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Show H "orrcHponiicnco Tr.bune (IT ASHINGTON. May 2S.-Labor for U buUtHnsr the Panama canal Is f T going to be one oC the Greatest ' T problems which the. United States Government will he called upon 10 solve In connection with the. Kreat work. There ban been" a srent deal of difllculty In selecting the route and In buying the canal property, Rcltlns a ronccsBion from Colombia, and nfter-ward nfter-ward supporting a revolution which made the ranuma ntrip Independent; securing a treaty with the new republic having, the treaty ratified and last of all. In getting through a bill leaving the povernmcnt of the canal zone to the President of the TJnitcd Stntcs. All of these things entailed a great deal of troubles It meant he solving, or intor-national intor-national and financial problems. But rtow a different phase I9 presented. Af-icr Af-icr the engineers have decided what work shall bo done, and their plans have been approved, then comes the great task of actual work. Machinery can be used to great advantage, but hundreds of thousands of men will have to be employed If the canal is construct- cd within a reasonable time. 1 no em-ployment em-ployment of these men involves two -rent questions; one. whether they shall b0 contract coolie labor brought oyer from China, Mexico, the Vcst Indian Islands, or wherever cheap labor can ne-obtained, ne-obtained, or whether the rigid rule ot exclusion Is to bo applied in the canal strip, and none but American labor l -Mnployed. The labor unions have al- ready taken the matter up, and are very anxious to prevent the cniploy-mcnt cniploy-mcnt of the cheap Chinese labor, and the labor unions are very powerful In the United States. Maj. Hugh C. Gal- j lagher. a member of the general Stan. 1 of the army, some time ago formulated j t proposition for the caro of employed labor, which has been submitted to the canal commission. His idea Is to have the labor on the canal strip cared for in the same manner as United States sol-fliers. sol-fliers. Not only should the men be em-ploved em-ploved with due regard for their physl-cal" physl-cal" condition before being sent to the Isthmus, but upon their arrival they .should be fed with the army ration, and their camps and habits regulated with the" same strict regard for healthful conditions as the troops of the United States, whether in barracks or in camp Of course, this might be considered cx-. cx-. pensive, but it would not be. for it has ben demonstrated that United -States " troops can be fed at tho rate of about IT cents a day. Jt would cost more upon the isthmus, because, of the cost - of shipment of supplies and the estab- fl p llshment of barracks and camps. But health Is the main thing. Some people fear that as soon as the earth is dug up - in large quantities there will be a great deal of sickness spread through the en- tire country. It may be found that ln-" ln-" borers from the United States cannot r live on the isthmus. In which event the , i heaper labor would have to be used, fl no matter where it could be obtained. 1 " Your uncle Samuel is becoming quite fl a banker for the American soldiers. For the year ending June 30. 1903. there ' were depositea by soldiers Jl.SSS.OH. and j it Is understood that the amount for thft fiscal year which will end the last of Z th-i coming June, will be much larger. The enlisted men of the XTnlted States arc allowed to leave their money in the . hands of paymasters, taking a certifi- v-atc for it, and the Government pays the men interest at the rate of -1 per cent a year. Mtny soldiers largely in-crease in-crease thfiir earnings by leaving their money on deposit as long as possible, and It Is really a very good savings bank for them. The year befor the Spanish war the amount deposited was loss than one -third of thai deposited in 1003. The enlisted strength of the army has been increased since then, nnd Is now about double what It was before r the Spai'-lfh war, but the amount left oA- deposit Is three times as great as Jt 1 was when the army was smaller. Pos- slbly service In the Orient and theves-tabllshment theves-tabllshment of large posts ha e beer, conducive to saving on the part of the troops. At all events, officers of the War departn)ent look 111)011' the increase as beinir an indication' of thrlf tlness c upon the part of the American soldiers. On sevenil occasions ' atteinpts have ,been made InCosress to allow' officers of the army the same privilege of leav-Ing leav-Ing their money on deposit, but every time such a bill has been defeated. H ft i a Representative Robert Ti. Hitt. who is scheduled by some of the politicians for the