The National tribune., 1907-04-25

But the rush among the professional
junketers for a place in the party ha:
been great. All expenses are paid, ex.
lcept some matters of commissary. The
railroad fare is paid from the home o.
the member to San Francisco and re-
turn and all living expenses en- route
Those in charge of the nice trip have
been careful in making their selections
They have asked members who could b.
of some value TO them in matters of leg
islation, but most of these have insisted
on taking their wives. so that the junk
ct is to be family junket as well as 3
Congressional junket.
/ In that connection it is interesting ii
note that Senators have given this junk
ct cold shoulder on nearly every hand
Some II Senators were invited to go on
| the trip, but all except one of them
declined. That was Senator Piles, OF
Washington State. The fondness for
Junkets seems to increase the farther
West one goes, and as matter of fact
a considerable proportion of the Con-
gressmen who go on this trip come
| from the West. The visitors to Hawaii
will be gone seven or eight weeks, and
will undoubtedly be received with a
| splendid hospitality, for the Hawaiian
people are very hospitable. and show
all prominent visitors a good time.
There will be more travelling later on
| lcI TIE 'ottietdls VI titt navy, NIL Met-
calf, who recently returned from long
jaunt in the West Indies. The dispatch
boat Dolphin, which for several years
| has virtually been the yacht of the Sec
rotary of the Navy, is being put in the
| best of repair. and will be used by Sec
rotary Metcalf for travelling up and
| down the Atlantic Coast during periods
| of the heated term. Mr.. Metcalf is only
following the practise of his predeces-
an Inning hugi-
ness and pleasure when the heat in
Washington is intolerable. There are
several navy yards along the coast,
which require inspection from the head
| of the Navy Department, and all, of
course, can be reached by cruise on
the comfortable dispatch boat Dolphin.
Secretary Metcalf's Proposed Reform.
Secretary Metcalf is urging one good
reform-the placing Of the business at
navy yards in charge of civilians who
are business men of capacity. These
navy yards have become great manu-
featuring institutions, and should be in
charge of a good business head. AS It
| is now Navy officers attain the rank
necessary TO command q yard late in
| life, and are usually there but two or
| three years before they reach the re-
firing age. They barely become familiar
with the business problems involved be-
toIt lIttS uluSt give way 10 new IOIll-
mandants.
The Secretary has asked for the sug-
gestions of all Commandments of navy
| yards on this matter, and every Com
mandant has taken decided position
against it. None of them wants to yield
up any authority to a civilian. The
Secretary, however. will not be discour-
aged by the opposition. for he regards
it as selfish on the part of Navy officers,
criyr Tt,ty
long as it can be helped The Secre-
tary believes he Will get the necessary
authority from Congress before long,
and that he will be able TO put his plan
for civilian Superintendent into opera
ton before he ceases to be a member
of the Cabinet.
The Immigration Problem.
Several Senators and members of the
new immigration Commission are soon
to start on European travel at Govern
ment expense, ostensibly studying i'm
migration problems. Some very cynical
people say there is but little use for an
immigration Commission, except to give
few Senators and members chance
to travel thru the Orient and the Occi-
dent at Government expense, and also
to give them few places for clerks and
secretaries. The immigration laws now
are very satisfactory; in reality only a
The percentage of undesirable men and
women is exceedingly small. The fig
ures show that most of the newcomers
are under As years of age, and of the
class that the country needs for it's de-
velopment.
The real work of the Commission will
be to collect a mass of authoritative in
formation about immigrants and immI-
grafton. 1t will probably do something
to dispel the INSTRUMENTATION that has
been distributed thru sensational news
paper and magazine articles. 1t will
probably add materially to the informa-
ton about the surroundings Of these
immigrants in Europe. and will con-
tribute something on the subject of i'm
migration from Japan. That phase of
the Commissions investigation is likely
to be the most important. for 1t is be-
lieved that trouble with japanese immi-
grafton is looming ahead.
Some years ago there was an Indus
trial Commission. Several members
were appointed at good salaries. The
Commission sat in Washington, held
prolonged hearings which were printed
in massive volumes. Many captains of
| industry were summoned, and noun
tain of information was gathered. All
this cost a lot of Government money,
and no one ever saw how ii did very
much good. And yet the deliberation
of the Commission provided much good
material for the use of students and
lawmakers. The big volumes are in
numerous libraries for purposes of con-
sultation, and occasionally one sees a
| paragraph from one of the volumes
quoted in speech or an article. The
purpose of the Immigration Commits
sion is something like that behind the
| Industrial Commission. 1t will work
for two or three years journey to the
utmost parts of the earth, and finally
print its report, including the testimony
of witnesses, all of which will go into
big and pretentious volumes and be-
come books of reference for those who
are interested in knowing about our
! immigrants.
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