The Press., 1902-07-03
WASHINGTON LETTER.

means committee Saturday, when asked
him the probable date Of adjournment,
and 1t is no exaggeration to say that the
attention of every member Of congress is
centered on that measure. The house
passed Its own bill on Thursday by what
WAS practically q party vote, but one re-
publican voting with the democrats. On
Friday the. conference committee began
Its work, and on Saturday a number oil
differences between the house and senate
bills had been adjusted. some, there are.
who predict that the conferees will report
the APPROVAL of both bodies and permit of
adjournment tomorrow noon, but the
more conservative anticipate that adj
journment.will not he taken before We'd
fnesday or Thursday. That congress will
remain In session until after the 4th Of
July no one anticipates.
/ The currency provision, the house hav-
fog leglslated for gold standard In the
philippines and the senate having CON-.
|Stinued the currency on the present silver
basis, Is giving the conferees the greatest
|gamount of trouble; but the provision Of
the house that there shall be established
q Filipino Legislature, whereas the senate
provides only for a census which is to be
made the basis for establishing legisla-
ture at some future period, is almost
equally difficult of adjustment. 1t is ex-
o<a1f fhat
he reported this noon, and the sergeant
alarms will have difficulty in maintaining
quorum in the house from to-day on, as
there is very general desire on the part
of the members to spend Independence
day at their homes. 7fsef
Apart from the bill establishing the
Appalachian forest reserve, there has been
little important legislation In either cham
Der since the passage of the Philippine
bill. s@
The Appalachian bill, as passed by the
senate, carries an appropriation Of $1O,-
600 200, and requires the secretary of ags
riculture to file with congress slpiat of the
land he proposes to purchase. The bill
will not come up for action In the house
at this session, although the house COM
mittee on agriculture has considered It
and has determined to report 1t favorably
early In the next session.
The immigration bill, passed by the
house, will also wait action until the
short session. The senate committee on
immigration reported the bill fayorably,
and there is little doubt that 1t will pass,
but the time intervening between now and
adjournment is not considered sufficientIy
long to permit OF proper consideration 81
go Important q measure. The senate com
mittee threw out the provision of the sem
ate, bill, which prohibited the sale OF
liquor In the capitol, on the ground that
the amendment was not germane to the
subject. In previous letter intimated
that the house counted on such action by
the senate when 1t accepted the amend
/ ment, and subsequent events have justi.
fed the prediction.
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday Ad-
miral Dewey appeared before the Philip
pines committee, and furnished valuable
and interesting testimony in regard to the
taking of the city of Manila and the sub.
sequent initiation Of the Philippine insur.
rection. The admiral maintained tina,
from the first he regarded Aguinaldo as
\ merely an adventurer, and that he consid
cred. his object In coming to- the islande
as predaeeous, his purpose being personal
gain. In reply to question from. one .oi
the senators as to why he (Dewey) had
afforded assistance to a man he regarded
as no better than thief, the admiral re.
4 piled that ''all's fair In war;" The testi-
mony revealed a certain amount OF, 'un
written history, which Admiral Dewey
admitted he had not madetpublic because
he had intended to incorporate 1t tin7s
book which he expected to publish some
day." 49, s, -, l%..f :; ..;'t' l..
A recent decision of the supreme court
of the District of Columbia places the In
habitants of the Philippine Islands In q
somewhat equivocal position. They are
according to the decision of the court
men without q country. It seems tha
one Antonio M. Opisso, a native Filipino
q petitioned the court to permit him to ,filt
Il declaration Of his intention of becominf
\ a citizen OF the United States, but the de-
j partment of justice rendered the opinior
that the court had no power to take sacf
action, because, pending the action O
congress, the government Of the Unitet
States could not recognize Filipino as
citizen Of any country, the Philippines no
coming under, the head Of any govern
ment recognized by the government o
the United States. This being, the. case
1t would naturally follow that the either
of the Philippines has no legal existence
4 and any infringement OF his rights by
I foreign government could NOT be mad,
the basis Of a demand for indemnity b!
the United States. The situation is Ger
tainly peculiar, and is probably withou
precedent In the history OF civilized ma
tions. na''
il Acting Secretary OF State Hill, ty th'
n direction of the president, has alread,
commenced negotiations with Senior Que
sada, minister from Cuba, looking to tn.
formulation Of d reciprocal treaty with
the island. This treaty will be completed
and presented to the senate early In th'
short session. With a view to securing
the prompt ratification OF. the treaty, tn.
j president will accept Invitations to speal
4 In those states whose congressional dele
cations have opposed his Cuban policy
and will strongly advocate relief Of Cub'
by means Of reciprocal treaty. MIR
Roosevelt believes, according to my In
formant, who stands very close to the ad
ministration, that In this way he will b
/ able to establish 80 strong q sentiment II
!, favor OF Cuban reciprocity that he VII