The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1907-11-29
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER
WASHINGTON, D. c. Nov. %, 1907.


of Congress will prove themselves IS
incapable of dealing intelligently with
the question of financial legislation In
the coming session as they have for the
past ten years continue to multiply. In
his public letter to Secretary Cartelyou
the President said he had assurance
that the leaders of Congress were con-
sidering measure Of this character
and that he expected legislation at an
early date. When asked later who
were the leaders to whom he referred,
the President could think Of only two
or three wholly uniniuential Republi-
can Senators, such as Beverage,
Bourne of Oregon and Switzerland of
Utah. He said however that he count
ed on the support of Speaker Cannon.
Now the Speaker has arrived in Wash.
ington and says he has no plan under
consideration and intimates that he
does not expect an early legislation.
Of course the fact that Mr.. Cannon is .
banker and man whose private fortune
exceeds 81, 900, 900 may in part account
for his unwillingness to take any step
which might curtail the pr offs. Of the
bankers in times Of financial stringency.
But from every quarter comes the same
information. No enc of the leaders of
Congress has even considered financial
legislation and Mr.. Roosevelt appears
to have been lulled into = feeling Of
security by the assurances of men whose
influence ends with the passage Of 3
few private pension bills.
1t Is interesting to note the extsnt to
which the belief is gaining ground, IS
has already been insimsted in these let.
tiers. that the New York bankers and
big nnsnciors have been almost wholly
responsible for the money stringency
in the west The bankers loaned their
funds to Wall Street gamblers and then
when they lost money they cried string
ency, tied up their reserves, loaned only
small amounts at exorbitant rates of
interest and made the west whistle for
its money. OF course Mr.. Roosevelt
did not appreciate the game that was
being worked. He says himself, quite
frankly, that he knows nothing Of
finance. 1t Is probable that Mr.. Cor
telyou knew nothing Of it either. The
Secretary Of the Treasury has but one
end in view, the pr emotion Of his own
presidential ambitions. His only
strength ID with the Wall Street and
the banking interests. He has never
had business experience and he IL, Of
course, will il an innocent tool In tho
hands of the men who rule "the street."
Fortunately, however, advices have
reached the President from various Sec
tions which are beginning to outweigh
those Of his Secretary of the Treasury
and in the face of Secretary Cortelyou's
| protests Mr.. Roosevelt is insisting that
proceeds from the sale of the Panama
bonds and the Treasury certificates shall
be distributed in tho west instead of
being poured into the bottomless Now
York 'rathole.
The Republicans are viewing the
coming session Of Congress with con-
siderable anxiety. They are beginning
to remember the bitter dsnunciation
they poured out upon the head Of .
Democratic President VII o issued bonds
in time of peace and they appreciate the
difficulty they will have in defending
the course Of President Roosevelt from
the logic of their own words. Nor will
it be any excuse for them to answer
that no other course was open because
of the weakness of the financial laws;
for Mr.. Bryan pointed out that weak
ness nine years ago and the Republi.
cans, although in power in both houses
Of Congress ever since, has never had
the courage or the intelligence to rem.
edy the defects. They have never even
made an honest effort to do 50.
! There is 3 good deal Of amusement in
Washington over the blind attempts OF
Senator Foraker to injure Secretary
Taft. 1t has been charged on more
than one occasion that it was only the
Democrats who, when politically ruin
ed themselves, sought to drag down to
defeat the man who had proved more
successful. But Mr.. Foraker is giving
a magnificent example of the. dog in the
manger policy. Ruined and discredited
in Ohio himself, he is persisting in &
probably futile effsrt to prevent Ohio's
other favorite son, William 81. TAT,
(Big Bill Taft, they call him now from
winning the Republican nomination
1t has been suggested that possibly Mr.
Foraker is seeking to make. unto him.
self friends Of the Nam non Of Un.
righteousness and that If he can ever
succeed in bringing about the aonina
tion OF reactiona,Y BY the Republican
party he will, although defeated ever
in his race for the Senate, be received
into their everlasting mansions by thos,
corporate interests which he served &C
faithfully before entering public life, ir
their efforts to despoil the taxpayers o.
Ohio and which paid hi m fer his effsc
tive work with . seat in the United
States Senate. Second only to his ef
forts to injure Mr.. Taft, are Senate,
Foraker's efforts to blast the reputation
of the people of Brownsville, Texas
and to prove them guilty Of the murder
and assassination of the white residentl