Evening Star Newspaper, December 13, 1893, Page 1

THE EVENING STAR. PUBLISHED DAILY EXCEPT SUNDAY. 1201 Pennsylvania Aven raer 11th 8, by ‘Venue, COruer The Evening Star Newspaper Oompany, S. H. KAUFFMANN, Pres't. New York Office, 88 Potter Building. + (Tre Evextye Stan is served to subseril ibers in the city by carriers, on their own account, at 10 cents week. or #42. per moath” "Copies af the counter conts each. By mail—anywhere in the United States or Cai ‘ostage prepaid—50 cents per SATURDAY Quiercere Suet S: 00 year; with foreien postage added, 63.00.76 0° (Entered at the Post Office at Washington, D. ©. . es second-class mail matter.) Che Zvening Star. §2-4)1 mail subscriptions must be paid in advance, Rates of alvertisine made known on application. Vor. 83, No. 20,754. WASHINGTON, D. ©, WEDNESDAY. DECEMBER 13, 1893—TWELVE PAGES. TWO CENTS. | An index to aé@vertise- ments will be found om Page 3. TALKING OF TARIFF.) Senator Morrill Makes a Vigorous Speech for Protection. CRITICISING DEMOCRATIC POLICY. Comparing Free Trade England With Protection America. BRITISH REVENUE SCHEMES. ee eee Ar. Morrill spoke in the Senate today on ais resolution to refer to the finance com- ‘The title prefixed to the speech was “An American tariff should not be swapped for British free trade.” It might have been wiser, he said, to have allowed some re- opinion with regard to the systems of pro- tection and free trade that “we remit the discussion of the subject to the people in their congressional districts and the deci- sion of Congress thereon, wholly free from executive interference or dictation.” The tariff platform bantling of 1892, whether to be nursed or strangled by executive inter- ference, seemed fated to become not less moribund and unsavory in 1896 than apy Other of the democratic platforms now moldering in the tomb of the Capulets. The democratic party in its platform of 1svz had denounced protection, with trom- bone epithets, as a “fraud and robbery,” as Yell as “an atrocity,” and, louder yet, as “unconstiiutional,” and proposed to super- sede and reform it by “a tariff for revenue only,” or a tariff wholly based on the Brit- ish example of free trade, with protection utterly emasculated. Such a message would mot be a leap in the dark from which any party could shirk its responsibilities. The example of a protective tariff in America for many years presented an indellible pic- ture before the world of the great American industrial age, and in figures so large as to make it memorable forever. British free trade had also been on trial long enough to minimize the profits of agriculture in their whole united kingdom. Their silk indus- tries had also vanished; those of iron were bending and groaning ‘under repeated an- tagonistic invasions from Germany and Belgium; and the frequent cry for “fair trade” exhibited the popular discontent with free trade. The practical merits of the respective sys- tems of raising revenue, therefore, invited critical examination by Congress, which must speedily determine whether or not the free trade policy, directly imported from EI had such unim ble goodness @s would justify its hurried acceptance, or the total abandonment of protection to all labor here employed and to the great multi- tude of fixed investments. These were some of the salient points to = he should invite considerate atten- ion. It might be true that President Cleveland would like to be a@ little better than his t ha on the tariff, as well as on silver, and t he ought to abide by his early and sol- emn declaration that “we wage no exter- minating war against any American inter- es but even those more anxious to speak well of the President than some of the high- ly valued members of his party were de-; Plorably weak in the faith touching any! revelation of an executive veto against tariff bills when tipped with “revenue re- form” and triumphantly enacted by a dem- cratic Congress. Those who were prolific in panegyrics on ® “tariff for revenue only,” the name now given to sweeten free trade, could not ob- ject to having the question of its excellence rought to the test of facts from the only Place where such a tariff had been on trial, and which, as he believed, conclusively | hg that the democratic architects had uilt their platform on a sandy and most unsatisfactory foundation. Comparisons With England. Mr. Morrill then went on to compare the Fesult of free trade in Great Britain with the results of a protective tariff in the United States and showed the great deteri- ration in British agriculture and he ascrib- ed it to the inherent friction of free trade. He pointed to the fact that the number of persons engaged in farm work in England and Wales had fallen from a little over two millions, in 1861, to a little less than one million, in 1891, and said that the extraordi- pary exodus of workingmen from Great Britain to the United States could not be ascribed to anything other than either the home oppressions of free trade or the at- aaa emanating from a protective tar- What was it, he asked, that had blighted ee em a million work- pel em to flee from their homes to other countries or to seek ee If those who were left might answer, whether the soil or laborer, they would papas Among lish farm- ers free trade had not a rag of reputation to cling to. Great Britain’s Taxes. The revenue obtained by Great Britain from its free trade tariff, he said, is less than one-fourth part of the annual amount there required, and,.consequently, they are compelled to resort to many desperate schemes of taxation, which here, under a republican form of government, are odious and endurable only in an overmastering exigency of a great national war. Ameri- cans have an inherited hatred of