Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1900-10-17
Washington Letter
From our Regular Correspondence

over TWO CABINET meetings since his
return to Washington, and besides
dispOsing of all the accumulated rou-
tine business has answered the French
proposals regarding China, submitted
last week, agreeing to several of them
which were really only a restatement
of our own policy, and disagreeing
with others. There was, incidentally
some political talk and comparing Of
notes at these cabinet meetings, and
the presidents callers have also given
him considerable political information.
Taken altogether, there is probably
no man in the country who has more
accurate knowledge of the political
situation today than the president has.
The result of that knowledge is that
to the few to whom he will talk partisan
politics he expresses absolute conf
dence in his reelection by a larger
years ago, and in the election of Re-
publican majority of the house. That
same confidence is expressed by every
Republican of prominence who has
been in Washington recently. The
old party is aroused and is going to
win.
| The necessity for increasing and re-
organizing the regular army in order
to put it upon basis in keeping with
changed conditions and up-to-date
needs is strongly urged in the annual
| report of General John R. Brooke,
commander of the military district Of
the East, made public by the War de-
partment this week. For years this
| necessity has existed and has been
pointed out by officers of the army,
and the war with Spain made it plain
to even the most unobservant. The
| country has long ago outgrown both
the size and the organization of the
regular army, and the demand for
change is not militarism, as some
Democrats insist, but common sense.
As General Brooke points out, the
regular army is the bulwark behind
which the volunteer armyis organized
in time of war; In this connection it
may be well to call attention to Mr..
Bryan's recent assertion that it was
the policy of the Republican admins
tration to concentrate the army near
great cities for the purpose OF overaw-
ing the working men. The statement
was both ridiculous and false. There
is no considerable force of United
State troops near any city, big or
little, the most Of the regulars being
stationed at the coast Notifications,
and the number is so small that official
reports have called attention to the
rusting of expensive guns because
there are not enough men to keep
them in good condition.
First Assistant Postmaster General
johnson, who made a flying trip to
New Jersey this week, reports the Re-
publicans of the state to be aggressive
and confident. He says that notwith-
standing all the bowling of Democrats
about trusts they are running several
men for congress in that state who
were connected with the most notorious
trusts ever organized. Mr.. johnson
has no personal doubt of the electoral
votes of New Jersey being cast for
Mckinley and Roosevelt.
Among President McKinley's callers
this week was Mr.. j. c.. Abreu, a
young Manila lawyer who has come to
the United States to attend one of our
law schools because he is satisfied that
the Philippines are going to be per-
manently kept by the United States
and that American methods will be
c1o dc
the recent spasmodic fighting of the
insurgents is the last stand of Aguinal-
do and his followers and was planned
for it's effect upon the presidential
campaign in this country, with the
hope that by making few attacks
here and there American people would
believe that the insurrection still
existed and would be indefinitely con-
tinued. He was very positive in say
ing that with the reelection of Presi-
dent Mckinley peace would be per-
manently restored; also that the better
element among the Filipinos were
perfectly satisfied with the course
pursued by this government since it
acquired the ownership of the Philip
pines, and believed that the islands
would be much better off in the end
| under American control than under
any other. He was inclined to treat
the assertion of Sixto Lopez, who
claims to be Aguinaldo's agent, that
he came to the United States to ac-
quaint the people with existing condi-
tons in the Philippines, as ridiculous,
lnasmuch as Lopez has not been near
the Philippines for three years and
therefore can have no personal
knowledge of present or recent condi-
tons there.
It is not likely that the Republican
National committee will make the
slightest effort to carry Virginia,
| although President Mckinley was as
sured by three prominent Virginians
Park Agnew, r. /. Thorpe and C.
M. Gibben-that if the same efforts
| were made in the state that are being
made in West Virginia and other
states it would be carried. They told
| the president that the 'husinass men