AMERICAN LETTER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIV, Issue 13934, 16 December 1905, Page 13

AMERICAN LETTER.

[From Our Correspondent.] NEW YORK, November 18. THE BRITISH SQUADRON IN AMERICAN WATERS. Much pleasant comment has teen excited by the visit to the United States . of Rear-Admiral Prince Louis of Battenburg, who came with his squadron *s the bearer of a personal message of goodwill from King Edward to President Roosevelt. The squadron was received off Annapolis with the customary . official salutes, and Prince Louis and party upon landing wore received with naval formalities as the veneer of a genuine Democratic welcome. The visiting party, accompanied by members of the British Embassy and by American naval officials called upon President Roosevelt at the White House, and were received by the President and Mrs Roosevelt in the blue room in the presence of a large assemblage The guests were cordially received, the introduot’ons being made by Sir Henry Morti- ■ mer Durand, the British Ambassador. Prince Louis presented the message of , his Sovereign, and received in ijeturn an expression from the President which he _will convey to his Majesty when the Prince next visits London. In the evening, after the reception by the Pre- - Jsidpnt, a State dinner was given at the British Embassy for the distinguished visitor/ and this was the beginning of a series of similar elaborate functions marking the. Prince’s visit. Not since Prince Henry of Prussia was a guest / et Washington has a royal visitor been the recipient of honours like those accorded to Prince Louis at the national capital and at New York City, and at other points visited by him in the east. At the formal State dinner give'n at the White House, President Roosevelt pro- , posed a toast to the health of King cidward, and Prince Louis returned the iompliment, and said that next to their loyalty to their king every British officer has a peculiar affection and esteem for Theodore Roosevelt, not the President alone, but for Theodore Roosevelt the man— Wherever the English language is spoken this sentiment, he said, prevails. On November 9 the six British warships of Prince Louis’ squadron joined .with the twelve American men-of-war on the Hudson at New York in a na.fcional salute of , twenty-one guns in honour of the sixty-fourth birthday of King Edward. Brightened with gaylyfluttering flags of many colours, the column of ships stretched for four miles up the Hudson, from 42nd to lloth .Street, the largest and most formidable .Anglo-American naval force ever assembled. The vessels rode gracefully at anchor in midstrehm at intervals of about 400 yards. The Royal'Jack floated at the main of the American ships in honour of the occasion, and as the Last gup of the salute thundered, the 1 bands on the various vessels took up the strains of “ God Save the King.” New York newspaper men ‘were very much pleased at the Democratic spirit .with which Prince Louis received them. The latter had much to say in praise . of President Roosevelt, of the American Navy and of the cordiality of the people. Heisaid: “This is the first time, I believe, that a British Admiral has been received by the President at Washington. Now, I should like to" see an .American President received by the K’ng, in London. Such a meeting would be peculiarly appropriate, as both the King and President Roosevelt have rendered such distinguished service to the cause of the world’s, peace. lam sure that nothing would give greater pleasure to the British people than to welcome the President of the American Republic on British soil.” MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS. A wave of : genuine independence took possession of American voters in a number of municipal elections which occurred on November 7, and the result was quite a general and remarkable unseating of political “bosses.” The results in New York, Philadelphia and Cincinnati lead in interest. The most > dramatic victory, and that which gave the public the most satisfaction, was ■ the election in New York City of Mr "William Travers Jerome as District Attorney by a considerable majority. Mr Jerome has stood as the exponent of civic righteousness, and in this campaign he ran alone, on an independent ticket. His election meant that criminal practice, corruption and fraud in general were to be made the objects of vigorous legal prosecution. Running, as he did, entirely separate from any party organisation, every vote that was cast for him was a split ballot, made by an intelligent voter, and was an individual protest against all forms of , corruption. _ No party had the honour of his ©lection. For the office of Mayor in New York City, Mayor M’Clellan, supported by Tammany and Boss Charles F. Murphy, was re-elected, on the face of the returns, by a majority of 8485 votes. The remarkable feature in the mayoralty vote was the support received by Mr William R. Hearst, heading the Municipal Ownership ticket. On the face of the returns, ho'ran a close second to 'Mr M’Clellan, and he will contest the ©lection in the courts. Various evidences of fraud in counting the ballots have been discovered. Mr Hearst secured an order of court directing the police to turn all ballot-boxes over to the Board of Election Commissioners, and in following out this order it was discovered that many, of the boxes were missing. . Five of the hexes were later found in the North River. The Attor-ney-General. Julius Mayer, has given an opinion to the effect that many of the ballots which were thrown out by the election judges because of improper marking should have been counted for Mr Hearst, who declares that the number of such ballots was large enough to Lave given him a majority. He has already offered rewards for evidence that will lead to the conviction of per- ■ eons guilty of ©lection frauds, and will vigorously prosecute any suits necessary to unseat Mr M’Clellan. In view of the fact that there was a Republican ticket in the field, though a weak one, the number of voters of all parties which Mr Hearst wak able to marshal under his standard- is regarded as a remarkable rebuke t-ft +he enthroned boss *

