Amador ledger., 1906-07-06
Washington
Letter.
(From Our Regular Correspondent.

would seem that there is nothing il
the way of quick action. The presi
dent is reported to have told tn
commission, "Now cut loose ant
dig This is what the who'll
country Will be expecting of them
and with all the money that has beef
spent in preparation, and thl
country has not been niggardIy, i
would seem that the real work ough
to go on. There is one serious con
tingency. The RAILROAD interests are
as much opposed to the canal as ever
They cannot hope to defeat it in the
long run, but there are ways still il
which they can obstruct and delay.
They may be depended on to hamper
appropriations whenever they can,
to gouge the government all they can
when it comes to selling supplies,
for the same men who control the
great trans continental roads are the
dominant factors in the great indus
tries from which the canal commission
will have to draw its supplies. They
will also be on the lookout always
for the least breath of scandal in the
management or the disbursements in
Panama. And if they could only stir
up a scandal and long winded
official inquiry into dolngs on the
isthmus, it would suit their purpose
and hinder the work more effectuaIly
than anything else. Little doubt is
expressed at the war department,
however that the work is in such
shape that it can now be pushed
etfectually. And it is believed that
the organization is such that it will
produce the best results from rea-
sonable expenditure.
In all probability the Interstate
commerce commission's investigation
into the coal and oil carrying roads
is concluded tor the summer. After
hearing the last of this week Mr.. Jas.
q. Gardner of the Erie railroad, the
commission adjourned the hearings
without fixing a day for resumption.
This was taken to mean that there
would be no more hearings till fall.
For the past three months the com
mission has had to largely neglect its
regular work while carrying out the
mandate of the TiIlman Gillespie
Joint resolution, and it has accumul-
ated plenty of evidence to keep it
busy all summer collatlng and arrang-
ing it in form for report. Some of
the conditions that have been reveal
ed have been scandalous. Thele has
been all sorts of graft and crooked
ness discovered among officials both
high and low.
But the last witness heard, Mr..
Gardner, said word for the rail
road ownership of coal lands that
was one of the most important said
on that side during the entire hear
ing. He pointed out that the very
existence of a railroad depended on
its fuel supply, first on having a
steady supply, and then on getting
it at the lowest figure so as to curtail
the heaviest of all its operating ex-
penses. He added some "hot air'' on
the subject of the public getting
the benefit of the saving in this
direction, but that question is
rather beside the mark. What he did
point out, however, was that the
road he represented as a coal expert
owned and operated four coal com
panies, and made no secret of it.
They we're able to draw from these
mines about half OF the three million
tons used annually. He said that
without them, the road would be
almost crippled, and that they we're
looking tor more coal lands, and
would buy them as soon as they
could get hold of them. He pointed
out further that the roads coal con-
sumption was growing all the time
and that if it kept up at the present
rate, they would in the course of the
next generation, be using ten million
tons of coal yearly, and that by this
time the present mines would be
about worked out. He said, there
fore, that the ownership OF coal lands
by railroads, for fuel purposes at
least, was justifiable, and that it was a
necessity that would have to be
reckoned with in framing any law ON
the subject.
Beside the coal and oil report that
the president and the next congress
will have on their bands, there will
be also the question of what shall be
done with or to the Standard Oil
Company. The whole of long
cabinet meeting toward the end OF
this week was devoted to the con-
sideration of this problem. 1t has
been known for long time that the
department of justice had been tax
ing steps IN view of commissioner
Garfield's oil report looking to the
prosecution of the Standard under
the EIkins law or the Sherman law
or both. 1t was generally expected
when the cabinet meeting was over
that the attorney general would have
some statement to make on the sub
ject of the expected prosecutions,
that is whether he would or whether
he would not prosecute. But he