The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1907-07-11
news and views
At washington.
MATTERS POLITICAL And OTHER
wise NOW IN The PUB
Lie EYE.


WASHINGTON, July 6:-At
last it has been settled that
the battle ship squadron is to be
sent tofhe Pacific coast. This de-
cision has been announced officially
by the navy department, and it is a
liz tie curious to see that on the. vc' !
day of this announcement IN Wash
ington, Secretary Loeb at Oyster
bay was giving out an "authoritative
statement" that no such movement
was contemplated. Now of course
the government would not keep so
important a person as Secretary Lo-
eb in ignorance Of its intentions,
aud there is but one inference to be
drawn from the Incident namely,
that it was misstatement that
might have been characterized by a
shorter and uglier word"
If Secretary Loeb does not look
out he will get himself into the same
class with Assistant Secretary of
State, Robert Bacon, onetime part
ner in the firm of J P Morgan & Co.
of New York. Assistant Secretary
!! of State Bacon is very wealthy
and fashionable young man aud Is
lust the sort of an understudy that
S. cretsry Root wants to take visit
ing princes and other notables Oh
his hands. But as a source OF mis-,
information rs to the things that are
going on in the State department,
he has not heretofore been equaled.
He it was who gave out The famous
statement just after the Jamaica
earthquake that there Was no frlc
tion between Admiral Davis ant
IGov. Sweerenham. The same issue
of the papers that printed mis- state
ment had all the correspondence o
Admiral Davis and Gov. Sweeten-
ham in an adjoining column. Ais
the day news was received of tn
4 killing of the Japanese seal poach
ers Oh the Island OF St Paul, Mr. Ba
T con announced to all callers tina
I the report was entirely unfounde'
e although the telegram conveying IN
I information had just been sent t
: him BY the department Of Com
merce and Labor where the new
was first received. Mr. Bacon ale
announced three days ago that th
story of sending the battle shiI
e squadron 10 the Pacific was com
ple,e fabrication. If Secretary Loe
4 is starting in to emulate this record
D be Is electing to travel in swift com
pany.
: The journey of the battleshlp
from the Atlantic to the Pacific vii
2 be the greatest naval movement e'
er attempted by this government
] and only eqnaled by the i'll fate
> feet that Russia sent to Japanes
waters two years ago. The Englisl
squadlons in their war games aroun
: the British Isles, sometimes bring
into play more ships, but for tn
size of the ships and the length o
the voyage, the movement has neve
surpassed. There were actualI.
more ships in Rogesvensky's squad
ron when be went from the Baltic t
the Sea of Japan, but the squadron
went in two sections, took an inor
dinately long time making the voy
age, and was not the equal of th'
American feet in fighting power a
any time.
The question of a route for tn
squadron has beer discussed by the
Naval board at some length and i
decision has been made in favor OF
Cape Horn. The route through tn
Suez canal is about 1000 miles
longer than the trip around TIT
Horn and besides this it would brins
the squadron almost into Japanes'
waters and would look a little tot
much like stndied defiance of the
T.