Evening journal., 1903-08-01
GREAT CONCLAVE
NOW IN SESSION
One of the Five Spanish
Members Frustrated in His
Cell in Vatican
RIVALRY AMONG THE CARDINALS
Disunion Among Italians Leaves Cues
ton Of Leo's Successor a Matter Of
euess-cibbons Supports serofino
Vannutelli.

Rome. Ans 1.-The largest conclave
I'm the history OF the Catnolic church
has now assembled in the Sis-ne
CHAPEL for the purpose of electing a
successor 70 Leo Kill Sixty-two car
dinals. with over 200 clerical and lay
attendants, are to all intents and pur-
poses prisoners within the Vatican.
One Of them. Cardinal Herraro y Es-
pinosa, archbishop Of Valencia, was
Frustrated Immediately after entering
the conclave. and lies i'll in his Cell
This morning the cardinals enter upon
the solemn duty of choosing the new
pope by ballot The general impress
sion exists that within two or three
days possibly. though not probably
today, a new pope will have been
chosen But no matter how long a
time may be required, the absolute
seclusion OF the princes of the church
from the outer world must, according
to the church law. continue until a
choice is made
Prognostigations as to who will
wear the tiara as Leo's successor have
little value. as even the cardinals
seemed to be without definite ideas as
70 the issue. Cardinals Rampolla, Ser
ahno Vannutelli, hi Pietro, Gotti and
Oreglia continue to be most frequently
mentioned as the lilseliest candidates
but the moment the name of one OF
them is mentioned a hundred reasons
are supplied to show that he could moi
possibly be elected.
So seldom have the majority Of thG
cardinals now here met each other
and so widely do they differ in nation
ality and personality, that no organ
lied movement in support of any on
cardinal has thus far been practicable
nor, in fact. seriously attempted. This
does not apply to the Italian cardinals
who naturally are well acquainted viii
each other. With their numerical
strength. the Italians could, if united
practically insure the election Of {
pontiff of their own choosing.
It is the disunion and rivalry among
the Italian cardinals which. in fact
leaves the question Of Leo's successor
SO open as TO make one guess almost
as good as the other.
The rival claims of the leading Ital
ian cardinals, so freely ventilated IL
the local press, are matters which arc
all-important in connection with the
decision Of the conclave. because it is
assumed as a foregone conclusion thai
the next occupant of the holy see vii
be an Italian. The foreign cardinal:
have shown no indication of opposi
ton to this assumption, but however
willing they may be to honor an Ital
ian, it is believed that the serious diff
ferences among the Italians themselves
on matters Of political and religious
opinion must be reconciled before one
of them, suitable to all sections, car
be elected. The apparent difficulty o
accomplishing this has rendered inter
est in the conclave doubly acute, an,
is largely responsible for the frequent
ly expressed opinion that some car
dinal little talked of may emerge from
the conclave the next pope.
More interesting, perhaps, in a Ger
tain way, is the impression which pre-
walls in certain sections that no matte
what the verdict Of the conclave ma.
be, great changes are impending il
the policy of the Vatican. and tina
within a year or two the new pope vii
no longer consider himself a prisone
in the Vatican. but WILL unlike Leo
leave its precincts whenever neces
sary.
Continued on Sixth Page)