The age-herald., 1898-02-19
resolution.
nnLhnrer an Excuse

l was no longer excuse for delay. Autonomy I he denounced as sham, a fraud and | delusion, and the DeLome letter only served l to emphasize the treacherous character or 1 the .Spaniard. The record of the Spanish | nation, continued MT. Mason, who ap- l peared to be laboring under considerable 1 excitement, is one of continuous treachery, | and we have experienced that treachery l in our history for the past hundred years. | It had been made evident that the Spaniard | could not be trusted in any capacity, and | for this reason we should now have Amer | ican divers Investigating the hull of the Maine and not be depending upon those of an unfriendly power He closed with an ap- peal for a prompt inquiry, and said that he thought the senate, which had voted | $200 900 to save the property of the United States, could and should vote $20o,ooO 900 if
 necessary to save its honor and dignity.
 MT. Mason had scarcely taken his seat | when MT. Wolcott addressed the chair.
 Fell Like Bomb
 MT. President" he said and the words came forth like a bomb to be exploded In | the senate. It was evident from the, Col
 orado senator's countenance and manner l that he was laboring under considerable | feeling. He had listened to MT. Mason
 with ill-concealed feelings of emotion, his
 face growing redder and his brow more
 and more like thunder-cloud as the sem 1 ator proceeded He spoke with great ra-
 pidity and occupied only a few minutes
 of the senate's time, refusing to be inter- | rupted and speaking very sharply when MT. | Mason sought to divert him.
 MT. Wolcott spoke as follows:
 1 MT. President: The resolution of the l senator from Illinois, however inopportune l 1t may be at this time, in the opinion of l some of us might well have been permit ted to pass without comment had 1t not l been for the remarkable utterance which l he has given to the effect that the people i of these United States have lost confidence l in one of the great departments of the | government"
 1 MT. Mason here resumed his standing | position, and he interrupted to say that 1 the senator from Colorado was entirely | mistaken.
 MT. Wolcott: q decline to be inter- | rupted. I ask to have the remark read 1 from the reporters notes"
 Mason Dcnied It
 l MT. Mason: "I said some people were losing confidence in one department, and l Mr. Wolcott: "I decline to be inter | rupted. I ask to have the reporters notes l read.
 The reporters notes quoted Mir Mason | as follows:
 q understand that the navy department
 will make the Investigation but 1 also un- | derstand that an investigation could be | made by this branch of the government | that would not in any way interfere with the naval investigation. I also understand | that the people of this country are fast | coming to the conclusion that the real | situation is not only being concealed from the people, but from the members of con | gress and senators. The people have a | right to know something about the situa- l ton. l say that the people do lack conf- | dence in some of the departments of the | government, and they sometimes, perhaps, do in this department. What possible harm | can it be to a fair and full investigation | that two departments of the government l are inves.% lting the same thing at the | same tme?'
 l Wolcott Continues
 l Mir. Wolcott then continued The senate | would bear him out that he did not mis- | quote the senator from Illinois to the ex- | tent of a single word or a single syllable. Resuming, he said:
 q desire to resent as utterly unfounded | the suggestion that there is a patriotic citi- l zen in the broad confines of this land who has not the fullest confidence in every de- | pertinent of this government, and in the l department of the navy particularly. It | has been true in every administration since l the time of Washington. The people of the | United States have never yet been called | upon to distrust one of the coordinate l branches of this government, and they | never will while the flag floats. Least of l all is it decent, in my opinion that in this | chamber there should be insinuations cast | at this critical time, that there is a lack in the minds of the people of the United l States of confidence in the navy of our | country. MT. President. from the time of | Paul Jones until now our ships have sailed
 in every war, face always to the foe.
 Most Glorious in History | ''The records of our naval battles are
 the most glorious history in the pages of
 any country for the last 100 years, and
 from the earliest days until now there has
 never been a step backwards. Today as
 always the officers of our navy are honor
 able, courageous, upright men and above
 all, they tell the truth The captain of
 this ill-fated battleship was walking his
 deck at 10 o'clock on the night of the 18th.
 when this awful explosion happened. It l may be that his public career is ended for ever, but the awful disaster that over
 took his ship will count for nothing by comparison with the degrading insinuation | made here that an officer of our country,
 with the oath and with the flag above him
 would lie and cast res onsibility where it did not belong. MT. President, we can
 stand much discussion, we can endure
 much of public discussion when there | should be silence, but there is one thing this country can never stand, and that is | to listen. and without resentment. to an | insinuation that the officers of .our navy l are not men of honor and integrity, and
 of truth. ' | Not Patriotic Citizen
 q do not know what slums the senator l from Illinois may have dragged 10 Hnd 
 the expre essdon of an opinion thta there is | lack of confidence in the personneae of
 ourn way but know he cannot find san
 honorable or decent or a patrioticSc Scitizen
 who wll stand up before the county and
 endorse for an instant the utterances which
 the senator has made. fl
 "Ah, MT. President. war may come. | think myself dlle day may be not far dis I tant, and when 1t comes we will fight it l alone, for there wdM be no other nation to l lift a hand to fight for us When that | day comes our course must be terenally l grounded in the night. and until it comes
 there Is nothing that so betittfes psUple | in my opnon these unjust and outrage
 ous attacks upon a friendly government. | Ah, Mn President. war is grim decision. l and when it comes it must come so that
 the people of the world, whether they l fight with us or not. can at least respect l our conduct and our position, and, above
 all, MT. President. 1t must come under | circumstances which make us respect our 1 selves"
 1 MT. Wolcott was followed immediately