Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-07-22
IN CASE OF WAR.
Gen. Miles Tells a Senate Com
mittee Some Facts.
HOW WE GOULD INVADE CANADA,

And How, at the Same Time, British
warships Could Give Roland for an
Oliver-The Seals Declared q Nuisance
by Observation-Disclosures Devotes an
Hour or So to Hammering the McKin-
ley Bill-The Free silver Men Keeping
the Fight a-Going.
WASHINGTON CITY, July 22.-Hoar,
chairman of the senate committee on re-
lations with Canada, presented to the SEN
ate yesterday the testimony which has
been taken by that committee The testi-
mony was not accompanied by a report.
IL is understood that the committee will
make report of it's. conclusions at
later period, after additional testimony
shall have been taken at Detroit, Buffalo
and some other points. The testimony
already taken comprises some go printed
pages, aud covers all the points of vital
interest as to the relations between the
United States and the dependencies of
Great Britain in North America.
Gen. Miles on Attack and Defence.
The first witness examined was Gen.
Nelson A. Miles, in command on the Pa
cific coast. Commenting upon the de-
fenceless condition of the United States
upon our northwestern border, the gen.
eral said: 81 will state what is we'll
known in regard to Canada. I believe
that the railway system of British Column
bia could be occupied by American troops
in ten days; in other words, the principal
part of British Columbia could be occu-
pied by American troops-not, however,
through Victoria. That is on the island
of Vancouver, occupied by British forces,
place where the British government has
expended millions in building dry docks,
navy yards, and made some surveys for
Notifications. They have there at this
time feet of warships under command
of British admiral
What the British Would BE Doing.
~ think it is fair to say, what every in
telligent man must know, that during
that ten days the British fleet could de-
stroy every town and city on Puget sound,
destroy our railway system there. and oc-
cupy our outlets for that northwestern
country. They could also send ships up
the Columbia river and destroy the city of
Portland, and that railway system. There
is not gun or an earthwork on Puget
sound nor single artillery soldier There
are few obsolete guns at the mouth of
the Columbia, at Fort Candy, but that is
not now occupied by troops. That is the
condition of affairs north of the harbor of
San Francisco" The general added that
the situation south of San Francisco was
similarly unfortunate.
The Seals a Nuisance, After All.
Some very curious Information is given
as to the nature of the Alaska seal fish
cries. Most of the fishermen engaged in
the food fisheries on the North Atlantic
coast insist that the seals are very destruc-
tive of food fish, and that it will be a
benefit to the country when they shall all
disappear One of the fishermen of the
Northwestern coast said that it requires
over 40 600, 600 pounds of food fish per day
to supply the seals, and that it may be-
come necessary on that coast to get rid OF
the seals in order to preserve the food fish
for mankind. Some of the fishermen pre-
dict that, with the existing methods OF
hunting the seals. there will not be any
seals in Behring's sea in five years time.
An Ail-Embracing Inquiry.
There is hardly limit TO the subjects
considered by this committee The rela-
tions of American and Canadian railways,
effect of the interstate commerce law,
subsidies to Pacific ocean lines, the sal
mon industry, the lumber question, re
ciprocity and annexation, free raw ma.
terial. the anco-Newfoundland EN-
broglio, and the race question in Canada
French Canadian VS.. Anglo-Saxon-are all
presented by people who appeared before
the committee Much of the testimony
as to the effect OF the interstate com
merce law has been presented in these dis
patches