Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1899-02-18
THE HULL ARnY BILL.
Must Sc Passed The Fight In the
philippines Report of the Treas
ury Other Notes.
tFrom our Regular correspondent.)

WASHINGTON, feb. I3.--The Senate
has got to pass the Hull Army bill,
which has been reported from the
Committee on Military Affairs, with
a few minor amendments, or there
will be an extra session of Congress.
Such Is the ultimatum of President
Mckinley to the combine Of Demo-
cratic Senators who have undertaken
the job OF holding up the Army bill,
and he means business. The Demo-
cratic offer to compromise by author
izing a continuation of the regular
Armyon war basis for one year from
next July. has been rejected. The re-
organization and increase Of the Army,
provided for in the Hull bill. is re-
garded as necessary by President Nc.
Kinley. and he intends to have it, IL
not from this Congress, then from an
extra session of the Fifty.sixth Con-
gress, to be called Immediately after
the close OF the present session. Not
only are all the volunteers entitled
under the terms OF their enlistment,
to an immediate discharge as soon as
the treaty of peace goes into effect,
which will be as soon as the Spanish
Cortes has ratified the treaty and cop
les OF II have been exchanged by rep
resentatives Of Spain and the United
States, but more than half OF the reg
ulars enlisted with the same provi-
sion-that they could claim their dis
charge at the close of the war.
i Unless Gen. Otis is mistaken, his
one weeks campaign against the Fill
| ipinos, which was succession OF vic
tories from start to finish, has given
/ Aguinaldo's army all the fighting
they want--has in fact scattered and
destroyed that army, and given the
n Filirinos an object lesson on the power
Of the United States. By the way,
speaking Of Gen. Otis. it is well to
remember that the Military Governor
of the Philippines and Commander oil
the American Army is Mai. Gen. r.
j S. Otis, while the Commander of the
Brigade which won such a brilliant
victory at the capture of Caloocan, is
Brgadier Gen. Harrison S. Otis, late
ly 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 De-
cember 81, 1893, just made public,
shows that great Britain continues to
be our best foreign customer, not
withstanding the steady decrease in
our purchases, from the British. In
1893, we sold goods to the value of
$3.50 66L787 to Great Britain, an IN
crease of $50, 900. 900 over 1897; in
1893, we bought Of Great Britain
goods to the value of SRI, sol. 6I7, a
decrease on the value Of our 1897 pur-
chases of $50, 900, 900. These figures
do not make pleasant reading for those
who predicted that the Dingley tariff
wouldeutirely destroy our foreign com
merce, but they strongly vindicate a
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 until the
Military Court of Inquiry called 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 wit
ness before the court. The court will
meet Wednesday and get right down
to work, but it will take sometime for
it to finish its job. The appointment
of this Court OF Inquiry shows that
instead being disposed to act against
Gen. Miles, the President is disposed
to offer 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 di-
rection of the President, has just been
given to the press. Although the re-
port is as whole, commendatory Of