such taxes a8 are most prominent in Great Britain, for the collection of the chief part of their revenue, certified by stout swearing, in- creased at every revolt in India, Egypt, or South Africa, and ending by unfolding the veritable “tail which wags the dog” of free trade. It will, of course, be understood that se words point to the motley procession of British excise, license and stamp taxes, for marriage, for lawyers, dogs, mortgages, and all of their kin, income, land, house, | servant, .arriage, and gun taxes, and final-}| Jy, taxes on the dead. This is the perennial banquet, and these are the grizzly measures | for extorting revenue to which we are in-| vited by the President, already looming up * @nd which cohere to British free trade or a| “tariff for revenue only.” They are exotics, | and whoever seeks to cultivate them on the American continent will find them plants of | slow growth and bearing bitter fruit. After his comparison between England and the United States, in which he gave ratifying figures of our financial and in- dustrial progress, Mr. Morrill asked | “Do these facts indicate any economic} blunder on our part that should suddenly teach us to refc our national revenue licy by an exchange for that of the coun- ry we have left so far behind in the nation- al race? Prior to our tariff revision of 1890, the| t cry of tariff reformers appeared to be inst a trea plus, and for a reduc- f the revenue annually collected. The | howey promptly disappeared, ig the administration of President Hi in payment of the interest fe debt, to the extent of $305 thereby reducing the an Mf the government to $26,771,004. Sixty mil-| fon dollars of revenue were also cut off by| | cloud of enlarging the tariff free list and by reduc- tion ef rates on dutiable articles. Neither the complaint of a surplus nor of too much revenue survive, but, unfortunate- ly, the new administration must have more revenue. Certainly, however, a free trade tariff curtailment would not seem to be a safe and proper tonic to increase revenue, or to stimulate business enterprise, and could not fail to seriously augment the pres- ent financial discouragements. Nor will a democratic administration be likely to ex- cite our admiration by any diminution of the public debt.” Wages Here and There. “In Great Britain,” the speaker said, “no wage earner ever rises to be an employer of wage earners. In the United States it is a common occurrence, and almost the rule, that the head or business manager of any industrial company has risen from the ranks of practical manual labor. The biographies of our captains of industry, when we 1ook aloft in the history of the American people, shine forth as abundantly as the stars of the milky way. Free trade, with only fine words to wage earners, wears the air of aristocratic condescension, but protection helps with love like a brother. “It has been long roundly, perhaps ignor- antly, claimed that the difference in wages here, compared with the lower Briush wages, is compensated by the lower cost of living; but this has no basis of truth, ex- cept that the lower scale of wages practi- cally and brutally imposes upon British wage earners a lower and far inferior scale of living. If their provisions and comforts of life were to be made equal to those of ‘wage earners in America, the British cost would be found excessive and insupport- able. “The foundation of England's large wealth was laid by a century of stringent tariff protection—such as extending trade in woolens by making it unlawful to bury the dead in anything but woolens—and it may be admitted that the early results of free trade increased her foreign commerce; but that commerce is no longer greatly increas- ing, and British exports in nearly all di- rections are smaller than imports. Other nations have learned the magic of steam, of machinery and of skilled workmen, and no longer welcome British merchandise to free-trade markets. Decrepit free trade, in fact, is slowly dying with the home discon- tent of Great Britain, and 1s already a caput mortuum everywhere else. “British wage earners, as we all know, obtain on the average under free trade but little more than one-half as much reward for labor as Americans obtain under pro- tection. How long free trafle will be per- petuated even in Great Britain, in the face of suffrage extension, will be determined by the populcr vote, and its funeral obsequies will not there be wet with the tears of wage earners. True, its ghastly features may be briefly galvanized with the tender to all foreigners by the democratic party of the home markets of the American conti- nent; but that continent also wields a pop- ular vote, and their sober second thought waits impatiently for utterance.” The Ways and Means Committee. “That a free trade tariff might, could, or would be the order of the day, with protec- tion wholly eliminated, was grimly pro- claimed by the refusal of the majority of the ways and means committee to allow the munority any participation or knowledge as to its construction, presumably for the rea- son that the minority of five would have outvoted the majority of twelve. or that con- tact with them in the committee room might introduce some dangerous germs of protc>- tion, now supposed to be unusually contag- ious, to which no democrat should be piti- lessly exposed. And yet the incubating ma- jority, like other biddies that hide away while in labor, gave notice by loud cackling when they added an egg to the ‘revenue only’ nest. “As their formulated blind-man’s-buff work comes to light, a robust forgetfulness is exhibited by the exclusion of all the wise precedents of the past; but will they forget the resonant admonition of the 7th of No- vember, reverberating from Iowa to Massa- chusetts? It is to be hoped, in the words of old Sam Johmson, “They will remember who kicked them last.’ “The advantages of a protective tariff are not claimed On account of its production and diffusion of wealth alone, but on ac- count of its beneficence, its educational and civilizing influence, its distribution of the comforts of life among the men who work, and as the strongest arm of national inde- pendence. “The favored portion of our country with the longest summer days now wants protec- | tion on rice and sugar, and how long will it be before it may be wanted against Egyp- tian cotton? It has the option, through its control of the party now dominant, of main- taining the political economy of tariff pro- tection and thereby of making progress in the front of all rivals, with the full indus- trial force of its entire population, or of ac- cepting free-trade economics, faith without works, and thereby forever to lag in the rear by leaving the larger and superior half of its population excluded from many avail- able and remunerative employments and the other untrained half, with no hope of any- thing better, segregated in precarious work fields by day and in hostile political camps at night.” A Dismal Failure. In conclusion Mr. Morrill said: Free trade as an economic science, in the judgment of the world, is a dismal faidure. Even in England, one of their most dis- tinguished countrymen, in view of its total lack of sysmpathy for the welfare of labor- ing men, declared that “the acceptance of the current doctrine of political economy is a standing disgrace to the human intellec In America, also the leaders of free trade, or of “a tariff for revenue only,” care no more for the welfare of a laboring man than for that of “the man in the moon and deride all protection as “paternalism, dismissing it with a sneer as the demand of an inferior and unworthy race. One great difference between those who now favor a protective tariff and those who favor revenue reform appears to be that the protective party seeks to find nd good wages for the many, while the ers afe struggling to find good wa: out work for the many in the executive Patronage pasture, but that pasture, even with the paramount aid of Honolulu, is likely to be overstocked. I have thus attempted to show that “a tariff for revenue only” is a royal relative of free trade, kissing at sight, and that free trade in its gloomy and only home is not without many serious drawbacks, which in United States would be unadulterated calamities, multiplied in number and aggr: vated in character, and that in comparison with a protective tariff it has no attribute which should find favor with any American citizen. 1 am loth to believe that our country will consent to have a thoroughly tested revenue system permanently superseded by an ex- perimental change so revolutionary that even the convention-made index of its reck- less character served to suspend or pros- trate a fearful number of important Amert- can industries. Our farmers, who, next to wage earners, are to bear the brunt of such a disastrous change, having their products on the free list as raw materials, and the consumers becoming producers, will not fail to learn that the swap of protection for free trade, in accord with the British pattern, is the surrender and shipwreck of the home market, twenty times more valuable, for the foreign without the remotest chance of any extension of the latter. Wage earners also will not lag behind In the discovery that free trade with the allas of “‘a tariff for rev- enue only” is not a child's bogy, but a real juggernaut under whose wheels they will be the earliest victims called for sacrifice. Farmers and wage earners with the large body of business men from every point of the compass, who know that the change Proposed is a snare and a delusion, will right early assume destiny of a people soon to number a round hundred million, and fully capable of pro- tecting all the interests of a common coun- tr Th shall we have riff? President an Grant used to insist that “the democratic y, always went wrong at the right me. The policy of our republic, when only in the gristle of its predestinated growth, as . has been that of ab- politica a indus- : and un- exampled prosperity, and, in our dreams, the foremost he greater nations in wealth, and general intelligence of the peop! with the advent of a new administration and the pomp of power, our visions have been suddenly dimmed by the dire partisan measures which now sorely threaten the prosperity and general welfare of our people. the control of the high | MR. FRYE’S SPEECH. He Addresses the Senate on the Hoar Resolution. HAULING DOWN THE FLAG INCIDENT. Mr. Blount’s Report Said to Con- tain No Word of Truth. MR. STEVENS DEFENDED. House bill to improve the methdds of ac- counting in the Post Office Department was reported back by Mr. Cockrell (Mo.) from the joint committee on the executive de- partments, and was placed on the calendar. A further conference was ordered on the Hudson river bridge bill, and Messrs, Vest (Mo.), Gorman (Md.), and Frye (Me.), were appointed conferees on the part of the Sen- ate. Mr. Frye on the Hoar Resolution. The resolution offered by Mr. Hoar (Mass.) last Monday, calling on the President for information as to the appointment of Mr. Blount as commissioner to Hawaii, as to his instructions and proceedings, &c., was laid before the Senate, and Mr. Frye (Me.) addressed the Senate thereon. He said that he did not take the floor for the purpose of discussing the Hawaiian question. The Senate was not in a condition for that discussion, it was absolutely neces- sary for an intelligent discussion that there should be a thorough and