Newspapers / Polk County News and … / Dec. 20, 1906, edition 1 / Page 1
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- . .. - r . 5 . - , . ' - . :k - ; ' - . . : - ' ' ' ' " ' . , . . ' . ' ' I 00 M. -t . - ; .- "' r Three wwHj. " IPJUt.Ht.NPfc.NlJE VOL XII. M MESSAGE SENT III r.. r'.rinrri- TVancmtf'C HlC Views on Porto Rico HIS FUTURE IS PROMISING hers .Beth American and Native, Endeavor to Train Studentsf m jjuid and in Citizenship Insular police and Porto Rican Regiment Should "be Perpetnated Frill Am erican Citizenship Should be Con ferred Upon Natives Marked Progress Made Under Present Gov ernor, Toward Self -Government Elections This; Year Were Abso lutely Orderly and Unaccompanied by Any Disturbance. Washington, Specials The Presi- lent's messaffe to Congress giving the suit of his recent -observation? in orto Rico and making, recommenda- .' i iLi. -e inns pnnL'fiiiiUK iuc .KUVCinmenL 01 'that island was delivered to the Sen ate. It was read at length and re fceived careful attention. The mes- jsre was as follows: Tte President's Message. To the Senate and House of Repres entatives: :. On November 21 I visited the is land of Porto Rico, landing at Ponce, crossing by the old Spanish road by Cayey to San Juan, and returning next morning over the new American road fro Areeibo to Ponce; the scenery was wonderfully' beautiful, especially among the mountains of the interior, which. constitute a ver itable tropic Switzerland. I could not embark at San Juan because the harbor-has not been dredged out and can nt receive an American battle ship. I do not think this fact credit able to us as a - nation, and I i earn estly hope that immediate provision will be made for dredging San Juan Larbor. .. : ;-..v . I doubt whether our people as a whole realize the beauty and, fertility of Porto Rico, and the progress that has been made under its admirable. government. We have just cause for pride in the character of our rep resentatives who have administered the tropic islands which came under our flag as a result of the war with Spain: and of no one of tHem is this more true than of Porto Rico. It would be impossible to wish, a more .faithful, a more efficient and- a mors disinterested public service than that now being rendered in the island of Porto Rico by those in eontrol of the insular government. .. ' I stopped at a dozen towns nil told, and one of the notable features in every town was the gathering of the school children. The work that has been don? in Porto Rico for education has been noteworthy. The main em phasis, as is eminently wise and proper, has been put upon primary education; but in addition to this there is a normal school, an 'agri cultural school, three industrial and three hip.h schools. Every? effort is being) made to secure not pnly the benejis of elementatry education to all the Porto Ricans of the next generation, but also as far as means will permit to train them so that tho industrial, agricultural and cbmmei-' cial opportunities of the island can be utilized to the best possible ad vantage. It was evident at a glance that the teachers, both Americans and native Porto Ricans, were de voted to their work, took the great est pride in it, and were endeavoring to train their pupils, not only in mind, but in what edunt3 for far jflore than mind, in . citizenship, that is in character. . Troops in the Island. I was very mach struck by the ex cellent character-both of the insula, r Police and of the Porto Rican regi ment. They are both of them bodies that reflect; .credit upon the American administration of the island. The in sular police are under the local Porto Rican government. The Porto Rican regiment of troops must be appro priated for by Congress. I earn estly hope that thi body will be kept .permanent. There should certainly w troops in the island, and it is wise thesa troops should be them yf native Porto Ricans. It would e Arom every . standpoint a mistake flot to perpetuate, this regiment. tr;ivoising the island even tha jf; ' "'I'sory survey leaves the be- 0!itr struck with the evident rapid Jr,JV-th. in the culture' both of the 'Jjar cane and tobacco. The fruit us,y ls also growing Last year the i most Pperous year that ' inland has ever known before or tnt'T tjle Anieriean occupation. The J,tal sports and" imports of the l.ya $45,000,000 as-aeinst i11 tile IS n.J c n - .. ".t ' . u uaioiy. .rnor to me r r "can ohcupaion the5 greatest trade for any one year was that of 1896, when it reached nearly $23, 000,000. Last year, therefore, there was double the trade that there was in the mosf; prosperous ycfar under the Spanish regime. There were 210,273 tons of sugar exported last year, of the value of $14,186,319; $3, 555,163 of tobacco, and 28,290,322 pounds of coffee of the value of $3, 431,102. UnfoHunately, what used to be Porto Rico 's prime crop coffee has not shared this prosperity. , It has never' recovered from the dis aster of the hurricanej, and moreover, the, benefit of throwing open 'our market to it has not compensated for the loss inflicted by the closing of the markets to it abroad. I call your at tention