The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1908-12-23
TARIFF TROUBLE
MADE BY TAFT
His Presence i'm Washington Makes
Talk and He Does Some
Himself.
BUZZ OVER VETO THREATS.
Wrath Against Roosevelt May Blaze
Upon His ccessor-Cromwell
For Attorney General.
BY Alfred Henry Lewis.


RoOsevelts announced purpose of
putting Mr.. Pulitzer i'll Jail for libel
meets with general satisfaction; Mr..
Cannon's blow at the proposal to issue
a billion of bonds more or less, meets
with general approval; Mr. Tafts re-
port of his satisfying conferences"
with Mr.. Cannon, touching tariff revi-
sion, meets with a general smile.
1t sounds churlish and sour to say
so, but it would have better served
the public, less embarrassed a future
his own Tuture-had Mr.. Taft missed
coming to Washington at this time.
His presence has made general deal
of talk; and he himself has done deal
of the talking.
Not always has Mr.. Taft talked pru-
IDENTIFY, discreeUy. His many engage
ments-social political, congratulatory
-treading, as they have and do, one
on the hee1s of another in very lock-
step of feverish interest, make for con-
fusion, for mental whirl.
Thus, Mr.. Taft cannot enough con-
slider what he says. He cannot enough
consider to whom he says it.
INSISTS ON BILL HE WANTS.
Several gentlemen have told me that
Mr.. Taft has personally assured them
that he will veto any tariff bill that is
not, phrase and spirit, the precise
thing he demands.
This might be a good thing to do,
but it is bad thing to talk about.
Such conferences are mistake.
Doubly so when vouchsafed months in
advance of Mr.. Taft's Inauguration.
Also to use the veto power as threat
is bad judgment, if not bad taste
1t is apt to bring forth the very thing
it seeks to prevent.
When all is said, Congress, not the
White House, is supposed to make the
tariff bill Our jealous ones of House
and Senate remember this when their
vanity is ruffied by a show of White
House force.
They have been in the docile habit OF
yielding to Presidential direction in
this matter of tariff as we'll as many
others. Bit they prefer, in order to
preserve appearances and save their
self-respect, to seem to do it of their
own uncrowded will. They object to
being dubbed into it.
Particularly they object to being
dubbed into it months in advance of
any tariff action.
BOTTLING THEIR WRATH.
That veto threat of Mr.. Taft, which
| found without seeking it, for l did
not know it had been made in those
three repeating months, has been told
every member of the House and Senate.
These sages are already in i'll humor
with Mr.. Roosevelt because of those
biting message sarcasms concerning
secret service agents and the Con-
gressional objection to having those
man-trackers employed against men,
bers of Congress.
The wrath they feel against Mr..
Roosevelt-all the hotter because they
are afraid to let it fame forth-can
easily be transferred to Mr.. Taft, whom
they look upon presidentially as Mr..
Roosevelts alter ego. Mr.. Taft has
but to utter a maladroit word or two
of the arrogant color of that veto
threat to draw the Congressional horns
his way.
He would find himself not only Mr..
Roosevelt's successor in the White
House, but his successor in his feuds-
which are many and venomous.
LODGE FEARS A RUMPUS.
Another matter direct from the I'M
guarded Mr. Taft-who trusts not
wisely but too we'll and too much-is
that he desires Mr.. Nelson Cromwell
for his attorney general 1t is that
more than aught else, which will bring
him to New York tomorrow night.
Senator Lodge, already in training
as an administration nurse, is afraid
of a public rumpus If Mr.. Cromwell
goes to the head of the Department of
Justice
He points out that Mr.. Cromwell got
very rich very quick and that riches
of sudden mushroom growth invite a
popular distrust which at the thresh-
hold of Mr. Tafts administration 1t
would be well to avoid Besides, Mr..
Cromwell has no repute as a trust
buster" and there is little or less in
his past that promises he will become
one.
Mr., Taft, in letting the cabinet cats
out of the confidential bag, has als'
dlsclnsed TINT he Is wrestling with Mr.