Gloucester County Democrat., 1905-07-06
Washington LETTER.
WASHINGTON, D. G., July l, 1905.

presidency, to be iaunched With Ene per-
sonal endorsement of the President There
are many straws which the political prog
nosticators interpret to support their theory
and it IS undoubtedly true that Mr.. Taft i
one Of the largest men, in the Republican
party to-day. i is grave question, how
ever as to whether the stand patters would
ever be willing that the nomination would
go to the man who was responsible for the
Panama purchase order, which has done SO
much to enIighten the pubic as to the
iniquities Of the Dingley tariff schedules.
If Mr.. Taft were nominated it would be
without the delegations OF good many
Republican States For instance, the State
Of Connections would never sanction the
nomination of man who is no 'insanely
enamored of the Philippines, as they put
it, that he wants to establish free trade
between the islands and the United States
They are afraid of the competition Of
Secretary Taft took the stump in that State
and advocated the abolition of all tariff
duties between the Philippines and this
country, they became very angry. Colorado
would not permit its delegation to vote for
Taft for the same reason. He wants to take
the tariff off Of Philippine sugar, and the
beat sugar growers of that State are up in
arms at the proposition. In fact, it has
been chiefly the opposition of the Colorado
Senators which has prevented this change,
which has been strongly advocated by the
President, from being made before now.
It is, in fact, question whether any of the
radical protectionist Republicans would be
would be willing to have Mr.. Taft made
the party nominee, and unless he could at
tain such popularity as Theodore Roose-
Yelt's which compelled the Republican
conYention to nominate him nolens yolens,
he would be unlikely TO poll a majority Of
the delegates.
Charles J. Bonaparte took the oath Of
Office to-day, and those who know the
excentric scion of a great family, will
watch with exceeding great interest his con-
duct Of the important department. of which
he has assumed the headship There is no
question but that he possesses considerable
ability as lawyer, but those who know
him best declare that he is utterly lacking
in tact, and predict that he will quarrel
with his bureau chiefs almost before the
sun goes down on his first days admins
tration. He called at the department
yesterday and was introduced by the re-
firing Secretary to the various heads of
bureaus, When be met Admiral Mason,
Chief of Ordinance, he asked the Admiral
if he was the man who had turned deaf
ear to the pleas Of SO many meritorions
inventors who had patent weapons, and
methods Of destruction guaranteed to wipe
any enemy out Of existence. Admiral
Mason admitted that he was the man, be-
yond doubt.
That this a day of specialists cannot es-
cape the reflections Of anyone who considers
the many positions which are heing offered
TO young men with special education For
there are numerous opportunities
Offering every day to men who are graduates
of colleges of forestry. Both the States and
large private lumber concerns are offering
fine salaries to men Of this class The Navy
and the Army are both looking for young
surgeons. The Panama Canal Commission
is looking daily for large numbers of men
who have ability and energy in almost any
line, and if they have special education,
such for instance as drawing, engineering,
etc., they can command al
most their own figure. The young man
who starts out in life without some special
training is, however, seriously handicapped
AS the use of specialists increases, the sup
ply Of Just plain clerks grows greater in
proportion to the demand, and the result is
that this class Of meu are receiving poorer
pay than ever, while the necessities Of life
are constantly increasing in price, despite
the glowing arguments to the contrary
which Labor Commissioner Carroll D.
Wright was able to compile for campaign
purposes only"
The resignation Of Chief Engineer Wal
lace, Of the Panama Canal Commission, has
not worked to the serious injury Of the
government, as his place has been promptly
filed. Nevertheless, it was an unjust pro-
ceeding. So far, hs has spent practically
his entire time acquiring knowledge Of
the problems with which he was preparing
to deal, and his services in any other re-
spect have not been worth any material
proportion Of his salary. Having acquired
this knowledge, and now being ready to
perfect his engineering organization, he
might in the next year have proved Of in
valuable service TO the government. where
as, as it is, new man must now be broken
in and must spend many months acquiring