Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-20
LEADERS SATISFIED
THAT DEMOCRATS CANNOT PRE-
VENT RATIFICATION.
Delegation Calls to Urge Improvement
Of the Mlssissippi-Alasha First
to Instruct for Roosevelt.

Senator AIdrich was in close conference
with the President for more than an hour
this morning. There IL little doubt that the
Panama canal treaty and the situation In
the Senate in respect to that treaty was the
sole topic Of the conference Senator Al
drich's leadership in the Senate. his COM
plete and thorough knowledge Of the ques-
ton and tho political algnments OF the
upper house Of Congress make his ADVICE
valuable. He 10 frequently consulted oy
the President, especially when the adminis-
tration is under attack, as 1t is now, ana
his leadership has been SO wise and sue
cessful that the President relies upon IL
with confidence.
The administration does not believe tho
vote upon the ratification Of the treaty VIII
be as long delayed as suggested by num-
ber of people. The feeling is that there
will be probably twelve or fifteen more-ions
speeches, and that the Senate Will tnen ps
ready to vote. A month from now ID nxeo
upon as about the time for the ratlncaa@Ion @ u
of the treaty to be settled by vote. Inc
republican leaders do not now 1eeI the
slightest uneasiness as to the outcohe:
They have gathered the various aspects Oh
the Senate so fully that they are positive
the democrats will never be able to raiiy
sufficient number of their own party TO oe.
feat the document. In fact, tney 1eei lnae
the majority OF the democrats are nov
merely delaying the game, hoping tnat
something may turn UP to cause dlnerent
members of their party to change front at
the last minute Senator German ana the
others who are trying to rally the oeLno-
Gratis Of the Senate are, 1t Is sa1o, WAtch-
ing every turn in the hope that something
will be discovered to embarrass the repup
licans and array the democrats solioly
against the treaty. Republicans 90 not
fear any discovery of this kind by the DEM
ocrats. and are confident that vote will
be brought about before great while.
The administration Is not concerning ftsei
about the reputed discovery by the demo.
Gratis Of an agreement thaI oon one eoo oni.ea ~
salye These rumors have been talked
about for a long time and propositions nave
frequently been made that TINS ousht TO 10
done. There are number OF senator's Who
think that Colombia ought to be given some
kind Of compensation and who Will pro
pose that this be done, but any action they
may take will be entirely Independent OF tne
administration. the position OF whlch as "
such a payment is not even known 10 tnese
senator's.
Improvement of the Mississippi.
A delegation consisting Of Gov. Van SAINT
Of Minnesota, Capt Bryson OF Davenport,
Iowa; e. B. Usher Of La Crosse. Wis, and
Lewis B. Boswell of Quincy. ILL.,. repre-
senting the Upper Mississippi River I'M
provement Association, called on the Pres
ident today to enlist his interest in and
support of the project to improve the upper
Mississippi for the benefit of the northwest
ern section Of the United States. The dei-
egation represents the desires OF TWO ana
half millions Of people In the upper MIS-
sissippi valley who are concerned In tne
commerce Of that part OF the country. IN
a statement to the President the members
Of the delegation pointed out tnat tney 70.
garded the Mississippi river as the great
<I,a n.
west. The trend Of the commerce OF that
section, 1t was suggested. Is north ana
south, instead Of, as heretofore, east ana
west. They want the mississippi river
pla ced in condition to handle the vast COM
merce Of the northwest. To that end they
have asked Congress for an appropriation
Of SIS 100000 for the deepening OF tne chan-
mel of the river to six feet at low water 30
that it may be navigable for freight boats
at all seasons of the year. The delegation
indicated to the President that the bulfdln8
Of the Panama canal Wouio ennahce .he
Importance of the Mississippi river as
highway of commerce. and practically rem
der necessary the Improvement OF the
river. In accordance with the suggestion,
from Cairo to st. Anthonys Falls
Gov. Van SAINT and his colleagues nave
been encouraged to believe that Congress
will provide legislation along the lines de-
sired but they have found there ID little
likelihood Of such legislation az the presens
session as 1t has been determined that nc
this winter The mission of the delegation.
however, 10 educational, and the members
hope later to obtain favorable action by
Congress on their project. The presioen!
assured them that he would iend them Al
the assistance in his power.
Alaska for Roosevelt.
ALASKA was the first state or territory
in the United States to instruct delegates
for Roosevelt" said ex-Judge Charles B.
Johnson Of Nome at the White House.
'"The first convention anywhere In the
country to do SO was that held at Nome
Alaska, October last At this convention
w T Perkins and myself were elected
delegates to the territorial convention at
Juneau and we were instructed to vote In
the territorial convention for instructed
delegates Mr.. Perkins and myself. along
with four others, were elected delegates to
the national convention. and we are under
ironclad Instructions to support Roosevelt
We would cheerfully do 50 without the In
structions, but we could not do otherwise II
we wanted. The people Of the territory
are unanimous in their feeling that the
President deserves nomination and election,
and there would be intense surprise should
this not be brought about. The President
II friend to Alaska, and ii he IL elected
we expect much assistance from him in the
development OF this splendid territory u
Mr.. johnson has held several positions In
the federal government, but he is now q
practtcing attorney at Nome.
Salt Lake Postmaster in Trouble.
Senator smoot and Representative Howefl
of Utah were with the President this morn
ing and presented Ex-Governor Thomas. 81
present postmaster at Salt Lake. There
is talk Of trouble ahead for Mr. Thomas Al
postmaster, and his call this morning may
or may not have been In connection with
this talk. Postmaster Thomas had charges
preferred against him some time ago. on&
Of them being that he had appointed Ger
tain man to . position in the Salt Lake
post Office that he might be able to collec,
q debt that was due him BY the man Tho
Post Office Department sent an inspectos
to Salt Lake and this ofncial made thor.
ough investigation and report. This re-
port II now in the hands OF the President
Some Utah politics are said to be mixed Ia
the affair. and the President must deter.
mine, In settling the casa. just how fa1
politics are playing part in the charsss.
Irish Remains In His Place.
The republicans Of the California delega.
t.on in Congress made q strong attempt q
| number OF months ago to have the Presi
dent appoint some one a. naval officer q