The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-05-22
The Cuban Scandal.

Inc tuDan scandal.
If Major Rathbone made the defiant re-
marks in Havana attributed to him, he is
about the most imprudent man in the
Hanna service II he said that the Ad-
ministration dare not remove him, he said
an idiotic thing. Probably it might not
have occurred to him that il is one thing
to be loose in the United States with
brain and a safety deposit box full of Sc
crets which would be fatal 10 great per-
sons if divulged; and quite another TO
have the same things in Cuba. under a
military government. and the liability to
be shut up by a lGttre de cachet, and per-
haps never be heard from again, 1t is a
bad thing in such circumstances to chaI-
lenge the desperation OF desperate men
who might not hesitate to use drastic
measures for their defence against the
menace OF exposure and disgrace
Rathbone has been removed. and the in
dications are, under an accusation Of being
quite as badly implicated in the Cuban
postal irregularities as any other official at
the island end Of the conspiracy 20 loot
the revenues. The significant statement
leave Cuba. but will be kept there under
surveillance. 1t is not difficult to guess
what this means. As long as he keeps a
close mouth. he will be supplied with funds
and not Imprisoned. Should he forget him
self sufficiently 70 make his enlargement
dangerous to persons Of eminence at Wash
ington. another course will be pursued
and he will be given a chance to under
stand the difference between the admins
tratiOn Of Anglo-SaxOn justice in the
United States and what it is to be terri
flying personality to those in power in an
Imperial Crown Colony. Prob. bly, Rath-
bone, who has never been IONS dered par
ticularly kheaded. viii see what is
good for him. and maintain = most digni-
fed reserve concerning matters which
would be fatal to Republican success in
November. If confessed.
Every day adds fresh fuel to the scandal
blaze. The Tricornia Railway loot looked
bad enough yesterday 1t appears a good
deal worse today. When Assistant Secre-
tary Meikiejohn confided to the Senate the
statement that this six-mile switch through
a piece OF worthless marsh. cost three hun
dred and forty-two thousand dollars he
accidentally omitted 10 note the fact that
the sum mentioned did not cover the cost of
the right-of-way. We are now told that
the Government has already paid two hun
dred thousand dollars to various persons
on this account. and that there are unIiqui-
dated claims which ii will cost another two
hundred thousand dollars to settle. So the
bit of connection six feet wide. from the
harbor to the town, which competent en-
gineers say could have been built for Sly
ty-three thousand dollars including right
of-way which was without market value.
will ultimately represent Government in
vestment of seven hundred and forty-two
thousand dollars, OF nearly one hundred
and twenty-four thousand dollars per mile.
1t would be edifying to know from whom
Ayers old business associate. Hecker.
bought this right-of- way The Trieornia
Railway presents a pretty good little car
petbag scandal by itself and serves to
whet the public appetite for what will some
day develop when tie secrets of the Phil
ippines are uncovered.
Just as the Administration has taken
fright and fastened to put the lid on Ratb
bone, so it is in a panic over the North
American Trust Company exposures. and is
making a pretence Of investigating things
Of which its responsible officers have had
ample knowledge both before and after the
fact. This lusty financial infant from
Heathville has the keen scent for profits
of an Indiana horse trader It trauspfres
that it is in the habit Of charging the Gov
eminent a commission for assuming GUS
tody Of public funds. paying no interest for
them. of course Not content with 50 small
an honorarium as one-half of one per cent
for the service it is charged that the North
American Trust Company makes il a prae
tice to transfer the sums deposited from
one account to another-postal. administra-
tive, quartermaster's. commissary's and so
on-charging the full commission with each
transfer. II is said that in this man
ner the concern has been able TO make a
commission amounting to eight per cent
upon single lump deposit
Can anybody wonder hoB l. is that GER
tain favored ones jump from poverty to
the position Of millionaires In a year or
two. as we have often seen them do? One
naturally recalls the case OF a gentleman
who probably bad not five hundred dollars
in the world in money or property, when
he went TO New York in the spring of 1887.
and who by strict attention to business ard
army and ocean transport contracts and
sales. combined with frequent visits to
the Enbitt House during Eagan's Gay. is