The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1905-07-21
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.

| (From Our Regular Correspondent
| Mr. EDIToR-The Secretary of Agri-
culture and his Chief Statistician, John
Hyde, are making strenuous efforts to
lock the barn door now that the horses
have been stolen In other words, after
stoutly denying for years that there was
any possibility of leak in the bureau of
Statistics, the Secretary and Chief Stats
| tician Hyde have discovered numerous
ways in which the spectators may be
given advance information Of the official
crop reports and the Secretary has devils
| ed a supposed method Of preventing
further leaks but one which would occa-
sion amusement, if it did not cali louder
| for pity, from, every practical business
man. The Secretary attempts to exercise
personal supervision over the crop re-
porting to an extent which shall make
leaks impossible and promises to himself
stand over his guiieless statlstician while
the final estimates are being prepared.
| OF course this scheme will not prove
practicable. The Secretary of Agricul-
ture is too busy man to devote himself
to the petty details of his department,
and especially the details of a single bu-
reau. Even since the rascality OF Holmes
and the incompetence of Hyde have been
| demonstrated, the Secretary On the one
occasion when it became necessary to
| tabulate the totals of crop estimate,
found himself too busy to supervise the
work and had to delegate its supervision
to the Assistant Secretary who looked on
hopelessly, not understanding the least
thing that WAS going on around him and
as liable to be made the prey of any de-
signing and dishonest employee as has
been Chief Statistician Hyde, perhaps
more SO.
| Secretary Wilson, whose honesty no
one can possible question, seems utterly
to lack appreciation of the gravity of the
scandal which has arisen in his depart
ment He has taken no steps to dismiss,
or even to suspend John Hyde, while
Hyde's Bureau is being investigated. He
has even appointed as successor to
Holmes a man who, the recent investiga-
ton demonstrated, left his office on two
different occasions when final crop re-
ports were being compiled and went dir
ectly to a brokers' office. This man
claims that he went to the broker to as
certain the quotations on steel stock of
which he owned block but there are lew
| successful businessmen who would en-
ploy in capacity of SO responsible
character as that held by Holmes, and now
by his successor, man who would dab
BILE in stocks and even leave his office at
thine when he must have been in posses
sion of information of great value from d
speculative stand point to 60 to brokers'
Office A man with so little sense as to
incur such appearance of evil, if not dis
honest must be too senseless to be trust
ed.
! The President has caused report to be
sent out from Oyster Bay to the effect
that he has no intention of asking for the
resignation of Secretary Wilson and add
ing that Mr. Wilson's only fault is that
of possessing too onfiding a nature. Mr..
Wilson, according to the President, is so
honest that he is unwilling to believe any
of his employees dishonest. The late
Postmaster General, Henry G. Payne, was
of a somewhat similar nature and he
stood by the prince Of Grafters," Ma
chen, and by Machen's partner in crime
Beavers, and talked of the charges against
those theving employees as "hot air" I'M
til his course became intslerable to the
administration and only the political ext
gencies of the Republican party saved
him from dismissal.
Will the President have the force Of
character to insist on the sort of railway
rate legislation which he outlined in his
message to the last session of the last
Congress in the face Of the almost unani-
nous opposition of the leaders of his
party? This is a question which every
true friend of the people is asking with
more or less anxiety. The question is
precipitated just by the confidential state
ment sent to the railroad managers by
their subsidized press bureau to the effect
that the President has seen the error of
his way and will make only half hearted
4 appeal for the railway rate legislation,
next session, and will make nothing but
the pretence of fight for what he has
hitherto described as Essential to a
square deal to every American" public
control of "the ironed highways Of COM
merce"
1t is only just to say that the President
has not given the slightest indication Of
any intention of abandoning the cam
paign he began almost year ago, but the
confidence of the railroads that he has
done so occasions an xiety The railroads
are not missing any opportunity Of &C
cumulating ammunition with which to
defeat the President. They are working
constantly on members of Congress with
the purpose Of lining up a majority
against railway rate legislation and it is
already obvious that the only hope which