Vice-Pref Identlal nomination, pos-susses pos-susses some attributes of a Vlce-Presl-Hj ilontial candidate. . He. is a. good story- teller. Be bns a nice house in Wash-ington, Wash-ington, and Mi. Hitt is 0110 of the so-tlal so-tlal favorites. The Vice-President Is supposed not only to preside over the Senate with dpoorum and dignity, but j ho is also suppoHed to amuse Senators occasionally with a good story of long ago. He Is supposed to take quite a prominent part in social affairs. All ihlft time he is theoretical waiting for the death of som" man In order tH.it he jnay become President. .Possibly the Vice-Presidential ofilce would have been more attractive if a man who was elect-d elect-d to It could pursue the even tenor of blts way,-and not be called to "Waahing-, "Waahing-, ton unless It was neceaao' for him to assume the duties of President. But the 1 fact Is; he ha3 got to be in "Washington during the session of Congress In order to preside over the Senate. He Is not really needed- In that capacity, because the Senate can easily elect a presidlng ofilcer, and when the Vice-President bc- omns Presldtnt, the Senate has a Pres-Ident Pres-Ident pro tern, who performs all the du-ties. du-ties. This President rro tern, also pre-BSJ pre-BSJ sides a,grr-at deal while the Vice-Presi- J dent Is away, as some of them do not J fare to spend much time in Washlng- H on. But Kepresenlative I.Utt posseasos J the other requisites for' Vice-President BH He ( would be a safe man In the AVhltc Houpc In cae he was called to that high BH position, and that is really the most Im- KVJ porlant thing connected with the seloc- H tion of a Vice-President. HHhj H Seme time within a week or ten days J there ia going to be quite an interesting I gathering down in little Rhode Ifland. KM Before he left for Washington, Senator Aldrich invited a, number of men to BSI meet him at his home In Providence, or suggested that they might move to some other point equally agreeable. A large .number of these men accepted, J and it is understood that some of the J mqnt prominent men of the Republican KBH party will be suesta of the Khode Island Senator. At this meeting many matters mat-ters connected with the coming campaign cam-paign will bo very carefully discussed. In all probability there will be read a draft of the Republican platform which it la proposed to present lo the committee com-mittee on resolutions at Chicago, and possibly the final1 editing of that document docu-ment will take place In Rhode Island. Although Secretary Taft has served ; in an executive capacity for quite a number of years, he han not yet got over the judicial habit. It is said about the War department that he writes an order "judicially" rather than in an executive ex-ecutive form. Some one was pointing out not long ago that in reviewing a court-martial case Secretary Taft had summed up the matter not as a reviewing review-ing officer, but as a Judge would do, and ai the bottom, nfter he had written his name, he started to write "Circuit v Judge." and the letters "or" were written writ-ten and then stricken out and the word "Secretary" added. Thore is an intimation intima-tion that Secretary Taft will not have to entirely eliminate his Judicial training, train-ing, and that it may be very useful at no distant day. Perhaps it may bo Chief .lustlec Taft some time within the next three or four years always, however, how-ever, with r.he provlao that the Republicans Repub-licans are- in power from the 4th of March next. 1 A h George B. Cortelyou, now Secretary of Commerce and Labor, and apparently apparent-ly scheduled for chairman of the Republican Re-publican national committee, is a wonderful won-derful development. It van about ten years ago that he was secretary to the then Fourth Assistant Postmaster-General. Postmaster-General. He was transferred to the White House to succeed a stenographer who retired from that position. Since then his rise has been rapid, and everybody every-body knows about, it. While his selection selec-tion for chairman of a political committee commit-tee Is something of a surprise, no one doubts his capacity for organization, and the belief Is general that he will handle himself In hia new position as he has hnndlqd himself In other trying positions liko that of secretary lo the President and Secretary of a new and important department of the Government. Govern-ment. At the same lime politics are strange, and no one can tell Just what makes a good politician, air. Cortel-you's Cortel-you's attempt to organize and carry on a campaign shows wonderful confidence con-fidence in himself! for many men shrink from any such responsibility. But the