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About The Nebraska independent. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1896-1902 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 26, 1901)
i f - ii i j i v nui iiii ii a it m x ,11 u iiir.ri i .f n 11 ' '.. 11 11 i i i i 1 1 n WW mi II Ml: i' WW WW VOL. XIII. LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, DECEMBER '2G, 1901. NO. 32. THE PHILIPPINE TARIFF y U f "J Imperialistic Measure Hushed Through Congress Under Piea of Great Public Necessity Undemocratic t Argu ments Prevailed Washington, D.' C, Dec. 19. 190l. (Special Correspondence.) The iniqui tous Dingley tariff has been imposed upon the Philippines by a brutal re publican majority, assisted, I am sor ry to say, by the Louisiana democrats, who were caught by the cheap cry of "protection ' to their sugar interests. Several republicans, however, could not condone the iniquity and voted with the democrats .against a policy of imperialism and colonial taxation. . Only eight hours' debate were al- 'lovea on this , measure, because the majority t declared the Philippine de cision of 'the supreme court called for immediate action. They declared the matter must be rushed through on ac count of the shortness of time. This Is, only a subterfuge for keeping the matter in the dark as much as possible. : Since the opening of congress on De cember 2 the house has been in ses sion, only one-third of the time. The other two-thirds, instead of being de iVoted, as they might have been, to the . discussion of this most serious depart ure from right principles were idled ' away in .useless adjournments. The facts are that the republican party did not dare go before the peo ple in the next year's congressional elections on a full and free discussion of their Philippine policy, and the de bate was cut short by the despotism of a code of Reed rules. The American people want to treat the Filipinos fairly and it is improb able that they would sanction, the re publican - program as applied to the Filipinos if . it was fully brought . to their attention. 1 , History is repeating itself these days wjth a vengeance. I find in a stand ard work on the constitution, copy righted this year, that, in obedience to the commercial instinct. Great Brit ain attempted and accomplished the imposition upon the American col onists that the Philippine tariff bili, passed by the house yesterday, Im poses upon the Filipinos. : The mer cantile class in England grew rich and lost her the American colonies. The inhabitants of one colony could not sell their products - in another, without paying a prohibitory tax, equal, practically, to the profit on the product received by English mer chants in England. That is exactly the' status of the Philippines as fixed by a republican majority, for a pro hibjo$5f taxrin the form of duties and port rharges, has been fixed upon them equal to the profits received on their products by the trusts in the United States. Benjamin Frankin's was the first voice to be Tafsed against, this monster iniquity and that was In 1729 in a small work-he published on political econ omy. Is it not a little strange that the republican party has assumed a position identical with that against which Franklin raised his voice nearly 200 Mkrs ago? Those who . insist that we must never give up the Phil ippines should stop and consider that our present policy is counterpart of that which caused England a loss of her western colonies. . The republican party today declares we are taxing the Filipinos for their own benefit. That is the exact stand taken by . the Grenville ministry In reference to ; the American colqnies just prior to the revolution. The Fili pinos do not' know what is best for themselves and it becomes our duty to follow out King George's theory with respect to us and Tell them what to do. ...m . The stamp act of 1765 was followed by what was popularly known as the sugar act, which reduced .by one-half the duties laid on foreign sugar and ' L molasses. No sooner was the news ot this scheme of taxation received in New England than the Massachu setts house of representatives declared that the imposition of duties and taxes y parliament upon a people unrepre sented in it was absolutely incompati ble with their rights. - ' How much representation In our fjngress are we allowing the Fili Pnos in return for the taxes we have ilposed upon their products? Why are we taxing Philippine pre dicts and admitting Porto Rican and Cian products duty free? Is it be cause, the Philippines are less entitled . totair treatment at the hands of this gofernment? Ibbraska's four fusion congressmen Rbinson, Stark,- Shallenberger and Nellie voted to deal fairly with our allfi against Spain. Mercer and BuJett voted to deal unfairly -with -theu S$$tor Millard is not allowing- his parbawship to spoil a good story he is ttyiig the boys. ,"I