The National tribune., 1906-06-07
WASHINGTON, THURSDAY.

this by saying that the great work on
the Isthmus which. In my judgment.
measures the time and has much effect
upon the expense of the work Is the ex-
cavation in the eight miles through the
Culebra cut"
Then when asked how long It would
take to finish the canal, Secretary Taft
said that Chief Engineer Stevens had
figured Ii out carefully. and had COM
puted that the canal could be finished
under seven years, but that he would
add a year TO that and make 1t eight
years. Then Mr.. Stevens himself was
called in. and when questioned as to the
time 1t would take to finish that canal
under the best conditions. he said "16
or Is yearsi'' Well. for the lands sakei
Now, what are we to believe. anyhow?
ambassador to England Choate. who
is home in New York on a vacation, is
quite Ill, though 1t is stated that he is
not in dangerous condition.
A resolution calling upon President
Roosevelt to investigate, through the
Department of Commerce and Labor.
the conditions under which post Office
clerks are employed was adopted by the
New Jersey Association of Post Office
Clerks at their annual convention in
Hoboken last week. The clerks asserted
that they are paid less, work more hours
and receive less promotion than any
other grade of Government clerks. and
they ask that their hours be shortened
and that their conditions be improved.
especially during the holiday season
each year.
The resolution will be forwarded to
the Postmaster and. the clerks
hope, by him to the President.
Yo' pays yo' money an yo' takes yo'
ch'ice. The Census Bureau has been
swearing by gil that's good that the
Agricultural Departments census fig
ures are no good. The Agricultural De-
partment has been saying just as en-
phatically that the Census Bureau fig
i1res are away off. So the Keep Com
mission tackled the figures of the two
Bureaus and has been comparing them.
After many weeks of labor the report
of the Keep Commission, which made
an investigation to ascertain the relia-
bility of the Agricultural census of 1900,
has been made public.
The United States Census Bureau Is
given clean bill of health, while the
Commission stands pat on the declara-
ton made in previous report that the
crop returns of the Department of Agri-
culture were frequently in error and
were in many instances mere guesses.
The Commission says:
I'VE have the honor to report that in
our judgment the agricultural returns of
the 18th census are substantially ac-
curate: that they are more accurate
than the agricultural returns of any
previous census, and that they did, at
the time they were published, furnish
an accurate basis upon which the esti-
mates of the Division of Statistics (now
the Bureau of Staustics) could be based
and could be adjudged."
= Now. on the dead quiet, one is Just
as likely to be wrong as the other. and
here's guess that ''nayther" Is correct.
Everybody is looking for slogan for
the two great parties in the next cam
paign. and here is what Representative
David E. Finley, of South Carolina, has
to say about things:
1.-The Democrats will make the tariff
and public corruption the leading issues
I'm the fight this Fall to gain control of
the 60th Congress. They will demand
where those schedules have fostered
monopoly and where they have robbed
the people of this country in the inter-
ests of the few. Our own industries
should not be allowed to sell to other
countries cheaper than they sell here.
The Republicans are urging the passage
of a Ship-subsidy bill, but they do not
our merchant marine is due to the fact
that ships can be made SO much cheaper
across the water than here because of
the cheaper materials. The Democrats
will demand the passage of reciprocity
treaties also. Throughout the entire
country the people are aroused over the
iniqulties of the Republican tariff. and
witt, that as the principal issue I be-
Iieve we can carry the House.
"The connection between the corrup-
ton that has been unearthed and the
party in power will probably initiate
against the Republican Party, especially
when the fact of the contributions of
the insurance companies to the Repub-
Iican campaign fund are remembered.
The Democrats will undoubtedly follow
up their advantage in that direction"
Secretary Bonaparte has appointed
Rear-Admirals r. D. Evans. ]. b. Cog
Ian, j. II. Sands, F. w. Dickens and C.
II. Stockton Board to meet at the
Navy Department for the compulsory
retirement of enough officers to COM
rlete the retiremenLs for the fiscal year
ending June 30 next, to meet the re-
quirements of the personnel law, viz.
five Captains. four Commanders, four
Lieutenant-C Commanders and two Lieu
tenants, or Is in all the grades named.
The number of compulsory retire
ments in the different grades required
to fill the quota for the year and the
recommendations of the Board will not
be made public until July 1. as the
actual requirements of the situation will
not be definitely known before that date.
In 1903 number of Philippine stu
dents were brought to this country to
be educated at Government expense, and
like all young men who have every
thing given to them and who have not
even to think for themselves outside, the
covers OF a book, these rFilipinos are
getting to be somewhat of burden. w.
A. Sutherland, of the Bureau of Insular
Affairs, who has charge of these young
men. has written letters to them urging
them to get out and do for themselves
this Summer, and earn their salt at
least
1t is the desire of the Bureau of In
suiaF Affairs that the students shall
have few months OF actual hustling,
when they must rely upon themselves
and learn American customs and meth
DDS better than is possible in the atmos-
phere of schools and universities.
Most OF the students who are in agri-
cultural colleges and many of those in
normal schools will go to work on
farms. The young Filipinos who are
studying law will go into law offices.
and many others will go into shops and
factories. A number of the engineering
students are trying to get places in sur
veying parties sent out by the United
States Geological Survey.