OUR AMERICAN LETTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14447, 13 February 1909, Page 4

OUR AMERICAN LETTER

(Fr.ou Our Own Oorrf.sfoxdmt.) NEW YORK, December 26. The Eocsavelt Administration if not gqhi'c out in a Maze of glory is at least going out. ill a icsoujitliiiff noiee. Tho President's last message to was as seus>a.t.io:na I as extremists might have expected, amd a gran, deal iiKiro. It was aimer:, bomblike in a direct attack upon that legislative feature of cur Federal Gomttit. Briefly slated, it accut:;d the Senate and the House of R.'.-[,i'coe,ntarivcs of i educing 1110 appropriation for the secret service because of the -fear of certain senators and representatives Tjiut secrui service men had been set to spy upca them. That was a pretty direct statement, and if it had bt-cn calculated [or no other purpose than to niuiatiie both Houses of Congress it could not have succeeded hewer. For a timo the secret service appropriation was thruatauad with being swept away entirely. Then the White House btgau mulling thieats through the newspapers that it, held in pigeon-holes certain wandals against various Congressman, thai", would make rare routing if printed. Congress, to the great die-appointment, of a great miinker of people, then recoo'ed from its position. The President had apparently won a groat moral victory.

This business fconsscd a sharp attention upon the secret service., ami the important part of it has eonio lo play in our official life. Originally started as a [unction of the Treasury Department it attained a great _ renown in its protection of the nation's money. It attained a woiM-wicw repiu-aton for nmnwig down counterfeits and counterfeiters, and hardly a less reputation for fcrretiiij; out smugglers and viok'ters cf the internal revenue laws. AH of thcs-3 activities came directly within tho functions of tho Treasury Department.

In UlO Civil War the secret service won a nsv distinction in military activities, and from that time forth its scope began lo cn-largo beyond the scope of the Treasury Department. The assassination of Lincoln maiio a secret protection of the person of the President a necessity, and this duty was assumed by tho secret service. Recently—that is to say within the past 10 or 12 years—it has Lewi asserted that this marvellously organised and highly skilful force of Govenimewt. detective; have been

at tho beck and call 01 tho President to spy upon departmew heads, justices, and legislators. It is said by Conservative journalists at, Washington, wJio profess to keep a keen finger upon the situation, that the spy sjrdem I'kcro has become as secret and ais subifo as that of Berlin or St. Petersburg.

From this un-RepnWican statu of affaire was bom the attempt oi Congress to stifle tiro activities of the secret service bvshrinking its appropriation which resulted in the slurp a.a'lo.jonisni from the White House. H is po-ssible that, che entire business will result in u . compHc recasting of the soctci. service, a curtailing of its Spying activities, and the niacin,' of its control under the Department of Justice.

Right upon 11k heol.s of this secret service bomb came another, lb Rccwvolt road two prominent nouspaixT men—-Mr Dcievau .Smith, owner of the Indianapolis X'ev.s. and M r Wjninm M. Man, proprietor of the. New York Sun-into" bis Ana.iMs Club without, hesitation. Mr Pulitzer, of the World, was added to the. vanfe a few <hys later. The Run's ollonw was comparatively slight It consisted of an allegation that the President bad showed some favouritism Io a certain "Rosiern oil company, a. competitor of ihe giant Standard Oil.' lint the Indianopplis News and the New York World committed a greater s in. Kaoh printed as gospel truth a long circumstantial scandal that involved Ibo purchase of the unfinished Panama. Canal by the Federal (Jovernmont from the French company. It was gravely assorted that Mr Roosevelt's brother-in-law, Mr Douglas Robinson, had profited illegally by the transaction; and in order to give the story' an up-to-date flavour. Mr C. P. Taft. of Cincinnati, brother of Presidentelect Tafl, was accused of similar transactions. The whole business was almost palpably libel, and was given little credence throughout the nation. Not so with Mr Roosevelt. He became furiously angry, and through the Department of .Justice has called for the arrest and prosecution of Mr Smith and Mr Pulitzer on .1 charge of criminal libel. Up to the time ot writing the two accused editors have printed no retractions. (In the contrary, they are oemauding that Congress make a searching investigation of the entire details of the Panama Canal sale.

