The San Francisco call., 1898-04-01
Call Office. Riggs House,

J WaSnlnSIOn5 MATCH o1 . For three hours to-day the c packed galleries and excited . members of the House listened c to a passionate outburst of ora c tory on the Cuban question, dur c ing which the intensity of feel c ing was alternately manifested c by cheers, jeers and misses. Time c and again the excited throngs in @ the galleries were admonished to c be silent, and once at least 1t c seemed as if a motion would be c made to clear them. The three c speeches which stirred the as c semblage to its depths were ( . made by General Grosvenor of c Ohio, who, 1t was assumed, spoke c for the administration, and who { . practically pledged it to the c cause of free Cuba; Bailey, of c Texas, the Democratic leader, . who announced the Democratic = position as for free Cuba, with c out war if it could be avoided, c but with war if necessary; and c Johnson of Indiana, who spoke | c for peace, declaring that 1t was { c our duty to go to the extreme { c in magnanimity In order to . avoid the horrors of war. Lewis, ( c a Democrat from Washington, { c provoked the speech of Johnson, . which aroused the members and ( c the galleries to the fever pitch { c of excitement. Lewis had de- ( c nounced the proposition that { e Cuba purchase her freedom from ( c Spain, which. it was alleged, the { e administration was fostering. ( z Then it was that Johnson, in a { c brilliant speech, pleaded for ( . peace. He faced the storm of ( c misses which swept down upon ( c him from the galleries like a ( e Spartan, and, with passionate ( c utterance, adjured members to . pause before they plunged the z country into War, the evils of z . which would follow after n end . less train. The House has be- ( . fore had illustrations of John ( . sons fearlessness, but none so c striking as to-day, when he es- c poused the unpopular cause and c pleaded to let diplomacy have its { . way. ( c Immediately after the reading . of the journal the House went . into committee and proceeded c with the consideration of the ( . naval appropriation bill.
 An exciting incident was caused b, r ,,FV T,, ured terms he denounced the admins tration, which rumor said, was consid ering a money indemnifcation for tn murder of the Maines sailors.
 Johnson (R.) of Indiana replied in heated speech. With whitening sar casm he declared that the true solution of the problem of wiping the Spanisl nation off the map would be to har ness up the gentleman from Washing ton and turn him loose. But, serious iy, he declared, he despsed this cry o war. A storm of misses greeted thi statement, but, proceeding, he declare, that if Con. .sress would restrain its zea and keep it's hands off peace could b. preserved.
 Lewis replied to Johnson a few mo ments later He declared that if tn Indianan spoke for the President on tn floor when his political epitaph wa written it would contain only the line "Too Much Johnson"
 Johnson responded in a speech tha excited the most intense interest, ant cheers, applause and misses at differen times greeted him. It was an eloquen
 
 TOTS he pictured in black colors. dweI ling upon the anguish of the widow and the cries of the orphanT, Ever possible expedient should be urged an resorted to before we should permi ourselves to be driven into war. II feared Congress was now driving tn President. If, as had been stated, a ultimatum had been sent to Spain, h believed it meant war. Spanish prid would not, he said, permit her to | forced. He cared nothing for the hisse or applause of the public. History woul Vindicate him.
 Bailey, the Democratic leader, follow ed Johnson and charged that the re fusal of the Republicans to vote for th freedom of the Cubans was intended { give the President a chance to comp, the island of Cuba to buy her libert from the butchers of Spain. He dt clared that there was yet chance avert war. Within forty-eight hour he said, a representative of the Cuba republic had told him that Cuba di not desire to involve the United State in war. All she desired was recogn tion, so that she could buy arms an ammunition, and in a few months sh would be free. So eloquently did he de scribe the horrors of war as they ha come to the Southern people that men bers on the floor and people in the ga, leries actually wept, and when, in cor clusion, he declared that his side wa for free Cuba without war, if possibl, but with war if necessary, the demon stration from the galleries was over whelming.
 Grosyenor (R.) of. Ohio. whose utter ances are given great weight, owing { his close friendship with the admins tration, answered Bailey. He said h did not intend to reply to the argu ment of the gentleman from Texas. bu he felt for him a strong degree of sym pathy.
 When" he said, "a man has bee for nearly year trying to play 2. gam of politics on the question of war an has failed and has finally made an ex hibition, q futile effort in that direc