Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1908-08-14
SPARKLING NOTES
- FROM WASHINGTON.
nee. wsshingtop

= FROM WASHINGTON
my special .corsssponaence: wsshingtep
So, :: PC. Auspstisth 49,.
@Peopiewho keep close watch of poll
tics and business are asking what is
going to happen in the near future?
They well know that most of the talk
of renewed prosperity is for the pur-
pose of bolstering up. the Republican
party and the Wall Street stock mar
ket. Neither the G. o. P. or the Wall
Street gamblers can exist without a
bull market. therefore Sunshine Clubs
and Prosperity Conventions have been
organized. press agents hired and Won
derful tales told of the increased bust
ness being done. Still there is trouble
in business and politics and no one can
tell what will happen. The financial
managers of course are not deceived
by the rosy reports their agents have
set in motion. Far from it; they are
still cropping bhndly along, trying to
stay the flood of liquidation that has
III BACdICE vi icSSST lO1CC
since last October when the panic over
took them. That this is not an over
drawn picture of present conditions is
shown by the declaration of that mas
ter of finance. Edward II. Hartman,
that he is at his wits end: I'm fact"
says Mr.. Hartman, ''things have be-
come SO complex that l scarcely know
where l am. So am going out to the
Siskiyou Mountains to think over the
situation, and when come back may
be able to talk intelligently concerning
the future
1t is evident that there must be great
business or political perils imminent
when the dominating spirit of Harri-
man has been humbled and he seeks
light on his perplexities. He plainly
tells US that matters have become tan
gled and it has become necessary for
some one to try to make a bad situa-
ltion better. 49,
:. 1t may be that the political situation
is the tangled skein that Hartman is
l.seeking to unravel, He evidently
thinks more highly of Mr. Bryan than
he once did, for he says, 81 am begin
ming to think more of my fellow man. ;"
He will undoubtedly ponder in the vast
solitude of the mountains whether the
success of the Democratic ticket is not
more to the advantage of the country
and of Mr.. Hartman than the success
of the corrupt and extravagant party
he has hitherto adhered to. Thus good
may come out of evil and Hartman
may be the chosen instrument to thwart
/ the powers of evil that for twelve long
years have oppressed the American
people. The pilgrimage of Hartman
to the mountains may result in achange
of policies for the Nation. A word
from him would pull half the purse
strings Of Wall Street so tight that the
demands of Treasurer Sheldon'would be
UNDECIDED and the balance of Wall
Street would not risk their cash to save
the sinking Republican ship. In 1904
ne was a delegate to the convention
that nominated Roosevelt, who sought
his advice during that campaign. and he
raised the money which turned the
scale in favor of the Republicans in
New York.
| We are doubtless on the eve Of great
events the world over. There is de-
mand for more freedom in many quar-
tiers of the earth, and everywhere is I'M
rest in mems minds. The old order of
things is passing away and a new era
is dawning that will. through the
growth of Democracy, dispossess au-
! tocracy and bend the wills of emperors.
kings and potentates for the benefit of
those who toll and spin and pay taxes.
Even the Republican politicians
have felt the whip and spur of the ever
living Democracy, and the good old doc
trine of equal rights to all and special
privileges to none is becoming a world
wide shibboleth that is ever growing
stronger and louder.
The Aldrich Monetary Commission,
consisting of nine Senators and nine
Representative in Congress has been
having good time at Narragansett
Pier and have now arranged to visit
Europe, all at Government expense.
No limit is set to the amount they can
expend, neither can any Auditor of the
Government dispute the bills they send
in. If that is not a cinch which could
be turned into fine field for grating,
what is it?
It's pretty tough on the Republican
managers to have their powder wet by
the United States Court sprinkling the
Standard Oil fine so that the antitrust
issue will not even fizz. No wonder
President Roosevelt denounced the
Court, looking at the matter from his
| partisan standpoint. There is no doubt
the Standard Oil is guilty of accepting
rebates. but the Republican attorneys
and Judge Landis were 80 anxious for
a spectacular fine that they overplayed
their hands and did not allow the Jury
to know the whole truth.
The first of the political frauds that
may be expected of the Republican
politicians in this campaign has already
| been reported, and the evidence of it
comes from Mr.. Bryan's own State.
Campaign documents are being dis
tributed through the mails in govern
lment envelopes without payment of
postage, franked as, follows: Post