The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1908-12-31
WASHINGTON
From our Regular Correspondent.

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The Ways and Means Commit
tee, that has been sitting so long in
Washington, has discontinued its
so-called Investigations and Con
yr,ss having adjourned, we are in
the midst of the holiday season.
An unusually large number of
Senators and Members reGlain in
Washington, but these are cheered
by the visits of their SONS and
daughters who are in eastern
schools and colleges or may be i'll
western and southern schools and
colleges. For there are many worse
places 20 spend the holidays than
i'll the capital city of the United
States, The ground is covered
with six inches Of snow, but the
days are bright and there has
scarcely as yet been any really cold
weather.
The citizens of Washington,
those who make it their home, are
interested i'll the preparations for
the inauguration of President-ele
Taft. Seventy-fve thousand dol
lars have been already subscribed
for the expenses of the street pa.
geant and The inaugural ball and it
is crysting to note that this a
mount is Si2, 900 greater than the
total subscription for President
Roosevclts last Inauguration.
There is no doubt but hat the sub
scription will be considerably in
creased for donations are coming
i'll i'll sums of S CO or more.
Locally Mr.. Taft is a much more
popular man than President Roose-
welt. He is genial, tactful imper-
turbably goodhumored, and as the
professor said, Mr.. Roosevelt
"ain't". Thousands of Washing
tonians have a grudge against the
President. He extended the work
ing hours i'll all Departments from
4 to 4:3o o'clock causing what was
imagined tC be intOlerible hardship
to at least twenty thousand govern
ment employees, interfering with
their dinner hour and with the
schedules of local trains, for it
must be remembered that hundreds
of government clerks live eight and
ten and even forty niles outside Of
the city, quite a number of them
coming over i'll the morning from
Baltimore and returning in the
evening. President-elect Taft will
not have to do what Mr.. Roosevelt
has done, fortunately perhaps for
his local popularity but ii may be
safely assumed that he will not re-
scind the order.
The Inauguration on the fourth
OF March is expected to surpass in
splendor and in volume of specta
tors, street parade, and inaugural
ball, any similar event that has
been given before. As usual, Penn
sylvania Avenue, on the south side,
will be lined with bleachers where
the spectators may sit on a rough
pine board at an expense of any
where from fifty cents to a dollar
and half and watch all almost
endless procession, military and
civic, with fifty or more brass bands
intcrspersed, for five or six hours.
The day is usually inclement and
frequently almost intolerable. The
seats that cost 81 so will have avn
ings; while those of less price will
be exposed TO the frownings or
smiling skies, as the case may be.
In thirty years residence, your cor
respondent remembers only one
pleasant fourth of March and that
was the day of the first Inaugural
ton of President Cleveland.
**x
Andrew Carnegie's admission be-
fore the Committee on Ways and
Means that All international combi-
nation of steel manufacturers exist
ed has naturally excited many
people interested in the tariff prob
lem and it is said that steps will be
taken to get to the bottom of this
alleged international trust Mr..
Carnegie denied that he knew any
thing of it personally, but he did
not deny its existence and had
heard of it from several sources.
There has been talk of summoning
J, Pierpont Morgan, on the assump-
tion that if there is big trust any
where, he is in it, or may know
something about it. Moreover,
Mr.. Morgan had much to do with
the creation of the steel trust and
it is somewhat natural to suppose