The National tribune., 1907-10-10

all for Taft" said the Senator. They |
have long been devoted to the Presi- |
dent and his policies. and they are fav-
orable to the man who is the Presi- |
dents candidate. l am in favor of Mr.. |
Taft, and l believe Kansas will send a |
delegation that will vote for him.
Am / in favor Of tariff revision?
Yes, but l believe all those industries
that need protection should receive il.
Those who now have ii and do not need
it should have it taken away. In our
State the people want this kind of re-
vision. They also want the laws against
C combinations of capital strictly en-
forced. and so do L.
Secretary of the Navy Metcalf is en-
deavoring at the rate of an hour and "A
half day to make up some of the 10
weeks which he lost on his vacation
He has solved to be at his office at
O'Clock in the morning, an hour before
the clerks arrive, and to remain until 5
in the evening-half an hour after they
leave-and he is keeping up 10 mark,
too.
In his annual report Secretary of
War Taft asks Congress to authorize an
increase of 500 or 600 officers in the
Army. The present situation in many
of the commands owing to a lack of
officers, is not only seri ous embarrass
ment, but handicap to the efficient
work of the War Department. There
is scarcely a regiment which has full
complement of officers, and there are
scores of companies which are one and
two officers short, and in several in
stances there is only one officer to two
companies. The cause for the shortage
of officers in the different commands is
due to the fact that several hundred
officers are detailed IN special duty
Many of them are doing executive
and administrative duties away from
their commands, some in the Philip
pines, others in Cuba, others are as
signed to recruiting duty. many are de-
tailed to do National Guard work, and
for instruction at military academies
and schools, and large part of their
time are kept away from their COM
mands.
This situation has been a source of
great annoyance for long time to the
War Department, and the only remedy
for it is an authorization by Congress
for an increase of several hundred Off
GERS in the Army. Gen. Bell, Chief of
Staff. is now preparing a statement
which Secretary Taft will include in
his annual report showing the condi-
ton of the Army in this respect.
The first contribution toward the NJ
bel peace prize fund, which was award
| ed to President Roosevelt by the Nor
wegian Parliament for the services he
rendered in behalf of the cause of
peace, and which by an act of Congress
is to be dey1ted to the establishment
OF the Foundation for the Promotion of
! Industrial Peace, was $3.50 received by
Secretary Straus, of the Department of
! Commerce and Labor, as trustee, fr ON
Eugene G. Kramer, lawyer, of New
York City.
Mr.. Kramer expressed a desire to
contribute from time to time toward
| the fund until the principal of the
foundation, which is now nearly s4O,-
600. shall have reached m ore ade-
qEate sum, and also to aid in any way
he could the Industrial Peace Commit
tee. In acknowledgment, Secretary
Straus expressed the hope that this
fund. which is at present a little short
! OF $4,000, will be largely increased by
contributions, such as yours, from gem
erous and patri 'tic citizens. who ap-
preciate the importance of the pur-
poses of this foundation in the pro-
motion of industrial peace"
One thing found by the board Of
officers which recently inspected naval
vessels in the hands of naval militia
organizations is that the allotment for
the maintenance of these vessels, 500
900 annually. is entirely inadequate for
the purpose. and will have to be in
creased to at least s150,Oo0.
1t will be 10 m onths at least before
Maj--Gen. Leonard Wood, u S. A., as
sumes command of the Department OF
the East in place of Gen. Fred D. Grant.
who Will then take command of the
Department of the Lakes, with ahead
quarters at Chicago. The change had
been expected to take place this year.
The War Department decided t, keep
Gen. Wood in command of the Division
/ of the Philippines until after the visit
| of Secretary Taft there. In the mean
time Maj.-Gen. Weston, who is to sue
ceed Gen. Wood as. the commanding
| officer of the Philippines, is in Manila
ready at any time TO take over the COM
mand. Gen. Wood has been very hard
worked since he went to the Philip
pines and when he leaves Manila it is
the intention of the War Department
TO grant him an extended leave of alb
sence. This leave of six months will
begin with the arrival Of Gen. Wood in
| the United States
II saw the great bridge at Quebec
just before it fell, putting 80 lives out
of existence, and again just afterwards"
said William A. Reid. of Bolivia, the
other evening. Mr.. Reid has spent sew
eral months studying conditions in Cam
ada, and is about to take a trip around
| the world.
That was an awful tragedy that
overlook the bridge across the ST. Law
| renee. which was planned to be one of
the engineering marvels of the world"
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