The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-28

they say they are going after Taft He is next on the list.
 "eThe recent outcry about the canal was in part aimed at Taft: Now scru- tiny of the Philippine administration is to be added Immediately. after the holiday recess is oyer it is the purpose of the Republicans of the senate 10 permit the Democrats 10 1 start phii,nn,ne 1i..,e administration of Mir. Taft. Just what there is to criticise has not yet appear ed. But when one wishes to cavii' 10 sinuate. to knock" it is not difficult to find the pretext. All this talk about canal salaries. .extravangance and exo so eGetext eretext on onuth the part of Senators, It was merely convenient cluo. DoWn in their hearts the critics do not care a rap how much money Is spent. Wnat f they do care is who gets At--their Ia vorites or the Presidents. And, more than all, they want something to talk about, something to shake their wise prfSed virtue and sorrowftf indignation about. It is Roosevelt and Taft they arcrafter, not the economy of the public service.
 In the Philippines, as in the canal, the Republicans of the Senate will have the valuable assistance of the Democrats It is a very pretty game the way they Democrats lead the. attacking party the, Republicans mildly defend and ex- plain, deprecatingly, sadly. All that really req # is not the fault of the Repub- lican Senators. They are not respon, sible. And the thing must be looked into. Correctives must be applied: Ihe Democrats are permitted to say the meanest things, and the Repuoncans say just enough to egg the other fel- lows on. And though careful analy- sis of the actual fact would fah to show anything very tangible and cer- tainly nothing very terrible-one em- pioye getting s10,000 a year, whereas in some people oplnlon ttta ne tbings ndk Iie that-by the time the Democrats have finished their onslaught and insituation and the Republicans have shaken their heads in well-feigned sorrow and damned with faint praise, one IS almost ready to believe President Roosevelt and Secretary Taft have been stealing sheep. They have a nice understanding be- tween the two sides of the chamber up at the Senate. They work well togeth- CT. Senatorial courtesy extends so far as helping one another to cruelty a foe. Just now the ball is being kick ed merrily to apd fro from one IG SIae and the Republicans the sly little | punches which hurt the most: It is unnecessary to add that the ball wears glasses, and has prominent incisions
 After New Years it is expected that a portrait of the handsome, rotund, the optical and dentihcal symbol on the ball with which the senators so joyful \ ly amuse themselves. Salaries paid in der the microscope. The expenses of the administration of the island, the
 administration of justice, the character
 of civil employees and all that t,t, must be
 ball viciously and the Republicans
 sending it back with just enough force and frequency to keep 1t in play.
 Among the terrible indictments
 brought against Secretary Taft Is one | ty the standpatters, led by Wilbur
 Wakesman's Protective Tariff League
 this man Taft was precipitated the
 tariff question by forcing upon Con-
 gress his bill reducing the duties on
 he to meddle around in that way and
 disturb our equanimity? First thing
 we know, the American people will rise iff on Philippine goods Is good thing, l why wouldn't reduction on goods from
 other countries be many more good
 Taft isn't a Republican on the tariff | question anyway. If he was he would | never have made that break about the governnfent buying ships and machi nery for9 the Panama Canal in the
 cheapest market.
 | Another frightful aIragnment oe l Taft comes from nd less distmguish- | cd a parsonage than Senator Dick of Ohio. According to Dick, 1t was Taft,
 this unorthodox Republican member
 of President Roosevelt's cabinet. who | is responsible for the downfall of the
 elephant in the buckeye state last
 'iaft murdered the Republican party | in Ohio," says Dick, '"and we must
 hang him high as Haman in the Sem
 These are some of the maneuvers
 and distempers and bickerings and
 knifings of the leading members of the | majority party here at Washington
 It goes without saying the Democrats
 are enjoying 1t to the utmost. They | haven't been so happy since the day
 they elected Grover Cleveland-the | first time. The more experienced men | of the minority know this is their time to have fun, because history teaches them that as the presidential struggle Of 1908 draws nearer the Republicans
 will stop quarreling among themselves
 sound the bugle for party loyalty and discipline and face the enemy in ranks
 solid and stolid as &he old guard