The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1908-10-16
WASHINGTON.
Legislative and Gem
eral Topics from
the Capital.
October 10. 1908.

| - ~ tOhs 1b 10 Sdlu tudb
the campaign headquarters are
really in the White House. Sure
~ the President is there and
has been for the past two weeks.
1t is his campaign in "a very
special sense for he might have
been the nominee if he had not
turned his back on the nomina-
tlOn and said .sNo.n "Nominate
my representative man who
mas helped me to shape, launch
and direct the policies with
which | have been credited, bnt
which are as much his as NINE"
Surely there has been an unpre
cedented popular appr' val of
these policies-such approval as
has not been known before in the
history of this country. The ap
provai was popular, pure and
simple, for prominent politicians
in and out of Congress have op
posed the Rooseveltian policies in
many instances to the ruin of
their political prospects. But this
is an old story. The election is
now but three weeks off, when
Washington and the country will
know who will occupy the White
House until 1912. It it shall be
Mr.. Taft, the changes will not be
great for it is understood that
some mem bers of the present cab
met will be invited to remain and
many chiefs of bureau in the var
ious governmental departments
will doubtless hold over. But if
it shall be Mr.. Bryan, the changes
will be great and far reaching
both in official and in social mat
ters. The Roosevelt regime has
been from social standpoint
splendid without precedent. The
President, beyond almost all OF
his predecessors, is a man of edu
cation, travel aud SGUOir faire.
What other President could have
talked to German or French
man in his own languageg JEFF
ferson, so it said. understood
French, but not German. Mr..
Taft and Mr.. Bryan confins them
selves strictly to English and Tor
the very best of reasons.
ln the dearth of startling polit
zeal or social doings, 1t may be
Interesting to know that decis-
ion has just been rendered by the
Commissioner of Internal Rev
enue that it is expected will stop
altogether the practice prevailing
for years among certain liquor
dealers the practice of putting on
the market the same products
under different names. This de.
cisiOn reverseS the ruling of the
former Commissioner Yerkes who
held that rectitlers and wholesale
liquor merchants conld place on
the market the same product un
der half dozen different names
without being taxed specially for
each.
Commissioner Capers. in an
elaborate opinion, decides that
any person, firm. or corporation
carrying on business as whole
sale liquor dealer at one time or
place uuder different names, must
pay separate special tax, for
each name or style under which
he transacts business. If the prac-
tice of carrying on business by
the rectifiers or Wholesale dealers
is continued, it will doubtless add
largely to the public revenues,
but the Treasury officials believe
that there will be a discontin-
nance of the practice. The ques-
tion of names aud styles, it is
understood, was brought to the
attention of the department by
active PrOhibitionists who are
sleepless in their contention
against the liquor dealers. In
many States careful watch is
kept of the whiskey that is ship
ped and the name of the brand
or the wholesale dealer often
leads to the prevention of further
impOrtations Of the same kind.
When such prevention becomes
effective, the same liquor dealer
will ship into the Prohibition
State another lot of whlskey, only
changing the name. 1t was the
discovery of this practice Of sub
stituting names that brought the
matter to the attention of the In,
ternal Revenue Bureau and caus
ed the decision, which will be
effective throughout the country
The district Jail in Washington
is full to overAowing and the in
mates are mostly o. the African
race. 1t is now pretty general,
known thot Washington has th,
largest negro population of an,
city iu the world. One hundred
!, of these prisoners are to be trans
ferred to the United States prison
at Fort Smith, Arkansas. Som
such step was considered indis
pensable and should have beel
fakan vqara aUo nandin0 tha on