The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1908-12-17
WASHINGTON


| Will lllpOlld conventions i'll
cluding all organization called
Congress AID while both the
Piesident and the President.elect
are i'll the city making speeches
aud while the air is surcharped
with the discussion of policies OF
great import to the future of the
nation, the greatest difficulty is
not to find something to wii,e A.
bout, but to know what to select
Both the President and Mr.. Taft
were at the meeting of the Conser-
vation Congress at the Belasco
Theatre, where only those who
held tickets of invitations were adj
mitted. Mr.. Taft presided and was
introduced as the President elect
He denied that he was President
elect or had any official position.
Being strict constructionist and
lawyer, he knows that the formal
lty OF a vote by the Republican
electors is necessary before he can
be called the President-elect. Presi-
dent Roo'evcli, disclaiming prop
hecy, Sid that he would venture
to say who would be President-elec
and referred to himself as the set
ting sun.
The Presidents message 20 Con
gress /, looked upon in the light of
a valedictory, though it would be a
rash man who would say that this
Is the last appearance of President
Roosevelt i'll the way OF message.
II IS quite probable that he will
send Congress two or three more
valedictories before the fourth of
March. Members of Congress, it is
said, are much stirred up over this
vd'edictory III which the President
was not eulogistic, or as they think
even respectful TO the legislative
branch. The message is the most
remarkable Of the many that the
President has sent TO Congress and
the paragraph which | will veil
Iure to quote, is sure to BE- very
widely discussed and will probably !
be the basis of important legisla- |
ton during the months or years
that the President is in the Anti
podys and the executive office is in |
the hands of the man chosen to |
carry out, as far as a President
may, the Rooseveltian program.
The danger to American demo.
cracy lies not i'll the least in the |
concentration of administrative
power in responsible and account
able hands. 1t lies in having the |
power insutficiently concentrated,
so that no one can be held respon-
slble to the people for its use. Con-
centrated power is palpable, visible,
responsible, easily reached, quickly |
held to account. Power scattered
through many administrators,
many legislators, many men who
work behind and through legisla-
tors and administrators, is impal- |
pable, is unseen, is irresponsible,
cannot be reached cannot be held
to account. Democracy is in peril
wherever the administration of pol
ltlcal power is scattered among a |
variety of men who work in secret
whose very names are unknown to |
the common people. 1t is not in |
peril from any man who derives
authority from the people, who ex-
ercises it in sight of the people, |
and who is from time to time COM
PEELED to give an account of its ex-
ercise 10 the people"
#4.*
There has been much serious A.,
talk over the alleged irreconcilable |
difference between Speaker Can
non, the sardonic ruler of the |
House of Representatives. and
Judge Taft, the President to be,
on the subject of the tariff which,
although it will not come up for
mally until the special session is
called, is nevertheless a subject of |
very serious consideration. And
well it may be, for the revenues of |
the nation are falling off at the
rate of eleven millions of dollars
month and at the end of the fiscal
year is expected TO show a defcien-
cy of at least hundred million of
dollars. Internal Revenue, which
has been largely derived from taxes
on spurious liquors, has notably
and even astonishingly decreased
IN the las. year, owing it is said to
the temperance wave which is
sweeping the country. 'Tis true
It's glorious; and glorious It's It's
true! And the country might we'll
afford to lose a hundred millions of
dollars month, in such a cause.
A small tax on bank checks,
matches, high-heeled shoes and