Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1907-07-23

Of trying 10 lhuuCc TIC OOutnoi" A'eu
wsy officials to withdraw their appli.
cation for writ of habeas corpus before
Judge Pritchard. These statements, 1t
is given out, ale youehed for by an au'
thority that eau not be questioned.
"Judge Pritchsrd has got the Depart
m mt Of Justice by the ear" declared a
high government official today. "He Is
interfering in q matter in which his Jurls-
diction is questionable, aud waving
red flag of legal irrigularity In
the faces of the already Infatuated
state ofIicisl4. II he does not involve
the government in serious muss 1t Will
not be because he has not laid perfect
ground work for trouble" 1t is pointed
out that the remedy of the sggrieved
railroad officials was through the State
courts of North Carolina, and that,
under legal procedure, stays of prose-
cution could have been secured, and ap-
pesls made. Thel, if not satisfied "i,h
the relief granted, the federal power
could have been Invoked. 1t is said
that the State courts having taken Juris-
diction of the rate cases, 1t is serious
question whether Jadge Pritchard has
no, exceeded his powers. is said that
the officials OF the Department OF Justice
are momentarily expecting a demand
from Judge Pritchard for posse oil
deputy marshals to enforce bis orders.
Acting Attorney General Russell de-
clnes to discuss the situation.
The Department of Justice is sggres-
siyely pushing its campaign peonage
practices. Agents have been sent re-
Gently into Virginia to investigate COM
plants that men are being held in bond
age in turpentine camps. Prosecutions
sle now being conducted in Florida,
Georgia, North Carolina and Alsbama.
The government is being fought bitterly
by the contractors, and 10 some cases it
is charged that State authorities are lend
ing moral support to those under indict'
ment. The Department of Justice Is
eagerly awaiting a decision from the
Circuit Court of Missouri, on the APP
peal of contractors recently found gully
of the charge of depriving citizens OF
the United States of their liberty.
The constitutional point is clear, out
there. Prosecutions in other states
have been under conspiracy charges
Conditions in some sections as repre-
sented to the President and attorney
general have been deplorable. One Of
fetal today declared that magazine arti-
cles upon the subject, while looked up
on In northern states as tinged with
"yelIow," have really understated the
situation. 1t has been brought out
that a mana member of a Ken
lucky family of fuedists-chssed men
who escaped from the camps where they
had been kept under surveillance, and
brought them back under shot gun
guard and tied together at the waist, like
cattle.
In the absence of advices from the
American legation in Caracas, State D'-
partmeut officials do not believe that
President Castro has taken exception to
the awards made on American claims by
the arbitration of 1908, as has been ie-
ported, on the ground that the awards
we're excessive. 1t is pointed out that
of a total of more than $Sl, COO, 600
claimed, the umpires awarded less than
$500, 900. Among the claims thus scaled
down was that of the Orinoco Steamship
Company whose claim for over 81, 600,
900. was reduced to an award of $23, 600,
while another company whose claim was
almost as big, was awarded only 81, 400.
Payments upon these awards are ex-
pected to begin at the end OF the present
month. In a recent note TO the Ven
ezulan government, Secretary Root sub
mitted five additional claims of long
standing, including that of the Orinoco
Improvement Company, suggesting that
Immediate settlement be made or that
the claims be submitted to arbitration.
No response has been received to this
note. Ia as mnch as each case involved
lengthy legal argument in its ptesen-
tation, it Is not expected that any reply
will come by wire, but mail report is
anticipated in the near future.
News of the conviction of Karl Hsu,
at Csrlsruhe, Germany, of the murder
OF his mother-in-law, came as a shock
to most of his friends in Washington.
H. Ralph Burton, Hau's local legal re-
preventative, was not greatly surprised
at the outcome, although he has all
along expressed confidence In Hau's in
nocence. He asserts that the prisoner
did not have fair trial. 1.-The pro-
scouting witnesses, the prosecuting at
torney, and the presiding judge" he
said today" all seem to have had an
inclination to use every bit of evidence
to Hau's disadvantage. Granting the
verdict of the jury is right, for the sake
of argument, then | say that Hau was
insane at the time Of the murder. He
could not have committed the crime il
he had been in his right mind" Con-
corning the possibility of action by
Hau's friends in Washington, Burton
said there would probably by none. "Hau
is not an American citizen" said be,
"and for that reason there is nothing We
can do from this side. He evaded the
military duty in Germany and that is
held against him"
DR.. Toledo Herrarte, The Guatemalsn
Minister here, called today at the State
Department TO express his personal
regrets and those of his government at
the recent accident on the battleship
Georgia. He declared that he had not
received a csblegram from his govern
ment for a couple of weeks and, on the
princinle that no news is good news, he