Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1898-06-24
From Our Regular Correspondent.
WASHINGTON, June II. 1S9

From Our Regular Correspondent.
WASHINGTON, June II, 1898.
Late last week, relying upon his
advices from Washington that the
army had started for Cuba, Admiral
Sampson captured Guantanamo Bay,
where he will establish navy supply
station, and landed 600 marines to
hold . position from which his shells
had driven Spanish troops and where
he hopes to put a cable station. For
three days they successfully maintained
an almost continuous night-and-day
fight with force of Spaniards outnum-
bering them five to one, but there is
little doubt that these marines would
have been to man killed had they not
been reinforced by considerable body
OF insurgents. Thanks to the in
surgents, the marines, with the ex-
ception OF few who were killed
some of the corpses being barbarously
mutilated by the Spaniards-still hold
the position they were sent to hold,
and Sampson says can do so until the
army arrives.
Some of his colleagues are disposed
to poke little fun at Senator " Billy"
Mason, of Illinois, because of the
marked discrepancy between that
portion of his speech to the Illinois
Republican State Convention. in which
he said OF the conduct of the war
We went out to the world as q good
Samaritan. l want no lsrcency on be-
half of my country" and the follow
ing sentence in the platform adopted
by the convention: Resolved, that
the United States should hold all of
the possessions it has conquered and
may conquer from Spain"
So many members of the party
favored the annexation of Hawaii that
it was deemed inadvisable to have the
Democratic House caucus take any
more positive action against the an
nexation than the adoption of reso-
luton declaring annexation dangerous
and otherwise and that it reverses our
traditional policy aud may lead to
colonial aggrandizement and ultimate.
ly to the destruction of Republican
institutions. The vote upon the
resolution was so to II, but more
than fifty of the Democratic members
OF the House were absent from the
caucus. Upon the vote adopting the
resolution for the annexation OF
Hawaii, Is Democrats voted aye and
rs no. while number were purposely
absent, The total vote was 2l0 % 80.
Representative Vincent, of Kansas,
is so much like Senator Sullivan, who
succeeded the late Senator George, of
Mississippi, that the two men are con-
stantly being taken for each other.
The Senate this week adopted with
out division the resolution offered by
Senator Lodge, instruciing the com.
mittee on Claims to investigate the
statement that a lobbyist had received
30 per cent. Of the amount recently
appropriated by Congress to pay q war
claim of the book publishing house of
the Southern Methodist Church, but
while the matter was under discussion
there was plain talk. Senator Morgan
charged that the resolution was in
tended for political effect, and asked
why it did not include an investig,.
ton of the payment to lobbyists OF 10
per cent of the 1888 900 recently ap.
propriated by Congress to pay claims
of the heirs of John Roach, the ship
builder. 1t was not claimed by any.
body that the claim of the Southern
Methodists was not perfectly just
one, but the objection was solely based
upon their having employed q lobby
list TO push their bill. Senator Pasco,
who was instrumental in getting the
bill through. stated in the course of u
speech that "there is an objection
upon high church authorities to con-
duct an investigation of the action of
some of its officials" The whole
thing is sort of tempest in q teapot.
Although Senators must know az we'll
as anybody else that there are hun.
dreds of attorneys in Washington
whose principal employment is pro-
noting legislation-in common par
lance, lobbying-yet they invariably
become excited whenever any par.
ticuiar case OF lobbying happens to be
mentioned in public. This claim
although admitted to be just had been
before Congress for 70 years, and in
hiring an an attorney to help them
push it through those interested only
followed the common practice, excep,
that they agreed TO pay too much.