very well re menief the first time I eyer.met Mr. Brya,? said the senator. "It was In the pngressional campaign of 1890. A frinfl of mine," WJ. Connell, was runnigl on the republican ticket in the Incoln district and had arranged for aperies of joint debates with his , demoatic opponent. He came over and a;ed me to sit on the platform at the osning meeting 'to add dignity to ouiside.' He said a young fellow , namecBryan wa3 the rural candidate. I wem&rer "to the meeting which Vwas held i the opera house with some 3,000 jfple present. It was the cam paign men they were talking a great deal a1t the tariff on 10-penny nans, barbechilre, wool and the like. Con 4 nell lepff and made what I thought was a'bang-up' speech. It met my views thought it was all right and unanswerable. Then it was Bryan3 turn. U can see now just .how he lookedVHIs trousers were too small for hin and when he arose they didn't fall do:n to the tops of his shoes. He had ona leng Prince Albert, a broad expanse of , white shirt front and' a black string tie. I thought he would be tiresome tfnd wanted to go home. In. ; about three ; minutes - he warmed J tip, however, and he had not proceeded far before , he had the whole crowl with him, shouting, cheering and ap plauding. He flayed Connell right ani left, wound, up his argument and pitched, it out the - window:, while the crowd '-'.went wild. . Connell seemed sick.. When Bryan got through witn him he. looked like a five-cent cake 0? ice that had. been left all the after noon in an August sun. It-5 -was the first and last, of the joint debates ! attended, and. I was, not in the least surprised when I woke up the morn ing after election and learned that 'the young feilow named B'ryan' had been elected , to ' congress." r The depreciation in, stocks on the London market since the beginning" of the Boer war is of astonishing. extent. Taking 325 representative stocks trad ed in there, including American rallst, the English Bankers' Magazine finds that the depreciation : in two years amounts to ?750.000,000. . But as there has been a very , large advance In American securities listed on-the, Lon don exchange, the depreciation in British securities must . have been much greater than is represented. ' Bank defalcations continue to crop out, as In the case of the First Na tional institution : Of Ballston, N; Y. It is certain that many more. will foe revealed as the mad speculative rush halts and this and that scheme breaks down in the market. This is always the case at the end of a fortuue-in-a-day craze. H. W. RISLEY. MAGNATUOE OF TRUSTS THE AMERICAN NAVY The Common Sailor Would Always Fight to Beat the Dntch Etch Though He vras Treated as Beast and a Slave From the days of Paul Jones to Far ragut, the American navy proved that it could fight to beat the Dutch. The fighting was done by the men behind the guns the . common sailors. . .. Of course they were ably commanded, but after all the fighting Was done hy tfie common seamen.. All this time con gress and the i people have had to ex ert themselves in defense of the men. No institution on' earth has been so far behind the times as the navy i.i the treatment of its brave fighters. For years, for slight off enses. they were tied up and - flogged f ,- like .' common slaves. All the gold-laced Officers de clared that mutiny and ruin Would en sue if flogging were abolished, never theless the people Interfered in behalf of the men and put a stop to lt Time after time has the law had to be changed to prevent inhuman cruelties being practiced upon them by the pink tea chaps who ruled over theiri. After flogging was abolished, Lincoln inter fered and prevented new cruelties that had been invented , to take the place of the flogging. - On one of Mr." Lincoln's excursions to Fortress Monroe, on the steamer Hartford, in 1863, his attention was di rected to a narrow door, bound -with iron, the use of which he was anxious to learn. "T7hat is this?" he asked. "Oh, that is the sweat box," was the reply. "It is used .for refractory and insubordinate seamen. A man in there is subjected to steam heat, and has very little ventilation. It generally brings him to terms very quickly." President Lincoln's curiosity was aroused. "This," he said to himself, "is treatment to which thousands of American seamen are probably sub jected every year. Let -me try it for myself and see. what it really is." Taking off hishat, for he was sev eral inches' over six feet in height, he entered the inclbsure,. which he found to be little-more than three feet in length or width. He gave orders that at a signal from himself the ; door should be immediately opened. It was then closed and the steam turned on. , He had been inside hardly three min utes before v the signal - was given. President Lincoki had experimented enough of what was then regarded as necessary: punishment for' American seamen. There was very little ventila tion and the short exposure to the hot and humid air had almost suffo cated him. - Turningto Secretary Wells . of he navy department, the president or dered that no such inclosure' as the sweat box should ever after be al lowed on any vessel flying the Ameri can flag. "'- . : f ' . 