The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-03-18

must get out and hoIloa and vote for
/ the Secretary's nomination.
/ The indications of the President's
purpose began to crop out several days
| ago. The Peoples Lobby, which was
/ doing a rushing business in Washing
| ton last winter, has been quiescent' this
| winter. Its Secretary, Henry Beach
! Needham, young man who lives in
| Washington, has the run of the White
| House offices and the Bulletin, which
the Peoples Lobby issues is looked
upon by the cynical as 1.-The Court
| Organ" 1t had not made its appear
ance this winter till a few days ago,
! when out ii came all of a sudden with
| denunciation of the Do-Nothing Con-
gress and assertions that the President
wanted the legislation he had asked
| for enacted. OF course this publica-
ton has a very small circulation, but
the leader about the do-nothing Con-
gress was regarded as a forerunner Of
/ something else. And it was in more
ways than one.
| Speaker Cannon has gradually been
getting more and more out of joint
with the President. He has bowed his
neck to the yoke for several years,
swearing like pirate in his little
mahogany private room at the Capt.
toll, but coming out into the open
House and putting through the Pres
ident's plans, with any modification
he could force the President to accept.
The ambition of his life, however, in
recent years has been to demonstrate
that the House would not submit
permanently to executive usurpation.
Just as soon as he dared politically to
do it, he has had it in his mind TO
show that the House was free and
sovereign body within its proper and
constitutional jurisdiction.
When Congress assembled, and even
before that the Speaker had put his
foot down pretty hard. He gave out
interviews before he reached Washing
ton that probably it would be prefer
able to have no general legislation this
winter, except the appropriation bills.
When he arrived here he did not hur-
ry around to see the President and
told his friends that when the Pres
ident wanted to see him he could send
for him.
The Speaker has stood in this atti-
tude all winter. Furthermore ne has
been reaching out after the President
show up the abuses of law in the
various departments, which are under
the Presidents jurisdiction. 1t is the
Speakers opinion that the high de-
partment officials have caught their
chiefs spirit and shown a great dis
regard of law. They have done about
as they pleased in handling appropria-
tions made by Congress. If Congress
rix oh "a
departments have been inclined to go
ahead and commit the government and
then go back to Congress for deficiency
appropriations. Even the imposition
of penalties for such things did not
avail. The Presidents brother-in-law,
Admiral Cowles, chief of the Bureau of
Equipment. was one of the worst often
ders in that particular. Acting, of
course, under the Presidents direc-
lions, he used all the appropriations
for coal for the ships and committed
the government to a further expendi-
ture of one million dollars. That made
the Speaker and the other Congress
sional leaders swear tremendously in
their boards. None the less they had
to smile pleasantly and vote the money
on a deficiency appropriation bill.
A thousand and one other like in
stances have come to Uncle Joe's"
attention in the departments. The
other day he struck by vitalizing nine
House committees, whose duties are
to supervise expenditures in as many
executive departments. Usually those
committees do next to nothing. They
are intended chiefly to furnish nice
committee room for some chairman.
"Get to work." was the word the
Speaker passed down the line to them
the other morning. Forthwith he di-
rected that resolution be put before
the House authorizing the necessary
expenditures to put those committees
in working order.
They are going to work, of course,
and it is announced that in the course
of a few months there will be thor
ough investigation of the various ex-
ecutive departments and of the abuses
existing therein. They are to find out
whether all the salaries paid employees
are justified That is a slap at the
President, who is credited with nav
ing encouraged large forces of spec1ai
agents and of others, who work Sc
cretly at great expense to the govern
ment. and, it is claimed, without pro-
ducing adequate results. Ihey are
also to ferret out cases of depart
mental disregard of law and show it
up SO that the American people may
have cognizance of the same, which,
CT course, is intended as another slap
at the President.
Right on the heels of this ambitious
program, the President begins to tell
Congressmen that they would do quite
as well to "get busy on the general
legislation he desires. He would be
better satisfied. with that than with
anv official review of what he and his
departmental officers have been doing.
There may be nothing more than
warlike demonstration between these
two great branches of the government
the executive and the judicial-and
again there may be more serious bus
mess.
Back of it all is the Presidents deep |
seated dislike of Congress and the
deep-seated dislike of the President by
Congress Since he entered the White |
House the great majority of Repub- |
licans in Senate and House have never |
had any love for him. While many |
IF them have come TO agree with the |