In Philadelphia, Mayor Weaver and his reform administration were indorsed, by a of over 40,000, and this was tho people’s seal of approval of the series of administrative attempts to overthrow “ring rule” in tho various sordid forms in which it has been manifest in Philadephia. The vote was a final.and sweeping condemnation of “Boss” Israel Durham, who has so long been regarded as the pernicious factor in Philadelphia politics. In Cin’cinnati a similar house-cleaning was had, and the Republican “ boss ” of that city was ousted. Other cities of Ohio also upheld reform candidates. In Ohio and in Pennsylvania State elections were held, and both States wont Democratic. At the last general election Ohio gave President Roosevelt a quarter of a million, and Pennsylvania gave the President a half million majority. The present turn of tho tide, however, is not interpreted, oven _ by publications with a Democratic leaning, as % revolt against the party in power, but merely as tho breaking up of the Republican machines in those States; and as a part of the awakened public conscience against political corruption. That the administration regards the moral uprising as a most satisfactory result is partly indicated in the statement by Secretary Taft before the election, regarding, the Cincinnati situation. He said that if his public duties permitted him to be at home on election day he would vote against the municipal ticket nominated by the Republican machine. That the people were not voting on party lines is fui’ther shown in Maryland, where the efforts of the Democratic “machine” to secure endorsement of a scheme that would result in the disenfranchisement of most of the negroes of that State, was Voted down. Upon this proposed amendment the Democratic “ boss,” Senator Gorman, had staked his future, and its defeat is regarded as an overthrow of his power, which has dominated the State politics for many years. It is declared that the only boss among those most notorious who saved himself was Ruef, of San Francisco, whose candidate, Mayor Schmitz, was elected for a third term on the Union labour ticket. The labour party had the upper hand in San Francisco, and is not yet old enough to risk a reform departure within its own ranks. In. San Francisco voting’ machines _ were used throughout the city, it is understood for the first time. i It is difficult to tell just what has caused the general uprising • against corruption in loca| politics. The reform sentiment has been long awakened, and reform work which culminated in the recent election results has for some years been in progress. Some believe, however, that the recent insurance scandals and other developments uncovering “ graft ” in various quarters have served to shock the people into the frame of which possessed them on November 1 ■' A NATIONAL CIVIC CONVENTION. An important convention of the National Civic Federation is to bo held in New York on December 6/7 and 8, and the “immigration” will be discussed thoroughly by able ■ speakers. Among tho questions to bo discussed will be: “What shall be the limitations of desirable white immigration?’ “How can immigrants be selected tor admission and the exclusion of those debarred he successfully. sustained r What are the practical methods of distributing newly arrived immigrants and inducing or compellingthe dispersion of the colonies in large cities?” “ What restricting laws and treaties should be made to control the entry of Chinese, J apanes© and Malays into territories or the United States?” Among the speakers on the latter subject will be tfio Governor of Hawaii and Secretary Taft. It is expected that the various methods employed here and abroad to get insane and diseased persons and criminals into the United States will be revealed by former Commissioner of Immigration, William Williams, who is well-known, for his rigid lenforcement ot the law for their exclusion. A MINING CONGRESS. An American Mining Congress is being hold at Elpaso, Texas, which is regarded as of considerable importance bv mining interests. One of the principal objects of the Congress is to secure recognition of the mining industry, by the establishment by the Government of a Department of Mining. This has been agitated for for some time, but is becoming a stronger issue each year. The “Mining Journal” says that, fortunately for the development of the mining industry, whether or not helpful to the idea of a department of mining, the United States Geological Survey has long served all the purposes of the Government bureau which has preceded most department organisations of the Government. This institution has the rank of the Department of the Interior. W r hen first organised, it plunged quickly and heartily into the examination of ©specially important deposits. Under Major Powell this was changed to the broader and more general work of preparing tho whole field by comprehensive typographic maps, which have been of incalculable value in developing not only the precious metal mining, but the coal fields of the entire country. This has been followed by many yearn of general geologic studies, becoming more and more detailed and exact. Under tho present director, Dr Walcott, the early stage of exact economic work in a few/ocalities, inaugurated by Clarence King, who /first the department, has been reached and passed as applied to every kind of mineral industry in the country; so that to-day, it is stated, the Government of the United States, throught the geological survey, is giving more efficient aid to mining than any other Government in the world, and is giving just the aid which the miner can receive from no other source than the Government. The groundwork for