Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 88, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 July 1898 — MUCH TALK OF PEACE [ARTICLE]

MUCH TALK OF PEACE

Active Negotiations, However, Are Not Yet Bagun. PESSIMISTIC FEELING IN MADRID. Hopelessness of the Situation Is Recognised and the Peaee Party Grows in Strength—Fall of Santiago May Brins the Climax. Madrid, July 11. —Information received from the most reliable sources is to the effect that the darkest pessimism pervades Madrid officialdom. The hopelessness of the war is finally reccognize.d and the peace idea now seems to predominate in the cabinet, and negotiations are considered urgent. The cabinet is likely to cohere until peace is secured. It is now recognized that Santiago de Cuba is completely beleaguered and cannot hold out, owing to the lack of provisions and munitions of war. It is considered certain that the Americans will blockade Cuban and Puerto Rican ports, cutting off their supplies, while the authorities are convinced that an American fleet is coming to the peninsula. There is no confidence felt that the powers will interfere even if defenseless seaports are bombarded, and, therefore, what measures of defense are possible are being adopted. Awaitingr tbe End. Paris, July 11. —The Madrid correspondent of the Temps says: The end is impatiently awaited, even the government no longer attempting to disguise its conviction that after the fall of Santiago the time will have come for thinking about overtures of peace, especially as all the European chancellories advise this course. The meetings that are being held at Bayonne, in the province of Navarre, and along the Pyrennean frontier o-reatly disturb the ministry. Tbe partisans of Don Carlos are making no secret of their intention to rise if the terms upon which peace is conducted should entail a loss of territory. Gen. Blanco cables that it will be impossible for reenforcements to reach Santiago in time to aid in the defense, the duration of w’hi,ch will depend upon the supply of food and ammunition, unless the garrison attempts a desperate sortie. No Tangible Results. London, July 11. —A special dispatch from Madrid says: All the talk of peace seems up to the present to have led to no tangible results. No doubt the government would welcome the opportunity to negotiate directly with the United States were the signs propitious, but there are so many circumstances to be considered that it looks as though the policy of drift and waiting for something to turn up would continue until Santiago has fallen. The fall of Santiago will convince the most sanguine of the hopelessness of the struggle and will give the government the desired opportunity at least to suggest an armistice for the decision of terms. A detailed account has been published of Spain’s naval losses—2l warships and 21 merchantmen, as against practically no losses on the American side. This tends to convince the most rabid war advocate, and, as for a long time past, the whole commercial and industrial interests of Spain* are bringing influence to bear in favor of peace. Blanco trgen War to the End. Paris, July 11. —A letter from Madrid says that Gen. Blanoo, in replying to the government’s request for his views of the situation, urge# “war to the end” and asserts that the Cuban volunteers cannot be reconciled to the idea of the handing over of the islands to the Americans, especially now that a great majority of the Cubans Savor Spain.