Show t SPAS RICH COLONIES CEDED TO UNITED STATES J Spanids Submit to AIr American Demands Ill Order to Avoid Bloodshed Puerto Rico tIle Philippines and Guam Island Now Beont to Uncle Sam and Cuba Is Free Paris Nov 28Spain has accepted the United States offer of 20000000 and at a joint session of the peace commissions com-missions this afternoon consented without condition to relinquish Cuba and to cede Puerto Rico Guam and the Philippine islands The document presenting this acceptance accept-ance contained only 200 words It opened with a reference to the final terms at the United States and said that the Spanish commissioners alter baying taken cognizance of the terms iropod by the Americans replied that r their government had tried to give as quitable an answer as possible but that they were not prepared to commit their government to the acceptance of the princIples embodied in the argument argu-ment Spain rejects these principles the note continues as she always has rjected them Basing her attitude upon the justice of her cause the note then says she still adheres to these prinolplt which she has heretofore Invariably formulated Hot ever the note adds in her desire de-sire for peace she has gone so far as tQ propose certain compromises which the Amerkans have always rejected She has also attempted it is further asserted to ubmit tqarbitration some cf till material partii1rs upon which the two parti differed These prcipca1s for arbitraUon it isttdded the Americans had l equally rejected These allegations 111 Spains reply as to attempted arbitration refer to her proposal to arbitrate the construction of the third artiCle of the protocol and also to submit the Spanish colonial deb of Cuba and the Philippines to ar bilrauon The last proposition has been made in a ritten communication Since its presentation and in return for Such arbitration Spain offered to cede the territory in dispute The Americans refused both propositions for rlLtrtion Spains reply today substance con tinuerl by declaring that the United Sttes has offered as a Idnd of com lensatlcito Spin something very inadequate in-adequate to the sstDficeB the latter country mikes at t41pOnpt and she iee1s that th t1teff ShiteS ropos1 19 could not be considered equitable Spain has how vr exhausted aU the resources of diplomacy in an attempt to i justify her attitude Seeing that ant an-t eptance of the proposal made to kpain 1s a necessary condition to a conJ con-J I tfllUance of negotiations and seeing that the resources of Spain dre not such as to nable her to reenter upon war sh is lrepaled in her desire to avoid bloodshed and fom considerations of humanity and patriotism to submit tot to-t e conditions of the conquering nation 1 however harsh they may be She is 1 thErefore rezdy to accept the proposals cf the American commission as presented pre-sented zt the last sitting The reading and the translation of the documEnt occupied less than five minutes At the conclusion of the transl tin thE commissioners empm ered Senor Ojeda secretary of the Spanish commission and Secretary Moore of the American commission to draw up articles which are to embody em-body the relinquishment of Cuba by Spain and the ession of Puerto Rico and the Philippines These articles which may bt considered as constitut lag the conditions of peace will be ready for submission on Wednesday SPANIARDS WERE DEPRESSED A great deal of interest was taken in todays meeting The two commissions commis-sions arrived nt the foreign office in carriages in the rain almost simultan eQusl and repairing to the conference confer-ence room immediately opened the only business before them Senor Rios the president of the Spanish commission jUts usually preceded the presentation of a Spanish communicationrin writing by verbally summarizing it but today Senor Hils was silent and unusually grave His face was deep lined and he clearly showed the mental strain under which he was laboring as he ap oached the final relinquishment of iains colonial possessions F ¼ thout a word Senor Montero Rios iiduced two typewritten sheets and passed them to the interpreter of the rnitt States commission llr Fergu ron who read them substantially as cabled the outline of the Spanish docu i nwnt being furnished later to a correspondent corre-spondent of the Associated Press by Senor Ojeda The commissioners left the foreign office of-fice imntediatcb after the secretaries had been directed to prepare the arti Cps of the peace treaty There was scarcely any conversation between the mericm and 1811i5h commissioners after the adjournment Among the Americans only the most grave consideration consid-eration for their Spanish colleagues was apparent The Spaniards seemed to be relieved at having arrived at the conclusion of a long controversy RESENTED BY EUROPE There is no denying that the whole European continent will bitterly resent American acquisition of the Philippines Philip-pines This sentiment is not confined to diplomats but especially here in Paris it is the opinion constantly heard 1n the highest French society It is known that a high official of the French foreign office said yesterday The appearance of the Americans in eastern waters is a disturbing factor tv the whole of Europe Americans as 1 well known lack diplomatic manners and will surely bring constant trouble to all of us As to the general sentiment Mr W T Stead who has just returned here from a tour of France BelgIum Ger maiiy Russia Austria Turkey and I Italy and who has seen he highest cliticians in each country and In l Ine cases thsir rulers said today to a ch lrespondcnt of the Associated