'v. It was not an hour after; th Is ordir had been given before every sailor on every ship in Hampton Roads had heard of it. The effect was most re-1 markable on , the older sailors, many of whom had themselves experienced the punishment ' . of . the sweat' box. Some of them wept for joy. But the good result : of this act of President Lincoln was not confined to the American navy. Great Britain, France. Germany, and other European countries heard that the sweat box had been abolished in America as in human. One and all of these nations In turn fell into line, and today the sweat box is not to be found on any vessel flying the flag of a civilized na tion throughout the world. ; In all these years any officer of the navy who was inclined to treat the common sailors as human beings hav ing some rights that ought to he re spected,, was sent to Coventry by. all the rest. Every effort was made to dishonor him; and prevent- his - promo tion by the pink, teachaps. That-is what is at the "bottom of all the hostile ity to Schley: 'That is w-hy . he has the enmity of the whole clan. VThe nayy ougt to Ve reorganized and brought up to the present ideals of civilization. To Pay Interest on Their Watered . Stocks Would Uankrupt sny Nstion on Earth . Washington, D. C, Dec. 24. (Spe cial Correspondence.) The opposition to Attorney General Knox's confirma tion in the senate is embarrassing the administration and the influence of the pie-counter was brought to bear to relieve" the situation. Well Informed men give this view of it: , People who' have given . little time and . attention to the trust questian will be surprised at the magnitude of the figures representing their capi talization and the profits earned. Thse figures don't lie and. convey a warn lng it will be well to heed. The peo pie will not forever be able to . pay these trust dividends and some prepar ations should be made for the time when that is the case. During 1901, Up. to December 1, the capitalization of the trusts formed in this country amounted to the inconceivable sum of : $3,205,605,000. Most of these "Were Of course formed in New Jersey, a state now known best as "the mother o trusts." During 1900, the sum "of $2,- 2o5,075 represents the .total capital! zation of trusjts formed. , The trust profits during this year' up to the first of . the month amount td $238,830,633. Legitimate enterprises cannot pay. such profits. How long will the voter be willing to submit to such extortion, to pay tribute on so much watered stock? -It's up to him. The committee appointed by sena tors and congressmen from the west ern states, from among their 'own number, to draft a bill providing" for national aid to irrigation have com pleted a bill they- vere authorized to frame, but it will not be introduced until after January 6, when congress reconvenes after the holidays. Some of , the provisions of both the Hans- brough and Newlands bills arc in eluded therein. The Washington Post says: . , . . -"Its central idea is the devotion of the proceeds of the sale of the jmbifc lands to the reclamation of those- lands. It also increases the price .of the pub lie lantls, to be benefited by the pro posed irrigation enterprises so as to make Bottlers' pay 'fart of V.e cost of construction. The bilf provides that all monevs rn ceived from the sale and .11f.posal of public lands in the arid land slates shall be set aside as. a recianat'on fund; that examination and surveys of reservoir sites, tunnel sites for. dl i tfrsion ; of waters and . Jrga"fctofi ca ilals cohnecte 1 th- rcwith shall, be made;, that the secretary of the inter ior may withdraw from public entry the lands required for irrigation works and the public lands proposed to be Ir rigated by them; and that upon the de termination being reached tfVat any ir rigation project is practicable contract shall be made for its construction -. if the; estimate of the engineer, shows that the cost will not exceed $10 per acre on the land to be reclaimed. ; . After construction the lands to be irrigated are to be subject - to home stead entry x in areas not exceeding eighty acres upon'the entrymah's pay ing $5 per acre to the reclamation fund. This fund is to be used for ths operation and maintenajice of reser voirs and irrigation works until pay ments for the land settled upon are made, when all the irrigation works. .except the reservoirs, shall be turned over to the settlers, who are required as a body corporate "to operate and maintain them. It also provides that in the event that there "is sufficient water for public and private lands wa ter