Here Mr Roosevelt, strong in his original position—he is n. man of wonderfully contrasting strengths and weaknesses—became weak. Congress should not make an investigation, h;> is saying. The entire matter has been handled by men who are honourable and above even, the mere possibilities of wrongdoing, and so an investigation is superfluous. His best advisers declare that he should have welcomed the investigation, hut there is none who is hardy enough to dare to lead Mr Roosevelt in the way that he should go, or think

But there is more trouble at Panama than any raiiswl by this weak-knccvl scandal. It is said that' the wonderful Gatun clam. wJiich was to hold back one of the grrale.it of the artificial water-levels of the oecan-to-ccean ditch, is an ciisincerin.tr impossibility. It is plann«l upon soft earth, and from the. hcirinnin;.; some of our best engineers have b?en sceptical of litis part of I In- scheme. Recently a section of the (Tallin dam foundations collapsed, flooding a portion of the work and causins a loss of life, and this accident has focusfod public attention upon ibis feature of iho work. So sharp is the national interest upon Ibe work that Mr Tuft will iVi'.o a trip to the Isthmus, accompanied by expert eni.'iiii'"rs of his own chctrsinir. within the next nionlli, in orilor to satisfy himself as to ilie progress of the work.

From I lie lx-ginnim; the army engineers, who are eivuliielinir the canal work, have themselves a» satisi'.cJ with the foundations for the Gatun clam and loci*, bill- it is now thought best to have the civilian ouirincers lender their reports upon the sit nut ion. It may lie possible—nnrl even the best Lhinpr in lons run-that lh« Panama will have to be changed from a look to a sea-level canal. If this step is taken the cost of the work will be in-croao-rd from one-third to one-half, and its completion delayed for several years. On the other hand, the enormous maintenance expense of the dams and l».'ks, tlio. delays that, tliey offer (o navigation, the ever-present damrcr that accompanys ihem, -will be removed for all time. Tl mav be worth the extra expense of many hundreds of millions ot dollars because of that fact.

The -Ith of March next will brinpr a diminution of interest in the news that comes from the White lions', for the Tufls. interest tin: and thoroughly .American family thoimli they lie will never have the wrsoiißliiv of tlie'claii of Roosevelt. Lir-e plans are' under way for tip inauguration ceremonies, anil already two of the Cabinet appointments have been made --Senator Philander C. Knox, of Pennsylvania, to lie Secretary of Stile, and Frank Vorya Hitchcock to be Postmaster-general. Tlio first post mis'-it have bokc. to ex-Senator John C. Spooner, of Wisconsin, one of our ablest American statesmen, but he declined the honour. But Senator Knox _is hardly inferior metal. Lik"> Napoleon in stature and face he is Napoleonic in his methods. He is shrowd-so shrewd that he won the only important ca.se that the fedora! Government over brought agiiiirr-t. the tru=li— capable, a hard worker, and absolntely bonest. He is a roan that, will well bear watelunif. air Hitchcock is a miicli yotinire;' man. He won commendation for himself by \m capable management of the rciont KftptibUef.ii campaign for President.

Washington's most recent contribution to the news is in the sentencing to gaol, on a charge of contempt of cotirt, of America's three most conspicuous leaders of labour - Samuel Gompors. John Mitck'll, and Fra'd; Morrison. All three were officers of the ; immensely powerful American Federation , of Labour. The first two are the hc.'<known. Gonipers is an executive of brilliancy, and John Mitchell's handling of j the great coal strike two or three years ago : remains sharp within our memories. The '■ particular offence ehargod against them is tho continuance of an advertisement, in the ; federation's organ branding a certain stove ■ manufacturing concern which bad fought ■ tho unions and was now employing non- ; union employees as "unfair," and urging : all union men and sympathisers not to purchase their products. Gompers is eentcnetd to a year, Mitchell to nine niontlis, and Morrison to six. It. is known that this verdict will be bitterly fought jn the courts I of appeal. (Jumpers and Mitchell have fre. I quently been jftosls of President Roosevelt. ' in the White House. Gompcrs, however, ; had alio.niated himself there by supporting j Mx Bryan in tho recent race for the- Prai- ! dency, I

