The Press., 1898-06-09
Washington Letter.
Washington. June 6, ispe

with the outlook. Admiral Sampson only awaits the arrival of the army, which ought to be on the ground by now, to make a combined land and sea attack up- on Santiago de Cuba and to capture or destroy the Spanish fleet now known to be in that harbor. It is impossible to say how lorg this will take, owing to lack of definite knowledge as to how strong a de- fense the land Notifications will be able to put up, and the amount of assistance the insurgents will give our land forces. Although General Shafter, who Is in com mand of the army sent to assault Santi- ago, will welcome any assistance render cd by the insurgents, his plans are in no way dependent on their assistance. The assault will be strictly business one from the start, as the orders of General Shafter are to take the town of Santiago, and those of Admiral Sampson to take or destroy the Spanish fleet.
 The present programme is to follow up the capture of Santiago with the capture of Porto Rico, the fleet going from Santi ago to San Juan and troops following at once from Florida. The opinion Is strong ly prevalent in administration and diplo- matic circles that If Santiago and Porto Rico, can be captured without any delay the war will practically be over, and that 1t will be unnecessary to send an army to Cuba for the purpose of capturing Havana. The ground for this opinion Is the belief thatn these blows can be struck In quick succession Spain will realize that she has seen the loss of the Philippines, Porto Rico, and Cuba. But this opinion Is not lessening the efforts to push the war. Gen. Blanco Is now cut of entirely. The only Cuban cable remaining uncut is that of Key West, of which he can make no use. By the time Santiago and Porto Rico are disposed of we shall have our entire army thoroughly equipped and ready to move on Havana, if 1t be neces- sary to do 80.
 It ls heroic deeds like that performed by Lieut.. HobsOn and a crew of seven volunteers who carried the U. 5. collier Merrimac into the narrow mouth of the harbor of Santiago de Cuba, under hail of Spanish shot and she'll, and sunk her to obstruct the channel, that makes one proud to be an American. When Admiral Sampson asked for volunteers for this perilous duty, regarded as going to almost certain death, more than four hundred men responded, although only seven were wanted. The seven heroes performed their work and escaped death, but they were all captured by the Spanish. Pro- motion and an ovation awaits them, when they are restored to liberty either through exchange or by the capture of Santiago by our forces.
 In the course of a someW hat spirited reply to an intimation of Senator Allen that the money spent by the blmetallic commission during It's visit to Europe was wasted, Senator Wolcott, who was al the head of that commission, used the following language, which shows that he still has hopes: "The experiment, which Is now being tried in India, in the opinior not only Of the bimetallists of the world but al O of nlne-tenths of the gold men O. London, where the situation has beer carefully studied, will result in absolut, and entire failure. It will be irnpossibl, to impose the gold standard upon tn, people of India. In the face of this con ceded fact, l say he is an enemy and not friend of bimetallism who stands up In thl presence and talks about internationa bimetalism being a delusion and a snare And yet 1t appears that he has no argu ment to present, except that embodied h the statement-untrue, unpleasant, ant undignified-that the bimetallic com mission took large sum of money ant squandered It." MT. Wolcott stated tha the entire expense of the commission haC only been $16,0O0. Senator Allen dis claimed any intention to reflect upon any body, but reiterated his statement tha the appropriation to send a commission to Europe had been made when 1t wa known that It's mission would be failur and that 1t should not have been made Silver men regret this controversy be tween two friends of the white metal.
 Although the senate by a vote of AS t 31 decided on the coinage of the seignior age of the silver bullion in the treasury 1t is generally regarded as merely sop t. the silver men and not likely to be in tn war revenue bill when 1t goes to the presl dent. The understanding Is that tn house conferees will Insist upon striking 1t out, and the belief Is that in the end tn senate will agree. It Is believed that tn house eonferees will insist upon makinI the amount of bonds issued $500 ,OOO, ,OOO as In the original house bill instead O $3OO, ,OOO, 900 as in the bill when passed b the senate, and that the senate will agree Members of the administration say tha the amount authorized by the senate will not be sufficient. The president is usin, his influence to hurry action upon the bll which is now In conference. It is hope, to complete It this week.
 Speaker Reed has made positive state ment that the house will be allowed tt vote on the resolution for the annexation of Hawaii this week, and 1t is an absolut certainty that 1t will be adopted by large majority when 1t Is voted on. Bu there Is no abatement of the opposition In the senate, and fears are espresso, that the minority can stave of a vote in definitely and will do so, unless they cal be reached by the force of public opInio In favor of annexation.
 
 ELLINGTON.
 Crystal Lake CoTespondence)
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