, 1899-12-21

his wives are the only witnesses that
can prove the act conclusively. They
hoped that Roberts would make either
n confession or a denial under oath, III
he positively refuses 10 do either, and
insists that the committee shall prove
the charges without his assistance.
Lieutenant Thomas NJ. Brumby, flag
lieutenant to Admiral Dewey during
the Manila campaign, who has been i'll
with typhoid fever for several weeks,
died at Garfield hospital shortly after
6 o'clock Sunday evening. The death
of Lieutenant Brumby, while not I'M
expected, was n great shock to Adj
miral Dewey. The relations of the two
for several years past have been init
mate, and II strong friendship had
grown up between them. Lieutenant
Brumby went out to the Asiatic sta
ton with the Admiral and had been
there with him until they both re
turned to the United States. In his
capacity as flag lieutenant, Lieutenant
Brumby was thrown with Dewey
practically all the time and acted as
his personal representative in many
matters of detail delegated to him by
the commanding officer.
The personnel of the majority COM
mittees of the Senate vas formally an
nounced Thursday. Senator Warren
of Wyoming succeeds Senator Teller
ms chairman of the committee on
claims. Mr.. Teller was offered n con
tinuance of the craftsmanship but an
swercd that he would prefer to take his
position with the minority. thus form
ally separating himself from the Re
publican party. Mr.. Wolcott. in addi,
ton to retaining his old committees, is
given n place on the foreign relations
committee. senator Clark of Wyom-
ing adds mines and mining II public
lands. The three new Republican mem
bcrs of the appropriation committee
are Senators Carter, Wetmore and
Warren. The Post says: Senator
Warr"n's appointment is peculiarly ap-
prop-iate in view of his knowledge of
western Matters
Secretary Gage will do nothing to re-
lievc the money market unless the on
ditiOns should become more serious
than they are now. which he does not
anticipate. The interest on the public
debt due January list. which amounts
to about S5.OOO.OOO. will be paid with
in the ncX few days as usual. The
checks will be mailed to the bondhold-
ers as fast as they are prepared, with
out waiting for the CNac date, n cou-
pons will he cashed ut any of the gov
ernmcnt repositories. There still re-
mains outstanding S5.GOO.OOO of the AZ
and > per cent. bonds included in the
recent call, which the treasury is ready
to redeem upon presentation. The
market price of these bonds. however.
is n trifle above the figures offered by
the treasury, but Mr.. Gage will not in
crcase his offer, and if he should make
another call it would be on the same
terms as the last.
The feature of the opening day of the
debate on the currency bill in the
House was the speech of Mr.. Dolliver
of Iowa. II was characterized by all
the wit and eloqucnce for which the
lowhn is noted and held the members,
without regard to party. for more than
an hour. Mr.. Dolliver declared that the
last doubt In the Republican party as
TO the wisdom of enncting the gold
standard into law had been resolved
by h experience of the business world
during the past three years. He scored
Mr.. Bryan and generally ridiculed the
alleged false ~prOphesies of the Demo
Gratis in 1896. Mr.. De Almond Of Mis-
souri, was the heavy gun on the Demo-
cratic side. He warned the Republi-
cans from the West that they could
not deceive their constituents in the
coming congressional elections by
claiming that they had yielded to the
sdu of their colleagues in caucus.
The President and Secretary Root
are anxious to secure some legislation
for n permanent form of government in
Porto Rico ns soon MS possible. and II
Is probable that n special message on
the subject will he sent to Congress i'm
niediately nftcr the holidays recon
mcnding II form of government similar
to that planned for the territory of
Louisiana by President Jefferson in
1903. Delegations and petitions of the
most Urgent nature are coming in al
most every day from Porto Rico repre-
Senting that business is stngnant and
that all transactions are suspended I'M
til the status of The island is deter
mined aud its laws promulgated. The
President thinks Congress will recog.
nlHc the necessity of immediate relief
from this anomalous situation. II is
also proposed to reopen the block
.ndcd ports of the Philippine Islands at
the earliest possible ome in order
that business may he resumed and the
vast quantities of hemp and other val.
uable products that have been accumu-
lating during the inSurrection may be
shipped to foreign markets.
II appears that Mr.. Siblcy of Penn
Sylvnnia, II millionaire stock raiser
and oil producer. who lives mt Frank
lin. Ncnango county. has created II sen
sntton 10y ~disnNowing his former views
on III" thief issues of the day and in
d%orSing the policy of the administrn-
ton. Mr.. Sibluy has been considered
the foremost leader of the silver
wing of the Democratic party in the
eastern states and has been seriously
talked of as the probable nominee for
NiCC-prcSidUnt on the ticket with MIR
Bryan. Hence his change of heart ere
ntes Il decided sensation. lie de
clarrs the changes in commercial and
industrial conditions in the United
States during the last threc years have
demonstrated that the free culuugc of
silver. and even b]imutallism. are NOT
essential 10 the prosperity of the coun.
try. and that. the revival of business
hnvlng occurred upon a gold standard
basis, II would be uuwisc to make any
change or even an agitation for ii
change of present conditions. lie
therefore advises Democrats to drop
the frcc-silvcT issue uud assist In muIn-