Press Th immense majority of Europeans arc of course absolutely Ignorant of what has happ > ned interested in their daily toil they neither know nor care what occurs in the other hemisphere But Europeans who read the newspapers news-papers are able to form what may be caned public opinion in the old world They are practicallY unanimous on the matter Outside of England I have not met a single nonAm rican who WM not opposed to the expansion of America Nor through my whole tour of Europe have I met a European who 1 i did not reeeive the protestations of the genuine sincerity with which the Amer leans entered upon the war with more or less mock incredulity JIr Stead reports that the bitterest hostility of all was found at the Vatican Vati-can The leading article in the Temps today to-day a column long is devoted to a severe se-vere arraignment of the American attitude atti-tude toward Spain in which America is made to appear as a merciless conqueror conquer-or imposing draconian conditions on a helpless foe and exacting the signature signa-ture of a treaty at thepoint of a bayonet bayo-net The Temps adds The Spanish commissioners com-missioners should in submitting protest pro-test to the civilized world against the spoilation of the weak by the strong After the jOint session the Spaniards repaired to their qUarters and had an animated and lengthy session Having embodied in the treaty articles ar-ticles all the protocol questions the two Commissions will now enter upon I friendly negotiations regarding the matters suggested in the American ultimatum ul-timatum a week ago matters subsi diury and incidental to the principal prpvisions which must form part of the peace treaty as finally signed These include the religious freedom of the Caroline islands as agreed to twelve years ago the release of political prisoners pris-oners now held by Spain in connection with the insurrection in Cuba and the Philippines the taking over of the island is-land of KusaiE or Ualan of the Care lines for a teleraphic and naval station sta-tion able station rIghts at other pointsln Spains jurisdiction and the renewal of certain treaties previously in force between the United States and Spain which may have lapsed or been vitiated by war I The Paris correspondent of the Times M De Blowitz says he behidves Spain will decline to sell the Carolines AMERICANS PLEASED The American commissioners are naturally na-turally well pleased at the successful conclusion of their mission The questions ques-tions that remain are comparatively unimportant and admit of speedy settlement set-tlement The American commissioners rill hasten matt rs with a view of bar inS the treat s gned within tea days orlgo ndof < Sailing rdr New YOrk by 1ec 17 Jutlge Day said thIs evening We have done the only thing possible regarding re-garding the Philippines Our opportunity oppor-tunity of giving them up was lost when Admiral Dewey did not weigh anchor and sail away Thitelaw Reid entertained the United States commissioners at dinner this evening after which all went to the opera Count von Munster the German am I basSador to France was the first dip lomat to call at the American headquarters head-quarters this afternoon and to congratulate con-gratulate Mr ReId on the commissions successful work He said the settlement settle-ment would meet with the approval pf German COMMENT AT AEHINGTON Status of Sulu GroupNegotiations About Ended Washington Nov 2SThe officials of the state department without hesitation accepted as accurate the Associated Press bulletin from Paris announcing that the Spanish commissioners had accepted the American terms although official advices to that effect had not been received Secretary Hay has been confident from the beginning that such would be the outcome although at times in the negotiations there were signs of serious disarCments that might have led to a failure of the commission com-mission Much remains to be done in execution of the last instructions of the state department de-partment before the peace treaty itself can be completed and made ready for signature The work may be hurried materially should the state department depart-ment decide to permit the treatment of the remaining questions to be settled in separate conventions The instructions to the American commissioners sent last week to arrange ar-range for a renewal of the denounced trade treaties with Spain for the acquisition ac-quisition of Ualan for obtaining concessions con-cessions for cable connections in other quarters and for the Procurement of religious toleration in the CaroHnes These things are not likely to be easily disposed of so it may be that the American commissioners will feel that they have complied with the spirit of their instructions if they succeed in in eluding in the peace treaty a provision binding the Spanish government to negotiate ne-gotiate thereafter on those subjects on lines that may be very broadly defined in the peace treaty In this case two or three more sessions of the peace commission should suffice to complete the work of that body otherwise it is dubtful whether the work can be completed com-pleted before Christmas The exact terms of the agreement reached in Pans are not known in the state departrient Of course it hs knowledge of the general terms of the agreement Consequently Con-sequently it is not ossiQle at present to obtain here a copy for publication of this important document Moreover it is suggested at the state department that If the customary rules relative to the pUblication of treaties be followed this particular treaty must be withheld from the pUblic