Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1907-07-18

which has been proposed to President
Roosevelt, and which, it is reported,
he is seriously considering. The step,
which would be in the direction of gov
eminent ownership, and which was the
first taken by Germany before that
government acquired ownership of a
railroad can only be brought about
by an appropriation by Congress of
money to be used in the purchase of
the stock 1t is reported that should
The President not make the recommen-
datlon to Congress in his annual mes
sage some of the Democratic leaders,
those in harmony with Mr.. Bryan's
government ownership plank. will in
troduce bills proposing the appropria-
ton. The advocates of the policy argue
that government supervision can ma
terially be promoted by having rep
resentative of the government on the
boards of some of the larger railroads.
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Upon the advice of Attorney General
Bonaparte, the President has instructed
Secretary of Commerce and Labor
| Straus to have the census bureau make
special enumeration of the proposed
State of Oklahoma including the pres
! ent territory of Oklahoma and the In
dian Territory, for the purpose of de-
| termining the distribution of population
among the subdivisions into which the
| State will be divided should the new
constitution be approved at the polls.
| The administration understands that
| this constitution would be likely to
gerrymander the State favorably TO the
| Democrats. The work on the new cen
sus is to be commenced as soon as the
| necessary blanks can be provided. Will
lam c. Hunt, chief statistician of the
census bureau, will have immediate SUI
| pervision of the work in the field.
-
The completeness of the restoration
of ''Old Ironsides," on which the Navy
Department has been at work for some
time, has lately been attested by the
casting Of the big guns with which the
ship will be armed. There are forty
four of them, duplicates of the famous
old pieces with which the Constitution
fought its famous battle with the
Guerrero. Each of them weighs three
thousand four hundred pounds, eXclu-
sive of its carriage. The carriages are
also faithful reproductions, made after
old drawings and prints. When all the
work on the Constitution is finished,
the modern visitor who steps aboard
will have the sensation of passing into
another century in history and another
era in naval architecture and equip
ment; and the chances are that no one
will ever again want to "tear her tat
tered ensign down."
Regular ambassadors and ministers
to foreign countries are hedged in by
rules, instructions and customs which
sometimes limit their efficiency. OF
late years there has been an increasing
amount of neighborly visiting between
the nations in the persons Of informally
credited representatives. Mr.. Root, on
his visits to South America and Cana
da, kept all the time the attitude Of a
friendly tourist with no business but to
carry greetings and study the countries
he visited. This summer he is going to
Mexico on q similar mission, and Mr..
Taft will 90 to Japan. By means of
these visits much can be done for di-
plomacy. which cannot be performed by
regular departments of state.
-
The treaty drawn last February be-
tween the United States and Santo Do
mingo has been signed by President
Roosevelt at his Oyster Bay home, it
having already been ratified by the Do
minican Congress and the United States
Senate. This treaty settles definitely
the question of the collection of DoIlin-
lean revenue and makes the island re-
public virtually an American depen-
dency.
There seem to be very few occasions
upon which President Roosevelt deems
it advisable to lay aside the protection
of a revolver His practice of carrying
a weapon has again been advertised,
by one of the Masonic functionaries to
whom fell the task of tying the apron
about the Presidents waist at the lay
ing of the corner stone Of the new Ma
sonic building in Washington.
-
Attorney General Bonaparte has
made public list of sixteen objections
which have been raised to the proposed
constitution of the proposed State Of
Oklahoma. The persons who have
brought these objections to the govern
ment's attention regard them as war
ranting President Roosevelt in decid
ing that the proposed constitution does
not satisfy the test of the enabling act
-
When the King of Italy was told that
a son had been born to the wife Of
Lloyd c. Griscon, the American am
bassador in Rome, he exclaimed: Il
had always believed that ambassadors
were blessed only with grandsOns"
Ambassadors, as well as Senators, used
to be old men, but this all seems to
have been changed. Ambassador Girls
com is only thirty-four years old, and
if will be many years before he is
grandfather and there are many men
in the Senate less than fifty.
80
Secretary of War Taft has ordered
an investigation of the case of Lieu
tenant Colonel Charles G. Ayers, whose
alleged criticism of army officers in a
newspaper interview was understood to
be connected with a dispute between his
wife and certain officers at the West
Point Military Academy.
-
The President has appointed Judge
Walter Francis Frear of Honolulu,
chief justice Of the Hawaiian Supreme
Court, to the position of Governor of.
Hawaii.
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