Jasper County Democrat, Volume 8, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 December 1905 — WASHINGTON LETTER. [ARTICLE]

WASHINGTON LETTER.

Political and Oeneral Gossip of the National Capital. Special Correspondence to The Democrat: It looks as though the Panama appropriation- bill will have a stormy time ahead of it in the Senate. It was conceded that it would be passed by the House with considerable speed, but even at that there was $5,500,000 cut from the amount and all of the members who had a spite either against the measure or against the President took opportunity to vent it. There were some very caustic things said about the payroll of the Commission, some of which were true and some exaggerated for party and personal ends. A good deal ofcapital was made out of referring to the SIO,OOO "press agent” of the Commission. Now it is quite true that Mr. Bishop, who is thus designated, is probably overpaid; he is really the secretary of the Commission and why he should be always spoken of as the “press agent” merely because he usually gives out the newspaper statments is a little hard to see. There was some criticism also of the other SIO,OOO men, W. D. Ross, the purchasing agent, and E. S. Benson, the auditor. Whether these are both good men it will be possible to judge by experience. If they are, they probably are not ever paid. The purchasing agent is one of the most important officials under the Commission. He has much more than any other OD6 man to do, keeping supplies of all sorts up to standard and his opportunities for graft, if he is dishonest, are limitless. The auditor is almost equally important, and under the government system of book-keeping, he is likely to earn his salary whatever it is. If these two men are well paid, there will be less temptation for them to look for money on the outside, and if SIO,OOO each will keep them honest in a tropical atmosphere, which is redolent of graft, the Commission may be spending money wisely in giving them good salaries. ttt

One thing is certain, and that is that the appropriation bill for the Canal will have to go through in time for the end of December payroll or else the workers will have to wait for. their money. There is enough money to the commissions account to meet bills up to the 15th of this month. But beyond that there will be a deficit. The canal is going to cost a great many millions and it will be worth it, whatever it costs. So Congress had just as well appropriate th.e money cheerfully since this country is committed to the enterprise. There will be a great many oritioisms made as the work progresses. But they cannot effect the ultimate outcome and Congress cannot prevent the ultimate success of the project by niggardliness, though it can hamper it.

One of the warehousemen’s association meeting, here last week will appeal to every one who has to face the problem of the increasing cost of foodstuffs without a corresponding increase of salary. They have petitioned the (Government for a federal cold storage plant. This will necessitate an appropriation of $1,000,000 and the plan may or may not be well worked out. But the idea is to throw the government in between the people and the feed trust which uses the cold storage plant to enhance prices. Practically every article of human food is now subject to the cold storage method of preservation and it iB the ability to keep anything from eggs to beefsteak for a year without spoiling that enables the Beef TruslTwEicb handles a great many things beside beef, to dictate prices both to the producer and the consumer. It is most likely that the government cold storage idea will never come to anything, but it is a writhing of the worm in an effort to turn. Possibly by the time the country is reduced to meat once a week as a luxury there will be some better idea than the government cold storage plant turn up and stand a better show of passing. t t t It developes that there are more roads to fame and competence than being born in Ohio, graduating from Harvard or having served in the Rough Riders. It is rumored that the President is about to appoint “Bat” Masterson his personal bodyguard in place of Mr. Tyree, made United States Marshal of West Virginia. There is no indication that the President is threatened with any particularly pressing danger or that he is more than commonly nervous. But he does love a man who is light on the trigger. Masterson, the famous ex-sheriff of Dodge City, only recently came to New York to accept the post Marshal there. But he has recently had a couple of conferences with the President and it is more thftn possible that he will be picked to succeed Tyree. “Bat” always was a handy man with a gun, but he was decidedly on the square and he held down the delicate and difficult post of sheriff in the days when it was said that there was “no law west of Omaha and no God west of Dodge City.” The chances are that if he becomes a special secret service man he will never have to crook a finger on a trigger. But he is a man who has proved his ability to do that when required, and the President has an especial fondness for a man who is deft in that direction