Yesterday—Christmas—wits celebrated throughout tho United Slates 94 only a nation returning to prosperity after dark and panicky days can celebrate Christmas. Millions of dollars wore spent in gifts, and the express and postilion st:iggored under their holiday loads. The enormous increase in package, mail was not the only problem tJiat confronted the Pest Office Department. Another was that of tho " Santa Clans letters." It is estimated thai from 75,000 to 1C0.030 of these begging m ,v sivos to the kind old patron saint, of the children are dcrwited in the post-boxes at Christmas-time o;ich year. ]. ;ls t v a r these were turned over to'various ciiaritaiilo organ.fal.ons to make flu- best possible nso of those ll'.at, came from homes. This year the Charity Aid Soeioiy of thiH ciry-an organisation th.it takes 35 per cent, of donations through its channels in order to distribute 65 percent — ni'i.'-> protest against what, it was pleased to'term indiscriminate and ..•;.. ing." and the Santa Clans letter „.ilf bo unanswered- licy have been sent to the wad letter office for the usual disposition 111 such cases—Hie, waste-besket,

Some one of those mmci w , t'fo for figures is s.mply abnormal has W„ given access to accurate figures, and h! done some interesting tricks with hi, poilc a in regard to our national «msur,.p t ; on o[ sugar, it swms that last ve.„ w" I record year in the sugar busmess-a'lit.it, more than seven billion pounds of iV b to 1,.u1«i States. The average eit.Ve,, of _tho country consumes Jialf hi s OW| . weight in sugar each twelvemonth, and the national sugar bill aggregates 1.000.C00d0l e:.ch year. Wo ought to be sweet indeed and never a trace of bad temper anvwhere with such a sugar bill Seriously enough tho savants tell 113 that it is one of the great builders of humanity. Another in foresting facl shown by this same genius relates 10 the world's production of s„ g ar which had practically doubled within the. past ?.0 yeare. baling grown from 17,000.C00,0001b in 1887 to 32,000,000 000 in 1907. Ji, 18S7 the United Slates' con sinned about 18 per cent, of this world's toial production, in 1907 this figure had risen to 22 per cent. Beets to-dav produce c.out cue-liulf of the world's sugar supply 20 years ago they supplied less than oiiethird.

From still another source—the 'Confectioners' .•Hid Bakers' Gazette—l find that tho value of the candy turned out. in 1«03 in the United States will exceed 100 millic* dollars. A gcod part of the sugar goes that. way. Thoro are about 15C0 ca°m|y fneiorics in tlio country, and they have turned out in Ihe present year approximately 667,000,0001!) of candy, or nearly BJll> of candy for every man, woman, or ciiild amongst ns.

Xow that wo are deep in figures, tho recent reports made to the National Conservation Commission at its recent meeting in 'Washing-lon will be of interest, The report, on the mineral resources of tho country and their waste was listened to with ihe greatest interest. lis figures showed ihat the mineral production of the nation now exceeded 2,C00,0C0.000do! annually, and_ that of this sum more than sjo million dollars was represented in waste. A great, source of waste in structural materials ami money is due each year to firo. In 1907 the Cue' losses of the nation amounted to 456,4!5.90M01, or about SO per cent, of the value of the new buildings constructed during that year. Fourrifnis of this loss, or about 565 million dollars, is set down as preventable waste compared with the present European stan<laid of building construction and firo loss. Of the lire losses last year, 27 per cent was duo to fires extending beyond the buildings where the fires originated. It was also said at the meeting of the commission that enough natural scs to light eiory city of more than a 1000 population in the United States was being wasted each day into the atmosphere. From such appalling figures the commission is now endeavouring to effect some public relief.

