The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-09-22
Again Lowering Clouds.

The transitions within the last nine
months Of the Republicans Of the state
from dependency to elation and back
into the slough have been the marked
feature of the year in politics. The
elections Of 1897, state and municipal,
indicated a strong reaction, which, UNI
less checked, was sure to sweep them
out of control Congress met in De-
cember under a cloud of gloom. A
canvass of the situation put one hun
dred congressional districts in the
doubtful column, more than enough to
make 1t certain that the next house
would not be Republican. Here the
gloom was equally dense The Dis
patch, predicting the denomination Of
John Lind, pictured an ideal candi-
date, not materialized in the nominee,
as the only means of defeating Lind,
and, despairing of getting it's ideal,
warned it's party to prepare for the
worst"
Republican leaders decided that
something must be done to divert pub
lie thought from the public questions
on which it was bordering. 1t must
be made to forget that every promise
of the result of Republican restoration
had been falsified. Cuba and Spanish
atrocities were taken up as the one
promising diversion. There was a sud-
den outbreak of we'll simulated horror
of Spanish cruelties, an unctuous lauda-
ton of the noble Cubans battling for
freedom. The Masons beloved, and
the Morgans rOared, and the "hoontah'
shrieked There was no intention to
carry the farce to the brink of war.
There were to be resolutions of Cuban
recognition presented and discussed,
and diplomacy was to play it's part with
its notes and propositions and ulti-
matums; the public heart, not guns or
cannon, was to be fred but no war
The Maine was sent to Havana as a
part of the play. Her destruction there
turned the farce into tragedy. Then
came the roar from the country, grim,
earnest, determined. And, too late to
retreat, congress sent the country into
the conflict
Then the cloud that had lowered over
the party broke away, and the sun of a
yellow dog year shone upon it. The
Minneapolis Journal rejoiced in the
passing Of the gloom and the coming
of the sunshine It admitted the ap-
parent hOpelessness, but a few months
before, CT Republic an victories this year.
and rejOiced in their assurance now.
The war would carry the party through
all its difficulties. 1t was not to be
rushed. Cuba was not to be invaded
until the frosts had banished fevers
No one dreamed that it would last but
a hundred days; the shortest limit was
after the November elections. Here,
again, the unexpected happened. Ger
vera crossed the ocean, and Schley bot
tied him up in Santiago. This obliged
the premature invasion. Then follow
ed the rest, the fight, the surrender,
the protocol, peace. the end.
And now the clouds are lowering
again. The boys are coming back with
their tales of suffering; Of insufficient
food in a land of plenty; of hospitals
where neglect nursed the SICK where
medical staffG consumed the dainties
and left the patients to hard tack and
pork; of camps located by jobbery; of
bungling QuartermaSters and commits
saries, appointed because they were the
NO--0
hungry because they did not know
enough to draw rations. AIgerism IS
the basis of all these stories. Charges
of incOmpetency and worse, of jobbery,
come, from every quarter against him.
The general-in-chief violates military
rule and criticises his official superior,
in the public prints, challenging the
Algerine to order a court martial
through which the incompetency of the
war department would be made a pub
lie, official record. Reputable Repub-
lican papers denOunce Alger, but the
president loads onto the party the bur
den Of all the scandals by retaining
their cause in the cabinet. Alarm has
taken the place of confidence. Repub-
lean papers try to extract from the
apathy of the elections in Maine and
Vermont some morsels of comfort and
encouragement. 1t is useless. The re-
action has set in. It will gather
strength as the weeks roll by, adding
their revelations Of Algerism. Demo-
Gratis who were hopeless in May are
confident now.