The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1899-06-02

From orr regular CORRESPONDENT,
| TasHI1GrGN, hay 29-There Is something
decidedly Suspicious IN the news from the
Philippines. Not line of press IA AVIS can be
| cabed from Manila until ii has been approved
10y the IT, S. Military Censor, and 1t is not likely
that he would approve anythnk the admins
| tration did not wish public. Hence. the publ
| cation of the statement that it would be I'M
| possible for Gen. Otis to conquer even the en-
| tire island of Luzon, rot to mention the re-
| mander Of the group, so that it would stay
| conquered without large increase in his army,
was allowed to pass the Censor for purpose.
Not being in the confidence of the administers
| tIon,-few persons, even among the most prom
inent Republicans, are-it cannot be positively
stated what that purpose is, but the inference
is that it is intended to pave the way for one OF
two things; call for volunteers TO reinforce
Otis or to make the peop of this country sat-
| isfed with some dickcr that is about to be made
with the Fiiipinos, and which they would
naturally he inclined to be dissatisfied with.
The prcponderance Of opinion in Washington
is that it means more volunteers Orders bave
been sent to the civilian members of the Philip
pine Commission that they must do nothing to
interfere with the military plans of Gen. Otis,
which is confirmatiOn of the reported wrangle
in the Commission.
After holding it back for many months, Mr..
Mckinley he issued his much advertised order
modifying the civil service rules. 1t doesn't
appear to please anybody overmuch. IL ex-
cepts Il total of somewhere in the neighborhood
of four thousand places from the operation
of the civil service rule but us most of those
places are all eady flied by Republicans, it will
make comparatively little new patronage for
the Republican leaders. 1t doesn't touch the
Government Printing Office, which SO many
Republicans have been trying so hard to get
thrown open to them. so far as tile party
workers are concerned, the order is likely to do
more harm than good to the Republican party.
Representative Dalzell, of Pennsylvania, who
stands about as much show as Payne, the New
York, anti Plat candidate, dropped into Wash
ington a day or two ago and announced that
he was candidate for Speaker. Hecould not
control three votes in the Pennsylvania dele
CATION, counting his own, to save his neck.
Bingham is the dummy candidate of the Penn
sylvania delegation. and will rem ain such until
Quay decides who shall get these votes.
No surprise was caused in Washington by
Senator Platts flat-footed declaration that Nc
Kinley and Hobart would be re-nominated.
So far as Mckinley is concerned, Platt has been
mortgaged since early in the present admins
tration; his Enforcement of Hobert means that
if he ever had any idea Of helping to get Roose-
welt second place on the ticket, it has been ,
abandoned, but whether because he wasn't
pleased with Roosevelt or whether the latter
wasn't pleased with the idea of second place, is
matter of conjecture, but the former is more
likely to be true. The declaration of Senator
Pcnrose, who is Boss Quay's man and mouth
piece, in favor of McKineys denomination, is
nothing more than u bid for administration
help for Quay in his contest to get his seat in
the Senate. This was doubtless pleasing to Mr..
Mckinley. whether he means to help Quay or
not, as he found Quay decidedly "uppsh~
towards the administration while he was in the
Senate
The administration was very particular to
have the widest circulation given to the report
of the Beef Court Of Inquiry, but it is now dis
covered that all of the 100000 set aside to
pay for the Inquiry has been used up, and has
ordered work stopped on the printing of the
testimony. upon which the report was sup
posed to be based, after it had all been put in
type. 1t has all along been cGntended by many
that the administration never intended to make
the testimony public, and this action makes it
look as though that contention was correct.
Secretary Alger has been putting his foot in
it again. Several days ago he caused an order
to be issued by the War Department, instruct
ng the Military authorities III Cuba to give
clearances to Cuban vessels under the Cuban
flag, and at the same time stating ttat the
vessels flying the Cuban flag would not be
under American protection. AS there is no
Cuban government, there can be no recognized
Cuban flag; hence the order strikes the average
man as ludicrous. Somebody called MIR. Nc
Kinley 4 attention 10 the order and he directed
that il he referred to the Attorney General Tor
an opinion. This opinion, it is expected, will
knock the order out. 1t might answer for
Cuban vessels to go from one Cuban port to
another. under such a clearance, but in any
port outside of Cuba, the masters of such
vessels would be at anybody's mercy; they
would have no Consul to appeal to in a case of
unjust treatment of any sort, and no standing
in any court of Admiralty. Ayers specially
appears to be doing the wrong thing.
The Dewey Home fund isn't growing as fast
as it might. 1t did not reach a total of $4,000
until today. Unless it gets a move on, twill
not be big enough to buy Washington house
by the me Dewey gets home.