The Saint Paul globe., 1900-03-18


| failure of the senate to swallow the
| treaty negotiated by Secretary of State
Canal Bill the ' ratification niif p5nSsof of
in the Air. any convention of
this kind at this ses-
| sion, and the administration and its
! friends in congress will retaliate by
| voting down or smotherng in one o. both
| houses all measures pending for the con-
stIuction of the Nicaraguan canal by this
| government. The canal project, there
fore, being side-tIacked, as it will be at
| the first session of this congress. and,
also, at the closing session next winter,
will be compelled to await more favorable
action at the hands of the Fifty-seVenth
congress-
The friends Of the Nicaraguan canal
| bill will, however use every effort to
force 1t along just far possible,
through the committees of both houses,
and Will endeavor by determined work
to put the "antis" on record by a vote
in one or both houses, and, If they fail
at this session, will try to force a vote
before the Ffty-SiXth congress adjourns
sine die March next
| Friends of Matthew Stanley Quay IN
the United States senate are consd rably
diSguSted oyer the lengthy delay of that
body in reaching a vote in his case. The
indications now seem to point to con-
| tnuance of this policy on the part OF
| Quay's enemies, unless Senator PenrOse
and other warm friends of the keystone
| statesman decide to take the senatorial
reins iii their own hands, thus bringing
| about vote, as they would be able to
| do, having a majority in favor Of Quay
| Of at least ten or twelve. There Is a
| possibility that Mr.. Penrose and ether
! Quayites may decide to pursue a policy
| of this kind IT, the opposition continues
| It's policy Of delay In order TO prevent a
vote. That Quay will finally be stated,
| however, is conceded by the opp0si ion.
| They are anxious, however, TO delay thai
result as long it Is possible for them
| to prevent a vote.
| 1t has been known for more than two
years that Secretary Long has been op
posed to the building Of warshiDs at the
various United States navy yards He
has recently officially declared his o2pos-
tiOn in a communication to the house ma
val committee, where This matter IS under
consideration. In his communication to
this committee secretary Long sta es thai
such work performed at the navy yards
costs twice as much and takes twice as
long as when done under contract at pr
Vate establishments. He says the records
of the department will sustain m in this
contention. He adds:
I'm the first place / think it Is not de-
sirabe to introduce into our navy yards
something which is not permanent and
continuous There is a great d sire among
the labOring men In
our navy yards that New Factor
we shall build ships In Politics
in them, but that
will not increase the general employment
at all, because if the labor IS not employ
ed in the yards it will be employed out
side. 1 think. too, that there is more
60.
! in politics if the number of employees Is
so largely increased as 1t would be If ship
building were added to repairing. If We
| build a ship at New York we must buill
| one at Norfolk, and there will be pres
| sure to build Cne at Boston and one at
| Mare Island and one at Philadelphia and
one at Port Royal and Key Vest and
| Portsmouth. Then will follow a demand
| for new buildings. machinery plants, etc.
| If you start ship at one Of these places
| you must employ gerat many men, and
| as soon as it is finished all these must
| be discharged and there is more trouble,
| especially for you. On the other hand, In
| the business of repairing ships there Is
| regular, steady employment. l really
! think it is a great deal better in the in
| terest of labor as it Is.
Complaint is made by high naval OIL
! GERS that many of the practices and cour-
| tesies prevailing in the navy only a few
| years ago are disappearing wi n the ad-
vance of modern methods and the expan-
sion of the service incident to the Span
ish war These naval officers say that
| years ago a flag officer would have con-
| sidered himself ill-treated had he recetV-
! ed instructions to command a fleet before
| being ordered to Washington to discuss
| the matter and make known his wishes
| But this is all changed now, and the very
| highest are taken out Of comfortable bill
Iotc md
| The last instance of this new policy was
| in the assignment of Admiral Remey "a
| the successor of Admiral Watson on the
| Asiatic station. Admiral Remey had not
| the slightest intimation Of the depart
| ment's intentions until he read the order
in the press. He is given little time fur
thermore, to make his preparations, select
his staff and sail from San Francisco for
Manila.
Admiral Mccormick, at present com
| mandant of the Washington navy yard,
| and who was ordered to command sec
ton of the fleet. was equally surprised.
His voluntary retirement followed. An
officer seldom rebels against the orders
of the department, and accepts his as
| signment, whether or not agreeable. Ad-
| miral Schley wished some other command
than the South Atlantic but he made no
protest, and, like all good sailors, obeyed
| without a murmur
An important bill relating to the sale
| of timber on the public lands was intro
| duced in the house recently by the public
! lands committee. The bill was framed
by the general land
| Timber on office to meet the ne
Public Lands. cesssity created by
| recent decision of
| the assistant attorney general for the
! interior department, declaring that eX-
| listing laws do not authorize sales of tim
| Der on public lands. Commissioner Her
man. in transmitting the bill and ask
| ing It's adoption, says in part:
"The protection and disposal of the
| timber upon the public lands of the
! United States are shown by the annual
reports of the officers of the land depart
ment to have been the subject of thought
| full consideration and much embarrass-
ment in that department.
Timber supplies many of the necessi-
J ties of life. and certainly the use of its
| products is absolutely necessary to set
| tiers upon the public lands and to others
engaged in Industrial pursuits tending
| to the development of the resources of
! the country. There are many localities
| where it cannot be obtained otherwise
| than from the public lands, and wisdom
J clearly dictates that methods should be
adopted whereby the wants of the people
| f,, y11ax ha nxxyf1, .ofi