Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-12-20
WASHINGTON LETTER.

cretary Root this week on the necessity Of
a greater Capitalization Of power in the fed
eral government 1t is believed that this
speech was put out by the White House as
/ a s'feeler'' to see how the public would
take the suggestion. They have taken all
interest in it all right and it is just possible
that it may furnish campaign slogan for
the Democratic party in the next campaign
which was thing that the party has been
looking for with considerable interest and
assiduity Republican members and SEN
ators are somewhat loathe to discuss the
situation although some Of the younger
ones, with whom the president is fetch,
do not hesitate to say that they are with
him in any of his plans no matter how adj
vaneed The elder ones, however, seem to
fear that the President may take the bit in
his teeth and run away with the party
band wagon. There are plenty Of observ-
ers who are inclined to think he has done
that already.
From Democratic standpoint the utter
ances of Secretary Root are entirely well
come; they open up the whole question Of
States rights which most Democrats be-
lieve haYe been too much in allegiance OF
recent years, and if a national issue is to be
made on the subject, it will be an issue
which will appeal to the North as well as
the South, the East as we'll as the West,
and cannot be claimed to have anything in
is of class and mass distinction.
All the news that has been received in
Washington from the insurance commits
sioners now in Germany in trying to adjust
the insurance losses on which the German
companies 'swelched' after the San Fran
cisco earthquake and fire indicate that the
incident may become international and
may have to be settled through the State
Department. It seems that the German
companies are not only not SO strong fnan-
cialiy as has been generally believed, but
they are distinctly ayelse to coming to the
scratch and settling their losses as did the
British and American companies. The aid
of the Kaiser may be INVOKED, and If
orders the German companies to settle, there
is no question about their doing So But
if he does not take cognizance OF the situa-
tion voluntarily, the State Department.
may be requested to bring it officially to
the notice of the German government.
Whatever the result may be, there is no
question but that the State of California
will take drastic measures to provide
against any future repetition of the foreign
company trouble. A plan is now being
discussed by the Legislature to compel all
foreign insurance companies doing business
in the State to deposit approved securities
with either the state or federal officials as a
guarantee that they will settle their losses
when called on to do So
There is very little prospect of an extra
session to consider tariff revision 1t has
been recognized all along that there
was no hope Of revision legislation during
the short session, but delegations have
called on the President from many of the
factory centers of New England and through
out the middle west to urge the propriety
OF his assemblage an extra session after the
4bh of March to take up the whole subject
Of tariff readiustment. The President has
not yet said positively that he will not do
this, but all of the indications are against
it and it is not likely that an extra session
will follow the last session OF the 59th
Congress.
Reform spelling as an official quantity
has disappeared from the government equa-
ton for the time being at any rate. Con-
gress has declared that it will stick to the
standard rules of photography and the
President without any Epoigant regret has
told Representative Landis, of the Joint
Printing Committee. that he will repeal bis
recent Executive Order, and hereafter let
the Government Printing Office do its
spelling after the accepted manner of the
standard dictionaries. This outcome Of the
reformation discussion has been in sight for
some time. The President has fully pre-
pared for it and surrendered at discretion,
taking the whole matter rather as joke.
In a short time copies of Governments docu-
ment spelled in the simple form will be
something Of a photographic rariety. But
the President says that he reserves to him
self the right to use simplifed spelling in
his private correspondence, and will con-
tinue to do so in the future.
The Nobel peace prize was awarded to
the President this week by the parliament
of Norway, but unlike most recipients Of
the prize, President Rooseyelt will not use
the money personally. He has announced
his intention Of devoting it to the establish
ment of permanent industrial arbitration
headquarters in Washington where the
differences Of labor and capital may be set
tied without strikes or lockouts. The
arbitrator will be members of the cabinet,
representative both Of labor and capital,