The silver lance., 1899-01-06

| the responsibilities and perform the Ia
| Dor of that position. He held to the
honors with great tenacity, and some
years ago made a great fight for the
rights of seniority.
Senator German recently stated that
he intended to fight the ratification OF
the peace treaty whether anybody else
| did or not, because he wanted to enter
| his protest against the expansion pol
| icy before he left the Senate. His term
| expires on March 4th, and he will not
have an opportunity to participate in
the legislation that will come in the
next Congress for the establishment of
| governments in the captured colonies.
| He does not expect to win-in fact, he
can find but small minority opposed
I! to the treaty-but he considers it his
| duty to enter vigorous opposition and
| warn the administration of the evils
| of annexation.
Following the receipt of grave ad-
| vices from General Otis, a Cabinet
| meeting was held at the White House
last Sunday, which resulted in the
framing and dispatch of important in
structions to the American commander
at Manila. Advices received early in
the morning related to the situation in
and about Manila, and in the evening
another dispatch was received describ-
ing the situation at Iloilo. There is no
Disgusting the fact that the situation in
the archipelago is extremely serious.
On the island of LuZon, the insurgents
are threatening. There are dissensions
among them, and General Otis is hav-
ing a difficult time in steering middle
course.
Hon. Justin s. Morrill,, the senior
United States senator from Vermont,
died at 20 Wednesday morning. in the
seth year of his age, after an illness of
less than week. In the death Of Sen
ator Morrill, the Senate lost its senior
member in point of service and its old
est in age. He had served continuous
ly in the Senate for more than thirty
one years and he was SO years of age
on April 4th last. With the single ex-
ception of Hon. Galusha Grow, of the
House of Representatives, he was the
only man in Congress whose congress
sional career began prior to the begin
ming of the civil war, and he had the
honor over Mr.. Grow in that his con-
gressional service had been continuous.
covering in the Senate and the House
combined almost forty-four years.
The German ambassador. DR.. Won
Hollenben, has returned to Washington
after an extended absence, during
which he held several important con-
ferences with the authorities at Berlin
relative to American affairs. 1t is ex-
pected that his return will soon bring
about exchanges with the State De-
partment and perhaps directly with the
President, relative to a number Of cur
rent questions in which both countries
are interested. Recent cable reports
from Berlin have stated that the am
bassador was returning with strong
instructions towards securing reduc-
tions in rates on certain German I'M
ports to this country. The reciprocity
negotiations with Germany came to
halt some months ago, and the reported
instructions are probably in the line OF
renewing these negotiations.
The forthcoming statement of the
government receipts and expenditures
will show that during the half year
ending December 31st, the receipts ag-
gregated $245,961 800, against $207,-
160,574 for the same period last year.
According to the treasury records,
these receipts are the largest since
1866. when they reached $55S ,O32,62O
for the entire fiscal year, and $3.50, ,634,-
O1O in 1867. With the exception of
these two years, the receipts never be-
fore in the history of the country ex-
ceeded S4900O0O0O, and only seven
times have they ever reached S4O0,OOO,-
600. The receipts from customs dur
ing the six months amounted to $780,
045, $50 as compared with $62.S25,021
for the same period last year. For the
month of December the customs re-
ceipts aggregated S16,S64.325, which
was the highest point reached under
the present Dingley law and the larg
est for December since 1883, when it
was $16,900,00O. The receipts from in
ternal revenue sources amounted dur
ing December to 800, ,621 ,319. the larg-
est since the War of the Rebellion. The
total for December was $41 ,404, ,194.
1t is stated that the Presidents
plan for a government in the Philip
pine islands is the same that he has
for Cuba-a liberal allowance of home
rule so far as he can find competent
natives to administer affairs-the
finance, the commerce, the customs.
the schools. public works and the gen.
eral direction of things to be in the
hands of Americans of experience.
The tariff will be for revenue only, and
will be arranged to produce sufficient
amount to maintain the government
and the schools and provide for
general system of public works
which will aid in the develop
ment of the wealth and commerce
of the country. The military forces
are to be mixture of Amer-
cans and natives under the command
of American officers until the natives
can be properly educated to fill their
places. The postofiices will be under
the direction of trained men from the
United States, but so far as possible
the subordinates will be Filipinos. A
good deal of money will be spent in
providing coaling and naval-repair sta
tions, which will be fitted up with the
most approved machinery, similar to
the navy yard at San Francisco. In
the customs duties no advantage will