The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1901-04-26
GIVE TROUBLE.
Immigrants Crossing Canadian
Border Continue to Bother.
The Indian Timber TangIe.
of FiIipinOs Will Not be Pushed
at Present.

Washington correspondence St. Paul
Pioneer Press:
immigration across the Canadian
border continues to trouble the officials
of the treasury and to cause complaints
from the people of the border states
from Maine through the entire north
west. Assistant Secretary Taylor of
the treasury, under whose immediate
supervision immigration matters are
conducted, made trip to Canada last
fall to attempt to find what the diff
| Guilty was and to secure the co-opera-
ton of the Canadian officials and the
steamship and railway people of the
Dominion to aid in protecting the in
terests of the United States. The force
| of inspectors along the border has been
! increased from time to time and yet
| the complaints pour in. The depart
ment officials have decided to send
Special Agent Robert Watchorn of the
immigration bureau to Canada, also,
| to make further investigation. He
will visit Montreal, Quebec, and other
points, and will spend some time with
the government heads and also with
the managers of the transportation
lines, and endeavor to ascertain what
the causes are for the constant slipping
over the border into this country of
| immigrants in violation of the law.
The Canadian government leaders and
the transportation companies have re-
peatedly offered their best. offices to as
sist this government, but all plans
which have been devised up to this
time seem to be inadequate Agent
Watchorn will make special study of
the methods employed by the Canadian
transportation lines 1t is found that
the steamers coming to Canada bring
many persons who would be excluded
under the laws of this country and the
obnoxious persons get in here across
| the border.
Advices have reached the interior
department that the dead and down
timber operations in the Chippewa
reservations in Minnesota closed on the
10th inst, and the report of Capt
Mercer, agent in charge of Leech Lake,
giving the result of the operations is
expected at the department within a
few weeks. The officials are inclined
to tbiDk tbot +bo ;pforpoo io,, rooo; 1-oJ
here from private sources that the
amount of green timber cut on the
reservations during the operations this
winter will be found inaccurate and
! that not more than . per cent of the
! total cut was green timber. The de-
partment has not received very recent
advices on the subject, and all that is
known is what has come here in re-
gard to the sales at high prices of the
! green timber that was wrongfully cut
by the operators. .'
az 1t is the purpose of the war depart
ment to arrange for some regiments of
Filipino soldiers for service under the
flag Of the United States in the Phil
ippines. A wrong impression was
given by statement recently made at
the department that the Filipinos
would not be mustered for the new
army under the provisions of the army
act passed by the last congress. What
was meant by the officials, it appears,
was that no immediate steps would be
taken to obtain the quota Off, 600
natives which the act of congress per-
mits as part of the new army. The
officials say that the same course will
be pursued in the Philippines as was
, adopted in Porto Rico. Regiments of
Philippine natives will be organized
, from time to time for the purpose
eventually of obtaining a domestic
force to police the island so as to re-
duce materially the number of Ameri
! can soldiers that will be needed there.
1t is admitted by the officials that this
| plan cannot be carried out very soon
! and must be proceeded with on lines
with great care. But having authority
| to organize such regiments and know
| ing the good success that attended the
formation Of the Porto Rican regiment
the officials believe that much good
will ultimately be derived from the
mastering Of such number of regiments
of Filipinos as can be secured. Not
much will be done until the insurrec-
tion is under fall control