Free press., 1901-08-31
LONGS DISPATCH TO D wEY.
Secretary Long Says d Clerk Wrote it
Who, He D5enn's Know:

The Hon. John D. Long was the
guest of honor 61 the Massachusetts, club
a: the Atlantic aouse, Nantasket Beach,
recently. The secretary said in his
speech that nothing is SO unjust a. rep
utation and that men get credit tha:
does not belong to them, while the men
who should wear the laurels are ua-
noticed. He said it was the bl:ese
chiefs in the late war who should haTA
tie praise, not himself or Vice President
Roosevelt or Governor Charles Allen.
He also told the story OF the famous
message to Dewey from the navy de-
partment.
'You remember" he said, 'the fam
ous dispatch in WHICH Dewey was
NJ titled that WAR hae commenced be-
tw, i Spain and the United States.
Pc ed at once to the Philippine Is
larGs. Capture or destroy the Spanish
ships. Use the utmost endeaYor.
my name was at the bottom! Glor-
ious dispatch! I should rather like to
have the credit of it. But it is not
pine. I have heard that some one,
Wal ting to get into the graces of Presi-
dent Mckinley, described him as the
author of it. He never once saw it un-
I'll ] took it in and showed it to him.
Ehen others have given me credit for
writing it. I did not write it.
"On Thursday before the oath day Of
Aplil-War was declared on the Wed
nesday, and on Thursday I went to the
President and said to him-and hera
again let me say that this was not an
emanation from me alone, but was
brought out in conversation with
CroWinshield and others-We felt that,
the war having been declared, the thing
to do was to strike as quick and as hard
as possible, and that the only thing we
could strike was the Spanish fleet in
the Philippine Islands.
"On Thursday, then, the day after
the declaration, said to the President.
! think you ought to let me order
Dewey to take the Spanish fleet He
said, Let us wait day or two. know
good reason for it, On Sunday morn
ing-4 remember it was a bright, lovely
Sunday morning, the goth day of April,
I said to Crowninshield, Prepare thar
| dispatch and will take it over to the
President
Crowninshield did not prepare it.
Who did? Some subordinate clerk in
his department. Who? God only
knows AS for me, I should not have
used the word commence I should
nave said The war was begun Aside
from that it is a mighty good message.
1 think we can pardon that word. What
dc you think of the rest of it? Capture
or destroy the Spanish feet. Use the
utmost endeavor.' And, by the way,
Dewey did.
'fThe dispatch came in to me. took
il to the President, saying to him, Mr..
President, I think this ought to co.
He said, All right, sign it. We heard
/ not word more. You don't know the
anxiety of that week. You don't know
of the order being sent. You only
know that a week from that time, on
Sunday, May 1, came the dispatch from
Dewey saying that he had sunk the
Spanish feet, and that the victory a.
Manila Bay was ours
Washington. Secretary Longs
speech before the Massachusetts club at
| Nantasket Beach, in which he said he
die not know the author Of the dispatch
signed by his name, telling Admiral
Dewey to capture or destroy the Spanish
ships in the Philippines, was read with
considerable interest in naval circles.
AFR. Long has been anxious to ascertain
to whom the credit belonged, but his
inquiries on the subject failed to settle
the question.
Inquiries among naval officers, made
by reporter, developed a pretty gen.
eral opinion that the famous message
was prepared by Lieutenant Humes H.
Whittlesey, who, despite his protes1
against being kept ashore, was retained
on duty in the bureau Of navigation
during the Spanish-American war. Il
is not known positively, however, thai
Lieutenant Whittlesey prepared the dis
Patch, and one man familiar with what
was going on at the navy department, at
the time, today expressed the belief that
its author was Rear Admiral Montgom-
ely Sieard, now dead, who at the time
was president of the naval strategy
board.
Curiously enough, the author of the
dispatch failed to initial it, as is Gus
tomary.