The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-08
CREAM OF THE SPECIALS S.eee'e

T
 salary as army men say. irrespective of his fitness for the post and regardless oi whether or not he Is In sympathy with the President.
 General Miles Is a very earnest man. When he gets his mind "sot," as they say when he was 8 boy up in Massachu- sets. it is not easy to turn him aside Some time ago General Miles became con- vinced one of the crying needs of the army was a new set of uniforms. He was well satisfied with his own gorgeous out fit. but thought the habiliments of other officers and of the men should be over- hauled. So great was his intended proj- ect that he wanted to be appointed chair man of the board to revise the service uniforms, and it required an hour of Sec retary Roots valuable time to convince him that 1t was hardly dignified for the iieutenant-general of the army to sit with his subordinate officers in consider ation of the weighty question of their clothing.
 One Of Che most interesting legislative struggles of the winter will be over the isthmian canal. The Morgan committee will report the Nicaragua bill next week and the Republican steering committee will give 1t . place on the program. When the bill comes up long debate is looked for. Senator Morgan, for instance. will want three days in which to state his views. Senator Hanna will make speech for Panama. Many other Senators will join in the discussion, including Senator Spooner in advocacy of his bill. As nearly as can be learned the Senate di- vides between the two routes approxi- mately as follows: Most of the Southern Senators for Nicaragua because that is the shortest route from gulf ports to the Pacific, and most of the Pacific coast Senators for the same route on the ground that 1t Is the longest one from New York to the west coast of South America, thus making it a little more probable that San Francisco could hold that trade against her New York rival. Nearly all of the New England and North ern and Northwestern Senators are be- lieved to be for Panama on the ground that the Senate must follow some expert advice in a complicated technical ques- ton of this sort. and the best advice it has is the report of the Government Com- mission in favor of Panama. It is true that a good many Senators have not yet made up their minds as to how they will vote, but there appears to be ma- jority in favor of the Spooner proposition, which authorizes Panama first if the title and concession difficulties can be arrang- ed, and in the event of failure therein. the Nicaragua route to be adopted.
 There is a probability that Representa- tive Babcock of Wisconsin will not be se- lected by the Republicans of the House when they meet next Monday. night to again act as chairman of the Congress sional Campaign Committee. Representa- tive Jesse Overstreet of Indiana, who has been actively associated with Mir Rah- paigns, Is mentioned as his successor. The opposition to MT. Babcock grows out of his attitude on tariff reform. His bill to remove the protective duties from ar- ticles of iron and steel has excited the fear among Eastern Republicans that his retention at the head of the Congress sional Committee may injure their pros- poets for reelection.