until the United States senate in its discretion decides to make it public There is no rule or law however on this point and the practice is based entirely upon a rather oldfashioned conception of the degree of courtesy which should be exhibited towards the senate by the executive brancn SULU ISLANDS The state department has not failed to take notice of certain indirect and suspicious attempts to alienate the Sulu islands from the rest of the Phil ipPl1es and has been beforehand in this matter It was recognized from the beginning and this lesson was learned from the experience of other nations that have gone to war in recent years that attempts might be expEcted to be made by nations that were not party to the war to secure advantages to which they had not the slightest equitable claim Japan was a notable Continued on Page 2 j SfAINS RICH COlONIPS Continued tom Page 4 I sufferer from this sort of treatment at the hands of certain European nations and consequently precautions were taken in the case of the Paris commis slon to void leaving any loopholes for the entrance of any plea or demand for special privileges eIther in the mater of territorial acquisition or trade concessions con-cessions Accordingly when he administration ad-ministration decided to acquire the Philippine islands the American commissIoners com-missIoners were especially charged to define the limits of the group so as to leave no room for misconception on this point nor for the setting up of claims to islands whose inclusion in the groups might be regarded as doubtful To reduce the American claim to the clearest possible outlines resort was had to the definitions of the boundaries of the Philippines by geographical lines There was reason for this for at avery early stage in the war Span probably with a foreboding of what the outcome was fo be sought to separate the important im-portant Vlscayn group from the remainder re-mainder of the Philippines by a decree and the Information was conveyed to the state department to the effect that a certaiq European power was endeavoring en-deavoring to obtain through an agree meat with Spain the important ISland of Palawan lying to the southwest of the Philippine group and commanding an Important position in the trade between be-tween China and Australia n was recognized that the Sulu islands might become an object of attack at-tack for their status is not quite like that of the remainder of the Philippine group Spains own title to them was not established beyond question until 877 when Germany and Great Britain both acknowledged Spanish sovereIgnty in return for certain concessions as to freedom of trade and fisheries so far as the islands were concerned I happened hap-pened perhaps fortunately for our contention con-tention that the Sulu Islands belonged to the Philippines that a few years later Spain herself issued a decree declaring de-claring the islands to be a part of the Philippines and extending the authorIty author-Ity of the captain general at Manila over the group TRADE CONCESSIONS The trade concessions above referred re-ferred to were confined to Great Britain and Germany and just what effect annexation of the Phippine to the United States wi have upon tem is ii mater to be hereafter decided A Iereater precedent close Qt hand Is afforded by the Fjhnch annexatioii of Madagascar In that case the United States had a I special treaty wit the Malay gov erpent under which exports from the United States wer admitted to the Island under certain fixed and favorable favor-able ad vorem rte The French government which acquired the island by conquest clamedtat this treaty should give way to theordinar French tariff and the United States was obliged to accept that contention 1 I cannot now be foretold whether the Special privileges her by England I and Germany in the Sulus are to con thiue and it is proposed that the subject sub-ject will be deal with in connection with the whole problem tat will be presented to OUr government in arranging ar-ranging a tariff system and sipping laws for the colonIes I It is believed that the definition of the limits of the Philippines group In the American demands was a follows fol-lows Jrm five negrees th rtyto minutes north latitude to nineteen degrees de-grees thirtyeIght minutes north lat tude and from 17 degres east longitude longi-tude to 16 degrees east longitude thus covering about 1000 miles north ads ad-s th nd 600 miles est and west I is the impression at the state department de-partment in the absence of anythIng save press reports of the proceedings ai Pars today that the commission work is now near a end and that about two weeks time will suffice t close it uP This idea Is based on the belief that instead of undertaking to arrange the several maters yet to be settled a clause will be inserted in the treaty binding each of the parties to begin negotiations in the near future fu-ture upon those subjects Such clause of neessity must be very carefully drawn in order to insure to the United Sates a resumption of commercial relation re-lation with Spain on fair terms with other nations though it cannot go far into details and must be limited in scope to something like a general pledge to yield to the United State favorable ondit1ons conditons I was sid at the state department that the next step in order will be to bgin negotiations for the acquisition of gn in the Caroline islands for a cable station This is not to be mae the subject of a demand upon Spain but will be an ofer in all sincerity to purchase the island at a fall price I is not In contemplation to take all of the Caroline group |