The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1902-06-10
/, Correspondence.


EETTES EEE -
the Senate of the Lodge Philippine
bill by a vote of 4s to 80 and it is now
hoped that Congressional legislation
will move rapidly and permit of adj
journment in the near future, al
though the. most hopeful do not an
ticipate that the session will come to
a close before the oath inst. No soon
er had the Philippine bill been dis
posed of than the Nicaraguan Canal
bill was called up and made the sun
finished business" Senator Hale has
reported for the committee on naval
affairs the Naval Appropriation bill
and it is expected that the Senate will
be able to pass the measure during the
"morning hour" which means the time
intervening between the hour the Sen
ate convenes and 2 p. m. The bill re-
ported from the Senate committee in
creases the total amount of the appro-
priation by $546,9O The provision
that half of the new vessels shall be
constructed in government navy yards
is stricken out and a provision that
n vessel shall be built on the Pacific
coast is substituted. The Secretary of
the Navy is authorized to purchase
FIVE submarine boats of the Holland
type and one of any other type he may
elect.
ANTI. LEGT9IATION
The House of Representatives is
considering the bill for the protection
of the President, or "anti-anarchist"
bill. The House committee did not ap-
prove of the measure passed by the
Senate for the reason that it believed
it would be found unconstitutional,
and it therefore reported a substitute
which is not so drastic in its proVi-
sions. The indications are that by the
time the House has completed its
measure and the same has been accept
ed by the conference committee a fair
and moderate law will have been
framed.
FOREST MATHEWS
The program of the House now in
cludes the consideration of the irriga-
lion bill and the bill which provides
for the transfer of the forest reserves
from the care of the Department of
the Interior to that of the Department
of Agriculture. These are all impor-
tant matters and should receive care
full attention. The bill which will
place in the custody of the Depart
ment of Agriculture the forest re-
serves is of especial Importance as it
means proper as against very indiffer-
ent care of the reserves. At the pres
ent time, the Secretary of the Interior
is hampered in his efforts to properly
administer the reserves by lack of
funds to properly equip a division of
forestry, and the necessity of trying
to work in connection with the thor
oughly equipped Bureau of Forestry
of the Department of Agriculture.
But the greatest obstacle to efficient
work is the fact hat the employees of
the Department, who are detailed to
care for the forests, are O within the
classified service and, as a result, the
Secretary is obliged to sacrifice all
consideration of faithful and efficient
service to political influence. 1t is
anticipated that when the change is
made the President will extend to this
branch the protection of the civil ser
vice rules and so make for an intelli-
gent and proper conservation of the
forests.
CUBAN R~ECIFROsITY.
While the Nicaraguan Canal bill
continues to occupy the floor of sthe
Senate, the attention of the Senators
IN their committee rooms is devoted to
the question of Cuban reciprocity
which has not yet been successfully
solved. The President has recently
called a number of conferences at the
Whiet House for the purpose of dis
cussing the bill in which he is so much
interested but there still remain thir-
eten Republican Senators who decline
to vote for any measure which, in their
judgment, will mean a sacrifice of the
interests of the beet sugar producers
to those of the Cubans. Senator Diet
rich, of Nebraska, has presented a
novel substitute which would remove
the differential from refined and
add it on to the duty on raw sugar
and, this done, he and other friends of
the beet sugar industry would be glad
to see Cuba allowed the concession of