Middletown transcript., 1906-01-13
WASHINGTON LETTER

! Chairman Payne, has been introduced il
! the House and bids fair to cause coupl,
of weeks of debate at least. The mail
opposition to the bill comes from the cant
and beet-sugar interests and from the to
bacco trust which says it is afraid the
American market may be flooded BY
cheap tobacco as tlre sugar men are afraid
it will be flooded with cheap sugar
Chairman Payne, and he has the backing
, of Governor Luke Wright and other ex.
pert testimony, asserts that there is nc
danger of sugar and tobacco flooding the
American market. In the first place
there is not enough land available for
either crop to make their great increase a
matter of concern to this country, and
there is not labor enough available to
raise either in great quantities. On the
other hand it is claimed that the opening
of the Philippines will make fresh mar
ket for American leaf tobacco for cigar
wrappers and will enlarge the Philippine
market in China and Japan. OF course
the tobacco trust does not want to enlarge
the American raw leaf market. 1t would
mean that the American grower would
have just that much wider territory in
which TO dispose of his crop. The Amer
iean Tobacco Company of America and
the Imperial Company of England have
pooled the Oriental market to suit them
selves, and naturally they do not want it
interferred with. But it is very likely
that the Philippine tariff bill will pass
even if in somewhat amended form, and
there will be letting down of the tariff
bars which form one OF the chief obstacles
to the material development of the is
lands.
-
Congress can be very funny when it
gets dignifed, and one of the latest in
stances in this line was this week when
Representative Sims of Tennessee became
excited over an editorial in local paper
and demanded an investigation by the
committee on Post-office and Post roads
into the alleged abuse of the franking
privilege in Congress. The investigation
was ordered and the committee will prob
ably return a report that the specific
charges are unfounded. At the same
time everyone knows that the franking
privilege in requiring reply have been
sent out under frank with frank en-
velope enclosed for the answer. Mem
bers also do frank number of things
through the post-office that have no
business in mail car. Whether 1t is
true, as alleged, that cows and horses and
household goods and kitchen utensils are
also ranked may be open to question.
But it would not be surprising if they
were. The little government pa~ter Civ.
ing freedom of the mails to departmental
matter has covered a multitude of sins in
its time. 1t may be news to some Repre-.
sentatives, but it was not many years ago
that distinguished member of the Geo
logical Survey, caught in the field at the
end of season when mis- appropriation
had run low, simply pasted government
envelopes on his tents, poles, instrument
cases and mess chests and sent them all
back to Washington by mail. That was
perhaps an isolated and exceptionally ag-
grayated case, but there is lot of cheap
grating under cover of the Congressional
frank that the committee could uncover
il it wanted to.
~
Official orders do not stick unless they
are intended to, and they are not intended
TO in the case of certain privileged per-
sons. For instance the anti-pass order is
sued with flourish of trumpets by the
railroads some weeks ago will not apply
to any congressman who wants to save
his mileage. The day after the order was |
issued one of the correspondents in Waslr-
ington declared that he did not believe
the order was genuine. He telegraphed |
in the strength of his supicions to a high |
official in the Pennsylvania for transpor-
tation for himself and wife to st. Louis
and return. The pass came back by re-
turn mail, and he displayed it to a num-
Der of his friends as an evidence that his
were correct. As matter OF
act he had no earthly use for it and re-
urned it little later with polite note
aying that he had found it impossible to
make the trip.
49,
In the same connection, it may be men-
ioned that bill has been introduced in
he House reducing the mileage of mem
,ers from twenty to six cents. The
ormer figure twenty cents is relic Of the
Id stage coach days when man was q
ong time making the journey to WASH
ngton from anywhere and when he had
o stop over night at taverns and the like.
he mileage has remained at twenty cents
yer since, and few Congressman ever
pend their mileage at all but ride on a
Ass and pocket the difference.
49,
The advocates Of single statehood for
)klahoma and Indian Territory are COM
ng to the fore and there promises to be
ute as hard fight over this question as
yer the question of separate statehood
or Arizona and New Mexico. There is
trong delegation from Indian Territory
ere now. They say that statehood and
aparate statehood was promised them in
he Curtis Act, passed by Congress eight
ears ago and they are ayerse to being
ed mp with Oklahoma on the statehood
sue. A hearing will soon he given the
elegasien by the committee OF which
Ir. Hamilton is the chairman and the
int pressure from the Indian Territory
md Arizona may result in holding up the
To statehood measures for another ses-
on OF Congress.