Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1906-02-02
From Washington.
Correspondence of the Alexandria Gazette. J
Washington, Feb. 2.

| Correspondence of the Alexandria Gazette
Washington, Feb. 2.
The President today pardoned Mid
shipmau John Paul Miller, Of Kentucky,
member of the first class at The Nava
Academy, who was convicted by court
martial recently of countenancing haz.
ing. The pardon is granted in accord
ance. with The recommendation OF Real
Admiral Sands, superintendent OF the
academy, and the approval OF the Sec
rotary OF the Navy.
The Isthmian Canal Commission with
its full quota today continued the con-
81 leration OF canal plans recommended
IN the majority and minority reports Of
the advisory board of engineers. The
commissions report will probably be
sent to Secretary Taft the first Of nexl
week
Advces from the isthmus received al
the canal Office today show that the fire
which visited Panama Wednesday caused
damage amounting to $3.50, 600, made
400 persons homeless, OF whom twenty
FIVE were American employees. No lives
were lost.
Attorney General Moody has notified
the National German Alliance
that he has forwarded to the Postoftice
Department the complaint OF that organ
lzation that Rev. Wilbur F. Crafts, of
this city, superintendent of the Inter
national Reform Bureau, is illegally
using the frank of Senator Gsllinger in
sending matter through the mails. The
Attorney General informs the officials OF
he organization that the Postofice De-
partment will pass upon the question
and apply remedy if it is discovered
thai the Thanking privilege has been
abused. Postmaster General Cortelyou
has the matter under consideration. He
recently excluded from the mails some
what similar franked documents.
Reduced TO the extremity Of keeping
within equal appropriations for the cur
rent fiscal year, the Nav. Department is
slashing into its expenditures right and
left. Last week orders we're issued re-
ducing by A per cent. the force en-
pIoyed by the bureau of steam engineer
ing in len navy yards. This bureau had
planned TO incur a deficiency ofSl, OOO,-
900 in the last seven months of the pres
ent fiscal year. Now the bureau must
not only keep within the original APP
preparation, but before June Both must
cut under its regular allotment the
1880, 900 it has already oyerreached.
Orders have also been issued for cur
tailment of force by the bureaus OF con-
struction and repair, equipment and ord
ance to meet the decreased rate of work
10 the steam engineering department.
The fact of the matter is that naval ex-
penditures have been practically uu-
bridled since the Spanish war. The
SUN asked for the fiscal year OF 1906
and 1907 is 100000, 000. In pri-
vate yards where merchant ships are re-
paired, the work is done at far more
reasonable prices, end the merchant
steamers seem to display less wear and
tear than the ships of the navy. The
cutlery aroused by the big cuts in navy
yard forces is being heard by represen-
tatiyes and senators. In fact the sud-
den great reduction is continued
in some quarters as a clever move
by the Navy Department to bring
public attention to the effect of what
one naval ufficer called the "penurious
parsimony of Congress 10 ward the navy"
Naval officers have been charged with
considering the navy as having prior
lien on government funds. The fact
that one cruiser is obliged to stay in a
navy yard two weeks longer than had
been planned, owing to lack OF funds to
rush repairs" on her, is advertised as
being a menace to the safety of the
country. AS a matter Of fact once
ship goes Ito a yard FOR real repairs 1T
is not infrequest by the Practice'pt cti'
cally to rebuild her. For instance, r
vessel was recently sent home for repairs
shich board of survey estimated would
cost $26, 900. Before the ship went TO
sea again the various bureaus had
discovered work 10 do on her
which aggregated in cost $64O, 900.
This lee way 10 repair work" enjoy
ed by the navy department, tits charged,
enables officers to expend immense sums
of money with a blanket congressional
appropriation as q cheek on their activi-
Ties. Congress bias to appropriate the
money for brand new ship and the
contract Is let according to- law. The
bureau officers "allot' sums almost as
large for rebuilding with only clerical
procedure. The House committee on
naval affairs has put big dent in this
practice by refusing the 81, 900, 600 de-
6ciency.
A resolution introduced today by Rep
resentative Sulzer of New York, requests
the Attorney General "if not incompsti-
BILE with the public interests to inform
the House when the government execut-
ed the deed for the custom house property
in. Wall street, New York City, to the
National City Bank, where tie deed is
at present, in whose custody it has
been since execution, and why the
deed has never been recorded
In a statement explaining the resolution,
Mr.. Sulzar says: This entire custom
house transaction is one OF the most
scsndslous pages in the history of this
government. Lyman j. Gage, formerly