to , the accompanying memo rial von this subject of the board of trade of San Juan, and I earnestly hope that some measure will he taken for the- benefit of the excellent and high grade Porto Rican coffee. In addition to delegations from the nard of trade and chamber of com tw of San Juan, I also received delesations from the Porto Rican Federation of Labor, and from tha CofEee Growers' Association. Question of . Citizenship. There is a' matter to which I wish I to call your special attention, and niai, is tue uesiraumiy 01 conierring full American citizenship upon ths people of Porto Rico. I most earn eastly hope that this will be done. I can not see how any harm can pos sibly result from it, and it seems to me a matter of right and justice to the people of Porto Rico. They are loyal; they are glad to be uuder our flag, they are making rapid progress along the path of orderly liberty. Surely we should show our apprecia tion of them, our pride in what they have done, -'end our pleasure in ex-! tending recognition for what has thus been done, by granting them . full American citizenship. Under the wise administration of the present progress has been made in the difficult matter of granting to the people of th,e island the largest meas ure of self-government that can with safety be given at the present time. It would have beien a very serious mistakes to have gon any facter than we have already gone in this direc tion. The Porto Ricans have com plete and absolute autonomy in all their municipal governments, the on ly power over-them possessed by the insular government being that of re moving corrupt or incompetent mu nicipal officials. This power hai never been exercised save on the clearest proof of corruption or in competence such as to jeopardize the interests of the people of the is land; and under such circumstances it has been fearlessly used to the immense benefit of the people. It is not a power with which it would be safe, for !the sake of the island itself, to dispense at present. The lower House is 'absolutely elective, while tho .pper House is appointive. This scheme is working well; no injustice of any kind results from it, and, great benefit to ;the island, and it should certainly not be changed at this time. The machinery of the elections is administered entirely by the Porto Rican people themselves, the Governor and council keeping on ly such supervision as is necessary in order- to insure an orderly elec tion. Any protest as to electoral frauds is settled in the courts. Here again it would not be safe "to make any change in the .present system. The elections this year were absolute ly orderly, unaccompanied by any disturbance; and no protest has been made against the management of tho elections. although three contests are . threatened, where the majorities V cmnll ond orrnr Ttrcta clniTtl- ed; the contests, of course,' to be set 'Td in the courts. In short, -the Governor and council are co-operating with all of the most enlightened and most patriotic of the people of Porto Rico in educating the citizens of this island in the principles of or derly liberty. They are providing a government based upon each citizen 'h self-respect, and the mutual, respect of all citizens; that is, based upon i rigid observance of the principles of justice andjhohesty. It has not been easy to instil into -the minds of peo ple unaccustomed, to the. exercise of freedom, the two. basic "principles of our American-system; the principle that the majority must rule, and the principle tha t'the minority has rights which must "not be disregarded or trampled upon. Yet real progress has been made in having these prin ciples accepted as elementary, as the foundations of successful self-government. I transmit herewith the report of the Governor of Porto Rico, sent to the President' through the Secretary of State. : - - All tine insular governments should be placed in one bureau, either in the Department of War or the De partment of State. It is a mistake not so to arrange our handling of these islands at Washington as to be able to take ,idvant?tge of "the ex perience" gained in one, when dealing COLUMBUS; N. with the problems that from time to time arise in another. In conclusion let me express ; my admiration for the work done by the Congress when it enacted the law under which the island is now being administered. After ''seeing 1 the is land personally, and after five years' experience in connection with its 'ad ministration, it is but fair to those who devised this law to say that it would be well-nigh impossible to have devised any other which in the actual working would have accom plished better results. