Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1898-02-26
WASHINGTON LETTER.
ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS.

SOUTHERN CLAIMS AGAIN - The
! spectre Of southern claims has arisen
once more over the horizon. Anyone
who has supposed that the 'war was
ended" in good faith has only to rea
the volume of more than two hundred
pages put forth by the Senate com
mittee on claims as its respon e to the
clause in the general deficiency act OF
last session directing it to prepare IL
comprehensive bill disposing of ths
whole mass of accumulated clai rs
against the United States, now before
Congress, which make any preten-
siOns to merit. This accumulation
embraces great variety of cases,
which the committee has divided into
seven classes. The largest class, in
point Of the total amount of money in
volved,is that Of the claims of states,
which aggregate -, 693, 1857. The
next largest is the class of cases aris-
ing under the Bowman act. chiefly for
supplies appropriated by the federal
army during the war, and which have
been passed by the court of claims,
together with some cases in which
compensation was allowed by the court
for occupation of real estate, aestruc-
ton of property, ETC., under other
acts this class involves ~ S4l ,563.l7.
The French spoliation claims, already
passed by the same court, come next
with 1,O43, 117.O4. Naval contracts
which were not wholly fulfilled, leave
remnants amounting to 1892, 800. 81.
Churches and schools in the South,
whose property was despoiled,
want 1865, ,974.96. Miscellaneous
claims, mostly growing ont of the
civil war, and including settle
ments with insurance companies, ETC.,
amount of 1897, ,2O4. 43. Finally, there
is class of unadjusted claims, which
to the committee seem to have more
or less merit aud which might be
scaled down to $130, 0,359.74. The
whole amount which the government
is asked to pay to claimants of all
sorts is 80, 765, S23.53. This amount,
by the way, is independent of num-
ber of claims which are treated in sep
arate bills providing for their refer
ence to the court of claims. OF the
total here given, however, easily from
SO, 600, 900 to $7,OOO,O0O grow out of
the civil war, which was officially
ended more than thirty years ago.
In the meanwhile, the great
mass of persons who We're depended
upon as witnesses for the claim
ants, and who were old orof middle age
at the time the essential events occur
red, have either died or become feeble
in body and uncertain in memory.
They have not been, as rule, sub
jected to the searching fire of a cross
examination in court by counsel who
were thoroughly conversant with the
evidence on the other side. In short,
the government has had no adequate
defence. The most it could do was
to stand its ground and throw the
burden of proof upon the claimants.
HE PRESIDENTS APPOINTMENTS
President Mckinley continues to ap-
point men to important offices whose
selection receives adverse criticism.
Among the latest of these is his con-
ferring the place of fish commissioner
upon man who confessedly has no
knowledge of fish culture. This APP
pointee is from West Virginia,
and he is commissioned be-
cause Senator Elkins OF that
state wants something for him.
Senator Elkins admits his selections
ignorance of duties which a scientific
man should have been taken to dis
charge, but says che is bright fell
low and will catch on all right" tits
the senators themselves who make
these appointments. Nobody believes
that the president would have selected
this man for the place of fish commits
sioner on his own judgment. 1t has
to be confessed that the feeling is
growing that in appointing men to
Office MI. Mckinley is one of the
weakest presidents the nation ha
ever had. He is strong in other ways
but not in this.
A CHANCE FOR AN EXPLANATION
There is talk in Congress of an inves-
tigation of the Chestnut Street bank
affair in Philadelphia. And it is not
confined to that Pennsylvania con-
gressman who is said to have depos-
tied his quarters salary in the bank
on the day before its doors were
closed. Controller Eckels admitted
before he went out of Office that the
bank was known by him to be in a
shaky condition as far back rs
during the campaign of 1896, but he
did nothing, for fear of causing panic,
and he continued to permit the bank
to go on inviting deposits for more
than year after it was known to be
insolvent. Moreover, he winked at
the violation OF the national bank law,
which prohibits the lending of more
than 10 per cent. Of banks capital to
any one person, when the president of
this bank was borrowing from it more
than the entire capital. Evidently an
investigation is needed; and young
Mr.. Eckels certainly needs an oppor-
tunity to make an explanation.
The HAWAIIAN QuEsr1oN-There is
now much talk here of effecting the
annexation of Hawaii by joint resolu-
tion or by ''rider" upon some ap-
preparation bill, and this program may
yet be carried out if the administra-
tion uses pressure to accomplish its
purpose. But the struggle seems
more likely to end in the declaration
of virtual protectorate than in actual
annexation. That the opponents
of the treaty favor continued
American control of the islands is
shown by the resolution offered by
Senator White, their leader, to the
effect that in their own affairs the
Hawaiian people should be independ-
ent, while any intervention in the
islands by another power would be re-
garded as an act unfriendly to the
United States. Such a resolution
passed by both houses and signed by
the president, would effectually settle