Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1900-05-30
WASHINGTON LETTER.

The war department has sent to the
senate an answer to its resolution
adopted more than four months ago,
asking for an itemized account Of ex-
penditures in Cuba. The answer,
though somewhat extended, is by no
means satisfactory to those who wish
to know just what is going on down
there. But its revelations, SO far as
they go, are startling. For instance, one
item sent in is for $500 to Gov. Ger.
Brooke for house rent for one year.
This is in addition to the $1,000 which
he drew as an army officer, and the
$500 allowed him as additional salary
from the Cuban funds, so that his in
come, which is also the income of Gov
Gen. Wood, reached $4,000 a year, an
amount larger than is allowed to the
ambassador at the Court OF st. James,
and in fact, larger than any salary al
lowed by the United States except that
of the president. The total salaries for
the island for six months aggregate
$1,208,535, more than one-third of the
total cost of the island, and this does
not include $l,377 900 for unskilled
labor, and includes nothing paid to the
United States officers and troops. An
other item is some $364,0O0 for build
ing q railway less than six miles long
over almost level ground, with no pay
ment for the right.ofway. The other
statements, especially those concerning
the postotlice are quite as extravsgant.
Moved by the sharp criticism passed
upon the statement, Assistant Secretary
A1ieklejohn gave out an interview in
tended to break its force. In this he
asserted that the total expenditures in
Cuba for 1899 would not exceed SILL
75S,740. This positive statement might
well be accepted as an accurate account
of the disbursements were 1t not for
the fact that the assistant secretary of
war, in making it public, evidently
overlooked the fact that the secretary
had previously reported to congress
what purported to be truthful state
ment of tho same expenditures, in
which he placed them at S14,OS5,S05. In
other words, the more statements are
given out, the clearer it becomes that
the department really knew nothing of
the way things were going on in Cuba,
but was content to sit quiet and let the
Rathbones and Neeleys run matters
for the benefit of their own pockets.
The question of headquarters for the
democratic national committee this fall
is again agitating the members of that
body. In 1886 headquarters were in
Chicago, where bureau is still main
tanned and where the records are still
kept. Chicago is very convenient for
campaign purposes, but it is notorious
that in 1896 the democratic national
committee found it practically lmpos-
sible to get anything like fair treatment
from the press of that city. Hostility
was carried to such an extreme that
bulletins issued from the headquarters,
announcements by Chairman Jones is
sued in quotations under his own name,
were changed and distorted in print SO
as to quote him as saying something
utterly at variance with what he actu-
ally said. Typewriter announcements
were changed SO as to make them say
directly the opposite to what they con-
tanned, and thus distorted were credited
as official from the democratic head
quarters. Chairman Jones was utterly
helpless to reach the ear of the
public, except through such brief