The midland journal., 1906-01-19
WASHINGTON LETTER.

of Panama was the sensation of the week
will be still further discredited if the
plans of Secretary Taft and the President
do not miscarry. He has been summon
ed to appear before the Committee on
Interoceanic canal next Thursday or
Friday and he will be enabled to repeat,
If he will, the statements he made IN
journal last week and which resulted in
special message to Congress from the
President denouncing all those who crit
icize the management OF the Canal and
also caused Secretary Taft to write vol
luminous refutation of all the statements
made. This article and the letter of Sec
retary Taft were the sensation of the
week here. Mr.. Bigelow, is man OF
wealth, of education, and of literary rep.
utation. He was schoolmate of En-
peror William of Germany and has been
close friend of the Kaiser ever since.
He spent much time at the Imperial
palaces in Germany and has written "a
life of the Kaiser, and other books and
When his article on the mismanagement
of affairs conducted with the Panama
Canal appeared the standing of the
author was taken into account and his
statements were widely believed. He
charged the men in official positions on
the Isthmus with many crimes of COM
mission and omission and spoke in an
authoritative way of the imperfect plans
and their still more imperfect execution
for digging the canal. A day or so after
the letter appeared, the Presidents mes
sage to Congress denouncing those who
criticized the Canal management was Civ
en- out and Secretary Taft's letter making
full denial of the charges made by Bige-
low was published. 1t appears from
the Secretary's investigation that Mr.
Bigelow was on the Isthmus just twenty
eight hours though he criticized Secretary
Taft for having spent but five or six days
there. Mr.. Bigelow's Investigations for
conditions there, the Secretary claims,
were confined to conversations held with
two men during the twelve or fourteen
hours he spent out of bed there. Both of
these men, it appears, had been disap-
pointed in getting contracts from the Gov
ernment, so that they might reasonably
be regarded as prejudiced. Mr.. Taft
makes full and unequivocal denial OF all
the charges brought by Mr.. Bigelow and
the general impression is that Mr.. Bige-
low has been badly worsted. He will be
brought before the Committee that will
make public investigation of the Canal
management and there will no doubt be
an interesting session. 1t is probable that
the truth of the situation lies somewhere
between the statments of Mr.. Bigelow
and Secretary Taft. Neither one, prob
ably is aware of coloring the facts to suit
his prejudice but the opinion in Congress
is that some graft is mixed up with
great deal of good intention in Canal
affairs. AS huge an undertaking could
scarcely be put under way without some
few seeing in it chance to profit at Gov
ernment expense, and while the twenty
eight hour investigation as made by
Poultney Bigelow cat scarcely be taken
as the sum OF the situation, the white and
spotless situation given it by Secretary
Taft may also be taken cum grano sails
as the opinion he wants to have of work
in which both he and the President and
the country have an intense interest.
~
Few Congresses in recent years have
had more business on hand with prospect
of accomplishing SO little. The White
House and the Capitol are at loggerheads
Members who have been swept into Con-
gress on the Roosevelt tidal election wave
are angry because he does not know them
by name and history and is not showing
patronage at them in the way of post
Offices, consulships collectorships, judg-
ships and everything supposed to be in
the exhaustless cornucopia of Executive
dispensatiou. The President was never
popular with Senators and Members
His popularity has been entirely with the
people and 1t is an element OF weakness
so far as his influence with Congress is
concerned that he must in accordance
with his oft iterated statement leave the
White House with his present term.
Nevertheless much will be accomplish
ed in spite of obstruction and misrepre-
sentaton.
*x*
Railway rate legislation is from the
Presidents standpoint of course, the most
important question. At the present writ
ing it looks as though no effective bill
can pass that strong hold of corporations
the United States Senate, but it is prob
able that the San DOMINICAN policy of the
President will be approved and confirmed.
1t is also possible that the bill presented
hv Mr. Ionoworfh for the hettAr aetob