Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 October 1897 — OFFICIALS ARE NOT SURPRISED. [ARTICLE]

OFFICIALS ARE NOT SURPRISED.

Fall of Spain's Cabinet Apparently Expected in Washington. It cannot be said that the fall of the Spanish cabinet caused siirprise among the officials of the State Department or among the members of the diplomatic corps in Washington. A careful inspection of the cable news for the past few weeks had left the general impression that the cabinet erected in haste after the assassination of Premier Canovas could not be expected to survive long. There were several reasons for this expectation, but perhaps the principal one was the belief that the dissensions among the supporters of the Government caused by the personal encounter between the Duke of Tetuan, the minister for foreign affairs, and one of the leaders of the dissident conservatives, Senator Comas, had not been healed, but had been only bridged over temporarily. The dissident conservatives at the time insisted upon the resignation of the duke as a condition of their further support of the Government. As the Government depended not upon a homogeneous party, but rather upon a union of various elements generally opposed to liberal ideas for its existence, this was a threatening condition, and a crisis was averted only through strenuous efforts of conservative leaders. Secretary Sherman does not believe that it will materially affect the relations of Spain either to the United States or to Cuba, which seems to indicate an expectation on his part that the new cabinet will be found to be still of a conservative tendency. On the other hand, high officials in the administration expect that a liberal cabinet will be erected. If this should be the ease the future is held to he full of promise for Cuba, for it is recalled that the liberals have not hesitated to express their opposition to the great expenditure of human life and vast treasure in the effort to carry out the repressive conservative program for the conduct of the war. It is not believed that the liberals are prepared to go to the length of promising freedom to Cuba, but from the expressions of the leaders of the party is it hoped that they are willing to grant so liberal a measure of home rule and autonomy to the island that of Spanish sovereignty nothing would remain save a shred in the way of a few preferential duties, and perhaps the power of appointing some official* corresponding to the governor general of Canada, named by the British crown.