England and France were disposed to restore the republic to the people, and trust to them to defend themselves against domestic convulsions; but they stood alone in this. They were unable to reply to the objections raised by the other Powers, that this would inevitably result in another revolution, and the necessity upon Europe, as the guardian of civilization, once more to conquer the country. Was it expedient to accept the risk of such another war? Moreover, who was to bear the expense of the struggle just completed? For herself, Germany protested that she was unwilling to forego her right to demand indemnity from the United States. England also took this view. There was no possibility that such an indemnity--amounting to fully three thousand millions of dollars--could be obtained if the autonomy of the nation were restored. The following recommendations were finally drafted by the conference:-- That the signatory Powers should continue in occupation of the United States at least until another conference should agree as to the safety of establishing some sort of local government; that the supreme authority should be vested in a board of European administrators, to be appointed, one by each Power, and to choose a president from their own number; that this board should levy taxes and customs, from which they should repay to Germany, England, and France such sums as those Governments had respectively expended in the war; that the cost of maintaining the army of occupation should also be defrayed from the local taxes; and that a sufficient direct tax should be imposed to result, within three years, in the payment of three hundred and fifty millions of dollars to each of the three Governments at London, Berlin, and Paris, to be applied towards pensions required for the sufferers by the war. The recommendations of the conference were accepted and adopted by the Governments concerned. Their armies still garrison the land; their agents sit in the Capitol at Washington. Cities and towns are allowed to elect local councils, but they administer only such local affairs as do not involve the power of taxation or of expending money. The purse-strings are held in the hands of the European administrators and their subordinates. Not even a road tax can be levied except on their warrants; not even a school-district meeting held without their permission and the presence of their guards to preserve order and repress possible sedition. Nevertheless there are many who find the subject position of the country quite as endurable as its condition before the revolution. To be sure, taxation is heavy, but its burdens fall equitably upon all. Business men find themselves much better protected in their pecuniary dealings than ever before. Bank cashiers who steal funds committed to their care are punished with such severity that the crime has almost ceased to be known. Not a single defalcation has been reported during the two years of 1894 and 1895.