Show chih DECLINES TO MR INCURRED V A courteous but positive refusal Is given to proposal for cuba to assume a portion of the spanish national debt havana secretary of state velez in reply to senor soler the spanish minister has declined to consider conat der proposal that cuba assume a port portion ion of the spanish national debt this announcement was made at the close of what senor velez described as most amicable negotiations between himself and the spanish minister relative to desire that eliat cuba assume a proportion of the spanish debt the secretary on saturday gave out the following statement the spanish minister to cuba on may 27 1909 addressed to the cuban department of state a courteous note setting forth the desire of liis his government to maintain the closest and most friendly relations with cuba as becoming two countries so closely united by blood tradition and mutual interest he said that lie he had been in strutted ted to express express the desire of spain for a discussion of the matter of the debts contracted by spain on account of cuba when the latter was her colony spain founded her contention on oil the principle that a country separated from another should be chargeable with a part of the debt of the country from which it had separated having studied closely the antecedents of this question which public opinion in neither spain nor cuba sus pecked of being still pending secretary velez replied on june 19 to the note of the spanish minister senor velez declared that the acceptance ot 0 the spanish view was incompatible with the provisions of the cuban constitution ution I 1 to w which aich consented in recognizing 0 the republic pAlle re the secretary had decided deol ded consequently that ills his government was unable to enter into negotiations on the question of the spanish colonial debt |