Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1902-06-06

OF GENERAL w OO0 g expenses DuG Cn0fe
seems little likelihood that the General
will he able to complete his accounts
before adjournment, IN view of the eff
feet which such a statement would be
likely to have on the Fall elections.
General Wood is making his home and
headquarters on board the transport
"Kanawha," which arrangement not
only proves an economy to the General
but also necessarily delays the render
ing of his accounts to the War Depart
ment and consequently to Congress.
Secretary Root evidently believes that
the public will forget all about the
rumors of his and Woods extrava
gance-also the cost of the Philippine
war, a statement which he has refused
to render until the next sessiOn-and
that after election the disclosure of the
figures will cause no injury to his par
ty.
The announcement of the President
that he has determined TO appoint Sena
tor McLaurin to the vacancy ON the
bench of the Court of Claims is at the
same time the death knell of the silly
white republican organization" which
the Senator attempted to foster in
South Carolina. Had Senator Hanna,
In bis capacity as Chairman of the Re.
publican National Committee, con-
tinued to dictate republican policy in
the South this effort of McLaurin' s
might not have died a-bornin'" but
the vigorous methods of the President
proved disastrous to the puny infant.
Those democrats who have enter
tanned certain admiration for the
rugged manliness of which they con.
ceived the President to be possessed,
received a severe shock when they
heard, or read, the speech which Mr..
Roosevelt saw fit to deliver at the Ma
tiOnal Cemetery at Arlington on Mem
Orial Day. Not content with attempt
ing to vindicate the record of Ameri.
can soldiers in the Philippines, Mr.,
Roosevelt took occasion to belittle his
dignity and indulge in the cheapest
sort of demagogism by referring to the
lynchipgs which have occurred in this
country and charging those who con-
denim torture and other violations of
the laws of civilized warfare in the
Philippines with condonipg lynching
at home. Disinterring the ''bloody
shirt" which he had declared at Charles
ton was buried for all time. he told his
hearers, many of them veterans Of the
Civil War, that the opponents Of i'm.
perialism had called Grant butcher
and had referred to them as Lincoln 3
hirelings." Mr.. Roosevelt's whole
speech was calculated to stir up the
bitterest kind of sectional feeling and
party strife and was one Of the most
serious violations of good sense and
To <aI in hn
coratiOn Day grafton.
The republicans in the Senate are re-
joicing over the fact that they have
gained one democratic vote for the
Philippine bill to offset that of Sena.
tor Hoar, the only republican who had
frankly stated that his conscience would
not permit him to vote for the bill. On
Thursday, Senator Morgan, of Ala
bama, made a speech in favor of the
Lodge bill but to the careful listener it
was plainly evident that the course OF
the Alabama Senator was entirely the
result of bis strong convictions on the
subject of religion and his belief that,
40 long as American domination had
served to relieve the Filipnos of the
burden of an established church, they
could afford to put up with whatever
injustices the policy of the admins
tration might entail upon them.
Last week the House passed the i'm
migration bill and the Hill subsidiary
coinage bill. Representative Newlands,
speaking of the latter, remarked to me
upon the evident insincerity of the
republicans In passing SO important a
measure with only two hours delibera-
tion. BY the provisions of the bill,
according to Mr.. Newlands, the Sec.
rotary of the Treasury is empowered
to retire all silver dollars which are
now legal tender and recon them into
subsidiary coins which shall have a
legal tender value only in sums not ex.
ceeding SIS. Should the Secretcry of
the Treasury later see fit to recon the
silver fractional currency into dollars
the dollars so coined would have a
value only as token money.