rights may be sold for the irriga tion of private lands at a price of not less than $5 per acre. Full power is given to condemn lands needed for reservoir" and. ditch purposes. , It -is provided that state laws shall govern in the matter of the appropriation and distribution of wa ters. Power to make general rules and regulations is vested in the secretary of the interior." H. W. RISLEY. ' ' ' ' ' -' A ROARING FARCE Then Uprose Elihu He of I.ejjal Battle and lie Smote the Old Warrior - Fair in the Face i Secretary Long gives unqualified ap proval to the finding of the majority of the court of inquiry in the Schley case. In addition, he hands a slap to Dewey by approving the omission from the ma jority- report of an award of credit to anybody for the victory at Santiago. Dewey said . that.. Schley was entitled to. the credit; the majority made , no reference to the subject, and Long said the majority did right. 4 , . . .I .Tbe two admirals .who did the fight ing with guns are on one side of the controversy, while the office men, who did their fighting with blue and red pins on a chart in the White house telegraph room, are on1 the other si3e.5 . The commanding . general of the army, General Miles, had the temerity, in the face of the bureau bosses, to say - that the opinion of . Dewey was good enough for him and that he didn't think much of the fellows attacking Schley's good name. Then up rolo that celebrated warrior, Elihu Root, famous ! for his campaigns m law li braries from Penobscot, to Pittsburg, and rebuked Miles. v ;;f : It is evident to the most obtuse in tellect that it is high time for con gress to enact a law prohibiting men who command, fleets and armies from holding opinions of the proper con duct of fleets and armies.' Who are Dewev and Schley and Miles that thev should think differently, from ; Long and Root on naval and military mat ters? While Dewey and Schley ;were wasting forty years sailing about the globe and . smelling burnt powder. L.ong was gaining naval training m the Harvard law schooj ana as a mem ber of the Massacnusetts commission for the, construction of a state house, and Root was cultivating' politic.". While Dewey and Schley were fighting their way up the Mississippi with Far -ragut, and Miles tvas gaining advance ment from the ranl of volunteer sol dier to the rank of jmajorgenerai, iu the early '60's, Long was practicing law In Boston' and; Root ,;was-c qualifying b? itself to teach school in Rome, N. Y. These men of sword and rifle should b', taught 'to know their places. When we recall the services- of Long in the holding ' of thev codfish state capitoi, f .cd of Root as t district attorney for the southern district of ;New" York, anl compare them with" the .record of a tichley at Valparaiso or in the arctics, of a Dewey in the Gulf of Mexico or in Manila Bay,: or of. a ;Miles climMng his way .up the ladder without a West Point training, we are amazed that common admirals' and Igeneals should have the audacity, to hold an opinion at all. Denver News. . ANOTHER CALL Get Together and Drive the Grafters From the State HoueIet Every, one Op posed to Republican iSoodlera . i, ' . - -. ... Lend a Hand : ' There is every , reason why fusion should ? continue in. Nebraska. The democrats and. pdpulists f used ' for the first time that dishonest . men might be driven from the state house, and the people given an economical gov ernment. That fusion ' resulted ii much good, Today there is a call for another cleaning 'out of the state house.. A publiCzservanthas. allowed his office and the saered schoor funds of the state to be used, for private gain. . His acts no honest man can indorse, yet he fs: not condemned by his fellow -officers,. ;whp;are in one sense equally guilty with him. If Stueferism is to; be defeated and hon est men placed in office there is. but one way to accomplish the result and that is through fusion. ' Neither demo crats nor populists' acting alone can hope to down the. Estate house gang, which has at its back the railroads and other great corporations in Nebraska. Fusion' can do this, and: at, the same time give our people an honest an l economical administration of . public affairs. "In. the opinion of the writer now is a p'oor time "to talk of abandon ing fusion, - jv v ,v . t" Th-: press of the. state, without re gard to party, is condetflhrag St&U Treasurer Stuefer for his .connection with a . number of rlrady :bond deals, whereby the school funds of the state have been robbed to the' extent of many thousands of dollars. j iThe Oma ha Bee, the - leading republican, paper of the state,' is calling for. his resigna tion. It is needless to say that, there Is ho danger of i him resigning. (;He . has too soft' a snap, and it Is safe. to pre dict that the next republican state convention will indorse his record, no matter how black it may be. Perhaps by that time the people