com- plete official investigation of the facts and a ‘report made to the Senate. He was hoping that the com- mittee on foreign relations would make such investigation; and, after that was done, he hoped to have an opportunity of a the Senate on the general sub- ect Mr. Gray’s Flag Remark. Mr. Frye quoted from Mr. Gray's remarks last Monday a sentence as to the American flag having been used for the purpose of dishonor, and said that one or two other Senators had made similar statements. What, Mr. Frye asked, was to be inferred from Mr. Gray's declaration? Nothing un- der the sun, except that the United States minister to Honolulu has dishonored the flag of his country, and had undertaken to com- mit an act of piracy. The Senator could only have derived information authorizing him to make such a statement from the Blount report. Mr. Gray said that his statement was founded aot wholly or in a large part, on Mr. Blount’s report, but was founded largely on the documents sent to the Sen- ate last February, when the treaty of an- nexation was sent for the action of the Senate. It was founded on the letters of Capt. Wiltse and Mr. Stevens. Mr. Frye did not see how Mr. Gray could have arrived at any such conclusion from the papers to which he referred; and he quoted a sentence from President Harri- son’s message. Mr. Gray said that he did not refer to President Harrison's message, but to the documents accompanying it. Mr. Frye said that, he did not know how far Mr, Blount’s report was before the Sen- a Blount’s Report Ccored. He did know that it was before the coun- try in its entirety, an@ that it- was before the House in its entirety. He did not see, therefore, that there ought to be any deli- cacy about a reference to the Blount re- port, for it was, today, public property. In his judgment that was a most danger- ous report—tco dangerous for any Senator to base any serious attack upon against the character of any private citizen of the Unit- ed States. He (Mr. Frye) affirmed, without hesitation, that Mr. Blount, in his report, had not written one line of truth; nor given one unprejudiced opinion; nor rendered ohe impartial judgment. He (Mr. Frye) assum- ed that Mr. Gray's statement was an at- tack on Mr. Stevens—who was charged with having ———— the flag and committed of piracy. “ir Btevens, one said, had been born in the state of Maine, over seventy years ago. Mr. Stevens Defended. More than forty years he had been a prominent figure in that state. The public eye of Maine had necessarily rested upon him. For more than thirteen years he had represented the United States government as minister at Paraguay, Urugay, Sweden and the Hawaiian Islands, and had made international law a careful study. Such a man had been made the target for abuse, and had been charged with an act of | piracy. The President of the United States, Mr. Frye exclaimed passionately, could, Jand did, in spite of Constitution and law, |make Mr, Blount paramount to Mr. Stevens, | but in intelligence, in education, in integrity of character, in familiarity with affairs, in experience of life, especially of public life, in knowledge of international law, in ac- quaintance with the usages and disagree- ments of diplomacy, in devotion to the in- terests and honor of his country, in fidelity to our Christian civilization, Mr. Stevens is paramount to Mr. Blount, and no Presi- dent—not even Mr. Cleveland with all his power—can change that condition. Mr. Frye read long extracts from Mr. Stevens’ newspaper statement ani said: “So much of dishonoring the flag.” He’ ven that no citizen miral who did haul tt down (Admiral Sker- rett) that, in his dispatch, he said he had done it “in obedience to the orders of Com- missiorer Blount. A Charge Against the Administratio Mr. Frye went on to say that he had no doubt that it might become necessary to break down Minister Stevens. He had just received reliable information (reading from a slip of paper) that the purpose of the ad- ministration was to charge that Stevens was a party to corruption, employed to break down the queen’s government and to establish a revolutionary government. That, Mr. Frye exclaimed, did not amaze him. Mr. Gray—‘Does the Senator make that charge?” Mr. Frye—“I say that I have information which 1 regard as quite reliable that that is the purpose. I did not make the charge.” Mr. Gray—“Will you give your authority Mr. Frye—“I am not at liberty to do s0, but I am fully convinced myself that any 8 will be resorted to to break down Mr. ens. Whether money was or was not ended by the revolutionists, I do not but as to Mr. Stevens having any participation in corrupt practices to re- |move one government and create another, L |feel able to say that I do know that there |is not one word of truth in it.” Mr. Vest's Reply At the conclusion of Mr. Frye’s speech the Senate was addressed by Mr. Vest, who said that, as he was on the eve of leaving the city, he did not wish to lay himself open to the charge of evading responsibility on the Hawaiian question. He commented on the partisan speeches of Senators Hoar and F and sald, in reference to Mr. Frye, on all party questions he (Mr. Vest) that | would just as little trust him as he would trust a hungry wolf when the bieat of the farmer's lamb was heard in his immediate vicinity. He ridiculed the Christ tensions of Mr. Stevens and the New Eng- land revolutionists of Hawaii, and said that they had Christianized the natives out of their country, and had taken possession of it under the name of God, and then divided the lands among themselves under a lw made by themselves. (Laughter). He Dissent» From Mr. Gresham. When the morning hour expired at 2 (Continued on Second Page.) npre- of Maine had ordered the American