La Junta tribune., 1898-12-31
NEWS FROM THE
NATIONAL CAPITAL.

| Saturday afternoon. the treaty OF peac.
between the United States and Spain
| In presenting this momcntous docu
| ment, Judge Day. as chairman OF th,
commission. said it represented III,
earnest efforts of the American repre-
I scntatiycs at Paris, and that II wa
submitted with the hope that IL woul,
rebound TO the peace. credit and glor'
OF the American nation. Accepting th,
treaty from the hands of Judge Day
the President responded with heartfelt
thanks and congratulations 10 the com
| mission rs II body and to the member,
individually. He spoke OF all that had
been accomplished and of the happy
method by which difficult question,
had been adjusted.
A well-informed newspaper fnar
| says: There is no question Of the rat
hcatlon of the Spanish treaty by ths
Senate. although there may be n good
deal Of debate Ii Involves many IN,
teresfing questions thar have not beer
discussed in that great debating socic
~ and establishes number of precc,
dents OF importance. The only Repui.
ltcnn who Is certain 10 oppos. /, is NJ
Hale OF Maine. Mr.. Hoar and NJ
Morrill,. on general principles, are
against the annexation OF territory hy
or the Asiatic ocean, but VIII not aniag
onize the government At least on,,-
h1lf of the Democratic senators viii
vote for ratification. and probably
more The attempt 10 organize thai
party against the Presidents policy j.
failure. because such movemeni
could do no earthly good and would
only result in defeat.
The Senate committee on foreign r.
lations has concluded It's revision Of tir
bills providing for II territorial govern
inent for Hawaii. and Senator CulIon
reported the changes 10 The Senate
mere We're numerous changes, Tho
most important being as follows: Tho
section defining citizenship was amend
ed by striking ont the word white.
and also the explicit reference 20 Por
iuguese and left 10 read rs follows
THAT all persons who Were citi.
zens OF the republic OF Hawai-
on August u, 1898, are hereby
declared 10 be citizens Of the United
States" The provision In regard L.
the qualifications OF territorial senator,
is changed so as TO require that the sen
ator shall he male citizen. thirty
years OF age. that he shall have resided
In the Hawaiian islands NOT less than
three years and that he shall he DUAL
ihed 10 vote for senator's" The explicit
property qualifications being stricken
out.
General Shafter appeared rather un
eApectedly before the War Investiga,.
ing committee last Tuesday and told
his story of the Santiago expedition.
He was supported by his aide. Colonel
Miley. who was with him In Cuba. and
nnnked by n large portmanteau OF pm.
pers. to which his aide occasionally ap.
piled for reference. General Shafter's
story of the operations around Santi-
ago WAS tersely told, but at times quite
viviG In It's recital and interesting in
detail Briefly summed up, his esti.
mate of the Santiago expedition was
that II had been n military success. and
cheap ut the cost OF 800 men lost in
the tight. He considered the eSpedl-
tion to have been as well fitted out as
the time allowed would permit, and
said that on looking back he had no
criticism OF his plans 30 make and
would not change them IL the events
had to be gone through again. lie
said he had no complaints of any sort
TO make and would be 10th to intrude
them at this time II he had.
A decision by the Supreme Court
some time ago seems to settle the
point raised against the constitutional.
ty Of expansion" II said: ''The pow.
er of Congress over the territories of
the United States Is general and plen-
ary, arising from and incidental to the
right to acquire territory itself. and
from the power given by the constitu-
tion to make all needful rules and reg
ulations respecting territory and other
property belonging TO the United
States. II would be absurd to hold that
the United States has power to acquire
territory and no power to govern 1t
when acquired. The power TO acquire
territory Is derived from the treaty
making power. the power TO make ac-
QUESTION of territory by conquest. by
treaty and by cession Is an incident of
national sovereignty. These PROPOSE
tions are SO elementary and SO neces-
sarily follow from the condition of
things arising upon the acquisition of
new territory that they need no argu.
ment to support them. They are self
evident"
Senator Teller occupied the first half
OF Tuesdays session OF the Senate with
n speech in advocacy of the theory
that there are no restrictions upon the
right of the United States to expand
Its forders so as to include far dis.
tnnt territory. He went quite thor
| oughly into the legal points bearing
upon the question, and incidentally
discussed af some length the form OF
government for the Philippines. say
ing that he would encourage self-gov-
ernment among the islanders and
would give them the most liberal gov
ernment which they were capable of
conducting, but that he would not take
| down the American flag where once
ola Oh 4htS 1,-gIr
to the people of this acquired terri
tory" said Mr.. Teller. I'VE will give
self government we will not need an
army of $1,000 men in Cuba. 10000
in Porto Rico and 10000 in the Philip.
pines. To say this to these people In
| the only way to escape a great stand
ing army. ! am not one," he said. fur.
ther along. to turn these possessions
back to Spain. but l do believe that