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Mails Close for the Leeward and Windward Is- lands and other southern ports by s. s, Martinique at. 11.30 a. m. to- day. EDITORIAL. The Herald of yesterday 'declines to show the public through the same medi- um in which it advocated the abandon- ment of the present form of government how we are wrong or how it is itself right. Until concrete facts are advanced to refute the unalterable evidence of figures, we shall have no more to say on ths subject. Those who have eriticized the figures we advanced without know- inc hew we arrived at them will please be advised that we are prepsred to show th>m. Certain daductions made by us were purposely so made and rather bene- fic the other side; we know this. It is so easy to wait until somebody starts to fulfil a common duty for others tc find fault. This is the failing of Sf, Croix people unfortunately. I.,OCAL The s. s. ‘‘Martinique’’ arrived at Frederiksted yesterday afternoon from New York and called at this port this morning and after discharging cargo will leave for thd islands. See notice about closing of mails. Prof. B. A. Walcott ¢f the Aibonito Training College, P. Rico came on the Mizpah yesterday and will speak at the Seventh Day Adventist Church tonight on Christian Education. All are cordially invited. —Com. THE SPEECH OF THE HONORABLE, THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, IN THE CHAMBERS OF THE CO- LONIAL COUNCIL AT THE AD- MINISTRATIVE BUILDING, ST. THOMAS, 8 APRIL 1923. Gentlemen of the Councils of St. Croix and St. Thomas, citizens: lam only a visitor here. The admin- istration of these islands is a civil ad- ministration which the Navy furnish with men to carry on. 1 have no autho- rity here outside of strictly military autherity. I have, however, a very great desire to be of use to these islands if I can, to help out in every way possi- ble, to use such powers as [ may possess to bring benefit to them. and as an American citizen 1 am very anxious as we all are that prosperity shall return by whatever route is considered best by the Congress of the United States and the Providence of the Lord. Congress, however, cannot make rain for you and it seeins to m 2 that despite all the talk S O 11 A0 -of rum, that water is whit vou want, | and you will rather have water than . ~ rum. You have presented your :ase very fully to these representativ.s of | the American people before whom the ~ matter will be ultimately considered and derided. As to myseif, I am goirg to ~ send down here and have atta hed to ~ the Governor’s staff a civii engineer ~ from the Navy of as good capacity as I can get to make a study in the Lills of ~ St. Thomas and the hills and plains of St. i Croix and find out what method, if any, can be adopted to impound rain or I whether or not he tiinks it worthwhile to dig for water, whether artesian wells ~are likely to produce nd if no:, whether ~if 1t is a mechanic | and engineering ~ possibility to impouund rain in order that ~ the water may be conserved for the use | of the people and for the use of the cat- . tie on these izlands. Other projecis may ' come later. Itis utterly useless to talk . of irrigation on a large scale now. [ have ' been out and seen these cattle myself. ' They are thin. They are not in good ' condition. Thty need grass. We car ot | give them grass. [am told they need " water, possibly that water miy be pro- duced and conserved for them. That is ~'ve thing that I am going to t*y to do to . lp the Virgin llslands. One other . thing in the Governor’s request I shall ' do. I shall ask the Coast and Geodetic | Survey to survey the harbor of St. Thom- ' as. After they have done it, the results | of_that survey may be laid before Con- | gress and if the Congress desires, it will ' pass such legislation as will enable the | harbor to be dredged to a depth that - will acco. nodate large ocean going vessels. I wa.tto assure you that every | one of us in this pa.iy i 3 earnestly de- . sirous of aoing everything he .., . . proper ways, to help bring back and pre- . serve the happiness and prosperity of ' these beautiful islands. (Applause). In l the meantime, more rain for St. Thomas, i St. John and for St. Croix. TELEGRAMS, SI. CROIX STATION. Angora, April 10th.—The Nationalist Assembly has ratitied the socalled Ches- ter Railway and Mining Concessions. Negotiations for the Chester conecessions in Turkey, which include the develop- ment of the Mosul oil region and the corstruetion of twelve hundred miles of ruilway in the Mesopotamian fields, were first instituted by President Roosevelt. It takes its name from Rear-Admiral Chester, of the United States Navy, now retired, who was sent to Turkey in 1908, to ohtain for the United States interests certain valuable priority rights in the Tur- kish old producing disiriet. United States capital could be used under the agree- ment to 2xtend the Bagdad railway (o the borders of Persia, while rail con- nections would be afforded to the chief cities of Turkey. Dublin, April 10th.—Liam Lynch, the Chjef of Staff of the [rish I!‘regular‘ has been captured, it was offizially an* nouncad this afternoon. i.ynch was cap- tured by the Free State forces this morn- ing at Knockasalen, near Newcastle, at- ter an engagement in whica he was seri- ously wounded. London, April 10¢h.--Mr. Stanley Bald- win has prcposed taxation on betiing as an integral means of raising revenue un- der the forthcoming Budget, according to the ‘‘Posts’’ political correspondent. T'his levy, the possibility cf which has Jong been discussed here, is subj e. to the approval of the Cabinet. During the time that the proposal has b2en aired 10 the press it has become apparent that such a tax will meet with strong opposi- tion in some ¢uarters, but advoca.es of the measure contend that a large reve- nue could thus be raised at a compara- tively smali cost, Lstimiates of the sum ohtainable differ widely, some persons putting 17 at 10,000,000 pounds, whnile others place the total at 30,000,000 pounds. Berlin, April 10th.—Hugo Stinnes ani his wife were taken from their bertns in a Berlin-Essen trein by French rail- way guards last night and were locked up in the baggage car, accirding to word received here today The inecident oc- curred at Scharnnorst., H-rr Stinnes was on the way to Muetheim., where his principal industrial interests are cen- tred. Scharnhorst, Germany, April 10th.- The IFrenen today arrested KEdward Hamm, Secretary of the Chance' ey of the Cuna Cabinet, Adam Stegecwald, ex-Premier of Prussia, and Reichstag Deputy Giesgerts, Ex-minist r of Pcs s. The latter two were released, but the French are continuihyg to hold Becretary Hamm on the ground that officials, act- ive in the German Government, hud been forbidden to go to the occupied area. London, April 10th.-Mr. Lloyd George will speak in Edinburgh on Sanday May 27th on ‘“‘the Churches and International peace’’. General Assemblies of the three Presbyterian Churches will be held in session in Edinburgh at the time. Chicago, April 10th. —President Hard- ing will be renominated by the Republi can Party, without opposition, for Presi- dent in 1924, Senator Foss, of Ohio, declared in ap address here last night before the Hamilton Club of Chicago. Mr. Foss sa:d he was making the state- ment with the consent of the Administra- tion. London, April 10th.—The Turkish Gov- ernments reply to the Allied peace pro- posals, which was examined today at the Foreign Otfice, was declared to be reas- onable and discussable. The note sa®s the Angora Government does not cgn- sider that the Allied proposals raise any .important point regarding the territorial clauses of the projecied treaty, but Brit- ish Officials point oul thut tase is hardiy