The evening times., 1898-12-26
GENERAL POLITICAL GOSSIP.

GENEkAL PULlI1CAL GUSSlP.
Senator Ell<ins and General Scho-
held.-"There is almost always bound to
, be friction between the Secretary of War
and the general commanding the army"
said Senator Stephen b. Elkins recently.
'It can scarcely be avoided from the very
nature of the situation. 1t is one of the
spots in our system of government where
the civil and military powers are brought
in close contact. Each side is of course
jealous of its rights and prerogatives, and
it is almost impossible to make a man
VINO has been raised and trained as a
soldier understand that the civil author-
ty is supreme in this country and that
wherever Ii comes into direct opposition
with the military authority the latter
must give way. Every Secretary of War
has to have a bout with the general COM
manding the army at the beginning of his
administration. If he does not assert him
self from the start he will soon find that
the military end will dominate his office
completely. AT best it is hard work for the
Secretary of War 10 keep the commanding
general on his side of the fence Military
men are inclined to be arbitrary; their
education teaches them that and / suppose
, liSs tdItftol HtIp II, tHey uO not luily
preciate the distinction that exists be-
tween the civil and military power. Gen.
Sheman. you will remember moved his
office while he in command of the
army out TO St Louis because he could
not get along with the Secretary of War.
! He did not propose. he said to stay in
Was shington and become the mere clerk of
the Secretary of War.
"A Secretary of War can save himself
! great deal of subsequent friction and
| trouble If he will have a frank talk with
! the commanding general when he enters
! upon the performance of his duties. When
! l became Secretary of War Lieut.. Gen.
! Schofield was at the head of the army.
He was one of my first callers at my ho-
/ tel in Washington. We chatted together
! pleasantly for some time about personal
and social matters, but before he left
/ took occasion TO impress upon him that
! while the department would of course de-
! fer to his judgment on all strictly mi,i;ary
matters. the civil authority was su-
! preme and must control, especially in ad-
| ministrative details The result was that
we got along very nicely together. l will
not say ffisst rnefe-e1s HdNAseffie friction;
that could hardly be avoided, but | think
| that there was less Of il than there had
| been between the two offices for some
] '''''- ! bS iIoiihtSN NilUS apparently LOT
/ the commanding general to understand
! was why he should consult with the Sec
retary in ordering the transfer Of regi-
mehts and men from place TO place.
Il reminded Gen. Schofield" Senator
/ Elllins added, changing the subject,
/ that ! had met him before. He said
! that he had no recollection Of it. ! said
that / was not surprised at that, as
! did not leave Il card "r mention my
{ name. To clear up the mystery, L ex-
/ planned that our first meeting had taken
! place out in Missouri in 1852 | was a
private In volunteer company; had no
uniform; wore ragged clothes and no
: shoes Schoteld was d major general of
! volunteers, and he came IN fun regiment
/ ais TO inspect our camp. Most of us
j boys-I was only seventeen years old
! had never seen any one up to that time
/ above the rank of colonel, and none Of
/ us had seen an officer in full dress. We
/ were naturally all of US full of curiosity
! TO see what real live ma jor general
! looked like. Well Gen. Schofeld arriv-
! ed and went 10 a small house where he
! held a reception for the officers / re-
/ member climbing up on the shoulders of
| my captain and taking a look al Scho-
field through the window. After I had
/ feasted my gaze upon him for couple of
/ minutes, perhaps the captain said: Get
/ down, Steve. and give me a chance All
! right, Bill, | answered 1--WE We're not
! much on discipline or formalityb | got
/ down. and then Capt, Bill perched him
! self on my shoulders for a peep. The
sight made a lasting impression on nv
! mind. Even 10 this day | cannot quite
/ get over the feeling of awe for Gen
I Schoiield which was made on my youth
/ ful imagination. / little dreamed then
I that the next time | should see Gen.
/ Schofeld would be as Secretary of War.
! and his official superior s. -,.. .
! NisconSin's Senatorial Fight
The Senatorial contest in Wisconsin.
| which will open next month in earnest,
| promises to be very lively. There are al
ready six avOwed candidate in the field
for Senator John L. Mitchelrs seat They
are: J. V. Quarles. of Milwaukee: Repre-
! sentative Babcock. Isaac Stephenson.
! Judge Charles NJ Webb S a. Cook. and
| Lieutenant Governor Baensch With the
| exception of Col. BabcocI all of the Men
! in the race are wealthy. Mr. Stephenson
! who will be remembered as former rep
resentative from the Badger State. in the
J House, is rated one of the riches men
! In the Northwest. Legislative votes at
/ Madison Will. il is believed, command
I high prices this winter. However, il is
! thought that Col. Babcocll has the insi lie
! track. He has been quietly at wo.k per-
| fecting his fences for the past Two years
! when the other men were giving no heed
| to the Senatorship. He has strong fol-
lowing and his friends are relying upon
| his personal popularity to help him over
come the financial arguments of his com
pettors
The Spanish Mission.-It is said un-
| officially al the White House today that
the President does not intend to appoint
minister TO Spain until after the for
NAL ratification of the Treaty of Peace by
both countries 1t would be contrary to
| diplomatic usage to appoint a minister
I while the treaty is pending. Even after
the treaty is ratified 1t is said that the
| President will wait for Spain to appoint
minister to this country before filling
the vacancy at Madrid. II has been as
sumed in some quarters that the President
would send Gen. Woodford back 10 Spain
! but this is by no means certain 1t is
| said however. that Gen. Woodford is still
drawing a salary from the State Depart
ment minister to Spain.
CURRENT HUM0R.