Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1901-06-07
WASHINGTON LETTER.
from our Regular Correspondent,

WASHINGTON LETTER.
(From our Regular Correspondence
Washington, June 5.-Mr. McKin
ley and Secretary Root had a clash of
opinion as to the wording of the rejec-
ton of the action of the Cuban COnsti-
tutional Convention in making whole
sale additions to the Platt amendment.
before accepting it, that threatened to
be serious for time. Mr.. Root re-
garded the action of the Cubans as
violation OF pledges made by the Cuban
delegates who visited Washington and
wished to tell them SO in plain words.
Mr.. Mckinley, while not doubling the
accuracy OF Mr.. Root Is view, insisted
upon making the rejection conciliatory.
and, of course, had his way. Secre-
tary Root is very sore on the subject
and has much smaller opinion of the
Cubans than he had, and privately
calls them tricksters and similar
names.
Representative Bankhead, of Ala. :,
who has just returned from visit to
the Constitutional Convention of that
state, now sitting, said: 81 am confid-
emit that wisdom will characterize their
course and that they will solve the
suffrage problem satisfactorily. 1t
may be some little time before form
is definitely decided on, but there is no
doubt about proper restrictions and
qualifications for suffrage being pro-
vided."
Whether Intentional or not. it looks
as though there were consplracy
among New York Republicans who
visit Washington, to make Teddy feel
small by booming som ebody else, as
New York IS candidate for the Repub-
lican Presidential nomination. First,
one of the old Conkling leaders intro
duced the Odell boom to Washington,
and in addition to telling what fine
candidate he would make, stuck a
knife into Teddy by saying of him
"Oh, yes he's a good man. but bis
name won't figure with the New York
delegation. By. the time the Odell
boom was sufficiently inflated to be
seen at any distance, Buffalo Repub'
lican-Mr. E. II. Theobald-who hap.
pened to be in Washington, proceeded
to swat it vigorously. He declared
that Odell would have to do a lot OF
growing before he reached presiden.
| tial size, then proceeded to trOt out
boom for Secretary Root and to say
that his name would be the only one
presented to the Convention by New
York. Republicans who favor candl
dates from other states, find much
pleasure in this early scrapping among
New York Republicans, and the Demo
crats-it's up to them to laugh, ano
they do.
AttO1ney-G eneral Knox has done his
part toward avoiding a decidedly EN-
| barrassing matter. by rendering ar
opinion that claims resulting from the
destruction of the battleship Maine. iI
Havana harbor, are National and there
fore barred by the Treaty of Paris
from consideration by the Spanish
| claims Commission. But some law
yers have doubts as to whether thai
opinion will stand legal test, ant
| they are still filing claims of the Maine
victims and their heirs with the Com
mission. In order to decide those
claims either way, it would be neces
sary to fix the responsibility for The
destruction of Maine.
Has Mr.. Mckinley deserted high
protection and become disciple Of
Blaine reciprocity and Babcock tariff
reform That interesting question
has been more or less discussed II
Washington for some time, and tht
number of those who take the affirma
tive side is steadily increasing. ltwll
be remembered that Mr.. Mckinley
was unusually persistent in his efforts
to get the Senate toratify the reciproc
| ity treaties negotiated by his direction
and be made no efforts to hide his
chagrin at the failure OF those efforts
Interest in this matter was increased
| by the telegraphed report of a speech
made at Montreal by nj. Siegfried,
French statesman who was a recent
caller at the White House, in which be
quoted Mr.. Mckinley as having sale
| to him that he was no longer an eX
IRENE protectionist; that the time hac
come when it was necessary to oDtalI
new and wider foreign markets anc
that tariff concessions would have tt
be made to get them. That statement
| is believed to be substantially correct
although White House officials decline
| to either deny or affirm it. Another
witness along the same line is Mr.
Charles A. Moore, President of the
American Protective Tariff League
who was with Mr.. Mckinley on his
trip to the Pacific Coast, and who has
publicly stated that MI. Mckinley was
no longer an extreme protectionist and
that he was intent upon trying to ex'
tend our market through commercial
reciprocity. Mr.. Moore went further
and said that unless he could get more
foreign markets, oYerproductions would
soon make serious trouble for us. Com
pare this sort of talk with the speeches
made when the Mckinley tariff bill
was before Congress, and you get an
idea of the radical change of mind
these high prOtectlOnists have under
gone. The original Mckinley tariff
bill did not provide for reciprocity at
all, and it was only by reading the riot
act that the late James G.. Blaine, then
Secretary Of State, succeeded in having
a reciprocity amendment added there
to. There is food for the brains of
thoughtful Democrats in this subject.
West Augusta Gteanings.