Jasper County Democrat, Volume 9, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 March 1907 — WASHINGTON LETTER. [ARTICLE]

WASHINGTON LETTER.

The great anxiety on the part of the governor for the passage of his anti-lobby bill is now thoroughly understood. He wanted a monopoly of the business.

The Republicans, in deciding to let Apostle Smoot keep his seat in the United States senate, were merely carrying out their agreement with the Mormon hierarchy. They regard the Mormon vote as of more importance than the opinions of all the women in the country. Ihe public depository law that the Republican party promised to enact at the present session of the legislature is still a long way from home. And so, likewise, is about every other thing that that party promised—and the session is almost ended. The bill introduced in the legislature by Representative Wells, Democrat, to prohibit foreign life insurance companies, which contributed policy holders’ money to the Republican campaign fund from doing business in this state until the money has been recovered will not pass. The Republican majority will notallow it to pass. The two Indiana senators were split on the question of keeping the Mormon apostle in the United Stat « senate. Beveridge was for Smoot and Hemenway cast his vote against him. Does anybody supi <>se that if the angelic Smoot had been a democrat he would still occupy his seat? Not a bit of it. He would have been kicked out long ago.

It Wrtß brought out in a debate in th'' United States senate over the > reposition to increase the salat t of the head of the forestry bure> ii that the cost of the forestry S' r vice prior to two years ago I whs *375,000 a year. Now it is S3,ObU,UOO and the stealing of timber Irom the public lands goes on unabated. But the senate voted to increase the salary of the official just the same, though he is a millionaire. The senate committee on election,- lihß at last, when the session is nearly at an end, decided that E Voluey Bingham, Democrat, is entii led to retain his seat in the Benatc. Mr. Bingham received a majority of votes over his opponent. Thad M. Talcott, at the Noven J» r election. Afterward Taicott \ ielding to machine influence insi ■' uted a contest. His case was ab»<> atidy baseless and should hav- bean disposed of at once. In■tea ()f that, however, it has

dragged almost through the entire session. The fact that a right conclusion has been reached in the end proves that Mr. Bingham’s case was too meritorious to furnish even a partisan reason for reversing the judgment of the voters.

The appropriation made by the present session of congress may exceed a billion dollars. The aggregate is simply enormous and s lows the stupendous extravagance of Republican administration. In every department of the government there is the utmost recklessness in expenditures. The river and harbor bill which is known as the “pork barrel,” appropriates nearly a hundred million dollars, the biggest sum on record. All other appropriations are framed on the same scale. That for the postal department totals $209,000,000, which exceeds by many millions any previous mark. The The army and navy both get tremendous sums. And so it goes. But then it is only the people who foot the bills.

A Rush county farmer, who owns eighty acres of land through a corner of which a small ditch runs, writes as follows to the Indianapolis Star about his experiences under the ditch law passed by the Republican legislature two years ago: “Before the present law went into effect, by the order of the county surveyor, about once every two years I would take three hands beside myself and in one day clean out my allotment, which is 1,000 feet, at a total expense of $3.75. Last year the county surveyor, without my knowledge, hired the work done, which was not near as well done as I did it, and when I went to Rushville last fall to pay my taxes there was nearly S4O charged to me for cleaning out the ditch —ten times more than it ever cost me before.” It would seem that so unjust a law as this would be repealed without loss of time. But in spite of all that the Democratic members of the legislature have been able to do no change has yet been made. If the people had given the Democrats a majority that law w< uld have been knocked out long before this.

THE WORK OF CONGRESS. The session just closing ends th e career of the most extravagant congress the country has ever seen. In both the house and senate the Republican party had a very large majority. The presiding officers of both houses were Republicans. The committees which considered and reported bills were all controlled by the Republicans. In fact, the Republican party was in possession of the entire law-making machinery and had in the white house a president to advise and approve its acts. This congress, which came into existence March 4, 1905, and has just expired by two years limitation, has spent more of the peoI pie’s money than any of its predecessors —enormously more. What has it done to compensate the

country for the waste of its revenues? Two or three things are pointed out by the Republicans by way of defense. One of these is the railroad rate law. Another is the pure food law. Another is the meat inspection law. As for ' the railroad rate law it has proved Ito be a delusion to all but the railroads. They have vastly prospered and profited under it. The pure food and inspection laws are on trial. Under the deft manipulation of the Republican bosses in both house and senate the sacred tariff has been untouched, subsidy grafts have made headway, appropriations have grown so big that they stagger the imagination, salaries of congressmen and cabinet officers have been increased fifty per cent, no reform bills have been enacted and adjournment comes in the end as a real relief.