flag | hauled down and he complimented the ad- | THE HONDURAS INCIDENT. | ARGUING THE CASE. The Official Correspondence Throws New Light on the Firing. The American Captain Refused to Re- ceive a Protest—Afterward the Bat- teries Shelled the Boat. The official correspondence in regard to. the firing by the Honduras authorities on the Pacific mail steamer Costa Rica, in the port of Amapala, Honduras, November 6, throws new light on the matter and shows that the American commander was really to blame. When Capt. Villela of Amapala was informed that Bonilla, a Honduran fu- gitive, was aboard the steamer, bound for Guatemala, he informed Dictator Vasques. The latter ordered him to extradite Bonilla. Capt. Dow refused to give up Bonilla, Whereupon Vasquez sent this dispatch: “Protest against the attitude of the steam- er captain resisting my government's de- mand, and request him to admit service on this protest by signing it.” The captain refused to sign this docu- ment. Then Vasquez ordered Villela to pre- sent the protest a second and third time. “Then,” the dispatch added, “if he still per- sists in refusing,give him his clearing papers, and if, in defiance of our laws, he then at- tempts to sail from the bay, do your duty and detain him by force. You can use all the means in your power to detain the steamer in port—as a last resort, the ar- tillery.” Many Guns Fired. Villela replied that Capt. Dow neither signed the protest nor showed it to Bonilla, and he asked whether he should bombard the steamer, as he was advised this act might entail serious consequences. Word came from Vasquez to fire on her—if he had not the courage to do so another com- mander would be appointed. The only thing that saved the passengers was nightfall. Twenty-one guns were fired, but in the dark they could not hit the steamer. The story as given out to the American press declared that the captain of the Costa Rica had his clearance papers, and was fully justified in leaving port. * This official correspondence shows clear- ly that he had no right to leave without signing this service of protest,’ which would not have compromised his company or this government. That there is evidently something radt- cally defective in the above statement is clear, Honda Apologized. Regardless of the comparatively unimport- ant point of whether or not the Costa Rica secured clearance papers, it is a matter of fact that the Honduran government apol- ogized for its action in this case and the matter is regarded on both sides as “a closed incident.” The President gives a brief account of this incident in his last annual report to Congress, as follows: “Upon receiving authentic information of the firing upon an American mail steamer touching at the port of Amapala, because her captain refused to deliver up a pas- senger in transit from Nicaragua to Guate- mala upon demand of the military authori- ties of Honduras, our minister to that country under instructions protested against the wanton act and demanded satisfaction. The government of Honduras, actuated by a sense of justice, and in a spirit of the utmost friendship, promptly disavowed the illegal conduct of its cfficers, and expressed sincere regret for’ the occurrence. “It is confidently articipated that a satis- ape adjustment will neon be reached of the questions out seizure use of Ameria etetels by insurgents Honduras and the subsequent denial by the successful government of commercial priv- ileges to those vessels on that account.” 8 ae THE GEODETIC SURVEY. What the Annual Report of Prof. Mendenhall Shows of Work Done. ‘The annual report of Prof. Mendenhall, jehief of the coast and geodetic survey, as sent to Congress, is, in many respects, an |interesting document and will be published jin two parts. The historical portion will constitute Part I, and will be accompanied by progress sketches showing geographical- ly the advance of the operations of the sur- vey in its several branches up to the end of the fiscal year. Part II will contain such professional papers as will have a practical value as well as a scientific interest for sur- veyors, navigators, astronomers, etc. Prof. Mendenhall reports that upward of seventy-five field parties were employed during the year upon the coasts or within the limits of the fourteen states on the At- lantic and Gulf seaboard; two states and one territory bordering on the Pacifie ocean and on Bering sea, and in eight states and two territorities. The report says that the preliminary surveys needed for the location of the northwestern boundary line between the United States and Canada are advanc- ing toward completion; the resurvey of |Boston harbor, made necessary by changes both natural and artificial during the past forty years, is in active progress; the sur- vey of the Connecticut river to the head of tide-water is nearly completed, and that of |the Hudson river toward Troy has made good progress. Surveys have been begun for the location of the boundary line be- tween California and Nevada from Lake Tahoe to the Colorado river, and officers of the survey have been sent to southeastern Alaska under instructions to co-operate |with officers detailed by the Dominion of Canada in locating the boundary line be- tween Alaska and British Columbia. In accordance with requests made and approved by the department, the survey de- tailed officers for special duty to co-operate with the commission organized for the ad- justment of the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Delaware; to delineate accurately upon suitable maps the bounda- ries of the natural oyster beds of Virgina; o act as a member of the board of engin- eers to devise a system of sewerage and grading of streets for San Francisco, and to