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. The White House, December 11, 1900. Contract Has Been Awarded. Norfolk, Va., Special The contract for the building to be erected at.thrj J amestown Exposition by the Daugh ters of the Confederacy all over the country, has been awarded. The building will cost $5,000 and will be a reproduction of "Beauvoir,"-; the home of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, at Gulf port, Miss. Cruiser Montana- Launched. Newport News, Va., Special. The United States armored cruiser Mon tana was sucessfully launched at Newport News ship yard in the pres ence of a. large number of people. The .vessel was christened by Miss Minnie Conrad, daughter of W. G. .Conrad, of Montana. Governor Toole, represented by Martin Maginnis, the former territorial delegate to Con gress, j Thex navy was not officially represented. . ' " Enrique C. Creel Mexican Ambassa . dor. to United States. City of Mexico, Special. It has been officially announced by the Mex ican government that Enrique C. Creel, Governor of the State of Chi huahua has been appointed Mexican ambassador to the United States. Senor Creel is of American descent and is one -rof . the wealthiest and most progressive men cf the republic 1 i Charged With Assassination of Fath- er-in Law. Columbus, Ga., Special. Charles Hardy was arrested near Chilplej', this State, on the charge of having assassinated his father-in-law, Char les H. Brooks, several days ago. Har uy disappeared after a coroner's jury fixed the j crime upon him. Brooks was a well-to-do. farmer, a posse was formed and pursued and captured liim. Six Men Blown to Shreds. Knoxville, Tenn., Special. Six men met instant deaths Saturday af ternoon in a dynamite explosion about '24 miles from Newport, Tenn., and just across the State line fr North Carolina. They were employed on reconstruction in building an exten sion to the Tennessee & North Caro lina Railroad. A load of dynamite for a blast exploded while being tampered, . tearing six men 1 into shreds and seriously injuring a sev enth. ' ' New Corporations. Certificates oj: incorporation were issued from the office of the, Secre tary of State to the following enter prises: Home Supply Companv, of New Bern. The object is to do a general mercantile business. The - total; authorized capital stock is $5,000 and. the incorporation will commence business with $2,500 paid in. ; . ; j. - ' . - The Hanson Mill Company, of Dillsboro, in Jackson county, to do a general milling business, that, is, grinding and preparing all kinds ol f grains into flour, meal, feed stuff s, etc. The corporation, is also authoriz ed to do a cotton manufacturing bus iness. , ... : ; The total authorized capital is $50, 000. The : , company will commence business with $15,000. Th 2 incorporators are : Messrs,. W. G. -Hanson, of Minneola; Fla.; C D. W. Colby and Joseph J. Hooker, of Dillsboro, N. C. , BUY FEW EXTRA YARDS. In -buying colored lawns, dimity, mull, gingham . or any wash goods, duv enough extra to make over the waist ' and sleeves the next season, for Ithere is sure to be a change In fashion that , will make your dress look antiquated. And whenever you launder the dress put in the extra materia!; it will not need to be ironed, w.ct, it with the dress, so when making over time comes there will be. I no difference in color. Every cne wiw, I has ever tried tbTade a Piece, or doth to match- exactly the worn, I knows what an impossibility it is. : IN ALL THINGS. Subscri Cl, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1906. ill ARE HOME BIDDERS American Contractors to Get Panama Canal Job MANY CHANGES IN CONTRACTS Many Changes Agreed to in Form of s Contract for Construction. But I Most Important is ' Announcement by .Chairman Shonts That Only 'r Proposals by American Firms Wil Be Eeceived. 1 4f Washington, Special. Foreign con tractors are. to ze barred from compe tition for the completion of the Pan ama Canal. Chairman Shonts, of the Isthmian Canal commission, made this announcement. Many changes have been agreed to in the form of contract to be entered into for the construction of the canal, but the most important is the limiting of rosals to American firms. The ight will be reserved by the commis sion to reject all the bids submitted; in case none of them is satisf actory and the commission will then either throw the competition open to for eign bidders or proceed with the work without contract. January 12 is the date set for the opening of proposals. A substantial reduction in the -bond of the successful bidders , was; also made Jby the commission, 1 in compli ance with the request of prospective bidders. The bond will be only $2, 000,000 and the total liability of the contractor is to be limited to the loss of percentage and premiums' other wise payable to the contractor and .