Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1905-02-02
important Talk.

Naturally, inevitably and properly
any utterance of Mr. Speaker Cannon
carries much weight and attracts great
interest This grows out of both his
attractive personality and his high po-
sition. The speaker is easily the second
most powerful parsonage in the land.
Sometimes | think he is first. At any
rate he speaks as one having authority.
Lately at the Washington meeting of
the national board of trade the speaker
delivered an address. He said inter
ALA:
This is the short session of congress.
We are to agree on legislation that will
devote 650000.000 to the public service.
Should the throttle be slightly lifted there
might be easily 500, 900 600 more, and even
then there would be many sections crying
More moreit There are certain things
that must be provided. We must main
tain the army and the navy that we have.
The postoffice appropriation has increased
since Mr. McKinley's first Inauguration
from $50 1000 600 to $1S0,000, 600 And after all
the regular appropriations there may still
be left $120O00.0o0 for deficiency.
Other things are desirable but they
shall have to wait Rather than increase
taxation | believe in expanding expendi-
lures a little less rapidly than for the past
six years.
The consensus of opinion is that we had
better wait for revenue legislation at least
a year longer without undertaking to re-
wise the revenue laws 1t is a difficult
thing to frame tariff bill for it is
question of hearing each one of the repre-
sentatives who comes with the plan of
what his constituents want and making it
so that a majority of those so interested
will say aye l believe that we have a
pretty good revenue law, both for revenue
and for customs. We need the money.
Ten years ago q good law was framed,
and the making of it halted business. AS
a result the congress of the United States
viii wait long while before it runs the
risk OF doing the same thing. There is
talk of monopoly but if so it will come
under the laws of the land. and we shall
march on.
am neither a prophet nor the son OF a
prophet. bat / believe that congress will
make wise appropriations and that when
it adjourns March it will be to give the
people of the country a rest until next De-
cember.
Lord Bacon speaks of certain pas
sages i'll literature which are to be '.di-
gested Certainly the foregoing. ex-
cept from the speakers postprandial
eIlOft. is OF IldL character.
In the first place he states frankly
the minimum of annual appropriations
and illustrates the hazard Of opening
the throttle Then he breaches the
wholesome doctrine of going STOW. He
places himself in opposition to more
taxes ard to tariff revision for at least
a year The speaker does not do jus
tice to his powers of vaticination when
he disclains being Il prophet or the
son of a prophet He is too modest.
for everybody knows that he was not
talking at random when he spoke of
congress giving the country a rest until
December.
All those things are important. but
the most important statement IN the
foregoing extract from the speakers
speech is this: Ten years ago a good
law was framed" He means the VIII
son tariff bill. Mr.. Cannon deserves
the thanks of the country for making
that statement 1t was a good law
as passed that is, good when measur-
ed by the Mckinley and Dingley bills
Had the income tax feature not been
knocked out by the supreme court, the
Wilson bill would have raised ample
revenues to run the government eco
nomically administered and would
have been on the statute book yet To
do Mr.. Speaker Cannon absolute jus
tice, his entire sentence should be
quoted, and here it is Ten years ago
good law was framed, and the max
ing of it halted business" OF course
the speaker is mistaken about the max
ing of the Wilson bill hating business,
but that's neither here nor there On
that statement he bases this further
statement: As result the congress
of the United States will wait long
while before it runs the risk of doing
the same thing" That sentence means,
so far as the speaker is concerned in