Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1902-01-25

Paris. Jan 23.-ln view of the state
mrnt made by Lord Cranbornr in the
house 1T commons Monday on the sub
ject of representations made 10 Great
Britain before and after the ouibreak of
the Spanish American war. the corre-
SpOndent of The Associated Press made
inquiries in an authOritatiy" quarter
here ana received the following on
plantations. which throw II somewhat
different light on the question::
In the first place. in the Spanish ma
EotiatiOnS, 1T the end Of March, 1898,
to secure the intervention of the powers
in her favor. Great Britain took the
same attitude ais France and the other
powers. she neither refused nor con-
senlrd to join in collective action. All
the powers were hesitating Until they
aScrrtained the intentions of !llr others.
Russia clinched the matter by tn" late
Count MOuravieffs blunt rejection of
the proposal, subsequently. after Spain
had indicated the extent of the sur
render she was willing to make tU the
United States demands, the Austrian
government. believing Spain's surrender
was sufficiently complete to satisfy the
United States. instructed its ambaS-
sadorS to propose 10 the European gov
ernmentS that II note be presented at
Washington urging the United States to
accept Spain's offer and avert war. The
Spanish ambassador in London saw A.
j. Balfour. ,whO was acting as secretary
of state for foreign affairs during tie
absence of Lord Salisbury who pom
ised to instruct Lord PauncrfOte how
to act. with the view to maintain pehce
No collective action was definitely
agreed upon, though Russia. France
and Germany We're dispose. towards
a movement which would avert on out
break of hOstilties. 4 few days be-
fore the war, however. ii was declared
that Mr.. Baltour had raised the OBJ
lection TO which Lord CrnnbOrne al
luded last Monday. against any note
which would have The appearances of
putting pressure on the United States or
Offering an opinion on the tnitrd States
attitude. The Austrian proposition then
fell through. and the subsequent joint
resolution OF congress rendered any fur
thrr action out OF the question.
This was the extent OF Great Britains
action in favor of the rnitcd States.
The statement OF prominent Brit
iSh foreign office official regarding
Frances alleged support Of the Aus
trian proposal is declared TO pe incor-
rect. France did not back up the pro-
poSal and the French amba SSarlo in
London confined himself to making an
inquiry as To what view the british gov
attitude. throughout. was friendly TO the
United States as well ns to Spain. her
ardent desire being TO avert war. She
took no initiative in any suggestion
tending to put pressure on the United
States nor ut any time encouraged
Spain to resistance. Her influence. as
always directed. in the pour parlc. $ of
the powers. to maintaining peace.
The exact value which ShoIlhI he
placed on Great Britain's lraning
towards the United States can lr
gaug,h by the fact that when wa was
declared Senior Gullon lthe Spanish for
ri@n miniSterI was furious. firstly
Il against Germany. secondly against Rus
sin and only thirdly against Great
Britain. His resentment against Ger
many was due to the latter having en-
couragrd Spain to resist and then l,lv-
ing abandoned her at lr inSt moment.
st. Petersburg. Jan. 23-The corrc-
Spundent here of The Associated Press
has obtained the follow ing statement
from the Russian foreign Office: Il, s.
>in has always been and now is rXtrrmc-
ly dcSirGuS of maintaining amicnblr re-
laticns with the United States. Rus
sin never had any intention of ,nr,ir-
ipating in any collective step in the
) 'anish-American dispute. Which did
not directly concern her. Nov did Rus
sin receive any proposition having such
action in view. Indeed. "" received
n A in farm, I Inn rnu,lrltt,r An 81 Il