The Washington herald., 1907-01-22

retary o. state for war; the British gov
ernment has squared accounts to the sat
isfaction of officials of the government
here for the anront offered Rear Admiral
Davis, commanding the naval relief
forces at Kingston. by Gov. Swetten-
ham, whose objection to the presence Of
the Americana forced the admiral to
leave Kingston with his. ships and go
back to Guantanamo
Mr.. Haldanes dispatch, which came TO
the State Department yesterday after
noon, and was made public last evening,
does not go so far as to apologize to this
country for the action Of its executive in
Jamaica, but it expressed such hearty
appreciation Of the services rendered by
the naval forces Of the United States
that not only is Gov. Swettenham tacitly
rebuked. but this government is entirely
satisfied.
Not that this government desired
an apology from Great Britain; the case
was quite the contrary. The President
and officials of the State Department chose
10 look upon the episode in Kingston as
the action of an HI-natured and irritable
old gentleman who had been up all night
for several days.
Gov. Swettenham is not entirely un-
known TO the government here He dis
likes, almost TO the degree Of hate, Amer
leans and all Things American. He has
made every effort to baIk the work of
American agents in securing jamaican
arr for the Panama canal and his ac-
tiT1lies in this direction have gone even
SO iar as letters from him to governors
of other islands IN the West Indies ask
ing them TO refuse to allow those under
their control to SO to the Isthmus.
Incident Is Closed
The State Department says the incident
is closed. President Roosevelt about 7
O'Clock last evening sent a reply to Mr.
Haldane, through Acting Secretary of
State Bacon, thanking him for his cordial
telegram and expressing the pleasure of
this government Ia being able to afford
assistance. Any reference 10 the unpleas
amt affair = Kingston was studiOusly
avoided The United States will simply
ignore Gov. Swetteuham and al that he
has done. The government over in Lon
don is not considered as responsible for
the steps taken by this unliEable person
ality and If Great Britain should offer to
make further amends the United States
viii doubtless inform the foreign office at
London that il really thinks nothing of
the matter and gives the incident no i'm
pOrtance.
HaIdane Is cutie Diplomatic,
Mr.. Haldanes telegram is very diplo-
matte. He merely remarks that he has
read in the newspapers the letter of Gov.
Swettenham TO Admiral Davis. Then he
drops the subject entirely and goes on 10
express his appreciation of the efforts of
this government in affording relief. His
fun dispatch follows:
Have read in newspapers this
morning what puTpOTts 10 be "a letter
from governor OF Jamaica.
can only say that on material be-
fore me l entertain, as responsible
for troops in island. feeling of deep
gratitude to American admiral for
generous assistance rendered at most
critical time"
Most evidently Mr Haldane has not
had d report on the affair from Gov
Swettenham. vet he felt justified in
speedily expressing 10 the United States
his appreciation of all the efforts of this
government TO alleviate conditions In
Kingston. His special reference to Ad-
miTal Davis makes his intent all the more
apparent
Presidents Reply in same Vein.
To Mr.. Haldane's message. the Presi-
dent sent the following answer, through
Mr. Bacon at the State Department;
The President greatly appreciates
your cordi Il telegram, and is glad if
the proximity Of this country has
made it possible to be Of the slightest
assistance to the stricken people Of
Jamaica in this crisis.
IF, because of this proximity, and
pending the arrival of your own war
ships and transports, We can render
any further aid whatever, the Presi-
dent earnestly hopes youewill call on
him without hesitation We know
how cheerfully you would render such
aid to us We're the circumstances re-
versed.
There has been nothing in years that
aroused the government here quite so
much as the action of Gov. SvyettcnbaTu
and the abrupt departure of the Ameri-
can war ships from Kingston. There had
been kilograms to the Navy Department
4EDIl AuIntd1 LAWS WHICH lfNltdte0 that
the admiral and Gov Swettenham were
not getting along very well together, but
the portions touching on the matter were
withheld from publication. But despite
the previous information, the actual facts
brought out feeling somewhat akin to
CONSERVATION.
Officials Confer Quickly.
Acting Secretary OF State Bacon lost no
time in hurrying over to the White House.
and later in the day Secretary Taft con-
ferred with President Roosevelt on the
subject. The State Department spent
most of the day deprecating any agitation
Of the question at all
officials seemed rather inclined to take
the view that Admiral Davis might have
been in the wrong than that Gov SWEET
tenham had been at fault. Every de-
sire was evidenced to give Gov. SWEET
tenham the best side of his most doubt
ful case. The State Department said that
the incident should not be discussed until
q report had been received from Admiral
Davis Later on. the Navy Department
announced that the sdmiraFs report was
coming by mail. That this viii be per-