The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1901-09-21

until then carefully observed Secretary
Longs order forbidding navy officers te
!, talk for publication, came out on Thursda>
e morning with the old familiar b,llinospate
;, at Admiral Schley's expense and the reeula,
2 serviie adufation of Sampson. We infer.
therefore, that the order has been revoked,
5 or that the Sampson laureates have re-
= ce'ved notice that II is no longer to be
: taken seriously. The recrudescence of Will
hcat'on and coarse abuse in the SUMS edto.
rial columns can have no other meaning.
At all events, the mud finger bounds into
the arena once more with the usual ..Here
we are again" and the balls begin to fy
with all their pristine vigor and abundance,
First, however. let us examine a specimen
OF the Suns slobber over Sampson:
1T was SIMPSONS mastery management
OF the fleet that compelled the enemy to
| battle was won.''
What was SIMPSONS .smasterlv MANAGE
ment of the heet?'' And how did il .scom
pei the enemy to offer battle on his, Samp-
sons, terms?' When Sampson reached
| Santiago Schley had already established a
blockade. In what way did Sampson
change or improve upon the Schley forma-
ton? The Sun speaks of his, Sampson's
terms. What were those terms, SO far as
they are revealed by SIMPSONS acts and |
orders9 We know that before he left Kew
west Sampson sent message to Schlev. |
then OH Santiago, lns:ructing him to sink
the collier Sterling in the channel. He
meant the Merrimac, it is said, but that
matters nothing. His object was to block
the channel, and that meant that he did not
want fight, since, with the channel
blocked, Ger vera could not get out nor
Sampson in. Were those the ",erms', on
which Sampson proposed to engage in battle7
Certainly, it is difficult to avoid the conclu.
SION that they were. To be sure, Schlev !
did not sink the sterling in any other wav
seal up the harbor in which Cervera had
taken refuge-another instance of repreben
ible conduct. no doubt, and evidently often
i've to Sampson, for the latter's first expe
l'ent after reaching the scene and Carefully
the situation was to do himself
THAT he had previously instructed Schlev to
o, namely, endeavor to block the channel
its mouth, thus preventing both inpress
nd egress and making an engagement i'm
osslble. Were these SIMPSONS terms
not, what were they, and why did he trv
hard to make his own plans--whatever
icy may have been-futile and preposter
Is Sampson, the Sun says, .trompelled
e enemy to offer battle on his, SIMPSONS,
rms. Why, then, if he designed a battle
q ne resort to every means at his disposal
preventing one7
Again, the Sun SAYS:
and the 'Schley- Samson controversy
IS PreclPated because the administration AZ
fused to hold that the mere stenn;no -,
'oss the threshold of gun6-e, as Sampson
d done under the accident of orders -
&c., &c. II
w nat does the Sun mean by stthe acct
Mt of orders?" BY whose orders did
npson withdraw the New York from
battle line that Sunday morning and
am away, some twelve or fifteen miles.
1t is true that Shafter who to
stormed and taken San Juan ridge and 70
then closely investing Santiago, was inn
tuning Sampson to attack the fleet in the fe(
Dor and SO hasten the capitulation of the {.
1t is true, also, that on July 2, in re- ILL
use to these pressing solicitations, Samp CO.
sent Shafter the following message:
1t is your earnest desire that we sbould
e our entrance, will at once prepare to
ertake it,
my, then, did Sampson sail away to
'ney next morning instead of keeping his
MISE to Shafter? Who compelled him
. soF Did he 60 in order to tell Shafter NJ
al changed his mind, or merely to delay ~
to which he had pledged
elf? -
he court of inquiry has begun its sittines. EV1
ire quite willing to refer Schley's record II
ne Judgment of three honorable and
minded gentlemen, and are prepared to
'esce in any verdict they may reach
full, patient, and impartial ex-
alton OF the facts. But Sampson and
'teilltes, unfortunately, are not under
legation, and it is conceivable that
Schley may be exonerated-as we mos
,e. nc w,l' oeI'he consummation need and
the vulgar SANDERS, the savage Der
ons which have led up to this abom-
episode. Our purpose, therefore, is
attention to the chief prosecutor in i FL
'se. In search of light, and in the z
effort to do jusice to an accused
}, it is always useful to look into the < /
tiers the actions, and the motives of z
cuser. And make bold to saw to this
'llnst'ious and highly placed as may
ohcers who compose it, that the z
Jana people will be satisfied with
aisiton which falls short of that re- Z
ent.
WELLINGTON &4AAu