Uncle Sam's Position Stated

    "According to impressions I have been able to collect in various circles unconnected with either side, but entitled to weight, the refusal of the United States is not of so positive a character as would at first sight seem to result from the formal declarations mentioned. The reasoning given me is this: The United States have declared that they made a war not of conquest but of  liberation and order, because they can not allow the prolongation at their  doors of a state of things which was. in their eyes, a blow to the cause of humanity and civilization. They therefore made a public declaration that the war was not one of conquest, and they now consider that by agreeing to be invested with the sovereignty of Cuba they would give themselves the appearance of having conquered the island for territorial aggrandizement. They refuse to give themselves the appearance of a conquering nation. Hence they positively refuse to accept that capacity of sovereignty which would be inconsistent with the character of humanitarian disinterestedness essential to the honor of America. 

   "The United States quite comprehend that their firm refusal to accept sovereignty does not exclude obligation, on the footing of justice and equity, to make Spain real concessions as to financial burdens which would be crushing if she were saddled with the whole Cuban debt. We may be certain that on this point the Americans will be less inflexible than on the principle of sovereignty. The proof, I am told, that the United States are disposed to meet Spain in an equitable fashion is that the Spanish commissioners, who would not at first accept an invitation to dine with General Horace Porter until the end of the conference, have now accepted. Friends of the United States here think it might have been better if they had proceeded more openly and if, instead of conquering the island indirectly, the Washington government had frankly accepted sovereignty in Cuba with all the rights and obligations involved."