Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1908-11-27
WASHINGTON LETTER.


held conventions in Washington dur
ing the past week, by far the most in
teresting convention is that of five or
six members OF the Ways and Means
Committee of the House of Representa-
tives who are debating the tariff ques-
ton in the new offices OF Congress. /
say debating because although the
representatives of the various interests
are there ostensibly to give testimony
and to affoId the mem beIs of the Ways
and Means committee basis for their
opinion with reference to the various
schedules, they are not so much wit
nesses as special pleaders; and really
the members of the Ways and Means
Committee are as thoroughly acquaint-
ed with the questions as the so-called
witnesses" or representatives of the
interests. The hearing is, therefore,
farcial. 1t amounts to nothing, one
way or the other as far as deciding the
question is concerned. If the decision
is left in the hands of Uncle Joe Can
non in the House and his bunch of
standpatters, or to Senators Aldrich
and Hale in the Senate with their
bunch, there will be no real change in
the tariff schedules.
There is every reason to believe that
President-elect Taft desires something
more than tariff revision that does
not revise and it is limited that he is
taking an active part already lin pre-
pairing for such a change in the tariff
schedules as has been demanded by the
people and promised in the platforms
of both political parties. The primary
object Of the extra session which will
be called after March fourth is to have
new tariff law passed. The charac-
ter of the tariff revision will depend
largely upon the organization of the
House, and the organization of the
House will, of course, depend largely
upon the Speakership, for the Speaker
controls the personnel of the Commit
tee on Ways and Means, and all other
committees. The promise of revision
contained in the Republican National
platform cannot be carried out accord
ing to promise unless there is thor
ough overhauling of numerous tariff
schedules. 1t may be assumed that
Mr.. Taft does not favor mere tinkering
with the tariff. 1t must be inferred
from recent utterances of Aldrich of
Rhode Island, Hale of Maine, Speaker
Cannon, Elkins of West Virginia and
others known as standpatters, that the
revision contemplated by them will be
anything but exhaustive or genuine.
1t is not remarkable then that polite
ians, knowing the character of the
President-elect and the contentious of
the standpatters taken together with
the Republican promises in the Chica-
go platform, are expecting Mr.. Taft to
be interested in the election of the
Speaker and doubtful if Mr.. Cannon is
the proper person to name the commit
tees of the next Congress.
Mr. Taft is known, of course, to be
the representative of the Rooseveltian
policies, which as President Roosevelt
has said are also the Taft policies, fol
Taft had as much to do in forming
them as himself; and it may be assum-
ed since the President-elect is only hui
man, that he may have some of the
Rooseveltian likes and dislikes. There
is no love lost between Speaker Cannon
and Mr.. Roosevelt. They as complete
ly represent the political Antipodes as
two members of the same party could
do. Speaker Cannon opposed about
everything that Mr.. Roosevelt advocat-
ed.
During the week there have been
numerous conferences at the Hot
Springs between the President-elect
and the -president-elect and also
with Mr. Burton, the most prominent
candidate to succeed Senator Foraker
and the man whom many look upon
as the logical successor of Speaker Can
non, and it is thought by many that
there will be a sharp contest after
March the fourth and that Uncle Joe
may fail of reelection as speaker.
The, Grange convention which has
just adjourned, passed resolution in
favor of a Parcels Post for farmers
They would, however, perhaps allow
blacksmiths, millers and other denizens
of the country to benefit by it. They
also passed resolution that senators
and members who failed to support
this measure would fail of their sup
port. The startling postal deficit of II
millions might easily be wiped out by
permitting the thirty thousand rural
route carriers to take parcels weighing
from one to eleven pounds at two cents
a pound; and this would place the pos
tai establishment on a paying basis. A
bill of this kind, however, will be op-
posed both in the House of Representa-
tives and in the Senate, where an aged
Senator from New York is president of
a great express company.
Secretary of State Root is expected
to succeed Senator Thomas A. Platt of
New York, whose senatorial term ex-
pires on March the fourth next. Mr..
Root has the support of the respectable
element in the State of New York that
elected Governor Hughes, but is oppos-
ed by some other aspirants for the sen
atorship and notably by Woodruff.
Not only New York, but the country
at large is interested in seeing that the
services of so eminent and so able a
man as Secretary Root shall not be lost
to the country. President-elect Taft,
it is understood, would be glad to retain
him as the head of his cabinet, but as
a Senator he will he able To voice The