The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-10-21

OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
WASHINGTON, ID. c., October 18th.

1 WAsHINGToN, ID. c., October Eth.
MH oR-Circumstances alter cases,
in politics as well as in other things \
week ago the republicans were pointing
to the odds offered on "Teddv" Roosevelt
10y betting men, as indicating What Il cinch
! he had on the @overnorship of New York.
Now. W hen odds are no longer to he had
and thousands of dollars offered to bet
even remain uncovered, these same repub
licans are saving the betting really has
; nothing to do with the campaign' This
complete somersault is one of the most
amusing features of the campaign. AS a
matter of fact the change in the betting
| has been brought about by the change in
| the situation. When Roosevelt was NOM
mated, the betting men thought he could
| he rushed through the campaign on the
| hurrah, and that the voters of the state
would forget everything else but that he
was Il brave soldier in the Santiago cam
paign; consequently they backed him for
winner They have discovered the
slump in the hurrah, and now they want
to hedge. Lots of things have shown up
| against Roosevelt, not the least of hich
is the almost solid opposition of the Ger
mans, one of the me prominent Of whom
| Oswald Ottendorfer, editor of the Stats
Zcitung-calls Roosevelt "a big boy and
| "a sensation monger.
| The speeches made by Mr.. Mckinley on
| his western trip were not impromptu by
any means. On the contrary, they were
| carefully prepared before he left Wash
| in ton as Il result of numerous confer
ences with Boss Hanna and other party
| leaders, and, while apparently non-parti-
| san, were intended to aid the republicans
in the Congressional campaign, by harp
| ing on the necessity of the country's pre-
! senting a united front and standing by
the administration until the treaty of peace
| has been signed. 1t was shrewd polit
| cal dodge, as it is certain that the treaty
! of peace will not be made public until
| after the Congressional elections, even
should it be concluded before then, which
is not at all probable.
One of the witnesses, and, by the way,
| he was the only naval officer who has
| testified before Mr.. Mckinley's alleged
ves,igation Commission, stated that if
| the navy had not gone to the assistance of
| the army, the army sent to Santiago never
| would have been landed The witness
| Lieut.. Frank X. Hill, who was detailed
| from the batteship Iowa to take charge Of
| the debarkation of Skaters army-con-
| tinued without waiting to be questioned:
"Gen. Shafter himself said that. The
| army came with but one lighter, which
| was about the size of this room. There
were thirty six transports with men and
provisions, and the plan of landing was
for the Cubans to advance on Baiquiri,
while the navy shelled the beach to clear
the way for the landing. The army did
not come prepared to land, and it was
necessary to call upon the navy for trans
portation to the shore" Instead of taking
advantage of the lead thus given to ask
something about why the army was not
properly prepared to land, the commits
sioners tried to get funny by asking about
building dock for Gen Shafter to be
landed upon, and whether they had to use
derricks, etc. If this commission stumbles
upon anything that is not complimentary
| to Alger it will be done unintentionally,
or told voluntarily by some witness, like
Lieut.. Hill, who was temporarily given =
chance to talk without being compelled to
contine himself to answering questions
asked
The style in which Mr. McKinley's com
mission started upon its iunket of the
army camps, beginning with that of Gen.
FitZ Lee, at Jacksonville, Fla, indicates
that the people will have to pay an enor-
nous bill for this up to this time entirely
useless luxury. \ special train of five
cars: two Pulmans, Gen. Dodge's private
car a dining car, and 4 baggage car, was
required to carry the commission and its
hangers on This train will arrive at
jacksonville to day, If the program was
fully made out when the commission left
Washington, it was not made public, fur
Their than that the commission would re-
main several days at Jacksonville, and that
Tampa, Fernandino, Huntsville. Chicka
manga Park, Knoxville and other places
will probably be visited before it returns
to Washington. The pay of the commits
sioners has not yet been settled, and re-
port saws will not be until after election.
An temiZed account of the expenses of
that social train during tie iunket would
be quite al interesting document, and,
inasmuch as there is no appropriation
either for the commission or its expenses.
it would also be interesting to know from
what money its expenses are to be paid.
The latest administration stump speaker
is Commissioner Evans, of the Pension
Bureau now in Tennessee and slated to
go to Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The
word has been passed along to all federal
office holders big and little, that the more
work they do in the Congressional cam
paign. the higher they will stand with the
administration. and that those who are
not in a position to do any work can
square themselves by ii cash contribution.