The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1899-01-12
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.


aldo's man, Agoncillo, now that he
claims to be Minister from the Phil
ippine Republic, than when he came
to Washington as AguinaldO's per-
sonal agent. Then the President
consented to receive him as an indi-
vidual, with the stipulation that
nothing of an official nature should
occur at the interview. That is fur
Their than Agoncillo is likely to get
this time. This fellow, aided by the
anti-expansionists, in and out of Con
gress, is largely responsible for the
present unsatisfactory condition of
affairs in the Philippines. He gave
Aguinaldo advance notice that the
policy of this government would be
conciliatory towards the insurgents,
and told him that the anti-expansion
element in this country gwas power
full, and that if he would take bold
stand it would aid him in getting rec
ignition lfrom -, this government.
The effect of this information may be
very disastrous tolAguinaldo and his
followers, as it may cause orders to be
sent to Gen. Otis to put them down
by forcible, instead of persuasive
means.
Owing to the illness of Chairman
Hull, of the.House Military Commit
tee, the army bill has not been called
up in the House, but Mr.ssHull eX-
poets to return to duty this week,
and to push theslbill2 through , the
House without further delay.
Senator Morgans will endeavor to
get the Senate to set a time for vot-
ing on his Nicaragua.bill, @ethis week,
and he is confident of.success.
With less than one-third of its mem
bers in attendance, the House, by a
majority of six, while setting as a
Committee of ssthe, whole, voted to
strike outsthe appropriation. for the
Civil Servicel Commission, ssbut the
vote was reversedl,today, when the
matter came up before larger at
tendance.
Senator McLaurin came very near
making a bull's-eye, when he said:
"There ought to be law that every
President of the United States should
first serve a termiin the Senate or the
House. A very large degree,of Presi-
dent Mckinley's popularity is due to
the fact that heJ'has been through
the Congressional mill and KNOWS
how to deal with Senators and Rep
resentatives. He appreciates their
difficulties and helps them to the
utmost, manifesting toward them a
friendliness, which theys appreciate
If President Cleveland had chad Il
Congressional training3he would not
have made so many { enemies. His
lack of that experience was one of
the rocks upon which he was wreck
ed"
The late James G. Blaine foreshad-
owed the annexation of Hawaii and
the Philippine islands in an editorial
in Maine newspaper years before he
became prominent as a statesman.
He wrote it seems like inspired proph-
ecy when read in connections with
recent events that the time would
come when the United States would
have to enlarge its boundaries. if it
was to hold its fair share of thel?com-
merce of the world and spointed out
that Hawaii and the Philippines
were within the natural sphere of
our influence and predicted that it
would ibecome absolutely necessary
for this country to control the Phil
ippines as the key to the trade OF the
Orient.
There was no significance in the
adoption by the Senate of Mr.. Hoar's
resolution asking the President, if
not incompatible with public inter
ests, to send to the Senate all the in
structions given to our Peace Com
missioners, although some of the an
StIC lhS IitiIL "
make themselves and the public be-
lieve there was. The resolution is no
more binding upon the President
than his discretion makes it; he can
give or not give the information ask
ed for The 'anti's have somehow
got the idea that it will hurt expan-
sion to bring out officially what every
body has known unofficially for
months; that our Commissioners
were originally instructed to only de-
mand the island of Luzon of Spain,
and that their instructions were
changed upon reports made by them
after their arrival at Paris. So much
has been said to individual Senators
already by their colleagues who were
Peace Commissioners, and the story
would doubtless have been more full
ly told as soon as the Senate begins
to consider the treaty of peace in Sc
cret session, regardless of this resolu-
ton. Whether all his reasons for
changing those Instructions will be