The age-herald., 1898-07-15
WAR GOSSIP FROM WASHINGTON
BY ARCHIBALD ". BUTT.

l ees are beginning to be sagitated as to
 whether Spain will force this country to
 take Havana. If it does there is some
 fighting and considerable trouble ahead of
 the government.
 All the rumors of peace have been elusive
 and indefinite and in most cases baseless.
 There seems to be disposition on the | part of the government to grant peace on | easy terms to the enemy. Even if the
 president desired to conclude peace which
 would secure independence to the Cubans | and give us possession of Porto Rico until l the indemnity was paid it is exceedingly | doubtful whether the senate would ratify
 such treaty. At present 1t would be | impossible to get the consent of that body
 to such a settlement. Just at the pres | ent time there is no disposition on the 1 part of any one here to put a stop to the | war until Spain is denuded of all her col | onies with the exception possibly of the | Carolines Senator Elkins who has more 1 influence with the president than any one
 in public life today, including Mark Hanna, 1 advocates continuing the war until the | last vestaee of territorial possession is | wrested from the grasp of Spain. It | Elkins largely who set the president | against the recognition of Cuba as a gov l ernment, urging the right of this country l to annex Cuba if war was entered into l While this extreme view of the West vir- l ginian does not find many open sympa- 1 thizers among public men, still his senti- l ments as regards to holding the Philip 1 pines and taking Porto Rico are in perfect l accord with the sentiment prevailing among ] more than three-fourths of the congress | of the United States.
 peace party has already come into ex- [ istence here. It is headed by Ex-Senator
 Edmunds swho is here now, feeling the 1 temper of the administration. Senator Edmunds believes in bringing the war to ] close as soon as Spain expresses a will l lingness to grant what he demanded before
 war was declared. He found little sympa-
 thy here. Even at the white house his
 proposition met with a cold reception. 1 The president is expecting Spain to sue for i peace at any time now, but he does not ] anticipate that the terms proposed will be i such as he can consider. Spain will sug- l gest peace the basis of relnquishing 1 Cuba. She will probably have Germany l and France to urge upon this country the | fairness and liberalty of this proposition.
 These powers will not expect this coun- 1 try to accept such proposition, but 1t l will be the basis of a settlement later,
 whereby Spain will add indemnity | also.
 The administration is being warned not l to be caught in such trap, but upon the 1 first suggestions of peace to lay down as 1 a limit for settlement the independence 1 of Cuba, the relinquishment of Porto Rico | and the Philippines and war indemnity | of fifty million pounds, the payment to be | guaranteed bV this country holding the 1 Canaries.
 Washington is beginning to remind the | veterans of the days in the last war, The | populace has become accustomed to see
 men in uniforms about the streets. Penn- 1 sylvania avenue is thronged every day with l soldiers from Camp Alger. Even the pro- vost guard filing through the streets, l searching the saloons and cafes excite but | little interest These are details of war | which become natural to the citizen in 1 short time. The sick and the wounded 1 are just beginning to come in from the l front There are not many of them One | or two a day are all that can be seen now. | They excite interest wherever they appear. As they go into the war department they | are met with deference and everyone stops | to speak to them and to have kind word | to say. They never get out of the build l ing without having an audience with the
 adjutant general or the secretary The
 reporters eagerly take down their experi- | erces and if possible get sketch of the | invalid. As fast as they become conva | lescent in Tampa Key West, Atlanta or | Norfolk they want to come to Washington In time they may become as common 1 to the view and excite no more interest than the soldiers from Camp Alger, but | now they are heroes and made much over | The administration is having hard time l making heroes. This is not eXactlyl the | way to put it either, for no one believes l that the president has attempted to play | fayorites. Still the men whom the admin l istra ton picked out to play the leading | roles have proved to be, if not failures, at
 least unpopular in the hero line. There l has possibly been too much favoritism shown in the bureau of navigation and the l venting of i'll will and evening up of scores,
 but the fault has not been with the presi- dent When war was declared the execu- I tive found certain officers in charge of the | important bureaus of the war and navy | departments. He knew them to be capable | and trusted them implicitly. When they | brought him Sampson as the ranking ad- | miral for the North Atlantic squadron, he | relied upon their judgment and placed him 1 over Schley. There is no doubt as to | Sampson's ability and it was unjust to l him to promote him over as popular and capable a man as Schley. The friends of
 the latter resented it, and have only wait l ed for an opportunity to do him. to drop 1 into phrase which aptly describes the situation here. It is not so much to see | justice done Scnley as II IS to ln1ure Sdmp- | son that so many officers in the navy are | defending the former from real and im- l aginative attacks. The fault is not with | Sampson that he was promoted, he could | not decline the honor when given him any | moro than Schley could refuse to accept | his billet The whole thing has been most | unfortunate as it has divided the friends | of both and will cause an unwholesome | discussion in congress when that body l meets again. Every one testifies to the l aata v,f Go, | to this time nothing has ever been said against him. He has been "hoodooed" by | being. played as the favorite.
 l Sampson was unfortunate in not men, | tioning the name of Schley in his bulletins, | though navy officers. say it would have | been stranger still had he done so He Is l criticised very severely for the curt mes | sage, Report your casualties,' in answer
 to Scheys signal, "A glorious victory has 1 been won-details later"
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