The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-02-21
FROM THE NATIONS CAPITAL.
From Oar Own Correspondent.

w ltH tuc cACcpIlOu Oh tnc Scuutc,
feeling in this city is almost universal
ly against the Hay Pauncefote canal
surrender. The House of Representa-
tives is at least five to one against it
and the public is practically unanimous
in its opposition. The attitude of the
Senate is most peculiar and hard to un-
derstand. Senator Morgan, of Ala
bama. whose whc!e life has ibeen
devoted to constant warfare in favor
Of building the canal under American
guns now says that Notifications will
be of no use and favors the treaty.
His is the most striking change Of face
though there are other Senators whose
new position is scarcely less surprising.
A recent poll of the Senate showed a
two-thirds vote for the treaty, but the
universal opposition Of the newspapers
of the country, democratic and repub-
lican, alike. is having its effect and it is
quite probable thatenough may change
their minds to defeat the treaty. The
news cabled from London that it is
practically admitted there that Lord
Salisbury would have consented to the
United States fortifying, if he had
been sufficien tly pressed to do 80, has
added to the indignation at Secretary
Hays tame surrender of our rights.
However, according TO administration
ideas, the good will of Great Britain
must be retained at whatever cost to
this country, for it is held that only by
her MD can the president push his I'M
perialistic schemes in the Orient.
One lucky thing has developed here
within the Last week and that is that
the ship subsidy bill, which proposed to
pay over fortunes to the wealthy At
lantic liners, will be postponed until
next session; that is until after the cleo
tion. The popular opposition has been
30 strong even to the substitute offered
by Mr.. Grosvenor that some forty Re
pnblicans have declined to follow their
party in supporting it, and it has been
therefore practically decided to let Is
go over. 1t was somewhat difficult to
arrange for this as the snip line owners
refused at first to contribute to- the Re-
publican campaign fund this ia II unless
they were given the money in the bill,
but it is probable that they will yield
to the inevitable and contribute, realiz-
ing thGt Republican victory this fall
will so intrench that party that it's
members will risk the anger c1 their
constituencies. At present they are
unwilling to go home and inform these
that they voted for bill carrying $9,-
0O0, 900 in su bsidies, largely to cid and
worn cut vessels. 1t is fact that
there are III old ships which would
share in the benefits of the bill, " Of
them ten years old and quite proper
tiOn 25 years old. Twenty eight of
these are of foreign construction.
What these old ships would leave out
OF 80. taD0. Geo wouid go to the fast At
lantic liners, which carry little OF no
freight. The advocates of the bill re-
fuse to accept an amendmcntprovidin
that no ship shall receive n subsidy un-
less it carries one half Of it's tonnage in
freight, as this would furnish little
plunder to Mark Hanna's friends al
though it would at least give to the
slow freight carriers share in the plum
der and might possibly have reduced
freight rates.
General Stone, u. S. ", who has
done such splendid work for Porto Ri
co, is bitterly opposed to the PROPOSE
tion to impose duties on tho products
of that island when imported into the
United States. He says that the lnhahi-
tants welcomed our soldiers with open
arms and saved Us hundreds of lives by
their adhesion to our cause during the
war. "When our army landed there"
he says, "the frat thing General Miles
did was to issue proclamation declar-
ing that we came to offer them the
blessings of our government" General
Stone thinks that it would now be bad
faith to impose duties. Said he: "Can
we afford to break our solemn promise
to these people at the outset of our
rule7 Shall we give them three quar-
ters or some other fraction of what is
due them, and that, not as right, but
as concession, which the next Con-
gress may revoke7 If the conscience
of the nation could: consent to such an
iniquity, it might still be wise to con-
slider that we may have, any day, to de-
fend that splendid possession against a
foreign foe, that it is now the grand
outpost and guard over our coast and
commerce and canal that is to be, and
that when such an occasion comes, if
our dealings with these people have
shown kindness and liberality, or even
fairness and common honesty, VIC
might raise fifty thousand fighting
Porto Ricans to defend the island
against our enemy"
General Stc:e secuted. secuted. tho idea vf In
jury to our producers from Porto Rican
competition. What possible plea or
excuse can we offer for sacrificing the
haxaox. ne kho xaa&ion . ho oxalaixaaa.