The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1899-02-16
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.


fairs, with a few minor amendments,
or there will be an extra session of
Congress. Such is the ultimatum OF
President Mckinley to a 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
year from next July, has been reject
ed. The reorganization and increase
of the army, provided for in the Hull
bill, is regarded as necessary by Pres
ident Mckinley, and he intends to
have it, if not from this Congress,
then from an extra session OF the
Fifty-sixth Congress, 10 be called i'm
mediately after the close Of the pres
ent session. Not only are all the
volunteers entitled under the terms OF
thier enlistment, TO an in, mediate dis
charge 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 oft have been ex-
changed 3y representatives of Spain
and the U. S., but more than half of
the regulars enlisted 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 a succession of vic
tories from start to finish, has given
AguinaldO's army all the fighting they
want-has in fact, scattered and des-
troyed that army, and given the Fill
pinos an object lesson on the power
of the Z. S. By the way, speaking of
Gen. Otis, it is well to remember that
the Military Governor of the Philip
pines and Commander of the Ameri-
can army is Maj. Gen. Il. S. Otis,
while the Commander of the Brigade
who won such a brilliant victory at
the capture of Caloocan, is Brigadier
General Harrison S. Otis, lately a
well-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, notwithstand-
ing the steady decrease of our pur-
chases from the British. In 1898, we
sold goods to the value of 1886, gu, 1877
to Great Britain, an increase of $56,-
900, 600 over 1897; in 1898, we bought of
Great Britain goods to the value of
Sill, 1861 ,617, decrease on the value
of our 1897 purchases of $50, 1000, coo.
These figures do not make pleasant
reading for those VINO predicted that
the Dingley tariff would entirely des-
troy 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 I'M
til the Military Court of Inquiry call
ed 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 its work, as he will be an
important witness before the court.
The court will meet Wednesday and
get right down to work, but it will
take some time for it to finish it's job.
The appointment of this Court of In
quiry shows that instead of being dis
posed 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
direction of the President, has just
been given TO the press. Although
the report is as whole, commenda-
tary of the conduct of the war, it
contains numerous criticisms of par
ticular acts, which fell short of what
they should have been The abstract
of the report contains every one of
these criticisms as well as the reasons
for making them. 1t will require an
Act of Congress to provide for any
distribution of printed copies of the
entire report and of the evidence TAX
en- by the Commission.
In view of the War with Spain,
which caught our coast cities in al
most u defenceless condition, the ac-
ton of the House Committee on APP
preparations, in reporting the forti-
fication bill, carrying only "a, 744, 79S,
when the War Departments estimate
OF the amount needed was $12, 151 1893
strikes many as a bit of unwise econ
omy, although the report on the bill
shows that the emergency work done