a Mining Department has been growing up as the groundwork for the Department of Agriculture grew up, and it remains for the future to show how fast this work can be expanded into a department which shall develop, but not control, the source of our national wealth. BARBAROUS INITIATION CEREMONIES. Tho practice of hazing and of initiating Freshmen at college has reached a most startling climax m the case of a student, who was recently killed by a train at Mount Vernon, Ohio, while undergoing initiation into a Kenyon College fraternity. The doctor who examined the body, and various students and members of the faculty, have been questioned with the purpose of determining whether or not the student who lost His life was bound to the track. Dr Irvin Workman, physician at Kenyon College, testified that from the marks on the body he believed young Pierson, the student, was lying face downward on the bridge between the rails when the engine struck him. It is stated that there were marks upon the body indicating that he may have been tied down, and it is reported that other students have having

been tied to tho track in initiation ceremonies. Tho College authorities insist that) there is no evidence that the student .was tied to the track. iho members of the fraternity involved say that Pierson whs ordered to go to the railway bridge alone. It was broujpi. ont in the examination that a week before his death, Pierson was compelled by vhe fraternity man to crawl the longtn of the village, goaded behind by '/embers with sticks and clubs, and that this treatment developed sores on his knees on which there were bandages when the body was found. FEDERATION OF LABOUR. At a meeting of the American Federation of Labour, which is now being held at Pittsburgh, Mies Mary E. M’Dowell, president of" tho Woman’s Trade Union League, and Miss Gertrude Barnum, made earnest pleas for the adoption of a resolution presented by Mr Thomas 1. Kidd, requesting that Congress should make an appropriation to investigate tho conditions existing among the women workers of tho United States. Miss M’Dowell said there are, 2,000,000 women in this country who are compelled to make their own living. Union men at present were not as helpful to the women workers as they should he, but as women workers have to toil they must either bo 00-operators or competitors. The resolution was unanimously adopted. The Federation of Labour has voted 80,000dol to assist the Union printers in Chicago and elsewhere to carry on the strike which is now in progress in all establishments that have not signed agreements for the eighthour day and the closed shop. LABOUR TRUSTS. In tho meantime, a meeting of the Citizens Industrial Association has been in progress at St Louis. The following resolution has been passed: “ Whereas the Citizens Industrial Afesooiation or America looks with approval upon the hivestig-ation ancl prosecution uy xTedera! and State authorities of certain great trusts of capital which seek by nionopoly and illegal arrangements and contracts to stifle competition, dominate industry and exact unfair and exorbitant prices from tho public ; and whereas this Association firmly believes that certain Associations of organised labour are seeking to establish and maintain by unlawful contracts, by coercion and intimidation and by organised oppression a labour trust or monopoly of the labour market: he it resolved, tha-, this Association hereby expresses its belief that such organisations of labour as in their conduct and purposes are manifest y labour trusts sliould be investigate! by the Government authorities, both State and national, and that so far as said organisations are found to be illegal they should be vigorously prosecuted in like manner as are trusts of capital, and without fear or discrimination. POST 'OFFICE REORGANISATION. Postmaster-General Cortelyou has issued an order for a complete reorganisation of the post office popartmeat The order will affect nearly every one of the 25,000 employees of tho Government, and may lend to temporary confusion; but Mr Cortelyou has a reputation as an organiser, a man of executive ability, and it is probable that the change will result in a better working organisation. Mr Cortelyou organised the new departs ment of Commerce and Labour, and got it to working without friction in a short time. He has been thinking out a plan - for the reorganisation of the Post Office Department since last May, and has made the change only after giving the matter thorough study. It is declared that no change in a Governmental department so sweeping as this hao been made since the foundation of the Republic. It/is described as the first great step toward the reform in Governmental methods desired by President Roosevelt, and it may result in similar changes in other departments. THE ISLE OF PINES. On November 14 came the news that the of the Isle of Pines had issued a declaration of independence from Cuba, and organised p new Government as a United States territory. Mass meetings were held under the name of territorial conventions, and officials were appointed to fill all positions except those that must be named by the President of the United States, a. Ails uprising is not taken too seriously in the : United States, and President Roosevelt is not inclined to take much notice of it. The question as to the ownership of the Isle of Pines has been up before. It was found to belong to Cuba, as no stretch, of tho imagination could make it United States property under the agreement which coded Porto Rico “ and other islands ” to this 'Government. A treaty was therefore prepared, acknowledging the sovereignty of Cuba over the island, and that document will oome before the Senate at the next session for ratifies tion. The affair on the Isle of Pines is regarded as merely a demonstration by American residents to impress Congress and to forestall action ratifying tho treaty with Cuba.