may. get their eyes open and gc to the.polls and turn down Stuefer and his party associates, who defend- him 4n his wrong doing: Howells Journal. - . y FIVE TO FOUR DECISION A PLUTOCRATIC ADVICE; Their Sermon Used to be Bated on the Text, "Be Content With. the Station That it has Pleated God to Call You" . Those of us who have been in the fight for equal rights to all and special privileges to none for several years, will remember how often and persis tently we were advised by the fat min ions of plutocracy : to be content , with the' station which it had pleased God to call us, and told that any attempt to better the, conditions of the toilers was to fight God and the inexoriable destiny that he had marked out for us. Our answer to that argument was that discontent was the, motive powers that God had implanted in the breast of every man1 and that the. advancement of the human race depended, not. on contentment with things as they were, but in a constant struggle to make them better. Now they have changed their tactics. They have come to the conclusion that the place in society rf man; is . eternally fixed . by : heredity. That seience almost, unanimously re pudiates their theories makes no dif ference with them. The people 'are born with, hereditary tendencies pf such force and power that one man by nature must be a toiler for a pittance and another man is by the same force a trust magnate. They say that it is Darwinism and the survival of the fittest, yhile every Darwinian " repu diates O.e whole bus).pes3. That , tha great me 1 of the past have come al most , ent-rely from the ranks . of the common people does not disturb the plutocrats at all. Neither does the fact that the effort to breed kings has for the most p.rt resulted in a race of im beciles, lunatics and perverts. - They have tried that for more than 4a thou sand years in Europe, The result i? a' race of stunts, not one in ten of them could pass a physical examination for entrance, into the army. .; V Scmuch of this sort of stuff has ap peared in the great dallies and pluto cratic magazin es-that The Independent has concluded to publish a chapter from the work of a scientist recently published. The theory of evolution as it : Is accepted today by -the men ,f science Is stated by Prof. G. Archibald Reed in his work entitled, "A Study of Heredity." , The ; Independent . com mends the following . extracts to its readers: ... V''' 1: t ' V Evolution is said to occur when a species " undergoesV a progressive and adaptive change,' a!s, for example, thj (Continued 04 Page . Three.) fen . . It Will Rennlt In a w. Alignment of Parties Unequal Taxation and Tariff, , Questions up to the People Emil Peppke, a North Dakota volun teer, upon his return to the United States, was discharged at San Francis co, September 23, 1899: He" brought with him fourteen diamond rings which he had purchased in the island of Luzon." These were seized in Chi cago in May, 1900, and held for pay ment of tariff duties; Peppke protest ing that the property was not thus lia ble. The district court held that they were liable, declared them forfeited to the United States and ordered sale. Thence a writ of error was prosecuted to the supreme court.- Chief Justice Fuller made "it convenient to hand down the opinion of the supreme court on the first day of the" assembling of Congress, 'December 2 1901. It was, therefore, notice to the congress that if they expected any import duties to be collected on diamond rings, or any other commodity, imported from the Philippines, they must so enact, or otherwise there would be' free traJe between these islands and the Unibsd States. ' ' " -' , t This case will sgo down to posterity as the fourteen diamond rings case. It will take its place by. the - side of the Porto Rico cases. It differs from them only in being a proceeding in rem, . that is, a proceeding against cer atin property, whereas In the Porto Rican cases, we have certain persons, the De Lima Co. and Mr. 'Downs, for instancesuing hte United Staets for money paid under proetst to the collec tor of the. port of New York, Mr. Bid- well. '' ''-:..-"'.':-.;..:.;. : , .. ". --.'.. The recent decision in the fourteen diamond rings case, brings the tariff to the front again. - It matters .not what the reasoning of the cburt is, whether it be right or whether it be wrong. There is no appeal. In the case of the Philippine islands, how ever, we find the same law laid down as in the case of Porto Rico. In the latter case it was held (De Lima vs. Bid well) that there must be free trade between the United States and Porto Rico, until congress orders to the con trary; and in, the former case, it wa3 also decided that there must be free trade, until congress shall make a, law to the contrary. Consequently, there is no reason for surprise; in the recent decision. The'De Lima, case was" de cided by five judges in