The Press., 1898-03-24
vvanhlnwson Letter.
wnnhinrtnn. Mnr a1 iape.

Washington, Mar. 21, lee&
 Washington is again a storm center. All eyes are now turned towards the president to learn what action he will take upon the verdict of the naval court of in- quiry. There are thousand and one rumors as to what the president will do with the report, but the impression pre- walls among senators and others who have talked the matter over with the president and members of the cabinet, that 1t will depend on the nature of the report how soon 1t will be sent to con- gress and made public. fit merely shows that the Maine was blown up from the outside by the unknown parties, it will probably be sent to congress right away, but fit shows that the explosion was due to the action of any Spanish officlal or officials, 1t will probably be with held un- til every preparation to make aggressive war ls completed, as the president knows, as does everybody else, that in that case, as soon as the oflcial facts are laid before congress, war will be de- clared.
 Signs of war preparations are plentiful in Washington. The house naval com- mittee has added millions to the regular naval appropriation blu, by providing for additional battleships, torpedo boat de- stroyers; bills are now under considera- ton to provide for an extensive increase in both the army and navy; hundreds of
 "a N~A being prepared in the navy department,so as to be ready to be used in every city in the country at short notice-they are being sent out by mall, so that in case it becomes necessary to use them, the de- partment will only have to wire it's agents to go ahead. There Is an unusual bustle in every bureau of the war and navy de- pertinent, ,and In addition to the telegrams received over the wires in the building, there Is a continual stream of telegraph messengers going in. and out. This is not only during office hours, but goes on all day Sunday and the greater portion of every night. The work at the gun and carriage and ammunition shops in the Washington navy yard Is continuous, three shifts of men each working eight hours right along. Such big hole has been made in the $50, 1000 900 emergency appropriation that there Is already talk of another big appropriat ation.
 If all the annual reports of government officials were as full of valuable and in- teresting information as that made of the operations of the U. s. patent office for
 97, by Hon. A. P. Greeley, acting com missioner of patents, there would be no occasion for calling public attention to money wasted in printing annual reports. Pressure of more sensational matter made the synopsis of this report that was sent out by the press association utterly in- adequate. In fact, the only way to fully appreciate it's value to inventors, pat entees, manufacturers, capitalists and publlcists, in showing how much the great progress of American industry owes to the U. s. patent system, Is to read the entire thirty pages of the pamphlet, which may be had free by writing to the commission or of patents, Washington, D. c. ''.'
 The new Spaniah minister Is both brainy and audacious. In addition to bringing three Cuban commissioners to Washington to open negotiations with our reciprocity commissioners for commercial treaty with Spain, just as though he real ly believed in the possibility of tho con- clusion of such treaty, under existing curcumstances, Senor Polo has made strenuous efforts to have the world be- lieve that the only reason autonomy in Cuba has not been fully accepted by the insurgents and peace restored to Cuba has been the war-lke attitude of thIs country towards Spain and the presence of the strong fleet of It's warships at Key West. It Is impossible not to admire the in- genuity and industry of thls Spanish di- plomat, but that does not prevent a num- Der of prominent senators and represent atives thinking that he and his dummy should be given a little hint that their talk and conduct is bring ing them dangerously near to being class- ed as lying lobbyists. It Is not pleasant to hear these persons asserting that aut- onomy which Senators Proctor, Gallinger, and Money, who have personally investi- gated declare to be 8 a miserable failure, Is a success-- It Is little too much like calling our senators liars. Their object is to try to make friends for,autonomy in congress, but the evidence against them is too convincing for them to make any headway In that direction, even If con- gress were not overwhelmingly in favor of Cuban independence. These com mlssioners were formally presented to Secretary Sherman today.a ...t...s..