The necrology of the montli includes Donald Grant Mitchell, who died at his heme in Ihe suburbs of New Haven. Conn., on the 15th. As Donald Grant Mitchell b? was not known nationally; as Ik Marvel, writer of "The Reverie.' of a Bachel.T"' and ,: Dream Life," he enjoyed a worldwide reputation. The first of these works was written in IGoO, and appeared as a serial in Ihe Southern Literary Messenger, the magazine lo which Edgar Allan Tea brought, lasting fame. "Dream Life" followed a year later, and through 60 long •y-?ars these works have continued to gain distinction for their author. They rank with living's "Ske-teh-bcck" among American classics. Millions of copies of each have been prinlcd, and they have been translated into 32 languages. Mr Mitchell never again wrote works of such distinction. He lived, however, lo a keen old ago in an almo-niiere of distinction rarely obtained by American literary men. He was 86 via re old at tho time of liis death.

Nineteen hundred and nine is to be a year oi great centennial birthdays. Just its Kngiantl is celebrating the centenaries of the' birth of her Gladstone, her Tennyson, her Darwin, her Fitzgerald, flic United glares will celebrate Tiincoln, Oliver AYen-d-;!l Holmes, and Edgar Allan Poo ill similar fashion. Of these, the greatest by fav is Abraham Lincoln. Ho ranks nest to (icorgo Washington an the gicatest of all Americans, and flicro is none more universally loved. His birthday—February 12 —is to receive national recognition tiddly enough, it is the same day that Dai-win first, saw the grey old world, and while the Darwinites all over the world are celebrating the memory of that great, scientist, every true Ainorican will turn his thoughts toward the great martyr President. His centenary is to he- celebrated as no man's has ever yet been celebrated hi this connivy. Elaborate preparations are now under way, and the day is to !>e pormanently comineniinorated by some great monumental work. .11 is being planned already to erect a vast memorial in Washington to the man who was horn son of an uneducated woodcutter in a back-country log-cabin, and who rose by force of his sheer ability to become the pilot of a great nation—to give his life for that nation.

Oliver Wendell Holmes was one of the finest of our lyrical posts, bat Ihero is something tremendously pathetic and appealing about the unbalanced life of Edgar Allan I'oe. Foe was beyond question one of the geniuses cf the English tongue. Despite all tho handicaps, of a disorganised and dissipated life, the greatness of his gifts have ma<lo his a household name throughout the country. If he had written nothing else. "The Raven" would have immortalised him. It is one of the very greatest of our lyrics, anil with eyes fixed upon it cue forgets tho man who wroto it—tho Pco of the disgraceful love affairs, the bad debts, the gambler and tho spendthrift, at college, tho man who, while he was still hardly move than a boy, was killed in a drunken brawl and found dead in an alley gutter in Baltimore. It is because of his genius, and iu spite of tho man himself, that America is to honour ids centenary too, and also ercci a groat liioimiinjut to tin memory of hits works.

On-iilo Wright, the distinguished aviator, has entirely recovered frc-.-n the serious injuries he received while sailing his aeroplane at Washington last September, end after a short trip abroad will again resume the (iovonimwit tests, hi the meantime the other airship experts have all been busy. The Pacific const city of Los Angeles was star,led only the other day when Roy Knabemhue, tin experienced aeronaut, sailed calmly over it and dropped a confetti bomb into ii s pnl>}ic square. It showed the possibilities of tho airshin as a tighter beyond a doubt, and in a fearfully unpleasant fashion. The Government was

much interested in the experiment, and haa redoubled its efforts in the air-ship tests. The famous Sandy Hook lightship, a watermark known to navigators .for mora than half a century, aid tho outlying sonline! of New York Harbour, has been removed. In its stead a now ship—Ambrose Channel lightship—has been anchored a short distance away, but- ibe. old salts aver that a staunch friend is gone. They avo odd folk, these old salts, and changes find little favour in their eye*.