The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-02-25
OUR W \SliI\GTDN IETTi X

WAsuINGToN. y. G., February 2l>t.
ME ErIroE:-IIow much longer Con
@rcs> can stand the strain which has been
imposed upon it hy the action, or rather
non-action of the administration upon the
destruction of the hattlc>hip Maine and
the killing of 2jO Of its men. in Havana
harhor, without an explosion, j. pr"hcnHt-
zeal. Mr. Mckinley has disappointed
many Of his supporters, and nothing hUi
the unwri,tcn law under which Congress
has always supported the President III all
questions OF policy affecting a i"Fcl@h
nation has prevented an outbreak before
this. Inasmuch IL there arc probably not
30 men in CONGRESS who do not bcIlcv"
that the Maine Was blown up Intentionally,
it is difficult to understand why MIR. Me
kinlev and the Secretary OF the Navy
should 50 persistently assert their belief
that the awful calamity was the result of
an accident on board the Maine. The ma
val attachc of the Spanish Legation, has
publicly announced the same belle1, ana
added that the accident was the result of
carclessness and lax discipline. We gods.
and this meddlesomc fool has not been
sent after dc Lone. 1t could have been
understood if Mr.. Mckinley and his Sec
rotary Of the Navy had said that they had
no opinion to offer in advance of the find
in" of the naval court of inquiry, which
has been appointed to investigate the aW-
full affair, but why they should take posi-
ton that is a reflection upon Captain Slgs-
bee and the other brave officers of the
Maine, is only eNplainable upon the theory
that they are afraid Of offending Spain
and that in the event of the failure to ma
direct and conclusive evidence that tie
Maine was blown up by Spanish trcachcry,
Captain S@shcc is to be made Il Scape-
coat. 1t was the general opinion IN Con
rrcss that Mr. Mckinley should have or
tlered the entire United States fleet, now
off the coast Of Florida. to Havana harbor,
to remain during the investigation, but ;"
far. not even Il single warshlp has bcen
ordered thcrc-Secrctary Long says that
one will be. 1t is not surprising that the
Standards should think and say that we
are afraid to send another warshlp to Ha-
vana Up to this tinlc, Mr. MchlnieE mas
only done enc thing that has met the I'M
qualified approval of Congress, and the
indications point to his having done that
under compulSion. That was to refuse to
grant the request Of the Spanish authorl-
ties at Havana to have a Spanish diver
accompany every American diver who
made an examination of the hull OF the
Maine. Just who is entitled To crcdlt tor
his having done that has not yet been as
ccrtaincd but it is certain that somebody
i as Secretary Long has stated before the
official request reached " aShington, hut
after it was known that it would be made,
that it would he granted. Congress docsn
wish the world to know that 1t differs
with the President: hence it has far
done nothing further than to appropriate
5000, 600 to be used in saving as much OF
the Maine and her equipment as possible,
but the strain is terrible, and it is still on
There is difference of opinion as to
whether Senator Mason chose Just the
right time to make that red hot speech OF
his. and also as to the good taste OF some
of his remarks, which were certainly not
such as would be likely to increase our
prestige abroad. but the truthfullneSs of
the following is fully apparent: NV by
should the administration now hesitate:
The President hc>itatcd because Of auton-
omv. Why should he not act when the
minister has confessed that it is not real,
but a fraud and a sham: Autonomy, by
the confession of the Spanish Minister. Is
a fraud, a delusion, and a snarc-a common
confidence game Of a common thief, con
fessed out of his own mouth. No one
could doubt the contempt felt by Mr.Mason
for Spanish diplomats and Spanish diplo-
macy, after he said: Il would not sit down
at the same table with Spaniard unless
had an ironclad wall between his stlletto
and nv architecture There is nothing in
Spanish diplomacy for Il hundred years
which prove them anything but common
scoundrcls.''
Nothing yet seriously proposed III the
line of patcrnalism goes further than a
! Joint resolution offered by Representative
Lowering, of Massachusetts,, providing tor
an amendment to the Constitution, author
ling Congress to regulate the hours cf
labor in all the states The House ,Judlci-
airy Committee has actually been giving
hearings on that resolution. y delegation
of cotton mill men from the South ap-
pcared before the Committee to protest
against the resolution, but they could have
saved money by staying at home. Nemay
come to that sort of thing in time, but not
yet.
Only Il democrats and one popuiist
voted for the Bankruptcy bill which passed
! the House By vote of $50 to 124. The
bill passed is Il substitute for the Nelson
bill passed by the Senate at the extra ses-
sion, and 1t provides for both voluntary