favor, and four against, ; free trade. It would require 6nly one judge to change hia opinion, in . order to change the opinion (and judgment of the court. ' This is not likely to occur. It is only when con- srress shall act and make a tariff law for the Philippines and another suit is brought to recover back money paid for duties under the act (claimed -"'.to be unconstitutional) that there will be a change. In the vote of the judges and another five-to-four opinion. The case Of Downes vs. . Bidwell produced this kind of . an" opinion; and if congress should pass a "Foraker act" for tho Philippines, then we may have another five-to-four opinion. t ' " i. Will congress make a Special tariff law for the Philippines? ,If so, then we shall -hear it said that the act Is unconstitutional, as it was said with respect to Porto Rico, and almost suc cessfully. If one more judge had gone with Chief Justice Fuller and " Jus tices Harlan, Brewer and Peckham, In Downes Vs. BidwelL the Foraker act jvould have been' set aside as uncon stitutional and there would ' have been free trade, at once, between the United States and Porto Rico. As it happened, the Foraker act was temporary, and we had free trade in a short time, as though no act had been passed, and today-we have free trade with Porto Rico. . '.. - ' One thing is worthy of notice, In thU connection: In the De Lima case,' Jus tice Brown had four other Justices, viz, Chief Justice Fuller and Justices Har lan, Brewer-, and Peckham, . to ' vote w4th him ; and in the Downs case he had also four other justices, but not the same ones; he had Gray,' Shiras, White and McKenna to vote with him; so that in -the De. Lima case Chief Justice Fuller iand ; Justicf Harlan, Brewer and Peckham were V, roup of judges by themselves, and 5 Justices Gray, Shiras, White and RicKenna were another group,of judges by them-. elves. We will eall Fuller and his associates. Group Nc. 1 anl Gray and his associates Group ' No. 2. If we had space, we might go Into the politics of all these judges. Their political environment heretofore will soon be interesting if it is cot now. We have often thought that if we did not give independence to Porto Rico we ought, at least, to give the people of that island free trade with - the United States. - President McKinley said, it is our plain duty to do so, and he was the prince of protectionists. If this Is good law" or policy with Por to Rico, why is it not good for us and the Philippines? ' f - . Will congress make af special tariff law for the Philippines, as in the case of Porto Rico, and take " the chances of its being declared unconstitutional? , The members of the house of repre sentatives and the - senators have a double duty to perform. In the first place they must obey the constitution as it is written, whetaer it suits their politics or " not. 1 In the second place they must obey the voice or-justice and reason, if they are allowed to do so by the constitution. - - : With respect to the judges of the su preme court, they have to look only to the constitution and the law as it !s written, without regard to justice or reason. - In the supreme court of the ; United 1 States there are five judges, viz, Brown and the first group headed by Fuller (out of nine) who believe that there ought to be free trade be tween . the United States and our . in sular possessions, and not only that there ought to be free trade, but they are willing and ' ready to decree for such trade every time the subject comes before them. This was shown in the De Lima case because the re maining four judges headed by Gray (group No. 2) voted against free trade J These latter group-of judges! wanted, to treat our insular possessions as for eign territory, and to charge the same duties for merchandise coming from these parts as from all other parts of the world. This would be treating the Philippines as 'we would treat, the South American,' republics," i. e., as sovereign and Independent states, in which case there would be ho modifi cation of tariff .laws, except by treaty.: If It can be shown that the Philip pine, islands are foreign to the United States, then it follows, as a matter of law, . that congress cannot make any tariff laws as between the United Stat es and the islands. It could riot be shown that Porto Rico was foreign to the United States except by - the opinion of four, judges (out of nine). For this reason we shall -have to ac cept as final, the fact Jthat the Philip pines are domestic territory of the United States and that congress can make laws with reference to t tariff du ties, between their ports and the ports .of the United States. But, if congress undertakes to make one tariff law for the United States and another for the Philippines' so that there 1s one system of taxation - at home and another abroad, then we' shall have a very serious constitutional question and an 'equally