The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-10-05
WASHINGTON.


The State Department has about !
the same trouble on its hands re-
gardng the American congressman
who recently visited the Kaiser that
the French Minister had with the
Frenchman Richard who purported
TO have interviewed the President
after the Portsmouth Conference.
There is all sorts of trouble in the
big building, and second assistant
Secretary Adee, who is the encyclo-
pedia @. di'itante diplomacy for the
Department, is scratching his head
to know how to square the congress.
men with the German government
in the person of Ambassador Spec
Won Sternberg when the latter next
calls. 1t really appears from the
dispatches that reached Washing
ton both official and otherwise, that
the Kaiser, like the parrot in the
fable, talked too much. He was
called on by congressman Littleheld
of Maina, NcNary of Massachusetts,,
Bartholdt )t Missouri, Waldo OF
New York and Barchheld of Penn
sylvania. The Kaiser according to
the story, tried 10 10 a little mis-
sionary work and talked to the con.
gressmen at some length about the
"yellow peril" of which spook by
the way the Kaiser is creator. Now
in Germany there is the same un
written law. tina. the Kaiser shall
not be quoted any more than Shall
the President Whether this was
explained to the congressman be
fore they were admitted TO the audi.
ence, is not known 1t is to be
hoped for the honor of th> Ameti.
can congress, which cannot even
keep the secrets Of the executive
sessions, that it was not. Anyhow
when the Congressman got through
with their heart to heart talk, they
told the whole story of the Kaiser $
remarks. This was cabled at once
to the japanese newspapers and the
Japanese government was much i'll
censed. The Kaisers missionary
work was rendered of non effect
owing to publicity and to square
himself, he had TO repudiate the
whole interview. Consequently the
congressional party is going to cut
short its stay i'll Germany and the
State Department, will make what
ever amends it can, unofficially OF
course, for this breach of interna-
ticnal etiquette.
XXX
The Bureau of Labor has just IS
sued a report that is going to cause
lot of disturbance in labor circles.
1t is to the effect that the labor
unions of this country are i'll favor
of the restriction of individual out
put a. practIced abroad, and that in
the last two years, while wages Ill
the meat packing business have ad-
vanCed I215 per cent, the time
taken 10 do The work has increased
from thirty to fifty per cent.
This is bad hearing for the people
who heretofore looked upon the
American labor as the swiltest and
most skllful in the world and who
boasted that there was no such
thing as restricted output III
America. 1t was said that what
ever else might be charged against
them, the labor unions here had
never adopted the foolish foreign
policy of scaling down the speed of
an eutlre lot OF men to the peace of
the slowest in the party. This has
been the acknowledged rule around
for years past ana it has gotten SO
bad in England as to make the work
of the building contractor almost
impossible. There are even differ
ent scales of speed for workmen on
government and private jobs, and
the systel. in London reached its
logical conclusion on one piece of
government work where the num-
Der of bricks laid by a man in day
was reduced to 400 on coarse brick
work where the normal rate OF
speed was 800. 1t is claimed in
the department report just issued
that the restriction of output exists
in the packing and glass making
trades, the latter being very highly
organized, in the cigar making
trade and in several others where in