The St. Johns herald., 1898-03-19
WASHINGTON LETTER.
The Scheme to Purchase Cuba
 from Spain.

The Scheme to Purchase Cuba
 from Spain.
 From Our Regular Correspondent
 WASHINGTON, March :, 1898.
 There is no denying that the present
 policy of the administration is aggravat-
 ing and galling to the average American,
 regardless of his political affiliation. It
 is difficult to understand, when Spain is
 moving heaven and earth to borrow
 money and to buy warships to fight us,
 why we should not be openly preparing
 tor war by having congress appropriate
 the money needed to buy additional
 warships and to put us on war footing
 generally, instead of pretending that
 the preparations for war which the ad-
 ministration is making. not only to the
 extent of available appropriations but
 in anticipation of appropriations, are
 merely routine proceedings. We are
 not fooling Spain. and it seems nonsen-
 sical trying to fool ourselves. Mir. Me
 Kinley knows, just as everybody else
 knows, that there isn't one chance in ten that war will be avoided. He knows that the acceptance of blood money from Spain will not be countenanced, and that peace ct any price policy would have no supporters outside of Wall street and its connections Knowing there things 1t is his duty to ask congress to make the necessary appropriations to put tne country in a proper condition of deier and to enable 1t to give Spain tho - asai0c # has aser itching for du- ring the last year or two. It is no valid excuse to claim that doing so would be a reflection upon the naval court of in quIry. If so, Spain has been casting re- factions upon that court quite numer- ously during the last few days. But, as a matter of fact, would it be any more reflection to openly ask for the money from congress to make proper and needed preparation for war, than it is to be secretly making conditional con- tracts for the same thing. in anticipa- tion of appropriations that congress has not even yet been asked to make There is probably not man in congress who would ask that gun be fired in advance of the verdict of the court of inquiry, but inasmuch as everybody now thinks | that that verdict will show that the de- struction of the Maine was not an acci- | dent, there is little doubt that majority | of congress would like to see the admin openly making ready to fight after that verdict is rendered.
 Few men in congress are willing to believe the rumors connecting MT Nc Kinley's name with the scene to buy | Cuba from Spain. Some of his advisers | may be in the scheme, but MT. McKin- ley ought to know the people of this country we'll enough to know that they would bury every man out of sight, po- litically speaking, who dared to support | the legislation necessary to make this 1 country guarantee the payment of Cuban bonds which would go to the present holders of Spanish bonds. If this scheme is seriously pushed, it will soon be discovered that the universal sent- . menJ of our people is, millions for the | preservation of our national honor, but not one cent 10. Spanish bond-hoiders. |
 It appears that the friends of Hawaii an annexation are afraid to try to secure | annexation by joint resolution, owing to threats of the opposition to keep | in session all summer if they do. At secret meet ng of the senate committee on foreign relations 1t was decided to make another attempt 10 ratify the treaty. If that fails, as 1t IS expected to do, the whole matter may be dropped until the next session of 
 Czar Reeds latest ruling, that demo- crats shall not, when the house IS sitting as a committee of the whole, criticise the administration, the republican party or any individual republican, is another step towards the absolute thTottling of free speech in the house, and IS just as outrageous as any of those in the same direction which have preceded it. From the birfh of congress the custom has been to allow the very widest latitude to members who made speeches while ! the house was sitting as the committee of the whole, but this new autocratic 1 jumbo says that no democrat will be al- lowed to make political speech, except | when the bill under consideration is purely political. This muzzling rule nnld be outrageous even fl it were