Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 April 1909 — WASHINGTON LETTER. [ARTICLE]

WASHINGTON LETTER.

From The Democrat's Regular Correspondeent. Interest in Washington continues to center in the 'Payne tariff bill which has now passed the House and is being considered by the Senate commltttee which expects to report its substitute Monday or Tuesday. I is somewhat difficult to take seriously the House measure in view of the fact that the Senate Is preparing a complete substitute and that It is known the measure adopted by the upper house will not only contain innumerable alterations but that It will shape the law as ultimately enacted. It Is asserted In Republican circles that the Senate committee has actually lowered some of the Payne duties and that all the duties on "necessities” will be lower than those Imposed by the Dingley bill. It remains to be seen, however, just what Mr. Aldrich means by necessities and what he classes as luxuries. It Is known, for Instance, that he and his colleagues on the Finance committee have raised most If not all of the duties on steel. This means higher prices for every steel article from steel ranges to steel chisels. That raises the question, is not the steel range as much of a necessity to the woman with a large family to cook for, and the chisel as much of a necessity to the carpenter or the farmer who does his own carpentering as the coffee they drink or the tea they consume? A highly interesting }f somewhat academic discussion has been raised by the suggestion made in a newspaper close to the administration that the President might deem It his duty to veto the tariff bill. The proposition advanced by the correspondent of that paper was that if Mr. Aldrich and his associates on the Finance committee increased the duties to a point where they must be regarded as a violation of the Republican national platform, the President would not hesitate to exercise the veto power, he having already on more than one occasion inflated to the leaders of his party in Congress that while he did not seek to exercise any undue influence over their deliberations he would not sign a bill which, in his judgment, did not give due consideration to the interests of the “ultimate consumer.” Speculation has been rife as to whether this was an “inspired” dispatch, that is, suggested by the President himself with a view to warning the members of his party in the Congress, or whether it merely voiced the fears of certain of the more moderate protectionists on the Finance committee.

Opinion generally leans to the idea that the dispatch was inspired at the White House and in any event it seems to have had the effect of occasioning some anxiety among the Senate leaders for Senator Aid- 1 rich has takep occasion to go to the White House carrying with him a copy of the benate substitute and assuring the President that the duties therein were all lower on necessities than those fixed by the Dlngley bill'. Whatever may ulti-j mately prove to be the facts, the Senator from Rhode Island appears to have completely satisfied the President who expressed his entire approval of the work of the Senate commlttee and has since told his friends that he regards the measure prepared by the upper house as an admirable piece of work. Thus all talk of his vetoing the bill has been dissipated and once more entire harmony reigns among the Republican tariff cooks. When the author of “A Man Without a Country” penned that famous novel he could hardly have seen far enough into the future to have perceived the plight of Clpriano Castro, whilom President of Venezuela, and yet If ever there was a man without a country It is that same Castro. As nominally the President of Venezuela, actually tue dictator of that unfortunate country, Castro violated every pledge and disregarded every obligation of honor and honesty. Hlk was literally a reign of terror and when his nealth compelled him to go abroad to seek the services of a famous European physician, the people of Venezuela seised Joyously upon the opportunity to depose him and make Gomes their president. Having recovered' ait I least partially from the effects of ,the operation he underwent abroad,

*.♦ , Castro sailed for this continent. Meanwhile, however, he had been Indicted for murder, having as President ordered the execution of one of his generals whom he charged with treason and condemned without a trial. Were Castro to land on Venezuelan soil he would immediately be oast into prison as a felon. Therefore, he sought to land at some other West Indian port from which he could direct a revolution with a view of overthrowing the present President and reinstating himself. Castro, by the way, had repudiated the just claims of the United States and insulted American ministers until this country was compelled to break off diplomatic relations with Venezuela. His successor immediately agreed to submit all American claims to arbitration which is what the United States had long demanded. Consequently, his successor appealed to the United States to use its influence to prevent from finding harbor anywhere in the West Indies and fomenting a revolution in his former country. The United States cheerfully complied, with the result that Castro cannot land anywhere in the vicinity of Venezuela. He left his ship at Porte deFrance, but France has ordered him to leave and the Indications are that he will be unable to set foot again anywhere on American soil, but will have to return to Europe where he is powerless to work injury to his former country. Literally he is “a man without a country.”