The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-02-26
ADMINISTRATIONS is CALM.
War with Spain Is Not Expected, Nor
Sought, Nor Feared.


Sought, Nor Feared.
CHICAGO, Feb 25.-The Times-Herald
prints the following from its Washington
correspondent: There is no war scare in
Washington. President Mckinley and all
the officials of his administration are calm
and without more anxiety than is natural
under the circumstances. War is not ex-
pected. nor sought, nor feared. The govern
ment has been prudently preparing for all
contingencies, and while the President and
his advisers continues to assert. with the
utmost candor and confidence, that they do
not expect ihostlities, there is comfort for
the country in the thought that if by any
chance the worst happens Uncle Sam will
not be caught in a state of unreadiness. De-
spite all the efforts of yellow journalism TO
embroil two nations with their distortion of
facts and shrieks over mere suspicious, no
trace of this excitement enters official cir
cles
What is the situation in Washington?
Newspaper readers always fear that in an
affair of this sort some facts are being
withheld from the public, and that the dan
ger is greater than the officials admit it TO
be. But here is the truth:
First-President Mckinley is perfectly
poised. lie is not agitated or alarmed. He
is cOOlIy ana calmly awaiting the Facts. He
is as eager to know the truth as any citi-
zen. but he is content to await the finding
of the court. He believes the country and
the Congress almost unanimously support
the attitude which he has assumed-that
this government cannot afford to proceed
upon an assumption.
SecOnd-The President will take no action
concerning the Maine disaster or the ques
tons growing out of it till the report of the
court of inquiry is received This verdict is
not expected for week or ten days at
least.
Third-There is no warrant for the asser-
tons so freely made in the press that the
conclusion Of the court will certainly be TO
the effect that the Maine was blown up by
design. The question is still an open one.
The dispatches from Havana are Based
upon current fumOr, speculation, gueSSWOrk
and have no known basis of fact. They rep
resent the surmises of correspondents, not
the evidence taken before the court.
Fourth-No official information as TO the
cause of the disaster has reached the add
ministration. President Mckinley and Sec
the readers of the Times Herald. Various
officials and experts have their opinions,
but opinions are not facts, and the facts are
what the government is waiting for
Fiftn-Congress is as calm the admin
istration. Americans have shown that in
time of national menace they stand togeth-
er. All talk of Congress taking matters III
its own hands, is nonsense. Both houses
and men of all parties stand by the Presi-
dent. await the truth. and keep cool. The
country cannot do better than to follow
their example.
Furthermore, verdict of the court of in
quiry that the ship was blown up by q mine
or torpedo, accidentally OF criminally, does
not necessarily mean war The ridiculous
assumption is constantly made by the SEN
sationalists that all we haVesto do to bring
war is to prove that the plates of the
Maine bend inward instead of outward.
What the administration will do in various
possible contingencies | have already
pointed out i'm these dispatches The honor
and the interest of the United States will
be firmly and fully protected Spains de-
gree of responsibility will be according to
the circumstances. and she Will have to
meet every inch of it,
No has the right to assume that spain
will attempt any evasion of her RESPONSE
bility, or that she will do anything but
meet it as a civilized nation should. If she
does attempt to eVade or haggle, so much
the worse for her. But Uncle Sam will not
cross that bridge till he gets to it. l am
able to say, however. that if the court of
inquiry finds the cause originated from
without the ship, no matter whether the
precise nature OF that cause is or Is not as
certained the United States will demand of
Spain an indemnity of at least $4,000 600.
ample apology and arrest and punishment
Of the guilty persons, if it can be ascer-
tanned that crime was committed. 1t IS be-
lieved Spain would respond to such de-
mand and that the whole matter may be
settled by diplomacy but at the same time
it is admitted that serious complications
may enSue.