$3,000,000 in addition. Chairman Shonts indicated other changes as follows : " ' To relieve the contractor from- re sponsibility1 for the use of defective, materials, or for the preparation for use of the same, provided he has re quested the chief engineer in writing for the definite approval of the ma terials, or the preparation for use thereof, and the chief engineer after a reasonable time fails to act upon such request. "To provide for a later change in the estimated cost and time of con structure, as originally agreed to by the engineering committee, in case the plans and specifications for the con struction of the canal shall be ma terially altered in any respect; or if! it shall be made to appear to the President of the United States that the estimates are based on physical data so erroneous as to affect the es timated cost and time of construction or that the . estimates have become substantially inequitable by reason of the intervention of an act of God or i; public .enemy; or for any other ma- Ntei-ial cause which shall not have been aken -into account by the en gineering committee in making their estimates, and for which the contrac tor is no responsible. ' "It was also provided that in case minate the contract, when the con tractor is not in default, the contrac tor shall be paid the cost of the work performed by him to date, and $2i50,000 in addition to such percent age as may have been earned by him upon such cost up to that time. "The-responsibility of the contract or to the commissioner for all" in juries or damages inflicted Upon the plant, canal, or its auxiliary works, is limited to negligence of himself, or any of his employes, or -subcontractors, or the employes of such sub contractors." Two KiU:d and Two Injured Donaldsville, La., Special.-7-Four persons were killed and two serious ly injured in a head on collision be tween a passenger and a freight train at a long curve near here on the Tex as & Pacific Railroad. All the fatali ties were among members of the train" crews, no passengers being seri ously hurt. ' Green and Gaynor Appeal. Macon, Ga., Special. The appeal for a new trial in the Greene an.l Gaynor case, now before the Unite d States Circuit Court of Appeals, will be heard at New Orleans, on January 5, 1907v They have been in jail here for several months ; ponding appeal for a new trial. Gaynor suffers aceute pains from asthma and locomotor ataxia, and binder advice of physic ians is permitted to -take rides into the country where fresh air and ex ercise s:em to give him relief. Both men are kept closely' guarded within prison limits and not allowed liberties outside of prison rules. !v . r, r - H 1EI I III Bankers' Scheme of Currency Reform Not Sufficient SECRETARY SHAW GIVES IDEAS Sejc. Shaw Appears Before House Committee on Banking and Curren- cy in 'Advocacy High Tax Credit Currency Suggested Five Per Cent. a& Desirable Bate. - i tv - - ' ;-,".-: Washington, Special. Secretary Shaw appeared before the House com mittee on banking and currency in advocaey of a high taxed credit cur rency, suggesting 5 per cent, as a de sirable rate. He emphasized the need for greater elasticity in currency; ut expressed the opinion- that the plan framed by the American Bankers' ' As sociation will not bring out sufficient to be very useful' Granting that the bankers' plan results in the issuance of $200,000,000 additional in national, bank notes, Mr. Shaw said that in his opinion not more than $20,000,000 worth of these will be redeemed. Mr. Shaw thought the bankers' plan wholly inadequate to meet the requirements of the commercial world and said it was encumbered with too much machinery for the limited good results he feels it is capable of ac complishing. He would not want to be- regarded as an opponent of the measure suggested by the bankers be cause Jie felt that any step toward relieving the demand for greater elas ticity at certain seasons of the year was desirable, but urared that the committee strive to frame a more ef fective measure. It was urged by the Secretary that an effort should be made to make all our currency elastic, rather than to impart elasticity to a certain amount of emergency currency. Under-the? bankers' plan, -he saidr only the credit currency which goes into redemption. There would be no rea son why private banks should seek e redemption of national bank notes and consequently they would make no effort to do so. In the bankers' plan national banks are to be permitted to issue $25,000 additional notes for eveiy $100,000 of their capital at an interest rate of 2 1-3 per cent, and an additional $12, 500 with interest at Jhe rate of 5 per cent. Episcopalians Withdraw. Norfolk, Va., Special. It develop ed that the Episcopalians, as a de nomination, have withdrawn - from the proposed inter-denomination evan gelistic campaign to be conducted during the Jamestown Exposition period. A meeting of the Virginia State Baptist, Presbyterian, and Meth odist committees has been called for December 18, when the local "commit tees of these denominations will dis cuss witb the State renresentatives the situation as prescribed by the withdrawal of the. Episcopalians. It is stated for the Episcopalians that their withdrawal was because of no disinclination to co-operate, but be- Cause OI me rauier uu&l-iiigu tuuui tions in two of the. leading Episco pal churches here, and further be cause it was not regarded that there was as :.reat need for the evangelistic campaign as 6ome thought. . '', For Ship Subsidy Measure. Wa airigton, ' Special. That Presi dent Roosevelt will "send; to 'Congress a special message advocating the pas sage as a ship subsidy measure at the present session, was stated by several members of the House. It was said that the President had declared that the recommendation in his annual message was misunderstood In that message he said