Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1898-12-21

also read portion OF Ietler from al
army officer to the same effect. In Ad-
miral Dewey's letter he said that he had
not the slightest difficulty in dealing
with the Philippines.
| Mr.. Teller said that he would have
the people given all the encouragement
possible, and If they developed quail
| ties Of statehood he would grant them
that.
Referring to the territory acquired by
the United States during the recent
war; Mr.. Teller said:
1--WE have already acquired this ter
ritory. We need, as a matter of fact,
no treaty with Spain to confirm our
right to it. BY right of conquest,
right undisputed we came into possess
sion of Cuba, Porto Rico and the Asiatic
archipelago. They are ours just as GER
tainly as they could be made so by
treaty"
Mr.. Teller discussed briefly the state
ment of Mfr. Vest that many of the
deeds of cession Of foreign territory ac-
clauses providing that the territory ul-
timately should be erected into states
of the Union.
1--WE can confer statehood upon these
territories when in our judgment it is
proper to do so. Nobody can call into
question our right to exercise our judy
ment in this matter.
IF we acquire territory" he contin-
ued, 1.-The very act carries with 1T the
right to govern. Who" he demanded
with dramatic force, "can govern now
in Cuba or in Porto Rico but the United
States? That question is settled-set-
tied by the very circumstances of the
case. The question is now, What dis
position shall we make of the territory
that has come into our possession?
At the conclusion of Mr.. Tellers
speech Mr.. Elkins called up the bill re-
lating to American registry of wrecked
foreign vessels.
The Navy Discussed.
There was an informal discussion in
the senate committee on naval affairs
of the suggestion Of the navy depart
ment for the increase of the navy The
question was raised by .Senator Hanna,
who advanced the opinion that, for the
present, additions to the navy should
be limited to the actual requirements.
He gave as his rea sons for this opin-
ion the fact that many Improvements
are being made in naval architecture,
rendering 1t expedient, as he believed.
for the United States to wait upon these
improvements as long as possible before
entering too extensively upon ship
building. Other senators present ex-
pressed a similar opinion, but as the
question was not formally before the
committee no action was taken.
The same committee also considered
briefly the nominations of naval officers
to be advanced in rank for meritorious
services during the late war and decid-
ed to postpone further consideration Of
the question until after the holidays.
The postponement of the question was
made in response to the request of sem
ators who were not members of the
committee. One Of these was Senator
Plat of New York, who, it is stated,
desired to be heard as to the effect OF
the fortunate officers over their seniors
in rank.
1t was stated that the promotions
would affect many officers whose failure
to distinguish themselves was due to no
fault of theirs, but to the fact that their
assignments for the war were not such
as to afford them opportunity to show
their mettle.
The discussion did not, however, de-
velop any difference in the committee
itself as to the wisdom of the promo
tions, and nothing was said as to the
relative merits of any of the officers
promoted.