request ! was
directed by him TO express his earnest
hope that q way 10 bring about peace
might he found. and TO say that v.
would be glad 10 aid in any friendly
manner to promote so happy result.
| The Transvaal government vas ut the
same time informed OF the presidents
action in the matter.