West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1898-05-26
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
NEWS AND NOTES ON THE WAR
AND POLITICAL POINTS.
caPid Capers and War WORK Mixed
Up in Secretary AlSier's FamiIy

Up in Secretary AiSier's FamiIy
Special Correspondence Of ras Aryn,
WASHINGTON, d. c., May a,
1898, Under the sccreiiye policy
that was this week put INTO opera.
ton, the administration cam change
Dts war plans even oftener than
once in every forty.eight hours,
and the Naval Strategy Board can
Keep our fleets on continuous
wild goose chase, without being
criticised. Under this policy Sec
Ietary Long is the only man who is
allowed TO give out scrip of news
concerning the movements of our
Warships. and nothing indicating
iheir movements is to be allowed to
be telegraphed from any place any
OF these vessels 90 to. The reason
given for all this secrecy is that the
Spanish have been regularly fur
nlshed with everything printed
aoout the movements Of our ships
and that the knowledge thus ac-
quired enabled the admiral of that
Spanish fleet to avoid Admiral
SIMPSONS fleet. This may be true,
but had there been less criticism of
recent movements OF our warships
1T is probable that the new policy
would be less strictly enforced.
The policy is better than the mo
1--WE which caused it to be adopted.
~
1t is learned unofIicially-there
are always leaks, you know-;hat
the Oregon, the Marietta, and the
Bufalo, the dynamite cruiser
brought from Brazil. have joined
Admiral SIMPSONS fleet that the
swlftest vessels IN the fleets of
Sampson and Schley are to be sent
after the Spanish fleet, while the
monitors and the slower ships are
to maintain the Cuban blockade
that the plans for the invasion of
Cuba are to be again taken up and
carried out within q short tine
that another call for volunteers is
probable in few days, and that
orders have been issued to cut all
the cables from Cuba, except the
two to the United States, which
are now under govern ment control.
q"
Senator Jones, of Ark, about
stated the position of the Demo-
cratic party towards the war reye-
nue. bill, now before the Senate, i'm
his speech this week on the bill.
tie opened by saying that he
doubted whether there was a man
IN the Senate who was not ready TO
vote all the money and taxes neces
sary to carry on the war, but he
would consider 1t a neglect of duty
to vote for too much money. He
criticised the estimates made of the
amount Of what would be needed
and quoted the Secretaries of War
and the Navy to show that he was
right In calling them excessive, and
said that even if they were not,
there was no good reason why this
session Of Congress should provide
Tor all OF 1T. In reply to Senator
Aldrich's questions, Senator Jones
said : 81 am willing to fix the
amount that ought to be produced
6y the pending bill at $3.50, 900, 900;
but believe it would be better and
wiser for us to levy even more taxes
rather than increase our interest.
bearing obligations. If l had to
take my choice between an issue Of
bonds and an increase of taxation.
would prefer to increase taxa.
tion."
-
The State delegation in Congress
and a number Of others prominent
IN public life accompanied the Ala
bama Press Association. which had
been in Washington several DAYS.
over TO Philadelphia to witness the
launching Of the battleship Ala
bama. Senator MorQan's daughter
obristenod the ship.
Mr. W. Godfrey Hunter. Of XIV.
knew what he was about when b,
accepted the position OF U. S. Min.
lster TO Guatemala. Ills contest