serious po litical question. It will certainly SCHLEY'S -PROTEST The Court Deprlred Illrn of Klght Guar anteed to 111m by the Laws and Const 1 tution of the United State- A host of bills have been introduced into congress, both in the house and senate, coming from members of all political parties and from every sec tion of the union, the object of which is to do Justice to Admiral Schley. It is hardly possible that any one of them will ever be reported back from either of the naval committees, for the re publican leaders are all determine-! that they have had enough of .the mat ter. An investigation by congress of the navy department would be a stag gering blow to the imperialists an.1 they -want none of it. Admiral Schley has, filed a protest a;alnst the ma jority report. As it contains the most complete summary of the case so far printed it is here reproduced In full: Washington, Dec. IS, 1901. To the Honorable the Secretary of the Navy: Winfleld Scott Schley, rear admiral. U. S. N.,vretlred, the applicant before a court of inquiry of which Admiral George Dewey, U. S. N., is president, and Rear Admirals Andrew E. K. Benham and Francis M. Ramsey, U. S. N., members, and Captain Samuel C. Lemly, U S. N.,jud;;e advocate, ob jects to. the approval of the findings of the court upon the ground that the opinion re ndered and the report of facts made by the majority of the court are in conflict with the over whelming weight of evidence, and that create more disturbance In congress ! the majority of the court in their said than the Foraker act. ; opinion have ignored the testimony of In the latter place 'we have a mil- . the applicant, and of the whole of the lion and a half of people, while in the applicant's witnesses, and all that por- Phllippines we have nine or ten mil lions. Therefore, to undertake t;o tax ten millions of people differently from what we tax ourselves, is . a proposi tion that looks like tyranny. It. will be not : only a quest!, a of constitu tional law, but a question of politics. Will congress dare to make such a law? .. ; ', . . '..".'; . ' The Press (N. Y.) says: ,"'A special Philippine tariff should be ". prepared promptly affording ample ' protection to our, sugar, tobacco, probably hemp." '.i.'.S-;. '': , ' The Tribune (N. Y.) says : "If we allow goods frpnQthft Philippines to enter" this country "free", we shall sur render our- own ; markets to foreign competition." The Journal (N. Y.) urges the demo--crats in congress to fight for the con tinuance of the present situation free trade with the PhLippines. It says:.. 'The "eourt's . decision has given i democracy the opportunity of it?; life. Let -us stand for holding what the. supreme court has , given us. The court has made the Philippines Amerl oan. Let: thei democracy, say that con gress ; shall not . make, them f foreign. Let it stand on ; that declaration and fight for it to the last,: , . Turning from the? dally, newspapers of New, York to . the I monthlies, in which we expect to ' find more calm and judicial reading, we" find an ar ticle in the North American Review for August, 1901,. written' by Judge Edmunds, formerly United States sena tor' from Vermont, ' in which he says "Unequal taxation is perhaps the most .galling and destructive of all forms of tyranny." He refers' to the history of our preyious expansions and acqui sitions, especially to Louisiana, and the Philippines, contrasting the legis lation in the two cases. He says: "In the case of Louisiana congress provided, in 1803, for the government of the vast territory - ceded to the United States by France, and enacted that the president should take pos session of the territory, and that un til the expiration of the then present congress all the - military, civil and judicial powers exercised by the offi cers of the existing government of the same shall be vested In such per son and persons and : shall be exer cised In such manner as the president of -the United States shall direct for maintaining and protecting the in habitants of Louisianr in free govern ment and of their liberty, property and religion. This act provided for the ad ministration of the .then existing laws a j they had been administered by the officers of France a mere change from French officers to American officers, and nothing more. The president was to regulate. the manner of the exercise of the specified powers to the end of preserving liberty, property and re-. ligion;,but he could neither increase, diminish nor change the powers -themselves. His executive power, pure and simple.. And even that measure of au thority was limited in time to the then session of congress." Tie Philippine act of March 2, 1901. (on the other hand) .provided that all military, civil and judicial powers nec essary to govern the Philippine isl ands, acquired from Spain, shall, un til otherwise provided by congress, be vested in such person