Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-12

y
their advantage. Members of Congress. in-
fuential politicians, government officials.
local magnates, delegations OK citizens
committees from commercial and Industrial
organizations are coming to washington
every year to use their influence In secur-
ing the insertion of items for pubic I'M
provements and other objects In these esti-
mates, and volumes OF CORRESPONDENTS
Changes are always In order until the
budget is approved by the Secretary OF the
Treasury and the officials who are en-
gagged in making 1t up naturally oesIe 70
protect themselves from the opportunities
of those interested; hence the Secretary OF
the Treasury usually goes through the form
of forbidding the clerks in his department
to give any information on the subject.
Somebody must have handed Judge FAR
ker one of these circulars and must nave
told him that it was intended TO conceal tne
true condition of the treasury from the pup
lie. At any rate he placed that construc-
ton upon it, held President Roosevelt re-
sponsible and declared that any one who
would do such thing was unit TO De
trusted with the responsibilities OF MS OF
flee. Even while Judge Parker was max
ing these charges the estimates for five of
the nine executive departments were APP
proved by the Secretary of the Treasury,
sent to the government printing office and
then given to the public.
Mr. Davis Careful in Statements.
Mr. Davis has devoted the greater part
of his speeches to the extravaganza of the
administration and has accused the repub-
ican Congress and President Roosevelt of
squandering public money. To prove his
point he has submitted several statements
showing the expenditures for various pur-
poses. and the average cost of running the
government under the several administra-
tons from Buchanan to Roosevelt. He has
also compared them with the expenditures
of other nations in order to show that the
of q p6 "a.
CANT to the point of recklessness The fig
ures he has presented are accurate. Mr.
Davis has made no Misrepresentation and
no misstatements. He has never failed to
tell the exact truth and to give exact fig
ures, which he obtained from Mr.. Mac
Lehman, chief of the warrant division of the
Treasury Department. and other officials of
the Roosevelt administration. Judge Par
ker could have obtained the same informa-
ton from the same sources If he had known
how to do it, or had cared to get at the
truth During the sessions of Congress the
clerks in certain divisions of the treasury
spend half of their time furnishing statis-
tics and information on the finances to the
opponents of the administration, and that
information is habitually used to discredit
the officials in power with the country.
MI. Davis has been Scrupulous in his
statements. The other day he was quoted
In the newspapers having said that one
OF the great trusts had contributed half
million dollars to the republican campaign
1und The next time he made a speech he
referred to the publication and said that it
dld him injustice; that he had made no such
statement, but had merely alluded to a re-
port he had read in a newspaper He dis
claimed all responsibility for it, and de-
cared that he was unable to say whether it
was true or not.
Misled Regarding Philippines.
Judge Parker has not been so careful but
1t Is the unanimous opinion of the people
who know him that he has been entirely
sincere, and has made no charges against
president Roosevelt or the administration
mat ne did not believe to be true. They in
sist that he has been deceived by his adyis-
ers and people connected with the demo-
cratic national committee In whom he had
right to put confidence, and that he has not
been guilty of Intentional Misrepresentation
lie has himself told us that his information
concerning the condition of affairs In tho
Phlnpplne Islands came from e, Parker
S wins, VINO , was vouched for by Moorefield
other anti-imperialists and he evidently is
not aware that those very gentlemen youch
Tor lunatic whom they brought to WASH
mony before a Senate committee IN Tho
same subject. The man himself yoluntariiv
ADMITTED on the witness stand that he had
been an inmate Of St. Elizabeth's Asvl,Im
where he had been confined by the orSer nf
me PRESIDENT to prevent him from telling
d dne ruin sd about the Philippines He also
~ sit|t 'o,ooV hOTe VICTIMS OF lmDerial.
ism were confined in the same institntIar
for the same reason, A
a Il. farker Willis has never been con-
fined in an insane asylum. but he is ~ q
very partisan and excitable tempera ment.
ana no one who knows him well would
place the slightest reliance upon any state
ments ne might make concerning subjects
III whlch ne Is deeply interested He has
. pesn d newspaper correspondent at WASH
lngton. and is well known here as the most
v .L lntolerant and violent opponent of
.ne expansion policy that ever appeared in
nave made a personal investigation of CON.
oiuons IN the Philippines, but no one in
nahiia from whom newspaper correspond
ehts usually seek information remembers
10 70 nave seen him there. Undoubtedly Judge
faIker accepted his statements in good
d dalen put II shows at least that he lacks
discernment. He could not have saIecta6
more incompetent adviser on the Philin-
pine question. and If an inquest is held II
might be profitable to inquire who Is re-
sponsible for the statement CONCERNING the
treasury and the pension office.