The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 6, 1902, Page 1

¥ EErs VOLUME XCIII-—-NO. ~ 6. SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1902. PRICE FIVE CENTS. ! HILL’S ADVANTAGE TARIFF WAR THREATENED BY CERMANY May Discontinue Favored Nation Clause. Reichstag Prepares a Resolution Aimed at Uncle Sam, BERLIN, Dec. 5.—The reason the Gov- nt came to terms with the majority es in the Reichstag on the tariff bill commercial treaty hence the necessity he tariff bill passed as quick- le, in order to have a basis negotiate a new treaty. The was also anxious to get the by the present Reichstag and remove the tariff and treaty ques- is from the realm of practical politics the general election of June. In do so more effectively indica- e military question like on for the improvement of n which the election fight von- Herrensheim, Count ron von Wardorff, to- our Conservative, Na- nd anti-Semite members introduced & resolution aimed at the United ks Chancellor von Bu- ing the commercial notice on any country goods fair reciprocity existing most favored 1} -be -discontinued -in general commerctal out that if the Y war Germany will he United States is ctured ce which Germany is eas Germany must raw materials, petroleum, s introduced an designed to fur- s by limiting fon rder to five empowering the presi- floor at his discretion to speak on such apers have been re- American parlia- eliminated from the ves to- were measurably esday, owing holiday. TO AVERT THE CRISIS Political Leaders Explain Their At- the Young Spanish Kin, Cabinet crisis an ex- of all the self ac- situation vold a dis- 1 party; is inevitable. the King this evening ed Senor Sagasta to a con- aid that the King declared that uld announce his decision to- o L i HONDURAS IS NEXT WITH A REVOLUTION Sierra Insists on Enjoying the Presi- dency and Bonilla’s Partisans Are Threatening. PANAMA, Colombia, Dec. 5.—A revo- Jutionary movement is threatened in Honduras. General Slerra hgs been in- ced to refuse to turn over the Presi- rtial power to Senor Bonilla, who was elected President in' October. It is believed that the Honduras Con- gress will try to déclare the last election illegal and Senor Bonilla’s numerous par- tisans threaten to protect their leader’s rights by force if mecessary. At CONE OF MONT PELEE APPEARS INCANDESCENT Volecano on Martinique Roars Con- tinually and Vessels Are Cau- tiored to Keep Away. 'OINT-A-PITRE, Guadeloupa, Dec. 5.— elee, on the Island of Martinique, esumed its dangerous activity, Pro- La Croix, in a bulletin published ys that the previously devas- The volcano is.emptying ashes, rise as high as five miles. Rum- are heard daily. The central cone rs to be incandescent, falls fre- Sovernment‘s intention | wing how filibuster. | ring verbal re- | e members of the | ex- | leaving the palace the ex-| MAKES HIM | were issued by the War Department were so vague that no business man, in the absence of additional information, would enter ment’s work, is a business man. The inference is plain that he knew what the Government intended to do, while San Franeiseo was left in the dark on all essential points. The omissions in the information supplied by the army officers to San Franecisco are so obvious that they will occasion surprise this morning in the business community, which is vitally concerned. i | | ‘ { i i (1 ELMU =booT | SECERETASY { e —— + IS TOLD COVETED SECRETS ‘San Francisco Gets | Only Very Vague 1 Pointers. 66 goods from | IM*>” HILL has a secret under- standing with some ome in the | War Depart- |ment of the United States | that enables him, as a | business man, to bid for {carrying officers, troops {and freights for the Gov- | ernment to the Philippines. The wily transportation |magnate, whose name is | synonymous with shrewd- {ness and enterprise, has found a way to get in- | formation which has besen denied to San Francisco. | Why he has the full flood of knowledge for his own use and benefit, while this city has been treated so |that its transportation |lines have not deemed it | safe to bid while existing | conditions remain, may be another story. | At stake is the transport ser- | vice which has been of such great | advantage to the city by the | Golden Gate. The conclusiohs| | concerning Hill and the advan- | tage he has gained, which are | mentioned in the foregoing, are harbored by the shrewdest men of business in this city, and the | evidence would seem to be very convincing. On the face of things, the situ- ation must appear to the most careful observer to be-singular, to say the least. San Francisco has reaped millions of |dollars from the golden harvest that the institution of the transport ser- vice between the Golden Gate and quently emd is formed anew. Pasping ships are cautioned to keep’far from shore. the Philippines has brought her. A fair expectation has been that -~ B | T1.J. LUDING TOM QUARTERIMMASTE RS GEMNME-R. AL / —t ) OVER RIVALS A PREFERRED N EXPLANATION is this morning furnished why the transportation lines having termini at this port failed to bid for trans- porting the army passengers and army freights between San Francisco and the Philippine Islands. The specifications that | 1 || into a contract with the Government for the service proposed. J.J.Hill, who made a bid—the only one—for doing the Govern- | i # ) 1 DEFENDS OFFICIAL METHODS Department Officers Claim That All Is Fair. Arifiy Wishes to Have Free Rein For Its Acts. N to do. she would have many millions more, to which her transporta- tion facilities and her geopraphi- cal position and the vast military plant that has been established at the Presidio would seem to en- title her. Suddenly a dark cloud has ap- peared in the sky. - The removal of the transport service is threat- ened. The transcontinental lines terminating here and the steam- ship lines that are their allies and connections, all having the ex- pectation of making much money . OTHING in any contract made for service herein specified shall be so construed as to limit or abrogate the-right of the United States to use any owned ship for service whenever it may be deemed in the interest of the United States so g SOME MEN WHO ARE MOVERS IN NEGOTIATIONS FOR PHILIPPINE’S SERVICE. e RIS 5 < TEXT OF STERN PROVISIONS. Transports Held Free to Re-| Government Reserves the Right sume Business at Option. T to Fill Up the Ships. HE Government is to be given preference in the transportation of passengers and freight where, in the opinion of the officer or ageht of the Quartermaster’s Department, a military ex- igency exists therefor requiring such preférences in the interest and economy of the service. 