The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1900-05-08
ADMIRAL DEWEY
MADE A BLUNDER
Administration officials Mag.
Nifty an Utterance.
ARE SECRETLY WELL PLEASED
Declare That when the Old Man Said Thai
This Country Could whip Every.
body But England, He Was
Foolish.

Washington, May 1T is claimed
that Admiral Dewey has made another
mistake, one for which it would be
possible to courtmartial HIM. At st.
Louis, in a speech; he is reported to
have said:
1--WE can whip any nation in the world
but England, and England is our best
friend"
The utterances of the admiral were
Of sufficient importance on account of
their international significance and the
implied sights to such nations as
France and Germany, to have them re-
ferred by the president to the navy
department to determine wherein the
admiral had offended.
The Office of the Judge advocate gen.
eral of the navy was called upon for
an opinion, and III was promptly dis
covered that Admiral Dewey had violat-
ed section 235 of the regulations of the
navy quoted above.
The opinion of the state department
officials was that Admiral Dewey had
| been very indiscreet and injudicious,
| but no report to that effect has yet been
made to the president, at least not
officially
| department was that Admiral Dewey
was at least subjected to a reprimand.
After talking it over, however, the
president and his advisers came to the
conclusion that even If the admiral had
| laid himself open to official criticism, it
would be bad policy for the president
| to authorize an attack on a political
rival. So far as the administration is
cd In n &c
been dropped. Admiral Dewey will not
even be asked, in the usual course of
procedure, if he actually said what was
attributed to him.
A correspondent showed the admiral's
| remarks to Secretary Long, Rear-Ad-
miral Kenney, Rear-Admiral O'Neil,
Rear-Admiral Bradford, and several
other high officials of the navy depart
ment, and to officers or the state de-
partment.
The administration following is
secretly delighted with the admirals re-
marks. The general opinion can be
summed up in the remark Of one Of the
officials which was, strangely enough,
that Dewey had killed himself by his
pro- British utterances, certainly with
the Irish of the country, and more
DrODaDly WIN the GerfIldnS.
Dewey will now" said another very
high official, mot only have no chance
to get a presidential nomination at
Kansas City, but he has eliminated
himself as a presidential candi-
date at the Democratic National con-
vention."
Dewey may be Nelson in naval
war;" said another official, "but he is
certainly not a Napoleon in politics,
national or International"
One of the state department officials
said: 1.-THE speech, IL correctly repre-
senting what Admiral Dewey said, was
injudicious from an international point
of view. We are on good terms, Of
course, with Great Britain, but we are
also on good terms with Germany,
France, Austria, Italy and Russia. 1t
was an invidious thing to say, because
it excludes the other nations.
1.-THE incident will not be considered
originally by this department-that is
to say, the initiative will not be taken
here. 1t would be quite another matter,
however, If the German, French, Rus
sian and Italian ambassadors and the
Australian ministers were to call upon
the state department and ask for an
explanation. In that case it would be
necessary to ask the admiral to furnish
1t.
"The case would thus become of much
| more Importance than that of Captain
Coghlan, who offended the Kaiser for
which action he was reprimanded by
the navy department after representa-
| tions by the German ambassador.
Admiral Dewey's offense touches
more than one nation-in fact, all ma
tions-with which the United States is
on friendly terms.
incidentally, it goes without saying
that the admiral has not improved any
chances he may have had with the
German vote or with the Irish vote,
Republican or Democratic"
The unanimity with which the ad-
ministration officials and politicians re-
gard Admiral Dewey as having made a
mistake from his own political point of
view was remarkable.