The administration of the colonies the United States took over after the Spanish-American War is the subject of several letters on the early part of this reel. Abram S. Hewitt wrote about the inevitability of American involvement; Carl Schurz wrote two notes; and General James H. Wilson wrote February tenth and March third about the efforts of Americans to help Cubans set up a stable government. On March eleventh Smith wrote Gregory of a change that would allow the Canadian House of Commons to veto a Senate bill by a two-thirds or three-fifths vote. Several letters in April questioned the legality of the handling of stock by the Canada Life Company and there were several letters about Canadian copyright from English and Canadian publishers. Letters from Sidney on August 18th and October 26th comment on the Australian Constitution Bill that was before the legislature. The failure of negotiations in South Africa and the outbreak of the Boer War form the subject of much of the correspondence in the later months of 1899. James Bryce, W . Bourke Cockran, Merriman and John Morley were among those who joined the discussion.