The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-02-13
nor and Greene back from Canada.

nor and Greene back from Canaaa,
whittier they had fed.
Mr.. Oliver must associate himself
with independent contractors at an
early date and form a s5.00o.000 cor
poration for the work. AT least ST.
100000 must be paid in in cash and
81, 500,0 600 more must be in the form of
solvent subscriptions and the other two
millions may be devoted to securing
a bond.
If Mr.. Oliver succeeds with his plans
for digging the canal he will likely
become quite as famous in future gem
erations as any other man connected
with the canal construction. He has
figured very low, his bid for the ~ad-
ninistration of the work having been
CTS per cent. of the cost of the work,
whereas the next bid by parties hav-
ing the facilities for the undertaking
and the capital to back up their eff
forts was Il IL per cent. by the Mac
Arthur Gillespie combination. This
combination has had it's representatives
here ever since the bids were opened
and they have asserted that it would
be impossible to build the canal as
cheapIy as Mr.. Oliver thinks he could
do it. However, Mr.. Oliver is regard
ed as a very shrewd and successful
contractor. He has lot of his own
money and does not have to pay per-
centages to banks and bankers. If he
succeeds in meeting the government s
requirements for undertaking the job
he will have about as big a task on his
hands for the next eight or ten years
that any man ever had. He will work,
of course, under the directions of Chief
Engineer Stevens, who will prepare the
estimates and the specifications for the
work. The government will furnish a
large portion of the plant, together with
lot of material, and will pay for the
labor. The contractors simply take out
a percentage of the money expended as
remuneration for their own efforts and
outlay.
Up at the Capitol the Brownsville
controversy has been transferred to the
Senate Committee on Military Affairs,
whose members are making ready to
examine and cross-exan1ine the officers
and former enlisted men of Companies
B. c and D of the 25th Infantry who
were discharged without honor by
President Roosevelt. All the wrangling
of the Republican factions in the Sen
ate as to the language of the resolution
authorizing the investigation was sud-
denly dropped for a harmony plan di-
recting simply that the committee in
vestigate the facts of the shooting,
without questioning the Presidents
legal and constitutional authority to
discharge the men. There had been a
tremendous fuss about the matter of
language and about language that
seemed to lay mind immaterial. But
the Presidents decided stand brought
about realignment, and as the DEM
ocrats started TO make political capital
by rallying solidly to the support of the
President, the Republicans came to
their senses and passed a resolution
that was entirely satisfactory to him
and his friends
The Senate Committee viii not begin
the investigation until February next.
but in the meantime there is lots of
scrapping for advantage. The Presi-
dent and Senator Foraker are just as
earnest in their plans as ever and each |
hopes to undo the other The various |
sides of the controversy have been try
ing to have attorneys appear before |
the committee, but it has been decided /
for the present to have no attorneys.
~. l "a iE>eis VI 1ouise, d oiliia4Al ID"
yer, will look out for his side of the /
case. as he is a member of the Military
Affairs Committee. IT may be that /
Senator Pettus of Alabama viii resign |
from the committee, and that Senator
Culberson of Texas, a big lawyer, will |
act in his stead. Ex-Governor Frank
5. Black Of New York was engaged as
attorney for the Constitution League
but the committee has decided not to
admit him for the present. The hear
ngs viii probably be of great interest
TO the country. when once they begin.
ERNEST G. WALKER.