The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1906-01-26

| PiVSC VI ~ physician. Inc
Senate certified them in contempt
and they were constructively con-
victed but their trial and con
victiOn was mere farce and they
never saw the inside of a Jail.
Whether they were right or
whether Mr.. BigelOw was right
i'll the things he published be-
came a minor question beside the
larger one of the right of a Con-
gressional Committee to haul up
any author and compel him to
divulge the names of any people
he has talked with in gathering
material for an article. The com
mittee has decided on party lines,
Senator German and Senator
Simmons holding that it is un-
wise to push Mr.. Bigelow to ex.
tremes, while Senator Knox and
his colleagues declare that he
should be certified to the Pres
ident of the Senate and punished
for contempt. Senator German
has taken the common sense view
of the case whatever the law NAV
be. For to single out Mr.. Big
Glow for punishment would be to
make a martyr of him before the
public and to freeze up any other
witnesses the committee might
want to examine. The capital is
considerably stirred up over the
affair for it involves the whole
question of the freedom of the
press. 1t is not likely that it
will have any serious conse-
quences for the writer, but it GER
tainly has put the Senate Com
mittee in an embarrassing posi-
ton at the outset of its labors.
The appointment of Luke G.
Wright as first ambassador to
Japan to succeed Lloyd Griscom,
is something of a surprise. Judge
Wright is Tennessee man and
has had six years of hard work
in the Philippines where he was
sent as member of the first
Mckinley Commission. 1t will
be recalled that the announce
ment of the commission was not
hailed with any great enthusiasm
at the time. missioner Taft
was then an unknown quantity.
Luke Wright, while he had held
the office of AttOrney-Gene of
Tennessee, was a Democrat little
known outside of his own State,
and was thought to have been
thrown in to give the cOmmls-
sion a bipartisan color. Henry
Ide. of Vermont, was about
equally as we'll known. But as
it proved, all three of these little
known men did excellent work.
Commissioner Taft was eventu-
ally called to the War Depart
ment as Secretary. Judge Wright,
after winning the affection and
confidence of the natives, has
now been made an ambassador,
and Commissioner Ide is now
Governor General of the Philip
pines, which position he will hold
for time at least as an honor
before coming home to enjoy
well earned rest.
The Keep Commissions long
expected report on the Depart
ment of Agriculture has been
published and Secretary Wilson
has made at least a partial reply.
The report, as was surmised, dis
credits good deal of the de-
partment's work In crop report
ing and advises changes in meth
DDS as well as the transfer of
certain of the reports to the Cen
Sus Office. The retOrt of Secre-
tary Wilson is that the most of
the commissions recommends
tons for improving the service
had been put into force when the
work of the Bureau of Statistics
was reorganized and that as for
transferring any Of the reports
to the Census Office. that Is
matter for Congress to deal with
as it is fixed by law and
out of the power of the
secretary. The whole matter
stands just where it was before
the ponderOus and secretive COM
mission took the department in
hand and it is hard to see where
any change of Importance has
been recommended, still less to
see how any changes can be put
into effect until the whole matter
is turned over to Congress-.