Prevent Headache. Force them?—No-aids them. Ramon’s treatment of Liver IPills and Tonic Pellets strengthen the liver and digestive organs so that they do their own work and fortifies your constitution against future trouble, Entire treatment 35c. All druggists.

Political and General Gosaip of the National Capital. Special Correspondence to The Democrat. In spite of the opposition of the big manufacturing interests, the Child Labor problem is going to be investigated. The committee on judiciary of the house reported adversely, very adversely, on Senator Beveridge’s bill proposing to control the products of child labor through the interstate commerce act. But the president had made up his mind that if there were close to 2.000,000 child bread winners in this country, many, if not most of them, employed in unsanitary work, it was a matter that ought to be investigated. So he directed that the investigation proceed, and now there has come another hitch over the matter, Representative Tawney of the house committee on appropriations wanting to put the labor on the census bureau, and the president claiming that it naturally comes within the province of the commissioner of labor. It would not seem at first sight that there could be very much question about this, but there is some reason behind the demand of the house. It so happens that both the census bureau and the labor commission are under the department of commerce and labor, and on an appeal being made to Secretary Strauss of the department of commerce and labor, he naturally agreed with the president that the commissioner of labor was the man who ought to do the work. The matter was even submitted to Director North of the census bureau, and he said that while he iad the machinery for doing the work it was a matter that naturally belonged to the commissioner of abor, and he hoped Neill would be assigned to the work. Charles P. Neill is the man by the way, in company with James B. Reynolds, who did the original inquiry in Chicago that stirred up all the trouble over the Packington situation. He is a young man, very quiet, but one of the sort that does things, and he is a friend of the president, which counts for a good deal in the reliance that Mr. Roosevelt will put on his leport. So it is likely that after all Mr. Neill will have the job looking into the child labor situation, and there is not the least question that after he has made a report on it there will be some energetic motions made from the white house thpt will force legislative action at the next session of congress.

111 The federal government has a nice little problem on its hands in the case of one Mr. Vilarea, a citizen of Mexico, who is now being held at El Paso subject to deportation under the immigration regulations. There has been more or less written about Mr. Vilarea in the papers lately, but the delicate position that the government is placed in has never been explained. It seems that Vilarea headed one of the numerous unsuccessful revolutionary movements in Mexico recently, and is badly wanted by the Mexican government. The Mexican government has an effective, if not very nice, way of disposing of political agitation by taking the agitator out and shooting him and saying nothing more about it. Of course this government does not give up political refugees to Mexico or any other power. That is one of our habits and has gotten us some desirable and more undesirable citizens who had left their country lor their country’s good.

But in the present case, the situation was complicated by the fact that the unsuccessful revolutionist had killed a man sometime down in Mexico and bad been put in jail for it. Just how justifiable the circumstances were has not developed, but Vilarea was convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude and hence was not admissable to this country under the immigration regulations. Then the question arose. If he was sent back to Mexico he undoubtedly would be taken and shot as a revolutionist. Of course we did not want to give up a political refugee, but be could not come in as an immigrant. So what were we to do. The state department and immigration bureau have been chewing over the matter for seme months and Mr. Vilarea is still in jail. It has been suggested to them that if he is to be deported, it had better be about midnight and nothing said to anyone till the next day. Or he might be taken a few hundred miles west of El Paso and shoved over the border, in which case he would stand some show of getting away. But in the interests of pure sport, it looks as though he ought to be given “game law” and this he will not get if he is turned loose in the grasp of the Mexican government.

Southern educational institutions will be a good deal disappointed at the decision of the Peabody trustees, who met in Washington, not to release any oif the funds now in their possession in aid of southern education. The money amounts to about $2,300,000 and was left by George Peabody of London, his library fame, antedating that of Mr. Carnegie. Ti e fund has been accumulating since 1867 and now amounts to a goodly sum The trustees will eventually distribute it to educational institutions, mostly in the south, and it was thought that this would be done at their meeting in Washington. But they remained in session all day and then announced that they would keep the matter under advisement till their next meeting in November. So the schools and colleges that had hoped to benefit will have to wait awhile. But the money eventually will come to them. ttt

There is now a little appropriation of $50,000 but of very great interest to everyone held up in congress. It is to enable the interstate commerce commission to make practical tests of railway signals and safety devices in general with a view to recommending their adoption by the railroads. The commission has never before had any money to experiment with in this way, but the increasing frequency of railroad collisions and the attendant loss of life and property has made it almost imperative that something should be done in this line. The chances are that the appropriation will be defeated at the present session, but there is hope that it will pass in the next oongress and inventors of safety appliances will have a chance to get their systems of protection tested free and given the stamp of government approval if they prove worthy.