The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-03-23
But Mr.. Roosevelt and Secretary
Of State Root Want Peace.
THEY DO NOT COURT ANY TROUBLE
Willing to Treat Germany on Square
Deal Basis, Some Recent
-tz.1tl =
Correspondence.
FREE PRESS BUREAU, !
WASHINGTON. ID. G.. MARCH II. !

| WASHINGTON. ID. c. MARCH H.
| Congress has been in session three
and one-half months and very little
legislation has been adopted.
| President Roosevelt has not been OBJ
liged to sit up nights and ponder on the
constitutionality of any bills which have
been sent to the White House for APP
proval.
Only two of the big appropriation
| bills have been posed; railroad rate leg
islation still holds the boards in the
senate; the joint statehood bill is in a
legislative log jam; the Philippine tar
| iff bill is muzzled in the senate commit
tee and the shipping subidy bill is
whaling and knocking away for consid-
Grafton in the house.
And still there are some political wise
cares to make the prediction that con-
gress will clear up the decks and ad-
joun by May 18th at the latest.
June lst will find Speaker Cannon and
Vice President Fairbanks still holding
the gavel and deciding knotty parli-
mentary questions.
The tariff question is bound to be-
come conspicuous before the session is
over. 1t crops out ever now and then.
| The latest bullitin from the ''standpat-
ters' is rather amusing to say the
least. Ha-
They claim that the American Re-
| ciprocal association or league with
headquarters in Chicago is going to take
a hand in the fight and put in lot of
money against the standpatters. The
claim is also made that Germany is 60
| ing to take an especial interest in the
| trict of Minnesota, and that the Ger
man boards of trade and other business
organizations in Berlin, Dresden and
Hamburg and other German ports are
already sending out circulars to assist
in the Forthcoming fight against j. T.
McCleary in the second district of Min
nesOta.
Such absurd reports as these will of
course react on those who circulate
them. If Mr.. McCleary, who is strong
standpatter, desires to get into a row
with Germany, all by his lonesome it is
nobody's business. 1t looks now as if
he really wanted to engage the German
nation in war with himself. For he
is quoted in The Minneapolis Journal as
saying that the Eight with Germany
over the tariff has just begun" This is
a rather bold statement in view of the
recent diplomatic correspondence be-
tween the United States and Germany
regarding the tariff situation While
Mr. McCleary is being interviewed and
adverting to the tariff war with Ger
many as only having begun, the presi-
dent of the United States and his secre-
tary of state have been very Industrious
in preventing tariff war with Ger
many. What would Mr.. McCleary have
done as a standpatter had he been in
| the position of President Roosevelt and
Secretary Root. According to his TWEEN
ty-five per cent retaliatory bill the Sec
ond district member would have under
taken to have rushed it through con-
gress, thereby precipating an issue at
once, that would have menaced the sue
cess of the republican party in the No
vember elections The president with
that far-sightedness for which he is
famous chose to treat with Germany
rather than fight friendly nation. In
fact he has left all the fighting to be
done for Congressman MeCleary in his
Forthcoming campaign in the second
Minnesota district.
What the Record Shows.
1t will be of interest for Minnesota
voters to know just how the matter of
concessions to and from Germany were
made by President Roosevelt and Sec
rotary Root.
Imperial German Embassy, Washing
ton, February 8, l906.-Mr. Secretary:
As the American government has not
found it possible to arrive at a decis-
ion on nv memorandum of November
the German government, fully recog-
nizing the difficulties of the American
government in dealing with the ques-
ton, is ready to fulfill the desire which
has been expressed to me by the presi-
dent and by yourself, and recommended
by me to my government. The German
government is willing to grant to the
United States for a certain period those
reduced customs duties which have
been fixed by the treaties concluded in
1904 and 1905 between Germany on one
side and Belgium, Italy, Austria Hun
gary, Russia, Roumania, Switzerland,
and Servia on the other side. Today a
bill will be introduced in the Reichstag
with a view to authorize the federal
council (Bundesrath) to grant to the
United States of America until 30th of
June, 1907, these reduced duties. In
making this concession the German
government expects that Germany,
will enjoy after March l, 1906.