if It whs found inex pedient ,to . pass the Senate bill, a measure should be passed to provide for a few lines to South American ports. He did not mean to minimize the improtance of other features of the ..billit is said, and now purposes to correct any false impression tha$ may have been gained by the House. Twelve Business Houses Burnsd cad Their Contents Destroyed. Sharon, Ga., Special. Sharon was Friday morning visited by a disaster ous fire. Twelve business houses and contents were totally consumed. There was a loss of $50,000, with insurance of $10,000. The fire started in the drug store of Dr. L. R. Brown. The flames spread japidly, making a clean sweep of everything except two brick stores, the bank and the Georgia Rail road depot. - . ' i uai m Muvancc, NO. 34 Items of Interest From Many Parts of the State MINOR MATTERS OF STATE NEWS Happenings of More or Less ImporV ance Told in Paragraphs The Cot , ton Markets.- G ' All Boy Brave and Nervy. . . Lenoir, Special. Saturday evening four or five prisoners made an at- c tempt to ' break jail here, but were prevented by ' the cool presence ' of " mind displayed by young Wilforl . Smith, the sixteen-year-old son of the sheriff: The jailer himself was rioCat home and young Smith and his sister were giving the prisoners ther supper. The bay hod locked himself inside the cage, but had the keys with him. The prisoners noticing this fact made an attempt to get the keys away front him, but the boy bravely stranded to the iron gate and threw the bunch of ' " keys out between the bars, leaving himself locked up with the- disap pointed men. The sister screamed for help and in two or three minutes a good crowds of people was' on the scene. The men were then all locked in cells. , Masons Will Build. Greensboro, Special. At a joint meeting of Greensboro and Corinth ian Lodge of Masons it was decided to form a corporation for the erectioi of a $50,000 Masonic -.temple. The project was discussed with the utmos , enthusiasm by those present and three thousand dollars .-was subscribed in: a very little while. As soon as five . thousand dollars is subscribed a char ter will be secured. Among the sites . mentioned for the building is the va cant lot on the corner of Elm and Gaston streets immediately south of the City Hall and north of ths eoun ty court house. 4 . V Leaped for. life. . -.Spencer, Bpeial.nginerH.l D. Major, of Spepcer, was severely in jured near Reidsville, by falling from . his engine to the ground. It is learn ed that the crown sheet of the boil er blew out and there was a terrific escape of steam. In order, to save himself from a' fatal scalding the en-r gineer jumped from the cab to the tender and his foot slipped, throwing him violetly to the -track below. Ha", was badly hurt in the back and sus-' " tained severe bruises. The train was making about twenty miles an hour when the accident occurred. Boy's Skull Crushed.. Statesville, Special. About two weeks ago Thaddeus, 4-yearrold son t of Mr. and Mrs. C. K. Edwards ho live near Claremont was kicked on the head by a colt. His head was , ( crushed on the right side of the fron tal bone and he was brought to the sanitarium in Statesville for treat ' ment. A large piece of bone was re moved but surgical skill could not avail. The little boy , retained con- . sciousness for many f days after tho -injury and bore his suffering with wonderful patience, but his life eb bed away, and Friday he died ' Cotton Association Annual Meeting.' ' : Raleigh, Special.r-Thft annual me;t ing of the North Carolina .Division. of . the Southern Cotton Association will ' . be held here, on Wednesday, the sec-r " ond of January, and over a hundred delegates are expected to be presenti " v The officers now da charge of the '.'as sociation are ' Chares C. Moore, pres ident ; A. J. McKinnon, vice presi dent; T. B. Parker; secretary; Leo D. Heartt, treasurer. The execr.tivo committee is composed of H. C. Dock- . ery, A. C. Home, A. C. Alexander, R, H. Speight and A. C. Green. - Wat on Worldliness. Salisbury, Speciahr-Next r Sunday ; the congi3gati6n of the First Baptist church will vote oh a code of .rules designed to put an effectual cheek to- worldliness amongst the membership , , v In brief the proposed rules pro viuV that members who make, sell or in dnlge . in alcoholic liquors, who gam- -- ble, swear 'or refuse topay their debt who engage in immoral conduct, who. danca or play cards, or who attend, the theatre, shall be- the subjects of -church discipline. " ; ' : , . ' t -i Putting Dcwn Pejn. r , .. ; Wayncsville, Special. It is seated. . that a railroad routo is being survey- led from Dillsboroi or Sylva to East La "Port and frcm East La Port to Las.e xoxaway. mis new railroad,, according tt rumor, is to be built by the Southern and to connect Brevard" . with Seneca, S. C. and will give a di- recti line south. It will open vast -timber and mineral f resources hither 7 to untouched. . , r. 'J ! -1.
Polk County News and The Tryon Bee (Tryon, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 20, 1906, edition 1
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