The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1898-06-23
WASHINGTON.
rom our Regular Correspondent.
WASHINGTON. Tune .

tDSi' iiio oNiNiSSo
from Washington that the army had
started for Cuba, Admiral Sampson
captured Guantanamo Bay, where ne
will establish a navy supply station,
and landed GOO marines to hold a
position from which his shells had
driven Spanish troops and where he
hopes to put cable station. For
three days they successfully maintain
ed an almost continuous night and
day fight with a force of Spaniards
outnumbering them five to one, but
there is little doubt that these marines
would have been to man killed had
they not been reinforced by consid.
cradle body of insurgents. Thanks
to the Cuban insurgents, the marines,
with the exception of few vino were
killed-some Of the corpses being bar
barously 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 ILL.,, 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 a good Samaritan.
and while performing the act of a
good Samaritan l want no larceny on
behalf ofmy country" and the follow
ing sentence in the platform adopted
by the convention "Resolved, that
the U. S. should hold all of the pos
sessions 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 annexa-
tion than the adoption of resolution
declaring annexation dangerous and
unwise and that it reverses our tradi
tional policy and may lead to colonial
aggrandlzement and ultimately to the
destruction of republican institutions
The vote upon the resolution was SO
to IT, but more than fifty OF the
democratic members of the House
were absent from the caucus. Upon
the vote by which the House adopted
the resolution for the annexation of
HAWAII IS democrats voted aye and
78 no, while a number were purpose
ly absent. The total vote was 2Io
to 92.
Representative Vincent, of Kansas,
is So much like Senator Sullivan, who
succeeded the late Senator George,
of Miss, that the two men are con-
stantly being taken for each other.
The Senate this week adopted
without a division the resolution offer
ed by Senator Lodge, instructing the
committee on Claims to investigate
the statement that a lobbyist had re-
ceived IS per cent OF the amount
recently appropriated by Congress to
pay war claim OF the book publish
ing house of the Southern Methodist
Church, but while the matter was un-
der discussion there was some plain
talk. Senator Morgan charged that
the resolution was intended for politi-
cal effect, and asked why it did not
include an investigation of the pay
ment to lobbyists of SO per cent. Of
the $3SS,ooo recently appropriated
by Congress to pay claims of the
heirs of John Roach, the shipbullder.
1t was not claimed by anybody that
the claim of the Southern Methodists
was not perfectly just one, but the
objection was to their having employ
ed lobbyist to push their bill. Sena-
tor Pasco, who was instrumental in
getting the bill through, stated in the
course of speech that "there is an
obligation upon high church authori-
ties to conduct an investigation of the
action OF some of Its officials" The
whole thing is sort Of tempest in
teapot. Although Senators must
know as we'll as anybody else that there
are hundreds of attorneys in Wash
ington whose principal employment is
prompting legislation-in common
parlance, lobbying-yet they invariab-
ly become excited whenever any par
ticular case of lobbying happens to be
mentioned in public. This claim al
though admitted to be just had been
before Congress for more than twenty
years, and in hiring an attorney to
help them push it through those inter-
ested only followed the common prac-
tice, except that they agreed to pay