Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-24
WORK ON NEW CONKERCELAW
President and Advisers Complete
Third Revise of Proposed Act.
TREASURY OFFICIALS JUBnANT
Progress Made I'm rehabilitation Of
Customs Service f. Cause for
Rejoicing - stiu After
Man Higher Up.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2S.-President Taft
and the law officers Of the government
are stlll busy on the proposed amend
ments of the interstate law, the
purport OF which is to relieve the commits
sion of its qu~asi-judlcial functions and to
establish an, Interstate commerce court.
This work Is the outcome of a committee
appointed by President Taft earlier in the
year of which, Attorney General Wicker
sham and other officers Of the government
were members. They held some of their
conferences in New York City. The mat
ter is being gone over with great care and
the third revise Of the proposed amend
ments is now in the hands Of the printer.
1t had been hoped that these amendments
would be ready for submission to congress
early after the reassembling Of that body
in January, but they are subject to still
further revision IL upon examination they
are found not comprehensive enough.
Treasury Officials Jubilant.
Treasury officials are congratulating
themselves that with the closing of the
year, 1909, splendid results have been ac-
complished in the rehabilitation of the GUS
tom service, particularly at New York and
In the rounding UP of persons and cor
porations figuring in the frauds by which
the revenues of the government nave suf-
fered to the extent of millions of dollars.
The department IS still continuing its in
vestigations into the losses sustained by
the -under-welghlng Of sugar.
The officials here are keeping mum as
to the personality of the individual higher
up In. the sugar frauds against whom an
indictment is expected every day, although
his Identity is we'll known to them.
The fact hat the American Sugar Re-
filming company contemplated filing a claim
for $500, 900 for losses alleged to have been
sustained since 1907 by overweights has been
known in Washington for some time. Last
summer the attorney for the company men
toned the matter incidentally to the Treas
ury department. The. claim will be looked
into thoroughly.
Congress Would Keep Out.
President 1aft's views, as expressed in
his annual message to congress-, that a con-
gressional investigation of the Sugar trust
FRAUD might prove embarrassing in view
of the probe now going on by the Depart
ment OF Justice and the Treasury depart
ment finds a warm advocate in Attorney
General Wickersham.
He made 1t clear today that he was OPP
posed to any such inquiry pending the en-
deavors of the two departments to punish
the parties who may be guilty and in
recovering the money w%rongfully Withheld
from the government.
After their work had been accomplished,
he does not care how many Investigations
by congress might be made.
MI. Wickersham said his experience Of
legislative inquiries had convinced him
that usually the result of such work was
the framing of policies for the future,
rather than assisting materially in punish
ing the evildoers and helping to redeem
any losses the government might have sus-
tanned. ~
. s~uperYiatanl Iof Mines,
Headquarters ofithf American Mining
congress lave b~esnSnbened in this city to
promote legislation fol. the establishment
of a NATIONAL bureau OF mines. Both Presi-
dent Taft and, Secretary Ballinger of the
Department of the Interior are said to
favor such legislation.
The only difficulty in the way of the
establishment of such q, bureau said
James F. 1Qallbreath, jr., of Denver, secre-
tary of the congress, lies in the fact that
many persons do not realize the terrible
conditions tina prevail in the mining In
dustry and how much We need the aid of
the federal government. In the last three
decades more than $4,000 men ave been
killed and loo, 900 injured in the coal mines
alone, a majority of those injured being
rendered helpless for life. In 1907 S,125 men
lost their lives in the coal mines, or nearly
five men in every mining camp of 1000
men. Contrast this with the one or two
men killed in every thousand employed in
foreign countries, where they have bureaus
Of mines that are making a thorough study
into the causes of disasters"
Big Gun Stands Test.
Highly satisfactory" Is the report of
the officials of the Navy department today
In describing the tests Of the new fourteen
inch gun now in progress at Indian Head,
Md. Five shots have been fired and one
or two more will be necessary before this
gun, the biggest in the world, is finally
proved"
The tests so far are said to rave demon
strated the necessity of a special powder
for the gun, in order to produce the de-
sired velocity and hitting power without
too great a pressure. The gun is fifty
three feet six and a half inches long,
weighs ~sixty-three tons. shoots a shell
Weighing l,40O pounds, uses 1866 pounds OF
powder at each shot and has a muzzle
velocity of $500 foot, seconds.
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