Rensselaer Republican, Volume 28, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 December 1896 — NEWS IS SUPPRESSED [ARTICLE]

NEWS IS SUPPRESSED

HAVANA CORRESPONDENTS * V MAKE PROTEST, Tredict Recall and Personal. Disgrace for Weyler—Flood of Counterfeit Coins in the East and West—Morton Stirs Up Congressmen. Wexler Is Warned. The Havana. Cuba, correspondents of Madrid journals are indignant at the refusal of Gen. Weyler's press censor to allow them to cable'the facts, to Madrid, and they say if Gen. Weyler continues his present efforts to conceal the truth from the Deqple of Spain, who’are making so many sacrifices to supply the necessary sinews of war, he is doomed to early recall and personal disgrace. The representatives of the Liberal and the Heraldo of Madrid find themselves compelled, owing to the ridiculously rigid censorship at Havana, to send the bulk Pof their dispatches to Key West for transmission therefrom. The Lucha, in a significant editorial, makes between the lines a most vigorous protest, warning Gen. Weyler that neither politicians, nor generals who would be popular and successful must forget that the flress is,often mightier than the sword and cannot be trampled upon or snubbed with impunityV that the whole world respects it, and that no hand, however despotic or arbitrary, can absolutely control it. Unwritten victories add little luster even to a soldier's glory. T Seed Question Bobs Up Once More. Secretary Morton has again' thrown down the gauntlet to the members of Congress over the seed question. He has incorporated in his report a special communication of how Congressmen dispose, of the seeds which are allotted to them and he has even gone so far as to mention them by name. Most of them'have distributed their seeds around among country newspapers, agricultural societies. Grand Army posts, public officials, and chairmen of local political committees. The members of Congress are niuclT .wrought up over this curious addition to the Secretary's report and they declare that it is-a gross violation of the courtesies between the executive and legislative branches of the government. While many of the members of Congress admit that the seed business is in some cases ridiculous and generally on»y a political maneuver, they say it is not becoming in an executive officer to fill up his report with arguments for or against any law, but* that on the contrary his whole duty is to execute the laws as he finds them, leaving to Congress to assume the responsibility for the enactment of the statutes. Just Like Good" 'Money. The annual report of 11. E. Preston.' the Director of the Mint, states there is no doubt that the silver coins of the United States are now being counterfeited, exactly .similar to the genuine in size, w’eight, and devices. Some of .these coins cannot be distinguished from the genuine even by experts. A dangerous counterfeit silver half dollar has made its appearance in the East and- West, the weight of whfMi is 192 grains, with a fineness of .567%, while the weight of thy genuine is 192.9 grains of the fineness of .900. The profit to the counterfeiter is now about 100 per cent. So far the best known protection against tire counter--—felting of coins has been found to be the lettering placed on the edges, similar to that on the first coinage of the United States or the 5-franc pieces of France. The Director recommends that authority be given the Secretary of the Treasury to have experiments made to determine the best means of preventing the counterfeiting, or at least minimizing the danger

Confirmation of Osgood’s Death. Delegate Palma at New York received a letter, dated Nov. 8, from Gen. Calixto Garcia, confirming the news of the death of Maj. Winchester D.jOsgood, the Cornell student. Special correspondence of the New York Herald gives the following details: Osgood commanded a Cuban battery during the recent siege of the town of Guaimafo. On the second day of the siege, while Maj. Osgood, under heavy fire from the Spaniards, was training one, of his pieces on the forts, a Mauser bullet struck him in the forehead. He uttered the word, '•Well,” and, bending forward on his cannon, hugged it and breathed his last in behalf of Cuban liberty. The news of his death deeply impressed President Cisneros and the commanding officers, all of whom had great regard'for the American officer. Young Osgood was the son of a United States army officer,'who was until recently stationed at St. Louis. Mo. Osgood entered Cornell in the fall, of 1888 and became a star oarsmen, foot-baal player, and all-around athlete.