Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1899-01-16
WASHINGTON LETTER.
ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE OF TIE MONITOR.
Washington, jan 9TH, 1899.

ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE OF AONAAOh'l
Washington, jan 9TH, 1899.
President Mckinley is no more in
clined to officially recognize Aguinal-
dos man, Agoncillo, now that he
claims to be minister from the Philip
pine republic, than when he came to
Washington as Aguinaldo's personal
agent. Then the president consented
to receive him as an individual, with
the stipulation that nothing of an
official nature should occur at the in
terview. That is further than Agon-
clio is likely to get this time. This
fellow, aided by the anti expan sion
lists, in and out of Congress, is largely
responsible for the present unsat1s-
factory condition of affairs in the
Philippines. He gave Aguinaldo ad-
vance notice that the policy of this
towards the insurgents, and told him
that the anti expansion element in
this country was powerful, and that
If he would take bold stand, it would
aid him in getting recognition from
this government. The effect of this
information may be very disastrous
to AguinaIdo and his followers, as it
may cause orders to be sent to Gen.
Otis to put them down by forcible, in
stead of persuasive means
Owing to the illness of Chairman
Hull, of the house military committee,
the army bill has not been called up
in the house, but Mr.. Hull expects to
return to his work this week, and to
push the bill through the house with
out further delay.
Senator Morgan will endeawor to
get the senate to set a time for vot-
ing-on his Nicaragua Canal bill, this
week, and he is confident of success.
With less than one third of it's mem
bers in attendance, the house, by
ma GRITTY of six, while sitting as c.
committee of the whole, voted to
strike out the appropriation for the
civil service commission, but the vote
was reversed today, when the matter
came up before larger attendance.
Senator McLaurin came very near
making a bull's-eye when he said:
''There ought to be q law that every
president of the United States should
first serve term in the senate or the
house. A veryilarge degree of Presi-
dent McKinley's popularity is due to
the fact that he has been through the
congressional mill and knows how to
deal with senators and representa-
tiVes. He appreciates their difficulties
and helps them to the. utmost, man
dfesting toward them Ia friendliness,
which they appreciate. If president
Cleveland had had a congressional
training he would not have made so
many enemies. His lack of that ex-
perience was one of the rocks upon
which he was wrecked"
The late James G.. Blaine foreshad-
owed the annexation of Hawaii and
the Philippine islands in an editorial
in a Maine newspaper, years before
he became prominent as statesman. |
He 'Wrote-it seems, like inspired !
prophecy when read in connection |
with recent events-that the time |
would come when the United States !
would have to enlarge its boundaries, |
if 1t was to hold it's fair share of the |
commerce of the world. and pointed |
out that Hawaii and the Philippines !
were within the natural sphere Of our |
influence and predicted that it would |
become absolutely necessary for this
country to control the Philippines, as
the key to the trade of the Orient.
There was no significance in the
adoption by the senate of Mr.. Hoar's !
resolution the president, if |
not incompatible with public inter-
ests, to send to the senate all the |
instructions given to our peace COM
mission, although some of the anti
expansionists are trying hard to make |
themselves and the public believe |
there was. The resolution is no more |
discretion makes it; he can give or
not give the information asked for.
The anti's have somehow got the idea |
that it will hurt expansion to bring |
out officially what everybody has
known unoffeially for months; that |
our commissioners were originally |
instructed to only demand the island
Of Luzon, of Spain, and that their in
structions were changed upon reports
made by them, after their arrival at
Paris. So much has been told to in
dividual senators already by their
colleagues who were peace commits
sioners, and the story would doubt
less have been more fully told as
snnn &C the sonata hRoins 70 onnSiaar