The Elk Mountain pilot., 1902-09-02
LATE WASHINGTON NEWS AND
GOVERNMENTAL PROCEEDINGS

| The insular division of the War De-
partment has just published it's last
summary of the commerce of the is
land of Cuba. The summary shows
that the total value of imports into
Cuba during the military occupations
was S225, ,437 .135. and the exports were
S45,OOO.0OO less than the importations,
| fact attributed to the destruction of
property and damage to agriculture
caused by the war. The United States
furnished forty-three per cent. Of the
imports and took seventy-five per cent.
of the exports. Practically all the su-
gar went to the United States. The
balance of trade was decidedly in IA
vor of Cuba, though not so great as in
1 former years. and it Is remarked that
| the trade of the United States has not
kept pace in any the Latin-American
countries with its wonderful strides In
o,.ier parts of the world.
Attorney General Knox returned to
/ Washington August 23d, being sched-
uled to sail from New York for Paris
on the 9th. Mr.. Russell, who il now
| there Investigating the Panama canal
question for this government, has ca
| bled Mr.. Knox that there are some fea-
lures of the case that should receive
the attorney generals personal atten-
ton. In speaking of the railroad
/ sulI HtHtTdl Sdll
that testimony would be taken in the
case. beginning at New York next
month. Referring to the published re-
port that he would be selected to sue
ceed Justice Shiras on the supreme
! bench in case OF the latter's early re-
| tirement, Mr.. Knox said that he had
no information upon the subject. The
published report that Solicitor General
John X. Richards is to resign to enter
into partnership with Abner Mckinley
is discreditedl by Mr.. Knox.
The War Department has received n
| cablegram. from General Chaffee at
| Manila, reporting the occurrence of a
series of earthquakes on the island of
! Mindanao. Twenty people were killed
! by falling walls, the victims all being
AIoros. The upheavel occurred in the
country adjacent to Lake Lanao, in the
Moro section of the island, near Camp
Vickers, which is now the headquar-
ters of the American forces stationed
in Mindanao.. General Chaffees cable
| gram says the mountains and rivers
and other streams We're greatly dis
| turbed and great damage was done.
| This Is the first serious earthquake re-
ported during the American occupa-
| ton of the Philippines. The most im-
portant previous seismic disturbances
in Mindanao was the one that partly
destroyed Palak, Cota-B Batu and the
village on the banks of the river Min
danao in 1872. This phenomenon.
| closely followed the eruption of the
| volcano, of Marturkin.
! The census office has Issued a pre-
| liminary report on illiteracy among
men of voting age in city and country
districts in the census year 1900. The
1 ~. .l...N
crate those who. can neither read nor
write, and also n small number who
can read, but cannot write. In the
| United States as n whole. excluding
| Alaska and Hawaii, the male popula-
| tion at least twenty-Oie years OF age.
and living in cities that had at least
25,OO0 inhabitants, was 5,SS5644, of
whom $3.50, DOB, or six per cent, were
reported as illiterate. In the rest of
the country the number of men of vot-
ing age was 15.24S,655, of whom L.
9l124I. or thirteen per cent. were re-
ported as illiterate. These figures in
dicate that illiteracy among adult
males Is less than half as prevalent in
the large cities os it is in the rest of
| the United States, The difference, the
report says, is due largely to the fact
that the urban population of the coun-
| try IL massed in the northern and
western states. and illiteracy is less
frequent there than in other parts OF
the country. Illlteracy among adults,
the report says, is found in the large
cities less frequently than elsewhere in
all the states and territories, except
New Hampshire, New York, Kansas
and Oregon.
The officials of the War Department
are said to be much concerned over the
fact that Gen. Nelson A. Miles is to.
visit the Philippines within short
time. General Miles is now travelling
in New England. General Sherman
once moved the army headquarters to
St Louis, and General Miles ordered
himself to Santiago during the war
| with Spain. At that time there was
some fear that he would endeavor to
supplant General Shafter in command
of the Cuban expedition, and Secretary
Alger found it necessary to reassure
Shafter that Miles stay in Cuba was
only temporary. Notwithstanding the
fact that General Shafter commanded
the expedition, General Miles did par
ticipate in the negotiations for the sur
render of the Spaniards, and, knowing
this, the officials here fear that he may
endeavor to interfere with the policy
of the United States in dealing with
the Moros of Mindanao. The President
has been particularly anxious that the
peace policy be preserved in Mindanao
until some overt act compels an ad-
vance upon the Moros. 1t has been
evident to General Chaffee that the re-
lations between the soldiers and the
Moros are strained to the utmost. and
that nothing short of actual fighting
will determine the Moro question.
Should General Miles endeavor to as
sert his authority as commanding gen
eral of the army in the Philippines it
will result in serious complications,