The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1898-03-24
Washington Letter.
Warrington. Mar. 81. 1898.

washington. Mar. 81, 1898
Washington ls again 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 q 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 it will depend on the nature OF the
report how soon 1t will be sent to con-
gress and made public. If it 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 If it shows that the explosion was due
to the action of any Spanish official or
officials, 1t will probably be with held I'M
til every preparation to make aggressive
war Is completed, as the president
knows, as does everybody else, that in
that case, as soon as the official 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 bill, 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
official notices of recruits wanted are
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 mail, SO that in case 1t
becomes necessary to use them, the de-
partment will only have to wire its agents
to go ahead. There Is an unusual hustle
in every bureau of the war and navy de-
partment, and in addition to the kilograms
received over the wires in the building,
there is 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, 600 900 emergency
appropriation that there is already talk
of another big appropriation.
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
81, 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 its value to inventors, pat
entees, manufacturers, capitalists and
publicists, In showing how much the great
progress of American industry owes to the
q. S. patent system, is to read the entire
thirty pages of the pamphlet, which may
be had free by writing to the commission
er of patents, Washington, d. c.
The new Spanish minister is both
brainy and sudacious. In addition to
bringing three Cuban commissioners to
Washington to open negotiations with our
reciprocity commissioner for commercial
treaty with Spain, just as though he real
ly believed in the possibility OF the con-
clusion of such treaty, under existing
circumstances, Senior 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 tbs war-lke attitude Of this country
towards Spain and the presence of the
strong feet Of its warships at Key West.
1t is impossible not to admire the in
genuity and industry OF this Spanish d.
plomat, but that does not prevent num-
Der of prominent senators and represent
atives thinking that he and his dummy
commissioners 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 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
Roadway in that direction, even If con-
gress were not overwhelmingly in favor
of Cuban independence. These COM
missioners were formally presented to
Secretary Sherman today.
|