The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1898-12-30
WASHINGTON LETTER
(from our Regular Correspondent,

not succeed in defeating the scheme
To increase the regular army tc
100000 men, but they intend that
the country shall be thoroughly
acquainted with the enormous and
permanent taxation which those
who are behind the scheme are try
ing to put upon the people. The
report OF the minority OF the House
committee on military affairs, sign
ed by every democratic member OF
the committee, has been filed with
the Clerk Of the lIouse-owing TO
the r%allroading of the Hull bill
through the Committee, and report
ing IT to the House before the hol-
lday recess, they had to prepare il
after Congress adlourned-and it il
an interesting document. 1t points
out that while an army of 10000
men would be a menace to our lib
critics in time of peace, it would be
too weak to cope with any first class
powerin war; that the cost o. the
Hull bill would be about $4,000.
600 a year, which added to oul
pension payments would run oui
Military expenditures up TO nearly
$500, 900, OOO-more than is paiC
by any one of the great European
nations, which keep their armies
practically on "A val footing all the
time. Here is a clause Of the re
port, especially deserving consider
alton: 1t is well understood that
the great corporate interests Of thi.
country demand this large army foi
obvious A president witt
such a force behind him, could in
wade our Liberties, suppress freedom
of speech, and ever desecrate tn,
ballot itself. The democrats OF
the committee accompany their re
port with a bill, with which they
will put the House on record, b.
of ring it as substitute for the Hui
bill. 1t provides for a regular arm,
Va t',VpV uItH, anu III tnt tiiil~A
ment, for not more than two years,
of $4,000 volunteers, for service il
the new possessions of the L. ;.
and in Cuba. There is no reason.
at this time, to believe that we will
have any actual need foran army OF
more than $4,000 men two years
hence, as the islands which we are
nov compelled TO garrison are like
" to be either governing themselves
by that time, or owned by some
other government.
Professor Blair, Of n. c., who il
in Washington. said: "The pur.
pose of the North Carolinians to fol
low the example OF Mississippi,
South Carolina and l. uisiana, and
accomplish the partial disfranchise
ment Of the negroes, is worthy and
commendable of all supporters Of
the institutions of this country. 1t
is quite in line with the most adj
vanced idea of the Mckinley ad
ministration, represented by Sena-
tor Cullom's Hawaiian Commission,
which by the way, has modelled a
splendid plan for the disfranchise-
merit Of the North Carolina negroes,
without Intentionally doing such a
thing. The bill he has reported,
DISTINGUISHING the natives of the
Hawaiian islands is a very good one,
in that the natives of the islands
are not fit to govern an American
territory. If his is true in Hawaii,
it is doubly true in North Carolina
Gen. Miles badly frightened a
number of persons, and some Of
them holding L. S. Commissions,
when he said he was making a per
SOCIAL investigation into the sending
of ''embalmed'' beef TO III soldiers
in Cuba and Porto Rico. An inves-
tigation-a real investigation-is
about the last thing anybody CON
nected with hat ''embalmed" beef
wants to see, because, in the first
place, il would show that those high
in authority agreed to making an
experiment that endangered the
health and lives of thousands of
soldi RS for no nor apparent reason
than that 1t would be very profitable
for those who sold the government
the ''embalmed' beef.
Senator Gray, the only democrat
ic member of the Peace Com Lission.
which has just returned from Paris,
bringing the official copy of the
Treaty of Peace, EXPRESSED pleasure
to learn that democratic Senators
generally had accepted Col. Bryan's
idea, that the question Of expansion
was not in any way involved in the
treaty, and that consequently there
rwould be no party opposition to the
~atifica,ion of the treaty. Failure
TO ratiiy the treaty might cause in
terna,ional complications, while its
ratification will clear the deck for Il
domestic contest, as TO whether we
eball kaap tho philippines give