Kansas City journal., 1898-02-19

CATION to the officers of the American navy
than TO any other men in the country.
Does anyone suppose that the captain of
that ship, who, wounded, stunned by the
explosion remained until the last upon the
sinking vesel and who, in the midst of
that awful terror and excitement. with
every duty nobly DONE sent a dispatch to
this country showing GOODNESS and
nerve which are an honor TO the American
name-does anyone suppose that Captain
SigSbee, who is capable of such splendid
conduct, is going to lie about his ship?
The secretary of the navy is a man OF
distinguished ability, honor and of patriot
ism. If anyone imasines that Secretary
Long will not tell the truth and insist upon
the whole Of it, he little knows the char
acter of the man who has the honor to fill
that great post at the head of the navy,
and l. for one, trust that congress will
await the action of the proper department
charged with this inquiry. and will not at
tempt to do anything which could in the
least degree derogate from the attitude
| which the American people and congress
| would hold in the presence of calamity
SO dire and SO tragic as that which befell
the battleship Maine. / think those who
know the Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, who is
| Mr.. Longs right hand man. would be slow
| to believe that he would seek to conceal
Praise for Congress- Attitude.
"Mr. President. 1 am sorry that any de-
| bate has arisen on this question. 1t seems
to me that the attitude Of the congress ever
since that awful news arrived has been in
| the highest degree dignied and worthy
| worthy of itself and worthy of the Ameri-
can people. We have not shrieked or talk
| ed We have waited in a silence of much
deeper meaning than any words. We want
| to know the truth. If it was an accident
| which destroyed the Maine. then let us pro-
| vide. SO far as human foresight can, against
| recurrence. If it was treachery. then
| the righteous wrath of the American peo-
pie will take signal vengeance for the
| treachery that sent the ship to the bot
| tom. and let no one think to stay it,
| Mr.. Mason. replying. said: 'Misquota-
| tion and general spasm Will not drive me
| from the discussion of this question in the
senate"
He shared. he said. in the general admi-
| ration of the various departments Of the
executive branch Of the government. and
Mr.. Wolcott would not excel him in that re-
spect.
! II am sorry" he said. that, while the
Colorado senator is giving us such lee
ture about the navy department. he does
not slop over and give the treasury de-
partment some praise"
Mr.. Mason Takes Water.
He (Mason) fully indorsed all that Mr..
Lodge had said about the head Of the
| navy, with whom he had ser=ed in the
! house and whom he knew to be man Of
ability, of great head and a warm heart.
F, But Mr.. Long could not himself object to
an investigation and it was no part of
| friendship to him to try to shield him
| from such an inquiry as was proposed. If
| he himself were managing the department,
| he would, under the circumstances. want
| the investigation. He denied that his re-
marks contained any reflection upon Mr..
Longs integrity or honor, or the integrity
or honor of the officers of the navy. But,
while this was true, he also had regard
| for the honor and the lives of the COM
mon seamen. He also resented the In
timation that he had gone into the slums
to find words with which to characterize
| the navy department and reasserted his
| loyalty to the navy and other departments.
II have an unmitigated dread of war;"
| said Mr.. Hawley, of Connecticut, with
great feeling, "and I deprecate all war
talk. Do the gentlemen who talk so loud
| ly of war think we are ready for tnat?
They certainly cannot know what it
| means"
Mr.. Allen, of. Nebraska, said he desired
to secure vote upon the resolution, but
he desired to reiterate the suspicious ex-
pressed by Mr.. Mason that the investiga-
tion by the navy department would not be
satisfactory to the country.
Can the senator give the grounds for
his suspicions?" inquired Mr.. Gray. of Del
aware. His statement is important
My statement is important" replied Mr..
Allen. II want to say that 1 have not,
| in my five years experience in the sem
ate. known one Of these Investigations to
result in anything
Allen Resolution Goes Over.
Mr.. Hale rose and said deliberately: 81
decline absolutely to follow the senator
from Illinois (Mason) into a general dis
cusson of the Cuban question. had hop
ed that this subject might be disposed of
to-day without debate, and now decline to
take advantage of the melancholy situation
to exploit myself. l have here a dispatch
received by the navy department from
| Captain Sissbee. 1t shows that there is
not, in the city of Havana, single dis
cordant note. All are in mourning for the
dead. The city is filled with an atmos-
phere of pity, commiseration and SYM
pathy."
Mr.. Hale remarked that. under the rules,
the resolution would so to the calendar.
Pending motion by Mr.. Hale that the
senate go into executive session, Mr.. Bacon
of Georgia. introduced the following joint
resolution:
THAT there shall be prepared. under
the direction of the secretary of the navy,
and be placed on the wall of the Statuary
hall in the capitol building a bronze tablet
commemorative of the officers and men OF
the United States navy. who perished in the
loss of the battleshp Maine in the harbor
of Havana, February 10, 1898.
THE said tablet shall contain the names
of said officers and men, and shall be an
enduring memorial to their honor and q
perpetual token of the sorrow of the ma
tion."
The resolution further appropriates suf.
fcient sum of money to carry the resolu.
ton into effect. 1t was referred to the
committee on naval affairs.
At 2:05 p. m. the senate went into exec.
utive session.
At 2:55 the senate resumed business in
open session for the purpose of considering
resolutions on the death of Hon. Ashley
| B. Wright, late representative from Mas.
| sachuSetts.
SPANISH WARSHIP VIZ
N