People's Pilot, Volume 4, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 March 1895 — Washington Letter. [ARTICLE]

Washington Letter.

If the administration were of ti e same mind as the young nav al officers war with Spain would he the inevitable outcome of the filing on a United States mail steamer by a Spanish gunboat; but the administration isn’t, and there will be no war, notwithsi anding the popularity of jungoism in certain quarters. Even before the department of state had been officially informed of the shooting episode the Spanish minister called to say that he had cabled the governor general of Cuba for a report and had received an answer that it would be forwarded as soon a$ the vessel charged with having tired on the American flag entered port. While holding the opinion that the report will when received put a different face on the matter, the minister says should it appear that there was any of sense, or even indiscretion on the part of the commander of the Spanish ship Spain will speedily make an apology consistent with the friendship she bears the United States. It is difficult to see how any trouble can arise, even if this country was seeking it, when the minister of the other country talks in that strain. There is really far more danger of war in the diplomatic wrangle now on with the continental European countries which are unjustly discriminating against American meat and cattle than there is in connection with the foolish firing of a couple of shots by a hot-headed Spaniard. It is understood that the United States has taken a diplomatic position in dealing with France that is bound to result in a withdrawal of its embargo on our . meats by France, or in tariff reiadatioii by the Unite ! Slates. If the latter is resorted to it must be extended to the nor cnunt ,m-s, and where it. will -mi, or now, n > man can say. At t ;e c n dtisio i of the argum nts in the <■; se involving the cons!iicli mality of the income tax th 1 U. S Supreme court look a -e>s until the 2lib insL. in or ie t ; give its members an oppo' u-iil.y to study and discus;the d• ■ s ; n ito be handed down in U important case. Wiiih the i■ .agression is general that the d : ,-ision of the court will uphold the tax, officials of the governm >it do not conceal theii fears that it may d > otherwise. The principal reason why administration offiffials fear a de cision declaring the in.-ome tax unconstitutional is that it would mean the calling of an immediate extra session of congress. tore place in some way the twentyfive or thirty millions of prospective dollars which the killing of the income tax would k *ep out of the treasury, and whicii will be needed during the nex fiscal year. Sofa- 1 a» m re leg-i argu me u t learned j u gg! < - ry. some call it—w is concerned the government was outclassed, although Attorney General Omey made a much better argument in favor of tne co•is ■ ituti .);iali ty oI the tax than might have been expected from a man who icredited with being strong! . o posed personally to the tax. who is a corporation lawy< . Hon. Carroll I). W right. ’.J Labor Commissioner, in a . >’■ lecture this week said: •• i. regulation and control of monop olies properly belongs to government. If trusts were operated in a proper manner t his'might go far toward settling the laboi que tian. And yet. so far, every attempt to regulate trusts has been a failure ” Mr. Wright in the same lecture used the following language, which appears to leave a doubt as to just where lie stands on a very important question: "I am absolutely opposed to governmental control of railways, but we must admit that government may regulate transportation for the good of the whole country, for a corporation exists for the benefit of the people, and not the individual.” By the way, wonder if Mr. Wright can name even one cor poration that does actually so exist. Attorney General Olney has r.evor a popular official and p ( bably never will be—his ideas <•• e too exclusive and his carr ge too toplofty for plain, ev- <• y day people—but he has one ood trait for an official, he doesn’t go off half-cocked. Several days ago one of the federal officials at New Orleans lost his head, during the riots in that city, and telegraphed to Mr, Olney. asking that the U. S. troops in New Orleans be ordered to quell the riot. President Cleveland was away, but Mr. Olney aid not even take the trouble to

