The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1907-03-08
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.

Panama Canal contract, has established
on 14th street. Mr.. Oliver says he has
been defrauded, lured on by false pre-
fences, and has been made to spend $40,-
900 in putting in his bid. He says that
he is going to sue the government for
this amount Whether he will add any
thing for "mental anguish" as is the Gus
ton in breach of promise suits, he does
not say. Anyway Mr.. Oliver is thorough
ly disguised with the unbusnesslike way
in which he has been treated. He says
he was made to pay $4,000 in good
money. 1t is easy to see how this amount
could have been expended in organizing
a syndicate to dig the Panama Canal.
There will be no war with Mexico at
present. This will be satisfying informa-
tion to the people who did not know
that there was impending anyhow. Per-
haps there was not war cloud but tn ere
surely were international complications,
and they are settled most happily by the
escape of Mr.. Antonio Villareal. This is
an amusing case that has been hanging
over since last October. Villareal was
down in Ell Paso. but the crux of the sit
uation was ia Washington. He was a
revolutionist by profession, and the gov
eminent of Mexico wanted his blood in
the most approved melodramatic fashion.
So he skipped over to the United States,
But the Mexican government was crafty
and pointed out that while we might not
surrender Mr.. Vallareal as revolution
list, it being against our policy to surren-
der political refugees, he had been con.
victed in shooting scrape down in Mex
leo, and was therefore ineligible for ad
mission to the United States under the
immigration laws.
If this were true, we could not admit
him to the United States but if we de-
ported him, it was sure death when be
fell into the hands of the Mexican gov
eminent. So the immigration Bureau,
to whom the case was finally turned over
was much in quandary. The case drag
ged on for months, and just as it was on
the eve of being settled, Villareal escaped
from the custody of the immigration in
spector and the incident is at an end.
But the escape was so opportune and the
Mexican consul at Ell Paso was SO indig-
nant that Secretary Strauss, Commission
er Sargent and everyone else who had
anything to do with the case has been
kept busy ever since explaining that they
were not particeps criminis and that it
was really true escape. Maybe it was.
An announcement has been made by the
Department of Agriculture as to the pro-
cess of cotton seed separation to which
some reference has been made in print
with the cheering info rmation that will
add about 10 per cent. to the actual
amount of the cotton crop wherever it is
put in use. AS the cotton crop amounts
to about $3.50, 100000 in value annually,
it will be seen that this is a consider able
item even if the system is followed over
only part of the cotton belt.
The trouble is picking out cotton seed
all along and in planting the cotton too,
as is shown by jewellers in the belt is that
the seed is fuzzy and will not easily sep
arate. But the Department has discov-
cred process of smoothing down the
seed at the cost of about one cent BUSH
ell and afterward a very cheap method of
picking out the heavy from the light seed
by means of an air blast The system
has been experimental with on two sue
cessive crops by the Department, and the
results are good beyond question. 1t
m cans an inexpensive aid to the farmer
in planting his crop and better crop as
a result of his planting The process and
the two machines involved are being
patented, and when this is done the pro-
cess will be thrown open to whoever
wants to take advantage of it.
Senator Beveridge has temporarily at
least, lost his fight to amend the meat in
spection bill so that the date of canning
shall be shown on every can. The pack
ers say that meat is just as good after it
has been canned decade as it is after it
has been canned year. But they are
very 10th to have the date of canning put
on the can for all that. Senator Bever-
idge has made strong fight to amend the
law, but he has been opposed by the
House conferees led by Representative
Wadsworth of Beef Trust fame, and the
measure probably will be buried for the
session. 1t will be Mr.. Wadsworth's last
legislative act in Congress anyhow, for
he has been defeated for reelection and
goes out at the end of this term.
A delegation of Russians called On the
Pre- sident at the White House this week
in the interests of the Famine Relief As.
sociatien. They presented the facts in
the case to the President, saying that the
villagers in 20 provinces were starving
owing to successive crop failures, and
they begged that he issue proclamation
recognizing the existence of the distress
and authorizing the American Red Cross
to act as it was now acting in China.
Mr.. Roosevelt promised to take the mat
ter under consideration, and it is proba-
BILE that the proclamation will be issued.
The Red Cross is doing good work in
China and $50 900 was forwarded this
week by the Christian Herald to the mis-
sionary committees at Shanghai and