The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1905-06-24
WASHINGTON LETTER.
National Capital Selected as Meeting
Place of Russian and Japanese
Peace manufacturers.

ASSSSSAS@Ah SsSfsSNA|SO
Peace Commissioners.
Washington has been chosen as the
meeting place Of the Russian and Jap
anese plenipotentiaries and if con-
vention is negotiated providing for a
lasting peace in the far east it will be
known as the treaty OF Washington,
taking it's place in history with those
important intern ational conventions
known as the s'Treaty of Ghent, the
'sTreaty of Berlin" the 'Treaty OF
Paris,'' and many others.
The selection of Washington as the
meeting place OF the commissioners OF
the belligerents was the natural out
come of the differences which had de-
veloped between the two nations. ia
pan steadfastly declined to send rep
resentatives to any meeting place IN
Europe other than London, fearing
thew would be more or less Influenced
by the hostile sentiment with which
they would be surrounded ia Paris,
Geneva and perhaps even at the
Hague. Russia was, on the other
hand, entirely opposed to meeting in
Asia, and the United States seemed
the natural ground of compromise,
being, too, more nearly halfway be-
tween the two nations than any other
country suggested. President Roose-
welt, although he had personally IA
vored the Hague, was not loath to
have the con ference held here, for it
must emphasize the diplomatic Import
ance of the capital of the thew world. =
It is authoritatively stated that il the
climate in Washington proves too
warm for the comfort Of the plenipo-
tentiaries every facility will be af-
forded them to meet elsewhere for a
time. That is, they may meet and or
ganize in Washington, then adjourn
to some northern summer resort and
return to the national capital for their
closing sessions. IF the commissioners
determine to adjourn to some cooler
point the president will place at their
disposal two small naval vessels, pre-
sumably the Sylph and the Dolphin.
He will himself return from Oyster
Bay to welcome them to America, but
expects to remain but a short time,
after which he will again retire to his
summer home.
With the question of a place Of
meeting disposed of, the president and
the diplomatic representatives Of the
belligerents have now turned their at.
tentioE to the question of the date for
converting the conference and an an
nouncement on this subject may be
looked for daily. It is recalled that
when commissioners from the United
States and Spain met in Paris it re-
quired from October to December 10
to complete their work, although the
problems which confronted them were
simple by comparison with those which
will confront the Russian and Japan
csc diplomats.
The president has taken a step which
does not meet with the entire approval
of some members of his cabinet, but
which is likely TO be commended by
the public at large. He has created
committee, consisting Of his most
trusted friends in the government serv-
ice, and placed Charles Fl. Keep, as
sistant secretary OF the treasury, at its
head. To this committee he has con-
fded the duty of making a thorough in
vestigation OF the business methods Of
every executive department in Wash
ington with two purposes in view:
first, to ascertain if lax methods OF
finances exist and if so to
make recommends ions for their rem
edy, and second, TO discover, if posi-.
BILE, what, if any, methods can be
adopted to contribute to economical
alton. Such overhauling OF
their affairs is not generally welcomed
by the heads Of the various depart
ments, but the president believes that
the postoffice scanda ais, which grew out
of lax methods in the postottice de-
partment, the recent defalcation in the
Smithsonian Institute, the recent man
lfest NAL administration in the general
land Office, ETC., amply warrant thor
ough probing Of all executive methods
with special view to preventing fur
Their misappropriations of the govern
ment's funds, lands and privileges.
In the direction of economy the in
vestigators are certain to find them
selves confronted by numerous in
stances where material economy of
administration would be effected could
congress be induced to adopt rational
and business-like methods in place of 4
The irrational, except from 'sspoils,'
now in vogue. For in
stance, under the existing statutes
zach executive department is compelled
20 compile, at great expense for COM
Dilation and printing, a. complete
statement OF every item expended
throughout the year. Nor is this all,
or members of congress, fearful that
one will secure something that the
other does not, insists that several
hundred copies OF these be printed for
Zach and every senator and represent
alive. OF course, they are Of no pos