co-operate with the harbor line commission of the state of Washington in harbor sur- veys in Puget Sound. The superintendent says that the recom- mendations made in his preceding annual reports that the use of the metric system of weights and measures should be made ob- ligatory in all transactions at United States custom houses, having been sanctioned by the department, he suggests July 1, 1895, as a suitable date for the inauguration of this reform. ———___- e-______ PENSION FRAUDS DISCOVERED. A Wholesale Swindling Scheme Re- ported From Louisiana id Tennessee A large number of pension frauds have been discovered in Louisiana and in Ten- nessee. How extensive they are cannot now be told, and the pension officials pre- | Serve the most non-communicative attitude | toward the press. They refuse to give the [names of the attorneys who, it Is said, |have been engineering what is called a | wholesale swindle, because such informa- | tion given to the public at this time might prejudice the case of the department. There is a strong analogy between this series of | frauds and that unearthed at Norfolk. The |department says that the scheme is made |possible by the ignorance of the negroes, who are made the stool pigeons of the oper- jators, and by the difficulty which the de- partment has in identifying them. The spe- cial examiners in the sections indicated are busily at work on the cases, and they will make a report to the bureau in a few days. ——e—_____ | Nominations Confirmed. The Senate yesterday afternoon confirmed | the nominations of Newton B. Ashby of Carpenter of Knoxville, Tenn., to be pen- sion agent at that place, and fifty-three postmasters. Iowa, to be consul at Dublin; Daniel A. | Testimony Concluded in the Daven- port Court of Inquiry. LEVT. WAINWRIGHTS ARGUMENT. How Lieut. Davenport Reached the Shore by Swimming. SAVING THE CREW. The testimony in the Davenport court of inquiry is now all in, and today the counsel, Lieut. Laucheimer, judge advocate of court, and Lieut. Wainwright, counsel for the applicant, Lieut. R. G, Davenport, be- gan the summing up of testimony. The principal witness on the stand yesterday was Lieut. Davenport himself, who told his version of the incidents of the Samoan dis- aster, and the beaching of the Nipsic. At the afternoon session yesterday, after ‘The Star's report of the hearing closed, | before Lieut. Daverport was recalled and stated that when he left the ship there was about eight inches of water on the deck, and the | f ship rolled considerably, with a strong cur- rent running. After he reached the shore he went direct to the consulate. When he reached the shore, he was positive the line was ashore, and they were pulling on it on the fo'castle to keep it taut. Before he left the ship he gave the log book to the cap- tain, as the latter had on a life preserver and had a better chance of getting safe to land. This was about ten or fifteen min- utes before he left the ship, and during the interval he went below and got some money out of a drawer. ‘When he lowered himself into the water and swam ashore he knew that some of the officers, at least two, the doctor and the chief engineer, were ashore. After he had returned from the consulate to the beach he was energetic in the work of aiding on the ines and in saving life. When he left the ship he was of the opinion that the men who were on the fo’castle had a better chance of escape than he did on the poop, as they could go off over the line. Conflicting Testimony. In several cases in his testimony Lieut. Davenport's statements were at variance with the statements of Lieut. Purcell and others. In this connection Lieut. Davenport was asked by the judge advocate if he was willing to swear that they had sworn false- ly. Lieut. Davenport said that he would not like to do this, but that he was willing to swear that what he had testified was true, and if their statements and his did not agree theirs must be incorrect. Would Do It Again. In answer to a question from Lieut. Laucheimer the applicant said that the captain of the ship himself was anxious to have the men abandon the ship in order to leave the ship himself. There was a bill on board referring to abandoning the ship and the applicant was in charge of the launch which’ was swung upon the starboard side. They had a routine drill on board ship about once a week to train the men in the meth- time he left the ship he was that if he stayed any longer be in jeopardy, and, service on board the ship in his injured condition. Ended the Testimony. This practically closed the taking of testi- mony in the case. In concluding Lieut. Davenport made a statement to the effect that if a eourt had been ordered when he first asked for it the incidents would have been fresher in the minds of the witnesses and he could have proved beyond a shadow of a ¢_ubt the truth of his statements. Other witnesses could have been summoned who were not now available. As it is, how- ever, he was perfectly satisfied with the course of the government in this inquiry. He had no further testimony to present and no turther witnesses to summon. Summing Up. This morning after the record was read over and approved Capt. McNair asked the applicant if a thimble full of water would not ruin a chronometer as well as a bucket sull. Lieut. Davenport stated a single drop would answer as well. Lieut. Davenport also answered a few other questions as to the details of the beaching of the ship and as to who gave the different orders. At this point a recess was taken until 1 o'clock, when Lieut. Wainwright, counsel for the applicant, began the summin; his testimony. riled in the course of his address Lieut. Wain- | wright said: “If during the time of the hurricane at Samoa