Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1905-07-27
washington LETTER.

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The indictment Of the cotton grafters in
the Department of Agriculture seems TO be
an approaching possibility IN view Of the
fact that it is reported Holmes made half a
million out Of his crookedness, il would
seem that trial Of some sort is in order.
II is quite likely that the Secretary Of
Agriculture would have been satisfied with
Holmes dismissal from the service, but he
has been prodded By the Executive; and
the acting Attorney General and the At
torney for the District Of Columbia have
been il ponderous conference, and now
think that may be able to proceed with
criminal prosecution that may include
more people than Holmes. A Washington
broker who knows the ms and outs OF the
cotton market, said in an interview to-day
that if be had ad the advance information
in Holmes possession, he could have made
a million for himself in the market, and
given another million to his informant He
added with an unctous smile that Of course
he would not have been guilty Of any such
erookedness, but the possibilities open to
Holmes are patent from his statements, and
it is probable that public opinion, if moth
ing else, will force a criminal prosecution
Of the case.
One of the results Of the cotton leak has
been reorganization of the Agricultural
Department as far as the statistics are con-
cerned. The preparation Of the crop reports
are to be placed in the hands Of the board.
AS soon as the returns from the field come
in, they will be locked up in vault by the
Assistant Secretaf y, who will be chairman
of the board. o. a given day he will hand
the reports to the other members OF the
board who will be four division chiefs, and
let them figure averages. An average will
then be taken Of their averages and the re-
port issued The work will be done in an
inside room OF the Department, and Score
tary Wilson is responsible for the assurance
that leak of any sort will be absolutely
impossible. z The late statistician, Mr..
Hyde, has been giving that same sort of
assurance for at least FIVE years past.
Possibly, however, the Secretary's assurance
will be more assuring.
The government is on the point OF open
ing bids for the importation of the coolly
laborers to the Isthmus to work on the
canal that will be built sometime with the
permission of the Chagres River and the
trans-continental railways. There will be
between 5000 and 10000 able bodied
Coolies, and the like, landed by the cor
tractors on the Isthmus. The laborers
will be selected in their homes and ship
ped TO the Isthmus by the contractor. he
is expected to make his profit out Of the
transportation of the laborers, which ought
to assure the laborers of palatial accom-
modations en- route The deal will be
shorn of any semblance of servitude by
the comedy of each laborer coming up to-
the pay shed and asking in a wondering
tone whether the builders of the canal can
give him job. The probabilities are that
after being brought three or four thousand
miles for that particular purpose, that al
Job will be found for him, and he will there
upon make an individual contract with the
government. After his contract term is
over, if he is not dead in the meantime,
which is a probability also, he will be re-
turned to China or wherever he came from
by the contractor, that is if he does not
migrate to the United States by way Of the
Texas Border. The chances of Chinese
importation over that border are large, and
the remuneration is fully proportionate to
the risks
China has sent an identical note to the
powers on the subject OF Manchurla. No
one cares particularly what China says on
the subject Of Manehuria, but the note has
arrived in Washington and has been for
warded to the President at Oyster Bay.
China declares she will not be bound by any
agreement entered into By Russia and ia
pan at the coming peace conference that
does not recognize her sovereign rights in
Alanchuria. This is chiefly interesting from
the fact that Japan has loudly proclaimed
that she did not intend to do anything with
Manchuria. but return it to China. China's
note seems to indicate lack Of faith in Ja-
pans assurances, and it is Just possible that
it any result is reached at all by the Rus
sian and japanese ENJOYS at Portsmouth,
il may be Of such a nature as to awaken
the fears Of all the powers including the
United States that have the territorial in
tegrity Of China at heart. Chinese diplo-
macy is not usually asleep at critical juno
ture, and it is Just possible that she may
have gotten hintof the proposed Japanese
terms before anyone else outside OF Japan