The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1899-02-24
ashingt0n Letter.
from our regular Correspondents


WASHINGTON, d. c.. Feb. 10, 1899.
The Senate has got to pass the Hull
Army bill, which has been reported
from the Committee on Military Al
fairs, with a few minor amendments,
or there will be an extra session of
Congress. Such is the ultimatum OF
President Mckinley to the combine of
democratic Senators who have under
taken the job of holding up the Army
bill, and he means business. The
democratic offer to compromise by
authorizing a continuation of the
regular army on a war basis for one
wear from next July, has been rejected.
The reorganization and increase of the
army, provided for in the Hull bill, is
regarded as necessary by President
Mckinley, and he intends to have it,
if not from this Congress, then from
an extra session of the Fifty sixth
Congress, to be called immediately
after the close of the present session.
Not only are all the volunteers entitled
under the terms of their enlistment,
to an immediate discharge as soon as
the treaty of peace goes into effect,
which will be as soon as the Spanish
Cortes has ratified the treaty and
copies of it have been exchanged by
representatives of Spain ond the U. S.,
but more than half of the regulars en-
listed with the same provision.-that
they could claim their discharge at
the close of the war.
Unless Gen. Otis is mistaken, his
one weeks campaign against the Fill
pinos, which was succession of VIC
tories from start to finish, has given
Aguinaldo's army all the fighting
they want-has in fact, scattered and
destroyed that army, and given the
Filipinos an object lesson on the power
of the U. S. By the way, speaking of
Gen. Otis, it is we'll to remember that
the Military Governor Of the Philip
pines and Commander of the Ameri-
can army is Maj. Gen. E. S. Otis. while
the Commander of the Brigade which
won such brilliant victory at the
capture of Caloocan, is Brigadier GEN
eral Harrison S. Otis, lately a we'll
known California editor. There has
been tendency to mix up these two
officers of the same name.
The report of the Treasury Bureau
OF Statistics for the year ending Dec.
81, 1898, just made public, shows that
Great Britain continues to be our best
foreign customer, Notwithstanding the
steady decrease in our purchases from
the British. In 1898, we sold goods
to the value of $53S,661,7S7 to Great
Britain, an increase of 56,000,000 over
1897; in 1898, we bought of Great
Britain goods to the value of SILL
361 GIT, a decrease on the value of our
1897 purchases of $52,000,O00. These
figures do not make pleasant reading
for those who predicted that the Ding
ley tariff would entirely destroy our
foreign commerce, but they strongly
vindicate protective tariff.
Gen. Eagan, whose court-martial
sentence of dismissal from the army
was mitigated by the President to six
years suspension from duty, is likely
to remain in Washington until the
Military Court of Inquiry called by
the President, to give Gen. Miles an
opportunity to prove his charges that
bad meat was issued to our troops in
Cuba and Porto Rico, completes it's
work, as he will be all important wit
ness before the court. The court will
meet Wednesday and get right down
to work, but it will take sometime for
it to finish its job. The appointment
of this Court of Inquiry shows that in
stead of being disposed to act against
Gen. Miles, the President is disposed
to afford him every opportunity to
make good his charges.
The substance of the report of the
War Investigating Commission was
given out as soon as the report was
placed in the Presidents hands, and
an abstract of the report, made by di-
rection of the President, has just been
given to the press. Although the re-
port is as whole, commendatory of
the conduct of the war, it contains
numerous criticisms of particular acts,
which fell short of what they should
have been. The abstract Of the report
contains every one of these criticisms
as we'll as the eNreasons for making them.
1t will require an Act of Congress to
provide for any distribution OF printed
copies of the entire report and os the
evidence taken by the Commission.
In. view of the lessons of the war
with Spain, which caught our coast
cities IN almost defenseless condition,
the action of the House Committee on
Annronriations, in reporting the forti-