Lieut. Davenport show- ed cowardice, he is not fit to hold his office in the navy, but if his conduct is vindi- cated before this court, I believe the ver- dict will re-establish him in the eyes of all honorable men. In his sworn statement, now in evidence, he has fearlessly and frankly placed before the court all the cir- cumstances that in any way affected his case. Had he believed that there was any error on his part he would never have dared to face this court. He has shown how, al- most immediately after the hurricane, he sought to have a court, how again in Hon- olulu he made a similar request, and each time the authorities were given a statement of all the facts in his possession, and each time his request was refused. “After placing before this court his state- ment and verifying it under oath, he pro- duced two officers, his immediate superiors, the commanding officer and the executive of che Nipsic. They ccrroborated the main facts mentioned in his statement, particu- larly the occurrences cn board ship, and after the most searching questions on the part of the court, they declared his conduct to be worthy of an officer of the navy. The Accusations. “At last the applicant knows of what he is accused. He is accused of jumping over- board, naked, after the order had been passed to abandon ship in an orderly man- ner, thus not showing in time of danger or emergency an unflinching front to danger. That he did not go down on the beach and stay there and help the Vandalia’s people out of the water, or as Lieut. Purcell puts it in another place, that ‘he did nothing to- ward saving the lives of the crew of the Vandalia or the officers.’ That ‘he lost the | chronometers of the Nipsic because they were abandoned when they could have been saved, except one chronometer, the hack.’ The length of time that has elapsed since the hurricane has been of serious disad- vantage to the applicant, for not only those who are willing to utter some facts are unable to do so, but those who have an animus against him have transposed their imaginations into facts. Lieut. Hawley saw him and talked with him on the poop. This was after the cutter Was sent ashore and after the line from the forecastle reached the shore. Lieut. Haw- ley had passed the word to abandon ship before seeing him. Lieut. Shearman only | heard the order given by abandon the ashore. the captain to ship after the line was The Order. Lieut. White would testify, I believe, if his memory serves, that he saw the appli- cant swimming ashore after the line was ashore. If all the testimony of the various witnesses was given equal weight without regard to their bias against the applicant the evidence of the captain and executive must be taken as conclusive upon the point of when the order to abandon ship was given, for there is no positive contradiction jot their evidence on this point. The order from the captain that Lieut. Shearman heard was very likely given when the line was ready, but it was the second order, and Lieut. Shearman may not have heard the first, or, having heard it, may not re- member it. The captain and the executive officer who gave the orders have not been contradicted, and there has been no attack on their credi. bility. Their evidence must clear the appil- cant of the gravest charge that could be made against him, viz., leaving the ship be- fore the order to abandon ship was given. When the applicant left the ship, the lines were ashore. I believe the times it took to abandon the Nipsic after she was beach- A Dangerous Feat. The applicant never thought much of the injury to his foot at the time. It made him think that the ladder might hurt him more seriously, or break a limb, and i F girl ieee it Had he again reached — he could have done nothing Mr. Jones, who had the mess money charge, gave it to one of the men to take over, threw the rough log over, and states that the chronometers could not have been — over dry. a Next comes the charge it the icant did not go down on the beach eae there and help the Vandalia’s people out of the water. It was the Samoans who took the line from the Nipsic,who hauled it taut and who formed a long line under the hawser, helped the people from the Nipsic ashore and hauled the cutter on the beach. It was a Samoan who rescued Dr. Dorr and brought the ex- hausted and dazed doctor on shore. It war the Samoans who saved Green and Wiley and pulled some of the Vandalia’s men out of the surf. They had to help Lieut. Purcell Su, Tm Be was embarraming thelr of 01 Only One Fact. It was after all was safe and most of the officers and men were back on the Nipsic that the stories commenced to be told about the applicant’s action, and grew and grew. until they rolled up into the formidable ac- ley contradicts, and Lieut. Shearman says the hawser itself was ashore a few minutes after the cutter. difficult feat to swim ashore from the sic. This is contradicted by both mander Mullan and Ensign Jones. I believe the applicant's statement been corroborated in oe and we have shown that the applican: from March 13, until the ‘Nipae aus beached, was not neglectful of any duty: that when he swam ashore lhe was at per- fect liberty so to do; that it was after the order to abandon ship, after the lines were ashore, and at a time when there was noth. ing further for him to do on board ship; that he left in a cool and deliberate man. ner; that after the beaching of the Nj ipsic until May 9, 1889, the applicant did such service as he was called upon to perform, either by his seniors or by circumstances, In other werds, that from March 13 until May %, 1889, Lieut. Davenport did his duty &s an officer of the navy, and that his con- duct during the hurricane was such as to entitle move in the society - orable men. =o ————_+-e.