Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1905-04-20
Thursday, Auril 20, 1906.
Washington Letter.


Senator Hepburn of Idaho declares
hat even though he be promoted to
some more important Senate committee
than that on manufacturers, he will
continue the fight he made during the
last session of Congress to secure favor
able action by the Senate on the Pure
Food bill. While the task which the
western senator has set himself is not
an easy one, there are some indications
that he may prove successful. His IN
variable good humor under the most
trying circumstances, his pertinacity
and his ability won the respect OF his
colleagues last session and will make it
easier for him to command their atten-
ton next winter, while his own increas'
ed experience in the ways Of the SEN
ate will enable him to avoid the pitfalls
which usually trap the new Senator.
Senator Hepburn is not crank. He
is merely fond of good living and likes
to be assured that what he eats is health.
full and pure. Moreover, be is convinc'
ed that hundred of children are killed
az the result of the sale of adulterated
food products, and drugs, particularly
the latter. Speaking Of the legislation
to which he has devoted so much time
and attention and to which he will de-
vote his energies next winter, the Sen
ator said to your correspondent, call
that is needed to complete the chain
which will render the sale Of impure
and adulterated food products, liquors
and drugs impossible and their manu-
facture Improbable, is this federal pure
food bill. With one exception, every
State in the Union has adopted more
or less efficient pure food bill but no
State can exercise full CONTROL over the
adulterated manufactures Of another
State which enters its boundaries in the
"original package The trainers OF
the constitution saw the necessity Of
conferrlng on the federal government
full authority to deal with commerce
between the States. That was neces.
sary to prevent one State discriminat.
ing against the products of another, as
they did in the days of the federation.
On the other hand, the men who de-
prived the states Of this power were
wise enough to perceive that authority
to exercise it must be vested in some
portion Of the government and they
conferred on the federal government all
the power necessary to protect the peo-
pie against the manufacture and sale OF
impure and adulterated products. 1t
only remains for Congress to exercise
that power, and it is as much its duty
to protect the people from this danger
as it is to protect them from the danger
OF foreign aggression or invasion Per-
sonally would as soon be killed by an
enemy's bullet as by fellow citizens
adulterated drug"
The most important and farreaching
event in Washington during the past
week has been the determination Of the
Panama Canal Commission to reduce
the rates on the Panama railway to a
figure sufficient to cover operating ex-
penses and pay fair dividend which
will be converted into sinking fund
to repay the United States the purchase
price of the road. and the further decis'
ion that hereafter freight and passen-
gers shall be received without discrim-
ination from all steamships or sailing
lines which may land them on the 18TH
mus and shall be delivered to such yes
sells at the other end of the route as the
shippers may direct, or the passengers
may choose. In view of the fact that
the Panama railroad ia little line less
than rs miles long, this may seem un-
important but the refusal Of the Com
mis- sion to discriminate between steam.
ship and sailing lines means much.
Years ago, that great railway pro-
motor. Coils P. Huntington secured
virtual control Of the Panama railway,
and by an agreement which created a
monopoly, insuring to certain water
lines which agreed to maintain rates,
all the traffic carried bv the 1sthmus
railway, prevented efectually the fair
competition of water lines with the
trans. con tinental railways. With free
competition it is maintained by railway
men that the freight rate between New
York and San Francisco, via Panama,
will be reduced from SO to 81 ton and
the passenger rates, including meals,
from $1l5 to sos person. This will
mean of course, that the trans continen-
tai railways will have to reduce their
rates, not to the isthmian rates, which
imply slow importation, but to a point
where the element Of monopoly is elm