confidence In himself is small compared to the confidence the Presjdent reposes in him, and the President has had a better opportunity of knowing the kind of man ho is than any other person in the United States. t 6 Some lime about the 1th of July Gen. Grccly expects to receive a cable dispatch dis-patch over the all United States telegraph tele-graph lines from Juneau, the capital of Alaska. The chief signal ofilcer has been working for a longltlme to establish estab-lish a telegraph system in Alaska, and when the present appropriations arc expended and the lines provided for are constructed. Alaska will be pretty well fixed in the matter of telegraph facilities. By the 1st of October Gen. Grccly expects to be in cable communication commu-nication with Valdez, on the south coast of Alaska, as the cable from Juneau 'to Valdez will be laid as speedily speed-ily as possible. This cable line will go from Pugdt Sound to Juneau, and then 011 to Valdez, wliere It will connect with the Copper river telegraph line, and from there communication can be established es-tablished to Fort Egbert, on the upper Yukon, and St. Michael, on the sea. The land lines are practically completed now, and the most Important parts of Alaska will be reached by this Go eminent em-inent system. Gen. Greely has spent considerable time in Alaska looking over the field and arranging for the construction of the lines, and he has had some very capable officers at work In carrying out his instructions. Tt was only a few years ago that the suggestion sugges-tion of a telegraph -line in Alaska as received with derision; and nobody thought they were necessary or could be satisfactorily constructed. Now It is expected that communication will continue con-tinue the year around, over lines controlled con-trolled absolutely by the United States. V V Charles F. Manderson, formerly United States Senator from Nebraska, was in Washington not long-ago, and somebody asked him if he did not hesitate hesi-tate to appear in public just now for fear that he might be caught in the Vice-Presidential snare. "I am immune," replied the jovial Ncbraskan. "I have been threatened with the Vice-Presidency on former occasions and I have escaped, and escaped es-caped so well that there Is now no danger of the phantom pursuing me. Why is it." he asked, "that there is such a dread of the Vice-Presidential office? I know that 1 felt It when I was in the Senate and quite a number of people began discussing my availability and fitness for the position. "I would not have It, and said so. Tn fact, when I announced that I would not be a candidute for re-election to succeed mysejf in the Senate I determined deter-mined then and there never again to hold a public ofilce, but to devote myself my-self to my own business. And that being be-ing the case, It is utterly impossible for them to threaten me with any Vice-Presidential Vice-Presidential scare. Besides." he remarked, re-marked, "you know that we have a Vice-Presidential candidate in Nebraska Nebras-ka now. Hon. John L. Webster has received the Indorsement of Nebraska, and Nebraska will present his name. Even if 1 had reached the point where I could look with complacency upon filling that position, it would be entirely out of place for me to allow the use of my name when Nebraska has an active candidate " c a While Manderson was Senulor, John J. Tngalls, then of Kanses, wus President Presi-dent pro tempore of the Senate, and af- ter the death of Vice-President Hendricks Hen-dricks presided a great deal of the time. When Ingalls went out ihre was qulto a sharp contest for the Presidency pro tempore, and It developed Into an Eastern East-ern and Western fight. Senator Hoar of Massachusetts, wne a candidate. This was not a contest that was settled In advance, but it took a Republican caucus cau-cus to determine which of these mei would be nelected as President pro tempore. Manderson won. Many men who took an active part In that contest con-test are no longer members of the Senate, Sen-ate, but It was one in which the nw Slate Senators played quite an Important Impor-tant part, and they were- friendly to the Nebraska man. After the caucus 1 Senator Gorman, then as now chairman of. the Democratic caucus, asked Senator Sena-tor Sherman,, chairman of the Republican Repub-lican caucus, for the name of the man the Republicans had nominated for President pro tempore. "Manderson," replied Sherman. "The Democrats will make no nomination nomi-nation for that office," said Gorman, i.s he turned away. Manderson was therefore elected by the unanimous vot of both parties after af-ter ho secured the Republican n6mlna-llon. n6mlna-llon. ARTHUR W. DUNN'. |