5 by transporting passengers and freights between San Francisco and the Philippines for the Gov=~ ernment, see this menace and make no move to make fast the business in sight for themselves by bidding competitively when invited ‘to do so by the Govern- ment. Why is this? This is the puzzle that the bus- iness men of this city, vho are largely-concerned on thei. _wn account, have been trying vainly to solve. Meetings have been fla}.'e taken place. Congressional aid has been invoked and the wires between here and Washing- ton have been kept hot with dis- patches passing in both direc- tions, to and fro, relative to the matter of great public concern, which is the possible loss of the transport service, to this port. The transportation men have given out no facts heretofore in explanation of this marvelous trade phenomenon. The Call has held and all sorts of discussions oonfinmd on Page 3, Column 1. ' | prove wholly inadequate to the —————e——ps | ALL BUREAU, 1406 G STREET, N. W, WASHINGTON, Dec. 5.—The War Depart- ment officials, referring to the| contract for carrying troops and | freight for the Government to the | Philippines, for which the de- partment invited” bids, say that| the specifications providing for | the resumption of the transporta- tion business by the Government | itself at any time were included for the reason that in time of war | or other emergency the Govern-| ment might be compelled to use| its own transports, in addition to the ships of private concerns with | which it might have contracted to do the business. The War Department should be free, they say, under such con- ditions to ‘command absolutely the transportation of soldiers and supplies and not be tied up with an ironclad contract which would place the department at the mer- ¢y of private lines at a time when the facilities of their service might ) . b | necticut. BIDDER UNCLE SAM MAY INSlaT ON HARMONY Venezuela Difficul- ty Now Nears the Crisis. United States Is Ready With Moral In- fluence. CALL BUREAU, 406 G STREET, N. W., WASHINGTON, Dec. 5.—When the fast approaching crisis between Vene- zuela and Germany and England, who are preparing to coerce the South American republic into payment of her International obligations, arrives, the moral influence of the United States will be thrown to- ward a peaceful settlement of the difficul~ ties. ‘While there is no objection on the part of this Government to a forcible collec- tion of the debt on the lines of procedure already proposed by Germany, there is a strong feeling here that the United States would do well to go. far in using its good offices to aveld the imminent imbroglio. With powerful fleets of German and English warships hovering outside Ven- ezuelan ports, international complications might easfly be precipitated by a blun- der on the part of a commander. The South American situation, involved as it is with the Monroe doctrine, is extremely delicate and an international blunder, even though followed by no serious results, would be harmful to the policies of the United States. Never in the past has the Monroe doc- trine been encroached upon. It has been threatened once of™ tWICY AT Presiaane Cleveland feund It necessary to warn England. It is feit here that should the Monroe doctrine be violated even In mis- take it would be weakened. As Herr von Holleben, German Embas- sador, outlined in his note, the method of procedure will probably be the posting cf an ultimatum, probably a joint ome by Germany and England, followed if un- successful by a peace blockade of ports, and again followed, if that is unsuccess- ful, by the seizure of custom houses and the collection of duties to the extent of the international obligation. The posting of an ultimatum would probably be fol- lowed by a severance of diplomatic re- lations. 1f the United States exerts its moral influence, it will probably be done through United States Minister Bowen at Caracas. At the present time it is felt here that President Castro will come to terms and promise payment of the obli- gations if Germany and England enter In earnest upon their programme of co- clon. His note to Germany, which was | rejected at Berlin, it is thought, was a feeler. L e o o e o e ] demands of the situation. It was claimed also that in case of the necessity of the prompt shipment of large bodies of | troops and supplies to the Philip- pines it would be of highest im- portance that the Government should have transports of its own at its immediate disposal and not be compelled to rely on pri- vate parties whose ships might make infrequent trips and be in- sufficient in capacity and equip- ment to do the work. For this reason the Government decided to retain possession’ of its trans- ports in case the ' contract was awarded to private parties. It is denied here that any element of doubt entered into the terms of the contract, bids for which were recently asked. It is declared that bids were widely advertised and that the Seattle company had no advan- tage in responding to them not possessed by any other concerns that.desired to compete. Secretary Root will doubtless give his final decision in the mat- ter of awarding the contract op his return to Washington next week. “J. J. Hill of the Great North- ern and Paul Morton of the Santa Fe are both here working indus- triously. Morton is trying to ob- tain readvertisement for bids. He expects to get the contract. He has the powerful backing of New England Senators, Hale, Frye, Lodge, Hoar, and Platt of Con- »