Life — March 9, 1899 — page 4: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

HESSSS2 and become matter for “While there is Life there's Hop VOL. XXXIIL MARCH 9, 1b 19 West Tunery-Prist st. ) date of publ No contribution will be ret accu stamped aud rned unless panied by addressed anil are not to be rep arrangement with Prompt notiste seribers of any chan ampson-Schley dispute seems likely to go down to posterity future historians to The Navy Department given to the public such information as it had, and Secretary Long has divulged, upon demand of Congress, his reasons for asking for such promotion as would put Admiral Sampson above Admiral Schley, Admiral Sebi replied to the statements whic sented him to hs squabble over. has repre- e disobeyed orders, and to have been remiss at certain times in the performance of his duty. His reply gives entire satisfaction to his friends, who declare that it vindie: every particular. It gives nos at all to the backers of Admiral son, who find Adm no wi es him in strengthened by his disclosure. ‘The whole matter has come to be a parti- san dispute, and the doctors di persistently about facts and conditions that there is no present prospect of tak- ing it out of the realm of discussion. It may be noted, however, that tue fight nin the attempt of certain partisans of Schley to secure for him the whole credit of the Santiago fight, and that as it has developed it has put Admiral Schle more and more on the defensive. Sine there is no longer any danger that Admi- ral Sampson's dues wil! be withheld from him, it is to be hoped that before this issue of Live appears the Senate will have disposed of the practical end of the matter by granting to both officers the promotion which the Navy Department recommends, After that, the dispute may continne at the leisure of the dispu- tants. Naval officers must have some- thing to discuss in time of peace, and “tee * there seems to be cnough in the Samp- son-Schlcy episode to make it almost as useful as a subject of professional talk as the case of McClellan was thirty years ago. HE attack of Tammany on the Ele- vated Railroad in New York inter- ests all The Elevated is generally regarded as an ill-managed con- cern Which has been starved and skimped, and has not served the people as it should havedone. But still it is in plain sight, and whatever action Mr. Croker takes upon it will affect hundreds of thou- sands of persons whose support in the end is essential to his prosperity. The Elevated cannot be held up in a corner, Whatever is done to it will be fully known and understood, That is why there is no great scare over Croker’s threats. The story is that he ordered Gould and Sage to let him string compressed air pipes on their structure, that they refused, and that thereupon be or- dered his Park Commissioners to turn them out of Battery Park. The story is not ineredible, but no one thinks that Croker will dare to carry out this threat. The Elevated may perhaps be justifiably coerced in the interest of the public, but it is believed that New York is not yet so indifferent to the rights of property as to look on with unconcero while Croker goes through the pockets of even Mr. Russell Sy observers. dent was a guest, they had his picture, heroic size, up at one end of the dining- hall, along with those of Washington and Lincoln, as representing our country’s three great liberators. They had an ode sung which proclaimed— atl too 1 Chief Magistrate, Appointed in God's wide plan, Forever to be of the glorious three Who have broken the bonds of man, In the interest of trade, which the Major has always had close to his heart, he ought to set his face against this sort of thing. Let the facts of history be what they may, and his virtues and deserts be ever so formidable, he cannot. cannot be set up with George and Abraham. It would mean that we should have to make bis birthday a national holiday, and no man who was born as he was, on January 29th, necd hope for that. As it is, we are keeping Washiugton’s day on February 22d, and Lincoln's day, at much inconvenience, on February 12th. We could not go idle on January 29th in memory of the Major's imperishable ser vices asa liberator. It would mean hav- ing three holidays withia four wecks, ata time of year when no one particularly yearns to knock off work. So please, Mr. President, help us squelch those Home Market apotheosizers, and when they the Liberator for offices don’t give them any. ERY welcome was the news thatthe Filipinos who live in the island of Negros had declared in favor of Amer- ican rule. Let us hope that their exam. ple may be contagious, and that the results of their attitude may be soadvan- tageous to themselves as to make due impression on their neighbors of Luzon. Hopeful rumors have come from Manila and Iloilo, but there the blessings of liberty still have to be run ashore under cover of the guns of warships, and fire and Krag-Jorgensen bulle e still in active use to open the way for civiliza- tion. It may be indecent to make public mention of it, but it is true that the aver- age American, while he is perfectly loyal to his own government, and appreciates the ulties of the situation, and the gallantry of Dewey and Otis and our brethren who are with them, still recog. nizes in his beart that the super: 1 observer is bound to find a distressing similitude between Aguinaldo fighting Major McKinley for bome rule for the Philippines, and Washington fighting George III. for home rule for the Amer- ican colonies. The embarrassment re- sulting from this similitude is siderable, and as most of us are b} sity superfi con- neces: observers of what con- cerns the Philippines, most of us are subj to it. We have to get what comfort we can in admitting our com- prehensive ignorance of Aguinaldo and his motives, and in hoping that, in spite of appearances, we are making a fight for liberty and order.