The Spanish ministers are, however, determined to carry home rule through. The plan is now completed, and has been approved by the ministers, received the Queen's signature, and become a law.
The reassembling of Congress and the President's Message are drawing near again.
People are speculating as to the course the President will recommend in regard to Cuba and Hawaii.
It is thought that he will suggest patience toward Spain until the promised reforms have had time to be put in effect, and that if these reforms seem wise and just we shall not uphold the island in her rebellion.
As to Hawaii, it seems a foregone conclusion that annexation will be recommended, and will be an accomplished fact in a short space of time.
The Competitor prisoners have just landed in this country. The stories they tell of the hardships they endured and the cruelties practised on them are heartrending.
They declare that they were condemned to death without a hearing, and were forced to choose a Spaniard to defend them at the mockery of a trial which they were given.