Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1904-01-20
FROM WASHINGTON
special Correspondence of the cornrrn


democrats that have happened. or
rather is still happening at this
writing, is the sentiment anent
presidential preferences. There
was some Gorman talk and some
Parker talk among the members of
the national committee. and the
sentiment for both these gentle
men was about equally divided,
but the intense surprise of the
meeting was the amount of Hearst
sentiment that developed not only
among the members of the commit
tee, but among the people from all
sections of the country who came
here to attend the meeting.
Many of the So-called reorgani-
zer, readjuster, recalcitrant section
of the party came here cooked and
primed to walk off with the whole
thing, and they were cocky when
they got here and swelled up like
poisoned pup when they we're
approached on the subject of the
candidate, and announced that
there was no doubt that the old
element of the democracy would be
in control of the committee, and
that they would fix things TO suit
themselves. They had not looked
into their hands well, however, be-
fore the game started, and when
the people who are interested in the
success of the party began to boil
into the city from every train and
began TO talk Hearst out loud, the
reorganizers began TO look wildly
about and wonder what it all meant,
and began actually to resent the
audacity and nerve of the element
that wanted Hearst. and inciden-
tally man who had been true to the
ticket in the days of 1896 and 1900.
The overwhelming sentiment for
Hearst that developed the day of
the meeting stampeded the reOr-
ganizer crowd and the first visible
result was the practical withdrawal
of the New York people from the
contest for the location of the con-
vention. They had come here to
test the Parker sentiment, and if
they had found it strong enough
they intended to set the pace from
the standpoint of dollars so fast
that Chicago and St. Louis could
not stay in the race. for they fig
ured that if, with a strong Parker
sentiment prevailing, they could
get the convention at New York,
the nomination of Parker was q
cinch.
Their game failed to work on
schedule time and they dropped the
thing like hot potato. 1t is the
consensus of opinion here that the
Hearst movement has come to stay
and that ali other candidates have
got to reckon with the man from
New York who has so endeared
himself to the great common peo-
pie of the country. Politicians
sometimes propose. but the peo-
pie dispose.
The bill recently introduced by
Mr., Gaines, Tennessee, for the re-
lief to tobacco growers, and the
vigor with which he is urging it, is
awakening much interest. 1t re-
peals all taxes and restrictions on
free and unlimited trade in leaf to-
baccO and permits anybody, any
where, to buy and sell it in any
quantity. 1t provides also that a
grower may stem and twist and
sell his own crop without tax or
license, or deliver it to another
person to sell for him. The heavy
tax on leaf tobacco (six cents) and
the rigid and exacting require
ments of the law regulating its
manufacture have given the tobac-
co trust complete control of tobac-
co and growers are complaining
everywhere that they are not al
lowed living price for growing it.
Mr.. Gaines has gone laboriOusly
through the history of tobacco tax
legislation and found that at its
inception it was only a war measure
and would be remitted when the
war necessities subsided, All ot
those war measures have been re-
mitted except this burden on tobac-
co growers. Under existing law
the department rigidly holds that
the least change in the form of raw
tobacco as it comes out of the barr
is manufacturing"
If a farmer stems a hand, ol
twists or presses it, or in any wise
changes it from it's form in the na