and persons and shall be exercised in such manner as the president! of the -United States shall direct, for the establishment pf civil government and for maintaining and protecting the inhabitants of said islands in the free enjoymet of their liberty, property and religion." - "In the .first case," says Judge- Ed munds, ."existing laws were to be executed; in the second case, any and all laws thought necessarj: by the president were to be 'set up' and ex ecuted. In Louisiana, congress adopted the existing laws and merely . changed the personal of their admin istrators. In the Philippines, - con gress adopted no law at all, but de posited all-power In the agents of the president." ' , ' .' v It is the Dred' Scott ' decision over againr Fifty-five years ago the su preme court of the United States de cided, that a negro had no rights, under the constitution, which a white, man was bound to respect. This -raised a (Continued on Page Two.) , , for the government, which was favor able to the applicant, and have thus deprived him of rights guaranteed to him by the laws of the land and the constitution of the United States, an-J the applicant now assigns the follow ing grounds in support of his said Ob jection: ' 1. The majority of the court have given their . opinion that Commodore S?chley - should have proceeded with the utmost dispatch off Cienfuegos when there was no specification cov ering this subject, and when the appli cant did not have sufficient opportun ity to bring in proper and convincing evidence in reference thereto, an 3 when- the only evidence taken by the court on this subject was directly con trary to the opinion rendered. 2. The majority of ! the court hav held that the - applicant should have endeavored to open communication witli the insurgents at the place desig nated in the memorandum by Com mander McCalla, delivered to him on the morning of the 23d of May, 1898. when, in fact, there was no place men tioned in said memorandum .as being a place at which a camp of Insurgents was located. - 3, The majority of the court have arrived at the opinion stated in the foregoing paragraph without regard to the fact, wliich wai proved by an overwhelming weight of testimony, that the said McCalla memorandum was sent to Commodore Schley only for, use in connection with the infor mation it contained relative to certain batteries at, or being constructed in the vicinity of the entrance to the harbor of Cienfuegos, . as is .attested by thft order No. 6, dated May 19, '1898, and sent- to Commodore Schley by Ad miral Sampson. . 4. The majority of the court in the opinion rendere dhold that Commodore Schley should have maintained a closa blockade of Cienfuegos,. when by over whelming testimony it was proved that a close and effective blockade of that port was maintained, the judge advo cate having substantially abandoned any charge to the contrary. 5V The majority of the court in the .opinion rendered have entirely ignored the uncontradicted testimony proving that the British steamer- Adula was permitted to go into the harbor of Cienfuegos in order that information might be obtained through her as to vhethti the Spanish fleet was then in that port, it having been clearly es tablished, that the captain of the said 'British steamer Adula promised anl agreed before permission was given him to enter' the port that he would brin.T his ship out in fewer than twenty-four hours, and furnish the Informa tion desired. . , 6. The majority, of the court, in the opinion rendered, have entirely failed to refer to dispatch No. T, admitted to have been sent by Admiral Sampson to Commodore Schley, the construc tion of which was agreed upon in the argument of the case, to-wit: That it was an imperative order for Com modore Schley to hold his squadron oft Cienfuegos, whether the Spanish fleet was or was not in that port. 7. The majority of the court, in the opinion rendered, have entirely Ig nored the admitted fact that the com mander of the. Eagle failed to commun icate ,the situation at Cienfuegos to Commodore Schley. . r 8. The majority of the court, 4n the opinion rendered, have'entirely ignored the uncontradicted evidence -In the case that Captain Robley D. Evans, knowing the meaning of the signal lights on' shore at Cienfuegos, failed to communicate his Information concern ing them to Commander Schley. 9. The majorityof the court in the report of facts submitted declare that the signal lights on shore near Cien fuegos were seen by Commodore Schley on. the night of May 22, 1S98. when In fact the overwhelming weight of both oral and documentary evidence proved that Commodore Schley saw and had knowledge of these lights only on the night of May 23, and at n6 other time. , 10.. The majority of the court, in the opinion rendered, are silent on the subject of the following charge pre ferred by the judge advocate against (Continued on Page Two.)