The Press., 1898-06-30
Waahinrton Letter.
washington. June H, 1888

washington, June H7, 1898.
 Victory has followed victory from the | day that Gen. Shafter's army landed in Cuba and began the land movement to- wards Santiago, and news of the capture of that town may be expected at any time. although there ls a possibility that Gen. Shafter, having gotten all the Spaniards in that vicinity rounded up inside the heavy fertilization of the town, may defer the big battle until the achievements which'are on the way from Newport News and Tampa shall reach him It Is very positively stated that Gen. Shafter has no orders from Washington further than to capture Santiago, the ways and means being left entirely to his discretion, and Gen. Miles, who expects to go to Santi- ago in a few days, from Tampa, with aI- most as many soldiers as Shafter carried with him, says he is not going to interfere with Shafter, who he thinks will have Santiago before he gets there, but to assume charge of the military operations of which Santiago after It's capture, will be made the base. Shafter's victories have cost more good American lives and blood than the whole war previously, but that was to be expected. Miracles like Dewey's victory are not expected to be duplicated. Men go to war to kill and to be killed.
 The Spanlsh government should have the various stories which its censor allows to be telegraphed from Madrid for bam- boozlIng purposes better edited. The stories that the Cadiz Spanish fleet had started for Manila to attack Dewey, and that a new ministry was to be formed to ask the U. s. for peace, are not even con- sistent, not to say anything about their probability. For that Spanish fleet to get to Manila would take something like five or six weeks, and 1t would have to pass through the Suez Canal, where its movements could not be concealed; and just as soon as this government was h. formed of its passage through the canal 1t could send a swift fleet across the Atlantic to give the coast cities of Spain taste of the war, with the certain knowledge that Spain would have no fighting ships to op- pose them. The peace talk Is thought to have been sent with the hope that it might delay our military operations in Cuba. If so, a more absurd hope was never indulged in.
 Diplomats who know the Spanish character well regard the publication in Madrid of the statement that the U. s. had offered Spain terms of peace-Spain to surrender Cuba and Porto Rico out right, and to cede coaling stations in the Philippines and Caroline Islands-as an indication that Spain is paving the way at home to asking for peace on the best terms she can get. They say that the rigid government censorship of the press in Spain makes 1t certain that the state ment was given out by the Spanish govern ment. Spain will not get peace on as good terms as these, as 1t Is certain that she will not be allowed to retain the Philip pines under any conditions.
 A few of the senate anti's talk about keeping up the fight against the resolution for the annexation of Hawaii for an in- definite period, but to the old-timers there are many signs visible of the early ad- iOurnment of congress. As 1t has become we'll known that the annexation resOlu- ton must be voted uL on by the senate before the house will agree to an adjourn ment of congress, 1t naturally follows that the signs also point to an early vote by the senate, possibly during the coming week. When the vote Is taken the reso- lution will be adopted, and no time will be lost by the president in formally an nexing Hawaii. He would like very much to announce the annexation on July 4.
 Although some one hundred and fifty odd members of the house has signed a request asking that the committee on rules would report a special order for the consideration of the currency reform bill, which was reported to the house recently, at the present session, the bill will not be acted upon. As a result of the very live ly rumpus in the committee on banking and currency, during which .some mem- bers charged others with having been guilty of sharp practice in submitting the report which accompanied the bill as having been approved by a majority of the committed, the committee ordered the bill to be withdrawn from the house calendar. The bill now stands as though 1t had never been heard of, so far as its official status is concerned. Should the war end before the next regular session of congress meets, as everybody hopes 1t will, and most persons believe 1t will this subject of currency reform will be pretty near the top of the legislative heap, al though until the majority of the senate is changed In sentiment it will only be a waste of time for the house to pass bill anything like this one.
 By some extraordinary hustling on the part of the bureau of engraving and print ing, which has broken all records In amount of work turned out in a given time, and the temporary use of postage stamps in some cases, the embarrassment that was feared from lack of stamps in putting the stamp provisions of the war revenue law into effect July 1, will be avoided.