| confer with any of the other v members of the cabinet before ] wiring the sender of that telegram that U. S. troops would j not be used in New Orleans until the city and state authorities I had officially stated their inability to cope with the rioters. i That federal official would probably never have sent that telegram had it not been for the new instructions, sent soon after the Chicago railioad strike, to all : federal officials concerning the 1 use of U. S. troops to preserve public property. He doubtless thought those instructions meant that the U. S. troops were to be called out whenever there was rioting. i Washington, March 22, 1895. For years there have been many prominent Cuban annexationists! .in tjie United States. The ques- ; tion has never been made a p v ical one or annexation iibgit. have been accomplished before this. It would be difficult to find ! two men wider apart upon every- 1 thing political than Senators! Morgan, of Alabama, and Frye, ! of Maine, are, .but just read how ! perfectly they agree on Cuban annexation, and'do not forget that they are both members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senator Morgan, ■ being the chairman. Said Sen-1 a tor Frye.- of liiut little d plomatic Ilur?y with Spain: “Lt looks as if Spain wor.id make thei .required apology mid as if all * i would s>?:i be sil lh'd. 1 had I ; hoped it would be otherwise, and; : that Spain w-mid a -sumv such I : an arr ig.mt and beiiigcr.i-ut. tone I I that it would b.? i..-..ary fori I the United States to go over and; i take possession of \;'e; j aioly ought to have that J is! aid in order to round out our. possessions as they should be. | and if we cannot buy it, I for one should like t > have an opportu- : nity to acquire it by conquest.” i so,id Senator Morg-.u: “1 am in 1 favor of pu I’ciiasing Cuba or of! acquireing it by any other just method. 1 have always been a Cuban annexationist, for the Island is .in important one to the United Stutts. If the revolu-tioni-.bs ar 1 a >lo t:> hold out for i. year t hey wi. be able to secure 'lateral as-ast/mr- from persons* D this country, not only in the I .vay ot money, i.ut in men, in, -pile of all efforts to prevent it. I There are ma»iy men who ready; o go into a war for Cuba, or any I • tiler war, and there will be no ; vay of keeping them out of it if he men who are leading this remit show that they command my real strength at home.”; knee these publffi utterances; lie prediction is freely made hat kt new movement for the annexation of Cuba will soon begin io show itself in this country. <n fact, many believe that Secretary Gresham made his recent I

demand upon Spain unnecessarily harsh with the hope that it ’ would make Spain do something! that would justify an attack up i on her. There are a great many rumors ' !as to the desision which is exj pected next week from the Su- ; preme Court on the constitutioniality of the income tax, but they are probably based entirely upon guesswork, as it is seldom, indeed, that any advance information as to decisions of the SuI preme Court ever gets out. A I gentleman who opposed the income tax in Congress said: ‘Tn far reaching effects this isoneof the most import ant decisions this j court Las ever been called upon |to make. A decision against the i constitutionality of the tax would I make an extra session of Con-j 'gross necessary, bat it will also* ■ •» much greater evil than that. | ■I convince the already susv'.'.j masses—those who have , o.uy what they work for that I our highest legal tribunal is susceptible to the powerful inllui emos now weild- d by corporate j , wealth, and that would be the |greatest national calamity that icould possibly happen. An incorrupt judiciary is the keystone of a successful republic. If it i ever becomes otherwise the rei,public will soon cease to be. This administration Ims been j peculiarly unfortunate in its deal- ! mgs with Hawaii, and its last i move—demanding that Mr. Thur; sum, the Hawaiian, minister to the United States, shall be rei called-—is no exception. The I season given—that Mr. Thurston . iris given information to Ameri;r; n newspapers concerning the I affairs of his country —is particI ulurly weak in view of the fact | '.hat Secretary Gresham only the pther day made public his de- | mand for an apology from Spain i before that demand had been presented to Spain. There is an iold saying: “What is sauce for ! I he goose should be sauce for the zander” —that is specially applicable to this case Whily no memoer of the diplomatic corps is willing to be quoted, it is well : known that they are to a man of tl.e opinion that the administra lion has made a mistake. Then is no precedent to support a de j mand for the recall of a foreign I ninisier because he has staled io I he public or press a coudiiioi l I >f facts within his country. Ou ! the contrary, exactly the reverse 1 was held by Mr. Webster when ae was secretary of state. Of •ourse Mr. Thurston will have to go, as it is an inviolable international rule that. ( j ven an intima,tion that a minister is 1 ,‘W/z qrata to a country means his recall. Every new subserber for 3 months to the People’s Pilot gets one of these splendid 25c ■nooks free.