Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1908-08-08
Woodstock Business Cards
NOTES FROM WASHINGTON
Especial Correspondence.)

Bids Unsatisfaetory-Ac Secre
tary of the Navy Newberry announced
the other day that non9 Of the bid
submitted for colliers undcr the pro
visions of the naval appropriation act
of the last session OF congress. was
satisfactory and all Of theM wore re
jected.
Population Of the country-Dr. s. N
d. North. director of the census. waI
asked the other day if his bureau could
tell the population of the United
States in 1906 and 1907. eve have
never made any official figures on It,
said he, but wait minute" TLe
pushed a button that called messen
ger, and wrote something on a slip oi
paper which the messenger hurried
away with. Before long the messeu
ger returned. you asked for 1906
and 1907" the director remarked
perhaps you would also like to have
the population for 1908 and 1910. Woll
the population of the United States
proper not including Alaska and Ha
wall, for 1906 was 3,941, $40; for 1907,
1t was S5,532,761, For 1908 1t will ba
S6,9O9,O62 and for 1910 (when the gov.
ernment is preparing to take detailed
census at great eXpense) it will be
b9,661 500" The director then paused
TO explain that he had not counted the
people That has not been done since
1900, but the figures given are based
ON estimates of experts in the division
of population
The Government Assessed.-Failure
on the part of the Congressional LII
brary to comply with the requirements
of the Treasury Department in the
ington custom house. The engravinga
has resulted in the refusal Of the
board OF United States general ap
praisers to reverse an assessment Of
duty imposed by the officials Of Wash
ington custom house he engravinga
were executed by Miss Helen Hyde
of San Francisco, who is living tenn.
porarily in Japan They were import
ed for the use of the library, but the
officials of the institution overlooked
the regulations prescribed by the sec
retary of the treasury While the GUS
toms authorities classified the blocks
as manufactures of wood" with duty
at the rate of 35 percent ad valorum,
prints of the Congressional Library,
takes issue with the revenue officers.
In a communication to the board Of
appraisers Mr.. Parsons says that he
considers the engravings in the same
category as paintings and other works
of art done by American artists
abroad Many of Miss Parsons's
works, the letter adds, are in the II
brary. Judge Waite, who writes the
decision for the board, does not deal
with the question of Miss Hyde,s citl-
zenship, but overrules the library's
protest on the technical point of nom
compliance with the treasury regula-
tions
Wild Lands Taxation-Forestry Ex-
pert ). H. Foster. now in New Hamp-
shire, has sent preliminary report
here with the statement that he ex-
pected to return to Washington the
first week in August to frame his con-
clusions about the taxation of wild
lands in the Granite state. He viii
make a detailed report of the forestry
commission of New Hampshire, Of
which Robert G. Faulkner of Keene is
secretary, and also to the New Hamp-
shire tax commission. In his prelim.
mary report Mr.. Foster makes no def.
mite recommendations, but occupies
himself chiefly with list of the In
quiries he has made of New Hamp-
shire farmers and others about the
taxes they are now paying on forested
lands. He is the only man of the for
est bureau at work in New Hampshire
this summer as nothing is being done
by the bureau regarding the establish
ment Of a reservation in the White
mountains. That project is now watt
Ing, to large extent, upon the conser-
vation Of the resources commission,
which President Roosevelt appointed
as the result Of the conference of gov
ernors at the White House. Forest
officials believe that the Investigations
and recommendations Of that commits
sion will help both the White noun.
tain and the Appalachian reservation
plans materially and will furnish an
Impetus to congress to appropriate q
portion of the necessary funds at the
coming session.
Commission viii Not Wait-The in
terstate commerce commission decid-
ed that shippers might combine small
quantities Of freight of various owner.
ship, either by arrangement among
themselves or through the medium OF
forwarding agency, and ship the COM
bined lot at the relatively lower rates
applicable to large shipments. An
other statement is to the effect that
without waiting for the fNng Of formal
complaints, the commission will iQsti.
tute an investigation on It's own mo.
lion for the purpose of determining
whether advances in freight rates are
Justified. "The commission" the state
ment says, has no authority to sus-
pend proposed advance in rates and
tan order reduction of the advanced
rates only as the result of an investl-
cation after the advanced rates have
become effective; but the commission,
while 1t could make no effective order
prior to the actual advancing rates,
has almost unlimited power Of inves-
tigation, and 1t is understood that II
The tariffs filed with the commission
.thow general increases the commits
sion without waiting for the filing Of
formal complaints, will institute an In.
vestigauon on its own motion for the
purpose Of determining whether or not
The advances are justified. Such gen.
eral information would enable II IA