Amador ledger., 1907-03-08
Washington
Letter.
Washington, February D. 1907.

washington, February ". 1907.
During the past week the Japanes,
question has been-or, rather, hal
pretended to have been settled by the
passage of the immigration bill con
tanning the presidents provision
placing in his hands the power tc
exclude japanese from California II
he shall deem that they will be de.
triment to labor conditions on the
coast. In return the San francisco
shool board will admit Japanese
pupils to all the public schools. This
arrangement of the difficulty presents
one or two points In line with the
argument of congressman Mccall in
his notable speech In New York warn
ing the country against the growing
tendency to centralize the power of
the government in the chief executive.
In the case of the amendment to the
immigration bill, the fact is patent
that the president has practically
usurped the legislative function of
congress, for the amendment was
placed In bill already in conference
and was forced through under a
threat and promise without permit
ing either branch of congress to
debate it. The threat was that If the
bill was not passed an extra session
would be called, and.the promise was
that although the provisions relative
to contract labor IN which the south
ern states are interested were changed,
the ruling made under the bill which
has been superseded shall stand. 1t
is plain that If a measure of such
Importance as this can be enacted
into law in this way, other and per-
haps more vital questions can be dis
posed of without undergoing the
scrutiny of the senate and the house.
But it begins to appear Eprobable
that the diplomacy of the president
with Japan and the concession of
mayor Sohmitz and the San Francisco
board of education to the president
will not remove the friction between
the two countries, although the presi-
dent may, as he is authorized to do,
admit as many Japanese into Cali
fornia as he may see ht in order to
placate Japan. 1t is already reported
that the administration has the
Japanese on Its hands, and that it sees
the desirability of increasing its
naval strength in Pacific waters.
Yesterday conference was held at
the White House between the presi-
dent, admiral Dewey, the officers OF
the navy general board, the chief of
the bureau of navigation and the
secretary of the navy. The proceed
ings were secret, and secretary Met
calf became somewhat heated when q
reporter made inquiries about the
conference. 1t is understood, how
ever, that the advisability of increas-
ing our Pacific feet was discussed in
the light of our present relations with |
Japan, and that there arose the ques-
tion of an emergency appropriation
by congress to be used in case there
were need of large sums of money
before the next session. In view Of |
the easy victory won by Japan over
the administration. it would not be |
surprising if other demands were
made that will not permit of solution
without greater concessions on our
part.
Quartermaster general Humphrey |
has notified senator Perkins that the |
repairs to the army transport ''Sheri-
dan" will be made at Mare island. |
The bids from private yards were
Moore q Scott, S441, ,22l: Union Iron
Works, s463, TAB; Risdon Iron and
Locomotive Works, s473, 800. General
Humphrey states that these bids are
so high as to render it practically i'm
possible to award the work to pri-
vate firm and that the estimate of the
navy department is so much lower
that it will be necessary to request
that department to do:the work. Only
such repairs will be made as will
place the vessel in the condition it
was before going ashore. The navy
yard will therefore have this i'm
portant work to perform, which will
be appreciated by the mechanics OF
Vallejo.
Late Tuesday night senator Perkins
secured the passage by the senate of
the bill introduced by governor
Gillett while in congress, amending
the debris act. The amendment
authorizes and empowers the debris
commission to order that hydraulic
mining may be carried on without
first going to needless expense of 4
building dams, barriers, etc., where
the same can be done without injur-
ing the navigation of said rivers or |
the lands lying adjacent thereto. In
every instance to mine, a petition to |
do so must first be presented to the
commissioners, who have the right
to make inquiry into all of the con-
ditions existing; whether or not
dam shall or shall not be built re.
mains in their discretion. 1t they
deem one necessary, then they pre-
scribe the character of it and how it
shall be constructed; If on the other
hand, they conclude no dam is necess-
nry fbax, so Rnd a. s..Ak l.