The sun., 1898-03-12
THAT rs .aHEAD9
Tho Administration ana tho Country Prepared
for Either PeHcs or War.

10 THE EDITOR OF IHE SUN--Slr' III nUs, OI
course. not escaped your readers that great
change has taken place here on the part of tho
Administration. and that Congress has. with al
most unprecedented unanimity, taken decided
step forward in regard to the Cuban question,
as well as to our relations with Spain. 1mmc-
diately after the destruction of tho battlcship
Maine Capt. SiGsbee with rare discretion, eau
toned suspension of judgment until the facts
could bo nscertaincd. The President, the Con-
grcss. and tho Cabinet concurrcd; and ut first
everybody believed, or professcd TO believe, that
tho loss OF the ship was most probably due TO an
internal accident. naval Court Of Inquiry.
composed of prudent and able officers, was sent
TO Havana TO mako n thorough investigation
and report. They have been diligently engaged
in prosecuting their investigation, both ut the
scene of the disaster and at Key West, and now
they have returned 10 Havana.
So farHs the public knows. they have expressed
no opinion. They have certainly given out
none. Yet for the last ten days tho conviction
has been steadily growing that tho bnttleship
was blown up from the outside and not from tho
inside. and that the actuatng causc was mali
Cious and not innocent.
How far tho survey and inspection Of tho
divers and experts sustain this view ncod not
now DO considered. Judgment may be prudent
ly reserved n while longer. AS Capt. Sigsbec
than to guess in such cases, and fortunately it
cannot be very much longer till everything tho
court has learned must become public.
Meanwhile another curious aspect Of tho case
presses itself into notice. Shortly after tho
accident Mr.. Roosevelt, as ncting Secretary Of
the Navy, asked Congress, by q letter duly au-
thorized, for authority to lay in an extra supply
OF COAL and to enlist extra men to man the re-
serve ships: but, instead of complying with his
reasonable request. he was notified he could not
have special legislation for either of his require
mcnts, and it was pretty well understood that
Mr.. Speaker Reed and the Chairmcn OF tho
appropriate committees OF the two houses Of
Congress did not believe either the coal or tho
men were needed at that time. At all events.
nothing was DONE and there the matter of lcgis-
lation rested, presumably with the consent of
the President and the Secretary of the Navy.
few Gays later 1t was intimuted by Mr.. Du
Bose, the Spanish Charge dAffaircs, that Gen.
Lee was no longer acceptable as Consul General
at Havana and that it might add to the excite
ment II the provisions for the reconccnt radios
should be sent to Matanzas in American men-of
war. 1t will be observed that the in timation to
Gen. Lee was fully within the right of the Span
ish Government and could not be fairly consid-
cred as an act of hostility or even of serious
discourtesy. but it was promptly repeled by the
President and as promptly recalled.
After day or two of considerable, but proba-
bly, unnecessary, excitement made mostly by
the newspapers. the President called confer
ence OF the appropriate Secretaries and leading
committeeman, oil Republicans and. curiously
enough with none of the opposition among them,
whereupon q special appropriation bill was
agreed upon. promptly framed. and, without de-
bate or discussion, was passed unanimously
through both houses. Two new regiments of
H.. I.~.l
the navy Is to have its extra men and coal, and
the President $5O,OOO.OOO to spend at his own
discretion in upholdinR the national honor.
Everybody here is in favor of tho legislation.
1t is wise and timely and has been passed with
patriotic and absolutely non.partisan unanimity.
No fault. expressed or implied, has been found
with 1t, because all sensible men concede that
whatever may be the ultimate demand for this
money, at the present stage of the crisis, 1t Is
the strongest possible influence for the main
tenance of peace. Later it may be quite as
potential for CARRYING on war.
All this raises the question, what has hap
pened to make such measures necessary and to
carry them through Congress without a single
opposing voter 1t is conceded that the Naval
Court Of Inquiry has not completed its labors
nor sent in its report and findings. What then
has happened to so suddenly change the peace.
full aspect of affairsl What new light has the
President received that he didn't have last week
Can 1t be that the conviction has reached his
mind that the naval court will find that the
bsttleship destroyed by causes operating
outside of heri If So this is an ample reason for
the measures which have been enacted.
Can it be that whether the accident was due
to exterior or interior causes. to innocent or
malicious influences, the President has made up
his mind to put an end to a state of affairs in
II h, nn6pr oh oh ucb
Or, finally, is it simply his conviction that the
time has como when all efforts OF tho Spanish
authorities to pacify Cuba conceded to be
futile, and that the President has made up his
mind 10 put an end to the intolcrablc condition
OF affairs in that unhappy island without further
dclay2
1t is not possible for any outsider to do moro
than state these facts and ask these questions.
1t seems probable that whatever may be tho
further facts. or however these questions may
be answered. the decision as TO whether peace
shall be maintained or war be commenced will
depend mainly upon the Sn" mish Government.
In any event. it lun seems certain that
our Government will be fully prepared for
whatever tho future has in store for it, and
that IL will still remain within the power of the
President to maintain peace and secure an
ample indemnity for any loss inflicted upon the
country by either accident or design. unless
the Spanish Government shall take some action
which will make war inevitable.
1t Is conceled on all hands that, whatever
may bo the finding of the Court of Inquiry,
1t cannot be much longer delayed. 1t is also
conceded that the failure of favorable conclu-
sion to leak out before this time probably fore
shadows a verdict unfavorablc to tho theory of
an inside accident and that the business inter.
ests of the country are making their rcprcsen-
tatiyeS in Congress understand that eyen n few
weeks war is better than an indefinite continu-
ance OF our troubled relations with Spain
WASHINGTON, ID. c., March IL. X
NEW FRANCISCAN MONASTERY.