The evening times., 1898-10-08
PLAINTIFFS BARRED OUT
Whitewashing Purposes of the
Alger Relief Commission.
ACTUAL HORRORS HIDDEN
Julian Hawthorne Asserts That the
and Outrage I'm the Army Is Not
tO be known Until After the No
Vember Elections.

New York, Oct. S.-Julian Hawthorne In
dispatch from Washington to the New
York Journal says:
1t is often said that the President of the
United States is the most powerful poten-
tate on earth. His constitutional powers
are large. and his influence which is
power under another name, is past COM
putting. He can bring to bear force
which no other government officer. o.
combination of them, can effectively re-
sist. 1t is true that Congress can i'm
peach him, and they can pass measures
over his veto, but, as matter of fact, no
President has yet been convicted on i'm
peachment, and there are not many cases
when his veto has been overridden.
In view of the Presidents power or in
iuence there is no question that he could
had he wished, have radically altered
for the better the conditions under which
the Investigating Commission should per-
| form its work He could have furn!s %
| them with hall for their deliberations
| which would have accommodated hun
! dred or five hundred auditors. He could
! this hall for the representatives OF all the
| leading newspapers of the country.
! He could have caused the investigation
| TO be carried on in such manner and OF
! der that the charges against the w ar De-
! partmeut could have been suDStantlated
/ by those who were the victims OF mis-
! rnanagement or who had been witnesses
! of it, He might in word. have not only
! declared tas he did with unctuous Volu-
| bility) that he desired to have the fuil
and exact truth concerning the horrors OF
! the camps laid bare and the culpritS pun
! ished: but he might have SO acted as TO
! convince the country. which lonsed TO De
| Iieve him. that what he said he meant
! If ever there was u matter i'll which the
wishes of the country should be consult
! ed ii is this. The people are thems Ives
! the plaintiffs; il is unprecedented that
! plaintiff should be debarred from being
! present at the hearing of the action
! which he has brought.
Sins of Omission.
! But the President has not done in the
premises what he might and ought to
| have done. He promised investigation
! and punishment but we discover that
what he is giving us is, in effect the op-
! posite of what ne promised. II Wouiu
| have been better for him had ne po4uly
refused to hold any court of inquiry. and
! deaed the people to prove their charges
the best way they might.
There is an election coming of IN
! November, and precedents show that the
results of the mid-term elections gen
erally foreten the issue OF the Presiden-
| tial elections two years later commits
/ 10, tod "
have advanced far enough in its trans
! actions by November 10 allow of plaus-
! ible forecast of what its final upshot
would be- The President wishes that up
shot 10 be the vindication of the War
! Department, because upon that vindica-
ton hangs the credit of his Admlnistra-
| ton.
If Secretary Alger and his subordi-
| mates be acquitted. then the Republican
! party may expect to be continued In
| power. and President Mckinley re-elect-
| ed in 1900 The stakes are heavy. and the
| President has shrewdiy made his appar-
| ent acquiescence to the indignant demand
| of the people the means of whitewashing
| the crimes which he pretends anxiety TO
! expose and punish.
Holding Back Unpleasant Truths.
Having selected his commission-such
as II is-what does the President or the
| War Department or Secretary Alger, if
you like. do With 1t? Does he bring be-
fore it the haggard and paIlid wrecks of
I what. a few months ago, were the flower
! of the nation and cause them to tell
by what means and by whose agency
they have become what they are? Does
he summon as witnesses those who are
| competent to bear witness? Those who
saw the abuses and can name the abuser:
No, he does not do that because these
| people would tell the bitter truth, and
! the bitter truth would not advance the
Republican cause at the polls next No
ember He summons. instead the officers
| of the army, the men who are either
| actually responsible for the abuses or
whose position renders 1t inexpedient for
them to encourage the notion that abuses
| have been committed
The traditions of the Service"-the
| supposed .'honor of the army''-are of
| themselves enough to close the lips of an
! officer of the regulars, SO far as they
may be closed without direct imputation
of personal falsehood They will not tell
| tales out of school if they can help it. And
when, in addition to this motive for re-
ticence, you add the possible motive of a
| desire to screen himself from blame what
| reasonable probability is there left that
your army officer will prove satisfacto-
ry witness for the plaintiff? He would
give a skilled and vindictive cross-exam-
iner a good run for his money, but when
he has against him only such amiable
and creduous gentlemen as compose this
Commission the plaintiff may as well sur
! render at once. He is not represented in
this investigation; 1t Is counsel for the
| defense. and they alone, who are active
in the matter.
But it is announced that when the
Commission has examined the officers
they will proceed to the soldiers nurses,
mothers, sisters and fathers, and will
give their evidence the same weight
which is attached to that of the others.
Perhaps they will. But before that time
comes the November elections will have
been held and the Republican party will
have been vindicated enough for imme-
diate practical purposes. After that
though the witnesses for the prosecution
should prove their case, it will be too
late; they will be pooh-poohed and
smoothed out of the way, and Secretary
! Alger and his creatures and creator will
go on their way rejoicing.
Three Doctors in Consultation.