The Press., 1899-02-02
Washington Letter.
washington Jan. 80, 1899.

Washington Letter.
washington Jan. 80, 1899.
Gen. Eagan's only hope to escape dis |
missal from the army, in accordance with |
the finding of guilty on both counts by
the court-martial, lies In presidential
,lemency. Although no official announce
ment has been made OF the finding Of the
and none Is expected until
he president has acted upon it, the optn- |
lon is unanimous that he was guilty, |
simply because it could have been nothing
else upon the evidence presented. Official
red tape will keep the finding out OF the
hands of the president for several days,
and he will take his own time to act up
on it after he gets 1t. Consequently 1t Is
only guessing to attempt to say when the
result will be made public, but the great
and general interest in the case makes 1t
probable that it will not be long delayed.
The house will tomorrow vote upon the
Hull army bill, which has been amended
so as to make any increase in the regular
army above $1,000 men discretionary with
the president, and its passage is certain.
That much of the talk in the house,
against the army bill, was tinged with in
sincerity, especially that relating to the
Philippines, was demonstrated when Rep
preventative Cannon expressed the opinion
that no member of congress really desired
the departure from the Philippines of our
army and navy. Just two members of the
house-Handy, Of Del, and Todd, of
Michigan-had nerve enough to stand up
and say they favored the departure of our
forces from the Philippines, and they
were greeted with jeers.
The anti-expansionists are going to
monopolize most of the talk in the senate
this week, as nearly every senator who
is opposed to expansion, and who has not
yet spoken. has given notice OF an inten.
ton to speak during the week. tits also
probable that one of the numerous reso-
lutions declaring the policy OF this country
towards the Philippines will be voted up
on and defeated Senators without regard
to their attitude towards the treaty OF
peace, express the opinion that the treaty
will he ratified when it is voted upon Feb
9th, In accordance with the agreement en-
tered into last week.
Senator Butler presented a petition
from the legislature of North Carolina
asking that constitutional amendment
for the election of senators, by direct vote
of the people, be adopted, stating thai
the legislatures of twenty -four states haG
taken similar action.
The fact that the newspaper publishers
| assembled in Washington for the purpose
of telling congress how necessary j. is, te
them, to remove the duty from white
| paper and wood pulp, include about a.
many who published protection papers at
1t does publishers of free trade papers, re
minds one of what the late General Han
cock said of the tariff-"It is local
question"-only these gentlemen seem to
have made that portion Of the tariff which
|
question.
Senator German said In speech thai
the war with Spain would probably make
1000 new pensioners, and that within
three years the annual pension payments
would reach $165, ZOO, 900. This years
appropriation bill, now in the hands o.
| &c nm
that.
The opponents of the seating of Repre-
sentative-elect Roberts. of Utah, beraus,
Of his being a polygamist, are hard a
work Their latest move is to try to ge
the assistance of the wife of every ma,
who will have vote in the next congress
In their fight against Roberts The gen
eral opinion in Washington is that tn
women of the country will compel tn
house to expel Roberts, and that he woul'
save himself much trouble by resigning
but nobody expects him to resign.
There has been some Sensational publica
lions alleging that Agoncillo, Aguinaldo'
Washington agent, who has been making
himself obnoxious and ridiculous by hi
absurd demands and statements, had bee
bribing officials to get advance news G
orders sent to Admiral Dewey and Ger
Otis, but there is not single good reaso
to believe them. In fact, it would be
waste of money for Agoncillo to pay
out for what everybody else gets for tn
price Of newspaper, as the substance {
every order sent to our officers In tn
Philippines, has appeared in our paper
almost as soon as 1t has been decided W
on by the officials. 1t is thought tbs
Agoncillo Is acting under Instructions {
well-knOwn and shrewd Washingto
lawyer that he is seeking arrest or
notice to leave the u. s., either of whic
would give him martyrdom at home an
would give Aguinaldo's government tn
official recognition it has been vainly seel
ing. Unless present plans are changed
the policy of ignoring Agoncillo's pres
ence In Washington will be continued III
til the senate votes upon the treaty Fet
9th. II the treaty 10 ratified, as 1t almoe
certainly will be, there may be decide
change towards Aguinaldos government
both 10 Washington and in the Philip
pines