Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930, 1906-01-25
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GOSSIP

! Congress transmitting the annual re
| ports of the 1sthmian Canal Commits
sion will be received with qualification
throughout the country. 1t will do
much to allay recently circulated stO-
| ries as to the way in which the great
| work of canal construction is being
! conducted. These stories, while fire.
| quently vague in details, have been
sufficiently numerous to create an i'm
preston. There have been rumOrS of
extrayagant waste In salaries and the
letting of contracts. Progress toward
the actual construction of the canal
has been represented as slow and char
acterized By inefficient management.
That the President finds it possible to
deny these various charges sweeping
ly and unreservedly is highly reasur-
ring. AS to the charges of incom-
potency or extravaganza, he says he
has examined every one of them and
found that in every instance they were
without foundation in any shape or
FORM" On the contrary, he declares,
the work on the isthmus sis being add
mirably done and great progress has
been made during the last nine
months" The mechanical equipment
necessary for the canal-digging opera
tons is being rapidly installed. The
work of sanitation is progressing we'll
and an effective organization of the
administrative forces has been made.
On the whole the President feels just-
fed in saying that the canal will be
dug in shorter time and at lower ex-
pense than had been anticipated. This
highly optimistic report gives cause for
increased confidence IN the men in
charge Of the enterprise and in their
methods, though it would be mistake
to accept it as reason for relaxing
vigilance. The essential thing, now
that a good start has been made, is
that there be no remission of the
watchfulness which has kept the work
up to a high standard.
A series of Sc bills was turned out at
the bureau of engraving and printing
few days ago. Why these exception
ally unique bank and treasury notes
were printed is not known, though
about 800 Of them were run off before
it was discovered that such 2 devia-
ton from the regular denomination Of
the "lOng green" would cause much
CONSERVATION. At the bureau, When
the terror" was discovered, it was ex-
planned that an uninitiated emplOye,
enc of the helpers, mislaid
a stack Of partly printed 81 bills on
similarly treated stack of the So de-
When the So printers got
TO work they, it is said. picked up the
stack of partly printed 81 bills and run
them through the So dies. When they
came out for inspection it was discoy-
cred that they were $50 bills, the
So stamp being ON one side and the 81
stamp on the other side" They were
expended in the fire-bOX of one of the
big furnaces, but it required an affi-
davit from Director Meredith, the fore
man of the dieEoom, and the superin-
tendent of the paper room, to explain
what disposition was made of 500
worth Of 81 bills.
Sentiment may find special interest
IN the current report Of the Postmaster
General, for We are celebrating the
two hundredth anniversary of the
birth of Franklin, who was Deputy
Postmaster General of the British colo
MES in America. At the time Of
F'ranklin's death, 1890, there were sew
enty-five pOstoffices in this country.
To-day there are sixty-eight thousand.
Then the receipts were less than forty
thousand dollars. Last year they were
| hundred and fifty million. The num-
Der Of people employed by the post
,ffice department is nearly three hum
lred thOusand-equal to the working
population Of a great city-and the
lumber of employees and of all agents
nd means for distributing mail
MOUNTS faster in proportion than the
eceipts. The Postmaster General
ouches on many suggested improve
nents, such as the reduction of GER
ain rates Of postage, the parcels post
nd postal savings repositories but he
ecommends that attention be paid not
o much to possible additions to the
ervice as to the Improvement of the
inds of service already established.
-
The annual report of Commissioner
Corporations James II. Garfield en-
hasiZes the adminiStrati tons position
amely, that the great interstate cor
orations have gone beyond the posi-
ility of proper control by State au-
lorities, and says that Congress
lould SO legislate as to afford an Op-
to present to the Supreme
curt the question whether insurance
interstate commerce. He tells of
ztensive inquiries that have been
lade into the beef, oil and steel in
ustries, and promises 4 special re
1rt soon ON oil.
The iSthmian canal commission met |
, Washington and requested Chiei |
n riuepr Stevens TO furnish "A work !