Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-21

IN restraint OF trade ana SenuS all the
planters in the south to Jail he will then
proceed against the medical associations
of the country. which have fixed the fees
that physicians shall charge their
patients. That is clearly In restraint of
trade. Every doctor belonging to an as
ISOLATION is compelled to make out his
bills according to a schedule fixed by the
association: he is not allowed to do bust
ness any cheaper and the public cannot
secure medical attention without submit
ting to the exactions of this great trust.
And that explains what he means when
the President saws there are good trusts
as we'll as bad trusts.
Secrecy Formerly Observed.
Under former administrations the an
nual message of the President to Con-
gress has been as secret and mysterious
as the utterances of the Oracle of Del
phi He has usually read the document
to the members OF his cabinet; they have
usually prepared those portions of it
which relate to their respective depart
ments. Mr.. Adee the second assistant sec
rotary OF state, has always written the
narrative paragraphs relating to our for
eign relations; the Secretary of the
Treasury has submitted few RACES re-
lating to the finances; the Secretary of
the Interior has furnished an account of
the transactions of the land office anu has
told how the Indians are behaving. The
other heads of departments have turned
IN pages of manuscript relating to other
subjects which the President has NOR
tised together with a few comments of
his own and such formal recommends
tions as his advisers considered essential
The document has been smoothad down
and polished up and sent to tie public
printer, who has selected three or four
of the most rapid compositors in the
printery, has locked them up in a small
room under guard and has taken other
precautions to prevent the public from
finding out what was recommended
Several interesting stories might be told
about the efforts of newspaper CORE
spondents to get hold of copies of the
message in advance of its presentation to
Congress and on several occasions they
wife of a President obtained a copy and
gave it to friend who made profitable
use of the financial recommendation n
Wall street.
we are told that Martin Van Buren,, mis-
Secretary of State, went through ,ne
message to revise its spelling and it's
syntax He afterward advised friend
that he had knocked out twenty-five Ro-
man emperors from the manuscript. 1t
was on that occasion, also, that con-
troversy arose between the President and
his Secretary of State as to the proper
spelling of the word which" President
Jackson spelled it with 49, and the Sec
rotary of State corrected him.
IF .w-h-i-t-c-h' does not spell which,
what does it spell?" inquired the i'm
patient President.
The President Not Secretive.
President Roosevelt has no secrets, not
even concerning the most important
measures of the government. Any per-
son in whom he has confidence can find
out generally what the message will con-
tai IN hxy oSLir ua
everybody about important questions, and
if people would only tell him the truth, if
his friends and callers would only talk
as frankly to him as he talks to them, it
would be a great deal better for the
country. No man was ever more anxious
to know and obey the will of the public;
20 do what the thinking people of the
country want; no public official ever had
higher respect for public opinion. But
his visitors are not always SO frank as h
IS. They do not always give him the in
formation he desires; they color their con
yersation by courtesy. and tell what they
think he would like to hear. rather than
the naked truth. But he has very keen
perceptions, and can judge pretty accur-
ately as to the amount of taffy and the
amount of candor in the conversation OF
his visitors.
The message is late this year. 1t is
not yet prepared. The President blocked
it out at Oyster Bay before he went on
paragraphs, but left the most important
subjects for future consideration, and is
now discussing them with his stenog-
raphers. He dictates mostly in the even
ng. after everybody else has gone to
,ed. and revises the manuscript in the
morning.
The inclination of the senators and rep
reSentatives who have thus far arrived i'll
Washington Is to accept the Presidents
recommendations concerning the Sherman
rust law, although they are not SO ready
20 act upon his financial suggestions and
his recommendations regarding the cur
rency. But there is no probability of i'm
mediate action. The President will try
to crowd them, and to secure prompt con-
sideration of these subjects; but a group
of senators discussing the matter the other
day. judging from the time it took to
dispose of the railway rate bill, agreed
hat a substitute for the Sherman anti
trust law might be disposed of by the
year 1872 and that a new currency law
night possibly be enacted as early as
1914