Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 62, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 April 1898 — SEEKING FOR PEACE. [ARTICLE]

SEEKING FOR PEACE.

Representatives of Six Great Pow- . ers Confer with the President. they present ab important note. • -I. It Kxpreue* Hope That Peace Will Prevail The Preeident’e Reply Creates a Favorable Impreaf . aion—Sitnatioa Not Affected. Washington, April 8. —The representatives of the six great powers of Europe, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Austria and Italy, gave official form at noon Thursday to their recent conferences in the interest of a peaceful solution of the Cuban problem. Their procedure was unique in the United States, though doubtless a familiar one in European courts. • The diplomatic officials congregated art the British embassy shortly before noon and then proceeded with their secretaries to the white house and state department. ’ Arriving at the white house they were ushered into the blue room and there were received by President McKinley. After a social exchange and mutual well wishes, the ambassadors, ministers and charges, speaking through Sir Julian Pauncefote, delivered to the president an address, to which he responded. Sir Julian Pauncefote said: Mr. President: We have been commissioned by the great powers of Europe Whom we represent here to-day to approach ybur excellency with a message of friendship and peace at the present critical juncture in the relations between the United States and Spain, and to convey to you the sentiments expressed in the collective note which I have the honor to place in your hands.’’ Note of Powers Presented. Sir Julian Pauncefote, as representative of the powers, presented the following: “The undersigned representatives of Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Great Britain, Italy and Russia, duly authorized In that behalf, address in the name of their respective governments a pressing appeal to the feelings of humanity and moderation of the president and of the American people 'in their existing differences with Spain. They earnestly hope that further negotiations will lead to an agreement which, while securing the maintenance of peace, will afford all necessary guarantees for the reestablishment of order In Cuba. “The powers do not doubt that the humanitarian and purely disinterested character of this representation will be fully recognized and appreciated by the American nation.” The President’* Reply. President McKinley replied as follows: "The government of the United States recognizes the good will which has prompted the friendly communication of the representatives of Germany, Austria-Hun-gary, France, Great Britain, Italy and Russia, as set forth In the address of your excellencies, and shares the hope, therein expressed that the outcome of the situation in Cuba may be the maintenance of peace between the United States and Spain by affording the necessary guarantees for the reestablishment of order in the island, Bo terminating the chronic condition of disturbance there, which so deeply injures the interests and menaces the tranquillity of the American nation by the character ia.nd consequences of the struggle thus kept up at our doors, besides shocking its sentiment of humanity. “The government of the United States appreciates the humanitarian and disinterested charactrfof the communication now made on beAa.lt of the powers named, and for ifte partis' confident that equal appreciation will bo shown for its own earnest and unselfish endeavors to fulfill a duty to humanity by ending a situation the indefinite prolongation of which has become insufferable.” At the State Department. * *♦. - The party then withdrew to the state department and repaired in a body to the diplomatic room, where they h'eld a conference with Judge Day, assistant secretary of state, Secretary Sherman having gone home to lunch before their arrival. This conference took a wider range and went considerably outside of the address delivered to the president. Situation Not Affected. The note of the European powers presented to the president has not in the opinion of members of the administration changed the situation in the slightest degree. What pressure was brought to bear to secure even this mildly expressed hope that further negotiations would result in the maintenance of peace is not known, but it is confidently believed that it is the result of persistent appeals on the part of Spain for some expression in favor of peace between the two countries. The note is not regarac 'l. >ny sense as a protest against the course this government has pursued thus far oris likely to adopt to secure a stable government in Cuba. Some of the governments represented in the note are known to be in full accord with this government in its purposes with respect to the Cuban question, and therefore any theory that the note was intended as a remonstrance is not regarded as tenable. The reply of this government, which had previously been read and approved by members of the cabinet, is not considered as indicating any change in the fixed purpose of the president to intervene in Cuba at once, nor is it believed that it was the expectation of a majority of the foreign representatives present that the United States should change its policy or regard the joint note as other than an expression in behalf of peace and without special significance. So far as known in administration circles no further representations on this subject are expected. No Offer of Mediation. No offers of mediation on the part of any European power has been received, and there is high authority for the statement that none would be accepted or proffered. This has been the fixed policy of the government from the first, and there is no prospect of a change in this regard. At the embassies and legations the presentation of tne joint note of the powers was regarded as the event of the day. An ambassador from one of the great jvnwers of continental Europe stated that it was without a parallel in history; that it was the first and the

only time that the six great natictns of Europe, representing in the aggregate the power of civilization, had united in this solemn manner to secure the peace pf the world. It was, this high authority stated, a movement historipal in character and one fitting to occur on the advent Of the twentieth century. Favorably Received. Calls at the various embassies and legations late in thi» day showed that the response of the president created a most favorable impression in foreign quarters. The president’s answer was looked upon to some extent as a\Qounter appeal to the great powers for their cooperation in the cause of humanity against the intolerable condition of affairs in Cuba. In some diplomatic quarters there was a disposition to read the joint note “between the lines,” and to give it a suggestive character beyond the mild phrases adopted. This was not the generally-accepted view, however. The favorable manner of its reception was looked upon as a wise move at this critical juncture, for, without rejecting as an intrusion these foreign suggestions, they were so received as to give the greatest promise of sym pathy, rather than opposition from the most powerful joint influences in the world.