Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1898-09-22
WASHINGTON LETTER.
tFrOm our Regular COrrespOndent)
" ACIIINrGrnN Cent 10 1907

DarlS, lltSluelt mckinney Will
complete the Commission to in
vestigate the conduct Of the war
and will get it to work at the
earliest possible moment. He
thinks the Commission can do all
its work in Washington, calling
such witnesses as were in positions
which enabled them to possess
useful information; and he told
one of the Commissioners that
every communication sent or re-
ccived by the War Department
would be made accessible to the
Commission, and that the whole
power of the government would be
used to assist the Commissioners
in getting at everything they de-
sired to know. The only desire
that President Mckinley has in
the matter is to show the people of
the country just how the war was
conducted, and at the same time
discover the things in our present
system that should be changed in
order to get the best results. He
wishes nobody to be shielded and
nobody to be prosecuted.
The gentlemen who have con-
sented to serve on the Commission,
are so well known that no one
would question their report when
it is made. The words Of such
men as these always carries con-
viction to the public: President
Gilman of John Hopkins Univers-
ity; Hon. Charles DENLY, for more
than thirteen years L. S. Minister
to China; Col. James A. Sexton,
the newly-elected Commander-in-
Chief of the c. A. r.; Gen. Gran
vile NJ. Dodge, who gained mill
tary fame in the Civil War: DR..
w. w. Keen, whose achievements
have placed him in the front ranks
of the medical profession, not only
of the United States, but of the
world, and Capt. Evan p. Howell,
formerly editor of the Atlanta
Constitution. The lack Of legal
authority to compel witnesses to
testify is not regarded as a serious
drawback to the Commission. Few
witnesses called are likely to de-
aline to testify, when they know
that the President wishes them to
tell everything they know.
The sessions of the Peace Com
mission, to meet at Paris, Oct. 1st,
are to be held in the famous ''Salle
des Ambassadeurs,n the French
Government having rendered the
use of that apartment, in which
have been enacted numerous inter-
national diplomatic dramas, when
the meeting place of the Peace
Commissioners was first announced.
Just previous to the departure of
the American Commissioners from
Washington, Hon. VIM. r. Day,
who heads the Commission tender
! ed his resignation as Secretary Of
State, which was accepted by the
President, who then officially an
nounced the appointment of Col.
John Hay, recently Ambassador to
Great Britain, to be Secretary Of
State. At the same time John
Bassett Moore, who accompanies
the Commissioners as adviser,
rendered his resignation as First
Assistant Secretary of State, and it
was accepted. Secretary Hay, who
will be in Washington in a few days
will choose Mr.. Moore's successor.
The instructions given our repre-
sentatives on the Peace Commission
has been a well kept secret. Sur
misses have been plentiful, but there
are no facts before the public.
President Mckinley says the policy
of this government in the negotia-
tions of the treaty of peace with
Spain will be recognized as thor
oughly American when it becomes
known, and that it will be endorsed
by our people as a whole. More
than that he does not deem it
prudent to say at this time.
The sensation mOngers hardly
got a chance to spread their i'm
agination on the stories of such a
serious situation at Manila that
more American troops were needed,
before the sensation was punctured
by an official report from Gen. Otis,
who is in command of our troops
over there during the absence of
Gen. Merritt, who is on his way to
Paris to place the information in
his possession before the American
Peace Commissioners, saying that
no more troops were needed, and
that the situation was satisfactory
from an American point of view.
Maj. General James III. Wilson,
who commanded corps in the
Porto Rican campaign, and who is
! Il L. I IA,1, E.,,,