The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-03-28

From O"r Onn Correspondent.

NASiiiN"roN, II. G.. March 25, 1900.
Inc act OF Senator Brvcri,lsc, of In
diana, in Introducing "A free trade
amendment 10 the Porto Ricnn bill.
with the provi>o has stirred up
irrSh difficulties among the Rcpmhli-
cans IN Congress. 1'hc worst of the
situation, from party standpoint. is
that MIR. Bcvcldgc took his action at-
ter consultation with the President and
II Is understood that the President adj
f"catcS the measure. II this is 80. Me
kinlcy has tloppcd again. leaving the
thirty odd Republicans in the House,
whom he induced to vote for the origi-
nal bill, out in The cold The action of
Mr.. BcvcrdSc has not only thrown the
entire Indiana delegation into the
greatest confusion, but it has upset the
course of procedure Of the .'pcacc'
committee Of the Senate. However,.
no action will he taken for some time
yet. and it is fondly hoped by the
q. q. i. that some means ont of the
tanglc may hr found that will still
bleed Porto Rico without wrcckinr the
party.
The part the tobacco trust has play
"'' III Porto tsiran affairs is rapidly
coming to light. 1t seems that the
trust tried to buy the entire leaf to-
Darco crop "i the island ut starvation
pilcrS and that the planters refused to
sell. The trust accordingly threatened
that it would compel them to sell
4
long as possible. and when it hrramr
inevitable il advocated and forced
through the ID per cent duty. This. it
must be remembered, does not mean
i'trrn per cent of thu value. of the
goods. Int fifteen per cent OF the Ding
ley rates of duty. Leaf tobacco costs
from 20 to - cents Il pound in Porto
Rlrn. The Din=lcy tax is $l.s5 IL
pound. Fifteen per cent of this is ~
cents. which makes the duty on Porto
Hican tobacco from ~; to 40 per cent
al valorn. This will absolutely pre-
vent lis export, and will sooner or later
enable the trust to buy it mp ut lis owl,
price. Then the trust will advucatc
the removal of the duty and bring the
booty in free
The country need not be surprised if
1t wakes up some fine morning to find
itsc.f involved in II war in China. The
meaning of the mysterious conccntrn-
tiOn of the Asiatic squadron in Chinese
waters has ut last leaked out. and
shows, rs many people imagined il
would, that tho United States has
practically engaged to do Englnnd's
Oriental work for her while she is
supprcssing liberty in South Africa. 1t
shows, too, that there was more truth
than poetry i'll the stories of u British
German American alliance. From Il
source that is absolutely accurate, the
facts in the case have been asccrtaincd.
The mancuvres of the American, fleet,
which is now the largest in existence
at any one place, are directed, not
towards Il lot of miserable Chinese
rioters, as has been intimatcl, but
towards our old time friend. Russia.
The Administration and Great Britain,
putting their heads together, have con
clndcl that Russia mcditatcs directing
the powerful armamcnts that she has
collected against China, where, with
the c0nnivancc OF the Empress, she
will eXpel the British and otlicrnations
and divide mp Chinese territory be-
tween herself and France. The chances
are that the Russian designs are dilcc-
ted merely against Britain, but his,
from the Administration standpoint. is
as bad rs if they were directed against
ourselves. Secretary Hay il therefore
British interests being injured in
China while she busy in South Africa
He has collected in Chinese waters, on
one pretcXt or another, the Oregon,
Monadnock New Orleans. Casino
Newark and Atlanta. The British and
German fleets have also been quietly
increased and Japan is working night
ness. Altogether, it is evident that
the President means to fight for the
Chinese trade if there is the least need
of doing so. Having declared war
against the Fillipinos without any au
thority from Congress, he will not find
1T difficult To repeat the process with
regard to Russia. Besides, it would
be IL good idea to fire the American
heart Just before election.
The United States troops in the
Philippines are about to be withdrawn
to the SRA coast until after the rainy
season. President Mckinley objects to
this because Of the effect an unfinished
war in those islands will have on the
coming election, but there is no way
out Of it.
The large forces maintained in
mountain districts pursuing Filipinos
soon will have to be withdrawn to the
coast towns, leaving small detach-
mcnts to look after guerrilla bands.
General Otis has made no Official re-
port nc to his view Oh the present stun
tiOn after nearly five months of active
campaign work, in which General Law
ton, General Macarthur and General
Young were the most active and de-
tormined pursucrs of Aguinaldo and
his supporters.
1t cannot be forgotten how freely it
! was predicted by army experts both
here and at Manila that with an army
| of 65,000, afiortling an active field
force of 10000, the uprising wOnld be
crushed before tho wet season, Agllin-