f the work shall
not exceed $200,000.

The question as to the amount of the indemnity to be paid for the
destruction of the _Maine_, in case Spain is held liable for the
disaster, has occasioned considerable comment in the press. It has been
asserted that the Government should demand at least $10,000,000, and
even so large an amount as $30,000,000 has by some been suggested as the
proper sum to be asked. The ship itself cost about $3,000,000, and the
fittings several millions more. The indemnity should, of course, cover
not only the material loss of the vessel, but the loss of life and the
injury done to our Government.

* * * * *

The divers at work on the wreck of the _Maine_ have been steadily
hampered by the difficult situation of the vessel. In the first place,
the hull is sinking into the mud at the rate of a foot a day, and a week
after the disaster the divers had to wade through mud up to their
waists. Then, too, the water is so dirty that they can hardly see below
the surface.

Nevertheless, they have succeeded in bringing up many valuables, among
others the paymaster's safe containing $2,700.

* * * * *

The opinion seems to be growing that we may never be able to discover
the cause of the disaster. The fact that the forward half of the ship
has been completely destroyed adds probability to this view. The after
half, however, is reported to be practically intact.

As for the submarine mines, it may be that their existence will also
remain problematical. A prominent naval officer has explained that such
mines consist merely of big metal cases filled with gun-cotton, and that
their explosion would blow them into atoms.

* * * * *

In spite of our sensational newspapers, which had done their best to
spread the "war scare," our country has acted in a thoroughly sensible
and praiseworthy manner in relation to the disaster of the _Maine_. The
best of our newspapers, moreover, had also shown a willingness to avoid
sensational news for the sake of encouraging peace. This shows that we
are a much less aggressive nation than we have hitherto been thought to
be.

In this connection it is worth while calling the attention of the
readers of THE GREAT ROUND WORLD to the immense influence that our
newspapers may exert at a time like this. If all of the papers had
behaved as disgracefully as some have done, we might now b