The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-03-19

COMMAND OF. Capt. William c. Gswles,
u. s. n. Capt. Cowles the brother-in-
law of the President. e has been sta
TONED in Washington II the Presidents
Naval Aid and Assistant to the Chief of
the Bureau of Navigation, but wants to
go to sea. He is no dress-parade sailor
and while he likes his position in Wash
ington. much prefers sea duty. The Mis-
souri, ,! is to be assigned stq the North At
Rear-Admiral Higginsom in his report
on the conduct of the plen with the bat
tleship squadron at Pensacola. reports
less than 3 per cent. otf,ssnesertion of the
men given their liberty ifer week. while
the squadron was Mt Pensacola. which is
considered very small mHeed. The news
papers of the town als0rnOte in terms of
praise the sobriety and orderly conduct
of the men, which speaks Volumes for the
personnel of the naval enlistments. The
grade is surely rising, just as it is in the
Army. It, is no longer possible for ell
around toughs to join either arm of the
service.
Anti Herbert Welsh, General-in-C Chief
of the Kicl1ers on Administration policies.
loaded the President up,with a mass of
alleged information rs TO Gen. Frederick
Frnston's actions at Caloocan, and mod
esIly asked that that sturdy young off
Ger be court-martialed. This happened
about the middle of last month. The Pres
ident dutifully loaded the documents into
q cart and sent them over to Asst Adj't-
Gen. w. T. Hall for an opinion as to the
legal status of the affair. That officer has
just now promulgated his finding in the
case in hand. and it is calculated to pro-
Iuc Jnr toc in Anti
Herbert Welsh's mouth. The Assistant
AdjutantGe says:
"The allegations submitted by Mr.
Welsh relate to acts which are alleged to
have occurred during an engagement with
the insurrectionary forces at CalOOcan,
Island of Inzon. Philippine Islands. on
Feb. 10. 1890. Gen. Funston. who at that
date was the Colonel of the 10Th Kansas
Volunteers. was honorably discharged on
May 4, 1899"
Gas a consequence of such separation
from the military service he ceased to
be liable to trial by court-martial for any
acts alleged to have been committed prior
to that date. and his subsequent entry into
the military service as n Brigadier-tien-
eral of Volunteers and as Brigldier-
General in the Regular Army did not oper-
ate to revive such lapSed jurlsdl ,tlon.
His liability to trial By military commits
sion ceased Oh July +. 1902. upon which
date the military occupation of the Phil
ippine Islands was terminated bv the
Presidents proclamation. Col. w. s.
Metcalf and Mai. W. NJ. Bishop We're
honorably mustered out with their regi-
ment (the' Goth Kansas NoluDteersI, on
Oct 30. 1899. and their liability to trial
ceased on that date. and has not since
been revived.
at will thus appear that there is no
authority of law for the appointment of
court-nartal for the trial Of either of the
persons above named for an Olfense al
legged to have been committed during the
period of their service in the volunteer
forces -,
Anti Welsh is very much dispIeased Mt
the result of his Sherlock Holmes-iike
summing mp of an ''infnPhous' case. and
attacks Gen. Funstoniii PERSONALLY. in a
letter. in which he givesdhe whole thing
to the public. The letter is really very
funny because Anti Welsh takes himself
so seriously. In concluding it he says
with the utter selfabnegation which leads
men to send all their wife'S relations into
war: Ell
sGen. FunsiOn's instincts of honor as
IN officer and gentleman should oblige
him promptly to demand n searching in
Tuiry into the allegations against him. so
that they may either Wy disproved and
his name freed so fai. ;fs this score is
CONCERNED. from the most Injurious suspi-
cions; or. IL the charges, are proved To- be
true, he may at the 1eIst be removed
from his present exalted and responsible
position. Or if Gen. Funst0ns instincts
do not lead him to take this step with
promptitUde-and from tie fact that he
had allowed so long n time to eiapse with
OF. taking it,. one might naturally infer
that they were not sufficiently strong for
that purpose-then the honor of the army
and of the people of the United States
will demand that this step be taken"
My, oh. My! And Gen. Funston isn't
paying one particle of attention to Anti
We!sh's scolding. Not bit more than
the President is. He is in Washington,
called here for consultation about The
Alaskan country about which he is
thoroughly informed, and which is in his
military jurisdiction. The President in
vites Gen. Funston. to lunch with him,
even to dine. OF course, this happens
behind Closed doors, as il were, and can
not contaminate the innocent public. But
they do worse than that. The President,
with Gen. Funston. as an invited guest,
shamelessly gallOps over the country
around Washington in broad day light,
to be seen of all people. Dear, dear,
dear.
In the Library of Congress the wiz
dows in the stacks where the books are
kept are Theoretically sealed, and now
metal venetian blinds are to be put on
these 1886 windows 10 protect the books
from the sun, as the committee of the
Royal Society which was appointed two
years ago to investigate causes of deterior-
alton in leather bindings reported that en-
cessiye sunlight is one OF the chief destruc-
tive agents.
The Rowland collection of Burmese art
| recently placed III the rotunda of the Ma
tional Museum comprises statue of
Buddha on a PLATFORM: Il cabinet used by
the King of Burma, and howdah or
| canopy.
Some plants collected by the Fish Com
mission steamer Albatross on Laysen and
| Necker Islands about two years ago were
handed to w. f. Stafford. Botanist of the
| Division of Tropical Agriculture, for iden-
| LITIGATION. Among them was one plant
| which showed evidence of life. 1t has
| been planted and is now growing in one
of the greenhouses of the Agricultural
| Department. The plant is a species of
portulaca which. has. never been figured
and Of which only poor specimens have
been known in the herba,iums.t
= = 4i#n, .rt'
Secretary of the Treasury Shaw went
up to New York last wcel'and took look
|