Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1898-10-26
Washington Letter.
From our Regular Correspondent

The sneak campaign through which
the Democrats hoped to capture the
house by lulling Republican voters
into a feeling of over-security that
would prevent their voting will not
succeed. Every day makes that more
apparent. Republicans everywhere
now realize the absolute necessity of
continued control of the house, not
only to keep the good work of the
campaign of '96 from being undone,
but to carry out the war policy of
President Mckinley. The prosperity
OF the country, as we'll as the prestige
OF the government abroad, is at stake.
A few weeks ago there were many
Republicans who did not realize this;
to-day there T. not SO many by thou
sands, and before election day there
will be none, and the result of this
awakening will be a rousing Republi-
can victory and endorsement of the
grand achievements of the admins
t%ration, both in peace and in war.
The Democrats are already beginning
to realize this, as they are beginning
to discount their defeat. They are
no longer claiming that they will elect
a majority of the house, but are be-
ginning to let themselves down easy
by claiming that they will cut down
the Republican majority in the house.
The official news from the Ameri-
can peace commissioners has not
been made public, but it is satisfactory
to Secretary Hay, as far as it has
gone, and it has gone as far as was
expected, under the circumstances.
Speed and prOmptness are unknown
to the Spanish character, but Spain
has been made to understand that
what she is pleased to call the
Cuban bonded Indebtedness would not
be allowed to figure in the negotia-
tions at Paris. 1t required no new
Instructions to the American COM
missiOners to accomplish that result.
They understood from the first that
President Mckinley was determined
that the United States would have
nothing whatever to do with either
paying or guaranteeing the payment
of a single bond issued by the king
dom of Spain. When the Philippine
question is taken up Spain will
again be shown that the United States
is debating the terms of the treaty Of
peace, not playing q game of diplo-
macy.
This government will hereafter
make smokeless powder for the navy,
as will be seen from the following ex-
tract from The annual report of the
chief of the naval ordnance bureau:
After many difficulties the manu-
facture of a purely smokeless powder,
made by the bureaus formula from
soluble n~itrocellulose dissolved in
ether alcohol, uniform in character
and possessing good keeping qualities,
has become an accomplished fact.
Considerable quantities have already
been provided and a few vessels have
been given complete outfits; all yes
sells fitted out hereafter will, if time
and money permit, be supplied exclu-
sively with smOkeless powder, except
a certain number of charges of brown
powder to be used for target practice
in order that the supply on hand may
be used up, and because it is cheaper
than smOkeless powder. The bureau
could have supplied considerable
quantities of smokeleSs powder to vari-
Gus vessels during the late war, but,
as owing to lack OF time it was i'm
practicable to supply complete outfits,
it seemed useless to supply it in part,
as a few guns using brown powder
would nullify the advantages gained
by the use of smOkeless powder in
others"
The statement sent out from Wash
ington that there was some doubt
about the legal status of residents o.
Porto Rico, 20 that they have come
under Old Glory, was erroneous.
There isn't the slightest doubt about
their legal status. International law
regards a transfer of soil as carrying
a transfer of the citizenship of resi-
dents upon that soil, except wher
otherwise provided in a treaty between
the nation which gives up and thar
which takes possession. Porto Ricans
are to-day American citizens, if the
opinions ofinternational lawyers of re.
pute are good, and should one of then
move into one of the states he would
only have to meet the same require
ments that a citizen from another
state would have to meet in order tC
exercise all the privileges of citizen.
ship.