Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1898-08-04
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our Regular Correspondence
WASHINGTON, August /, 1898.

While there is.s0me criticism OF the terms
of peace offered Spain, in answer to its re-
quest, and which the French ambassador
acting as Spanish Minister, has accepted,
the general impression is, that on the whole,
the administration has aquitted itself very
creditably in handling this matter as far as
it has gone. The terms require Spain to
withdraw its troops at its own expense from
Cuba and Porto Rico; to pay all just claims
of Americans for property destroyed 10
Cuba; the U. s. explicitly disclaims any re-
eponsibility whatever for bonds issued by
Spain and secured by its revenues from
either Cuba or Porto Rico - a decided
check to the scheme which certain Amer
leans have been trying to work IN behalf Of
the European holders of that class of Span
ish bonds; and the final disposition of the
Philippines is left open to be settled as we
may see fit. One mans guess is about as
good as another as to what will de the next
step Of the tricky Spaniards. Any other
country might be counted upon to follow
the recommendation Of it's accredited min
lister, but Spain cannot be counted upon to
do anything.
Commissary General Eagen of the army
is out in an interview replying
toa letter written by r. b. Roose-
welt, New York lawyer, charging
that there was either shameful incapacity
or infamous dishonesty" in the commissary
department, and that neither enough, nor
proper food had been furnished the men at
the front. Eagan's reply is what the boys
call " hot stuff he calls Roosevelt several
kinds of notoriety hunting liar, and says
his letter was "a low libellOus, scandalOus
villifcation of honest men,"
Surgeon General Sternberg admits that
although more than 5000 of General
Skaters men are now down with the fever,
that he thinks The worst is yet 10 come.
The only consoling thing about the situa-
ton is the small number of fatalities
among the fever patients, but the disease
may assume more malignant type at any
time.
When General Miles landed at Porto
Rican port that was not the one the i'd
ministration expected him to land at, there
was considerable growing in administI a.
ton circles, and even talk OF Miles being
censured for not having obeyed orders, but
as soon as the news of his successful occu-
patton. without loss of life, of much ter
ritory including a number of towns, it was
denied that any such talk had been INDUCED
in. Nothing succeeds like success" you
know. Had Miles met with any reYerses,
he would at once have been made scape-
goat
Representative Davey, of Louisiana,
whose vigorous presentation of facts &C.
quired during q stay of one week in the
camp at Miami, Fla, caused the war de-
partment to issue orders transferring the
troops from that point to Jacksonville,
does not mince words in describing the
condition of those troops and expressing
the opinion that somebody was blameable
for the Encouragement which he said had
debilitated and disheartened hundreds Of
the men. To show that he had not exag-
gerated the situation, Mr.. Davey pointed
TO the official record of nine hundred men
on the sick list at one time in a camp of
two brigades, calling attention to the fact
that the men being from Alabama, Louisi-
ana and Texas, were practically all i'm
munes, so far as climatic conditions were
concerned. One would suppose that can
teens would be one of the first things pro-
Vided for soldiers in a Summer campaign,
yet when Mr.. DaVey arrived in camp he
found that there was only one canteen for
seven men, and when he left, week later,
there were half of the men still without
canteens.
1t is chestnut with whiskers on it to
say the civil service commission is a hum
bug, but in view of the fact that these
truly good men, who draw big salaries for
protesting goodness, have just officially
reduced clerk in the employ of the COM
mission one grade, forallegedinefficienc .and
that this same clerk or as witness before
the Senate Civil Service Committee, some
months ago, had testified to methods in
use by the commission that even mug
Wump would not call reform, it seems
necessary to say it again.
There are plenty of men in Washington
who make no bones of calling the print
ing of Grosvenor's tissue of misrepresenta-
tions in a belated issue of the Congressional
Record after his request for permission to
print it was refused by the House, as down
right dishonesty. Secretary Kerr, OF the
Democratic Congressional campaign COM
mittee says the committee regards the
printing OF the speech. under the circum-
stances, as a disgrace. and while on the
subject he added: Unanimous consent
was refused him by the House and the
management of the Record was at fault for
allowing it to appear in that publication.
The speech will not be of any great value
as campaign docu ment. The very
circumstance under which it has appeared
discredits it. Democrats have been loyal
to the war. We have favored support for
the army and navy, but we old not agree
to the saddling of an unnecessary bonded
debt upon the country. GrOsvenor's speech
will be challenged everywhere it is circu-
lated"