The Elk Mountain pilot., 1901-05-14
WASHINGTON GOSSIP.


properly began on the 18th of May,
1907, when Captain John Smiths par
ty of adventurers landed at jamestown
island, near the mouth of James river,
Virginia, and there established the
first permanent settlement in America.
The 3OOth anniversary of that event
will occur six years hence and PreSi-
dent Tyler of William and Mary Col
lege and other citizens of that portion
of the state have interested themselves
in organizing n movement for an ap-
propriate national commemoration.
They have secured the passage of
resolution by the General Assembly of
Virginia asking the President and Con
gress of the United States to make
such arrangements as are worthy of
this great nation.
There is no doubt that Secretary of
War Root and the Cuban Commission
reached an understanding satisfactory
to both sides, but out of courtesy to
the constitutional convention at Ha-
vana the details will be reserved as
confidential until the commission has
an opportunity to make its report.
This much is known, however, says
William e. Curtis in the Chicago Rec
ord-Herald, that the President, through
the secretary of war; gave the delega-
ton distinct and positive assurances
that there is no intention on the part
of the present administration to annex
the island of Cuba unless the rejection
of the Platt resolutions should make n
new policy necessary. They were told
that the subject had never been con-
templated and that if it ever was con-
sidered the proposition must come from
the Cubans, who would find it difficult
to break into the Union. They were
also assured that the object of main
taining naval stations was as much
for the protection of Cuba as the Unit
ed States, and that the privilege of in
tervention to preserve the peace of
the island would be found very useful
by the people down there in case of
internal dissension.
The commission, consisting of Mr..
Burnham of Chicago, Charles NJ. Nc
Kim of New York and Fred Law Ohm
stead of Boston, who are now design
ing a plan for the improvement and
Identification of the District of Colum-
bia, propose, among other things, an
arboretum. or museum Of plants and
trees for the promotion of the science
of forestry. There is no complete ar
boretum in the United States. 1t is
comparatively new idea. The most
extensive and satisfactory work in
this direction has been done at Boston
by Professor Sargent of Harvard Uni
versity and by George Vanderbilt at
Biltmore, North Carolina. There are
also arboretums more or less complete
at the botanical gardens in st. Louis,
the Golden Gate park of San Francisco
and the Bronx park. New York City,
but they are only the beginnings of
great things. The science of forestry
is becoming so important in the coun-
try that the government of the United
States cannot do better than follow
the example of the individuals and the
municipalities mentioned and establish
as complete an arboretum as possible
here at the capital for the use of stu
dents. The British government has the
most complete arboretum in the world
Mt the Kew Gardens, and the French
Republic has one very nearly as ex-
tensive at the Jardin de Plantes of
Paris.
Professor II. II. Roberts of the Uni
versity of Wyoming calls attention to
the fact that Northern in his Manual
of Civil Government" says that no
person has ever been convicted OF trea-
son in the United States" and asks IL
it is true A. L. G. Griffin, chief bib
declares that the statement is not true,
and says: In 1868 Ridgeley Great
house and others were indicted in the
Circuit Court of California for engag
ing in and giving aid and comfort to
the then existing rebellion against the
government of the United States The
Indictment charges the commission of
acts which. in the judgment of the
court, amount to treason within the
meaning of the constitution The de-
PENDANTS were found guilty, and Saw
yers' Reports of Cases, vol. iv, p. 4ST,
states that sentence imposing both fine
and Imprisonment was pronounced up
on them Rubery was subsequently
pardoned by President Lincoln, at the
request of our friend John Bright of
England. The other defendants were
subsequently, during the attendance of
Justice Field upon the Supreme Court
at Washington, brought before District
Judge Hoffman, sitting in the Circuit
Court, on habeas corpus, and released
from Imprisonment upon taking the
oath prescribed in the proclamation of
President Lincoln, issued after their
sentence, and upon giving bond for
their future good behavior"
In reply to question, William Il.
Curtis, in the Chicago Record, says it
is not true that Ii Hung Chang or
WI Ting Fang, the Chinese minister
at Washington, are opposed to Chris
tian missions in China. Both have of
ten expressed confidence in and ap-
proval of many missionaries, although
they have criticised and denounced
others. Their objections We're TO the
men, however, and not to the cause
they represent. Both have publicly
and privately acknowledged the good
that missionaries have done in their.
country and have shown practical evil
dences of approval and encourage
ment Earl LIS sons We're educated