President Roosevelt has directed that action be taken by the Administration which will facilitate the landing in this country of Chinese of the exempt classes, and also eliminate from the Immigration Bureau such administrative features as have been the subject of criticism by Chinese.
Secretary Taft does not agree with Attorney-General Moody in the decision made by the latter that the eight-hour law should apply to all labor employed by the Government or by contractors on the Panama Canal.
The Borton Herald, in a timely editorial conserning President Roosevelt and his appeal to the warring nations, and touching incidentally upon the cry for a larger navy, says,—
Attorney General Moody has written a letter to Secretary Taft of the War Department, giving his views on the general subject of peonage and its bearing on the employment of "coolies" in digging the Panama Canal.
Robert Watchorn, the recently appointed Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island, New York Harbor, came to this country in 1879 as an immigrant himself.
In view of the fact that immigration this year points to the breaking of all records, indicating a total of over one million — one-eightieth of the population of the United States — most of it coming from Italy, Hungary, and Russia, President Roosevelt is said to be considering the idea of presenting the problem to Congress as constituting a serious peril and urging drastic action.
Plans for the enlargement of the terminal and dock facilities at Colon and Panama, and the double tracking and re-equipment of the road, entailing an expenditure of approximately $2,000,000, were approved by the board of directors of the Panama Railroad Company at a recent meeting in New York City.
President Roosevelt returned last week to Washington after completing a trip that covered 6,006 miles and took him through twelve States and three Territories.
The Navy Department is in receipt of a proposition from the Marconi Company for the establishment of a wireless system of communication between San Francisco and Hawaii.
The recommendation which the Naval Board of Construction has made to the Secretary of the Navy for the construction of the three scout cruisers—Chester, Salem, and Birmingham—contemplate that the Fore River Shipbuilding Company build two of the vessels,—one equipped with reciprocating engines, the other with turbine engines; the Bath.
Secretary Taft and Senor Guitterez have reached an agreement to arbitrate the outstanding issue respecting the sale to the Philippine Government of the Dominican Friars' lands, amounting to about 160,000 acres, involving eight Haciendas, valued at about $2,500,000, which amount has been on deposit in New York for more than a year awaiting an agreement between the principals as to the titles to the lands.
The census of the Philippine Islands, the principle object of which was to secure statistics of population and a general knowledge of social conditions as a basis for the establishment of a Philippine Legislature, has been completed.
