The Press., 1903-12-10
MERE $ NO SUBSTITUTE
Alleged newspapers issued by certain

private schools, academies and other educational enterprises, usually with
 an advertising purpose, have been placed in the third class. The pro-
 visions of the statutes against the cir culation of mere advertising matter,
 and of the free circulation of any mat ter, have been carried out. MT. Mad den says, however, that vast amount of work remains to be done in the di- rection of curing abuses of second class mail privileges.
 He discusses also the difficulty of differentiating between third and fourth class matter, and merchandise The questions which have to be asked
 in order to keep these classes separate are often irritating to the public, and the report recommends the consolida- tion of this second and third matter under the uniform rate of one cent for each two ounces.
 The correction of abuses in the second class matter will do much toward eliminating the yearly deficit in the receipts of the post office de- partment.
 Opposition to Senator Reed Shoot of Utah has received a new impetus by the formation of a union of wom- ems clubs, which will meet here regu- larly to agitate for the expulsion of MT. Shoot from the senate. The leader in the movement is the presi- dent of the National Congress of Mothers. At the first conference held it was decided to issue call to the country to raise at least $3, GOO for the expenses of the work. For the same Frkpose pamphlet will be issued and sold, in which the reasons for expel- ling the senator will be pointed out. Senator Shoots private secretary at tended the conference, although his presence was not known until he rose to leave just before the end of the pro- |ceedings.
 According to trustworthy authorities in the senate, the confirmation of Leonard Wood as major general is re- garded as assured, despite the numer- ous sensational stories to the contrary, which have been furnished to the press by interested persons, enemies of
 Wood and the administration. Pro- minent members of the senate, repub-
 lican and democratic, have come to the conclusion that the time for the senate to have objected to Wood $ promotion over senior officers was when the promotion was given, in other words, when President Mckinley made Wood brigadier general. Presi- dent Roosevelt found Wood at the head of the list of brigadiers, and gave him merely the promotion to which his position entitled him, making him a major general when a vacancy in that rank occurred. An important fact which has come out in the investi- gation is that Wood requested of the war department that court of inquiry be appointed to examine into his con- duct, and Secretary Root, after con- sidering all the circumstances, decid- ed that the charges were not serious enough or sufficiently sustained to warrant such inquiry. There is not likely to be more than two votes against favorable report on Woods promotion, according to careful can vass of the committee on military affairs. Senator Scott of West Vir- ginia, whose objections to Wood have long antedated the present hearing, will vote against it, and Senator Black burn of Kentucky will probably vote against it for party reasons. The re- port of the committee will surely be sustained by the senate, as the commit tee includes some of the most trusted members of that body. \
 The Panama canal treaty, signed by the junta and the ministry, and wrap ped in the American and Panama flags, has been officially delivered to the United States consul, General Gudger, who will forward it to Washington without delay, probably in an Ameri- can warship. The ratification of the treaty by Panama was prompt. The minister of foreign affairs met the ship bearing it at Colon, and carried the document at once to Panama. The members of the junta and ministry awaited him in the government palace, where the chest containing the treaty was opened. It was written in Eng fish, and there was but one copy. The following morning the treaty was ratified unanimously and without and the act was celebrated by the people of the isthmus.