The times., 1899-02-15
GENERAL WASHINGTON
NEWS AND GOSSIP.

The success of General Otis in the Phil
ippines is attracting general attention. es-
pecially in political circles. General Oti.
IS at the present moment in the public
eye. lie has accomplished the conquest
OF the Philippines and naturally he is
| lhe nero or the hour in the pub ic mind
Admiral Dewey and his achievements foi
the time being are lost sight of Ods is
the hero of the hour.
VIII he become rival to Mckinley? is
a question that the supporters of the Ad-
| min!stration are asking. They would like
/ 10 have a satisfactory answer to this
question. General Otis has not up TO the
present moment made any sign. He may
! or may not be Il candidate for President
| of the United States. No one up to the
| present moment is authorized to speak for
| him. At the same time the politicians
| recognize in General Otis certain elements
| of strength as Presidential candidate
| that must be reckoned within the Presiden-
| tiai contest next year. General Otis is
in certain sense a military hero. His
achievements in the Philippines have
| brought him to the front Otis has not
| Washington, and consequently, whatever
| he has done has been on his own resIonsi-
| bility- He has had absolute control Of the
| situation without restriction from the War
| Department..
Admiral Dewey's achievements at Ma
Mia are matter of history and are known
to all men, but there is no record of a
| naval hero departing from his profession
to become a candidate for political office
The Administration has felt no jealousy
or Dewey or apprehension that he wou d
at any time become rival in the polit-
| zeal field. The Administration opinion of
Dewey has been that he would be content
to remain in the service, and re-
celFe whatever promotion might
come to him in that connection
Mckinley. it is said, has never regarde
Dewey even in the light of possible
Presidential rival. Dewey's friends have
directly and indirectly made it Jain to the
supporters of Mr.. Mckinley tnat he did
net cherish any President al ambition
They have pointed out that ~ naval Of
hcer ever deserted his position to become
an aspirant for the Presidency of the
United States. Farragut, Porter. and
other naval characters were content to end
their days in the service in which they
had made their regulations They were
not bothered with political aspirations
outside Of their profession The same il
not true of the army. The army has been
regarded by the majority of the officers OF
hlgh degree as the stepping stone to some
held in greater public esteem in the past
than the men who won our great naval
victories. II is apparently the unwrittsn
law that no naval officer no matter how
pfillIant his success may be, shall be ac-
corded preferment outside of his profess
sion. Neither Farragut nor Porter was
ever seriously mentioned for President so
far as is known; they were content u
rest upon their laurels. Dewey is not
likely to break the naval record but ac-
cording to the best tradition the military
nero becomes at once political factor OF
greater or less consequence General Otis
is unknown to the politicians He has
been in the regular army for a good MANY
years and has in all probability only look
cd forward to promotion in the line in
Whlch he has been identified but at The
same time he is not probably unmindfu
OF the possibilities OF his present position
and prominence. If he is, there are good
many disinterested persons who will "a ke
the trouble to enlighten him on that sub
lect- In the light of the developments at
Manila General Otis has become a serious |
Presidential possibility. No one rea, ,izas |
this fact, probably. any more acutely thaa
William Mckinley.
The AIger Relief Report.-Hou,
much relief Secretary Alger has obtained
from the report of his Relief Commission |
may always remain matter of conjecture. !
, pom the surface of things. however, Mr.. |!
anger mas been 'yindicated." He has been |
SHOWN to have been ignorant of the issuing /
Of embalmed beef to the soldiers; TO have |
had no knowledge of the incOmpetency of |
the men whom he appointed to high posi- |
lions IN the military service, and IN fact |
10 have known absolutely nothing about |
what was going on in his department
iiades IS said to be paved with good in !
lentiohs. Mr.. Alger may find some COM
Tort IN that assumption: he certainly can
not extract any genuine relief from the
report submitted by his Commission. The
helief Workers evidently meant well but
they unWlttingly let the cat out OF the
bag on a number of occasions. The de-
sire OF the Relief Workers to vindicate
alser is too apparent; they have evidently
missed their cue in many instances The
OF Alger by the Alger Relief
commission amount to this: Many mis-
takes were made; we did not know any
better. All the fault lies with our subor-
ilnates; they ought TO have been more
competent. The ordinary rule which is
TO govern the acts of the chief
1incer OF a Government department is
nat he alone is responsible for the acts
1f his subordinates. The impression is
, "'VSe' III the present instance that Mr..
Niger is endeavoring to plead the Baby
'ct-is trying TO shift the responsibility
or his misdeeds upon his unfortunate sub
'rdinates. Probably the Miles court of
inquiry, however, will show up the matter
n its true light. Ayers grip on the Ad-
is pretty strong. but there
5 nothing to indicate that it will control
he action of the Miles court of enquiry.
Desecratinp the Fling
(From the Minneapolis Tribuncl
u l,l.r.. L.. .