Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1905-08-04
Washington Political Gossip.

q ture seems to be an approaching
d possibility. In view of the fac
j that it is reported Holmes made hal
Il million out of his crookedness
II IL would seem that a trial of some sort
Il is III order. It is qnite likely that the
4 Secretary of Agriculture would have
! been satisfied with Holmes dismissal
from the service, but he has been prod
4 dec by the Executive; and the acting
! Attorney General aud the Attorney for
the District of Columbia have been in
p0nderOus conference and now think
they may be able to proceed with a
more people than Holmes. A Wash.
lngton broker who knows the ins and
outs of the cotton market, said in al
interview today that if he had had the
advance information in Holmes posses
sion, he could have made million for
himself in the market aud given anoth-
er million to his informant. He added
with an unctous smile that of course
he would not have been guilty of any
such crOokedness, but the possibilities
open to Holmes are patent from his
statement and it is probable that pub
lie opinion if nothing else will force a
criminal prosecution of the case.
One of the results of the cotton leak
has been reorganization of the Agr-
| ouIturai Dono rtrnanf oO for &c tho
statistic are concerned. The prepara-
| tiOn of the crop reports are to be placed |
| In the hands of board. AS soon as |
the returns from the field come in, they |
will be locked up in a vault by the |
| Assistant Secretary, who will be the
chairman of the beard. On 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 |
Secretary Wilson is responsible for the |
assurance that leak of any sort will |
be absolutely impossible 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 as.
suring.
The government is on the point of
opening bids for the importation of
the c0Olly laborers to the Isthmus to
work on the Canal that will be built
some time with the permission of the
Chagres River and the trans continent
al railways. There will be between
5 900 and 10000 able coolies, landed by
the contractors on the Isthmus. The
laborers will be selected in their homes
and shipped 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 accommoda.
tions en-rOnte. The deal will be shorn
of any sem bIance of servitude by the
comedy of each laborer coming up to
the pay shed and asking in wonder
ing tone whether the builders of the
canal can give him a job. The proba-
bilities are that after being brought
three and four thousand miles for that
particular purpose that a 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 be is not dead in the mean
time, which is probability also, he
will be returned to China or wherever
be came from by the contractor. that
is if he does not migrate to the United
States by way of the Texas border.
The chances for Chinese importation
over that border are large and the re-
muneration is fully proportionate to
the risks.
China has sent an identical note to
the powers on the subject of Manchuris.
No one cares particularly what China
says on the subject of Manchuria but
the note has a arrived in Washington
and has been forwarded to the Presi-
dent at Oyster Bay. China declares
she will not be bound by an agreement
entered into by Russia and Japan at
| the coming peace conference that does
not recognize her sovereign rights in
Manchuria. This is chiefly interest
| ing from the fact that Japan has loud |
| ly proclaimed that she did not intend |
| to do anything with Manchuria but re- |
turn it to China China's note seems |
| to indicate lack of faith in Japan's |
| assurances and it is just possible that if |
| any result is reached at all by the Rus |
sian and japanese ENJOYS at Ports |
mouth it may be of such nature as
to awaken The fears of all the powers,
| including the United States that have
the territorial integrity of China at
heart. Chinese diplomacy is not us
ualy asleep at d critical juhcture, and
i6 Is just possible that she may have
gotten hint Of the proposed Japanese
terms before anyone else outside of
Japan.
TIE que sti0n Of tariff revision at the
looming session of Congress is retiring
further into tDe background as the
.adcle Vi tie TWO houses Intended it
should. ghera must be some legisla
tiUn to meet the growing deficit of the
Treasury, 1T iG is probably will he of
a ma he s hit character, such as a re-
ElmposifioB of the Spanish war taxes or
an Increase of the tax on beer. The
thre .tb OF the administration seems to
nave had 10 other effect on the stand
uatters" than to make them stand
D tier. The talk OF buying 18TH
| II :sa. III 4