____ FOR THE DISTRICT POOR. The Preparations for the Concert Going Rapidly Forw: rd. By tonight the public will be informea by Posters that the concert to be given by the band of the United States marine corps for the benefit of the poor of the District will take place on Wednesday evening next, the 20th instant, at Convention Hall. The printing will be completed by Mr. Darby today, and Mr. L. Moxley will see that the posters are placed in attractive local- ities where they will attract general at- tention. “There is nothing that I can do to further the undertaking,” said Mr. Mox- ley this morning, “that I will not do. Yor forty years I have always done what lay in my power to aid any project to relieve Nip- Com- suffering, and I'm too old to begin to re-| fuse now. There was no particular neces- sity for asking me if I would look out for the posting, for you could have taken it for granted that I would.” ‘The same spirit has been manifested by all whom the committee have approached in connection with the concert, and help ee been proffered from unexpected, quar- ers. | Volunteers have been numerous for par- | ticipation in the program, but these have been declined, for Col. Heywood, who is the originator of the concert movement, naturally desires that the Marine Band. which first tendered its services, should reap whatever of credit there may be in the concert. There will be some noveities in- troduced by the band that will show it can cater to popular taste, while in some of its selections it will prove that it is not afraid of comparison with any of the mili- jon bands that have been heard here re- | cently. ————-_-e-____ Don’t Agree With the Senators. It is said that the President has decided | to renominate Kope Elias for internal reve- | Rue collector of the western district of | North Carolina. His previous nomination failed at the extra session because of the joppesition of Senator Vance. Certain charges against him were being investigat- ed, and it was generally understood that he | never could be confirmed. Senators Ran- | som and Vance came to an understanding, | it is said, that another name should be sent in, but Mr. Cleveland, it is evident, insist- ed on his renomination. Pugilist Mitchell has anounced that he will train in Florida for his fight with Cor- bett in January. He states it was not a/ all important points, | a. HAWAIIAN NEWS. |THE LATTER GIVEN 10 THE POBLIC. iF 3 | i 4 f | i i ey j E i | | the by the Sena’ It is thought respondence afternoon. Most is said, published. Neither any other prominent official will give firmation or denial ment cont i | | ft i | i au! e ° i % of ff Pe i | F4 i il | Minister Thurston's Journey. | ‘The arrival of Minister Thurston in | Francisco yesterday will enable him to sail | thence tomorrow on the steamer Alameda, due in Honolulu, December 21. This is the vessel whose arrival in Hawail was expect- ed to mark the ending of the period of sus- pense there in the announcement by Min- | ister Willis, according to his promise, of | What he intends to do. The object of Mr. Thurston's visit to Honolulu at this time is to place the benefit of the valuable service of his government. He has acquaint- | ed himself with the feeling of Congress on the Hawaiian question, as nearly as could to be ascertained, and is resist ‘Liltuokalant diplomatic f attempt to re-enthrone means of constitutional statutory citations, New Instractions by the Corwin. As a matter of fact, Minister Willis and the Hawaiian government will not have to await the arrival of the Alameda, as full instructions for his guidance will reach him in a few days by the revenue steamer Corwin. The administration was fully ad- vised of the necessity of prompt action in this matter and it was not deemed prudent to await the sailing of the Alameda, valuable time could be gained by the patch of the Corwin at once. That vessel left San Francisco day night with orders to proceed possible. It is estimated that she | the trip in at least twelve days. | her ninth full day out, so that under favor- | able conditiois she should arrive in 3 policy of this goverrment nearly a week in advance of the 2ist instant, the date set by | him for the receipt of his instructions from Washington. Although there is no positive knowledge as to the character of these instructions, it is understood that Minister Willis is in- formed of the President's purpose to sub- | mit the Hawatian issue to Congress and that he is instructed to suspend further action toward the restoration of the queen | until he is advised of the action of Con- gress. He is particularly cautioned, it is said, to observe a strict neutrality and to call the naval forces into requisition only in the event that American interests on the islands are jeopardized by a conflict between the parties. | The Correspondence All Ready. | It is stated at the White House and State Department this afternoon that there is no probability of the Hawaiian correspond- ence going to the Senate today. It is all in | shape at the White House and its trans- mission depends solely on the wishes of the President. It is known that he desires to accompany it with a message and that he was awaiting only the receipt of certain data expected to be brought by the steamer Oe which arrived at San Francisco voTnAt brought “definite information” of the situation on the islands, but whether it is | the desired kind cannot be known until | after the publication of his message. An Executive Message. The impression is growing that the ad- ministration is satisfied that its policy for | the restoration of the queen cannot be ac- complished by the peaceful arts of diplom- lacy, and that it has practically concluded