The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-04-20

likely to send for Mr.. LittlefeId. as
he did for col. Pete" Hepburn. and
| If he did he would probably get as liz
| tie satisfaction as he did some years
ago at the interview above men
| toned
In the meantime the wise old heads
of the House were getting together
for talks, and, while there has been
| nothing final yet, they are not dis
posed to favor the legislation provided
for in the civic federation bill. For
instance, they reason that if does not
go far enough to suit the enraged
labor leaders, who recently met in
Protest Conference" and it goes too
far to suit the manufacturing interests
of the country, that have been bat
Ting with the labor trust for wears
and are now exultant because the Su-
preme Court has rendered decision
which gives them temporary relief
from the demands of labor leaders.
The wise old heads also argue that,
desirable as some amendment to the
Sherman law to allow greater freedom
of contract may be, it might be bad
politics to legislate that way at this
stage of the proceedings, for it would
enable their opponents to cry out that
the Republican party is in league with
j. Pierpont Morgan, who got a big
rake off, from the financial panic,
as even some of the Republican ora
tors in the Senate have been contend
ing. The Steel Trust, with which Mr.
Morgan is identified, has been one of
the most influential pIeaders for this
modification of the law.
IL
President Roosevelt Immediately built
a fire under Congress by sending an
other special message, reiterating his
desire for this legislation and also for
considerable other legislation, much of
which he was certain of getting, or,
rather, much of which the Congress, |
growing somewhat in Independence |
had decided to pass. But the fire that
the President built under Congress
was not as hot as some of his previous |
fires. 1t was not kindled with inflam- |
nlatory adjectives and fed with invec- |
tive. 1t was so much calTner in tone |
than the special message of January |
81, which advocated the very same |
measures, that Wall Street people !
threw up their hats, and the Presi- |
dents critics have been asserting that |
It's tone was distinctly a concession
to j. Pierpont Morgan and the trust |
interests. Probably that criticism goes
farther than the facts warrant.
That is not all of the strange hodge
Dodge of current congressional politics.
While the Republican Senator's and
were sitting supinely |
over the latest fire the President had I
build under them, opining that they
lid not care whether they passed some
If those measures or not, although
inaction at this stage, Rep
'esentative John Sharp William, the
minority leader, who once in a while
manages to see through a ladder,
umped in with the announcement that
f the President would give him TWEEN
y or twenty-five Republican votes in
he House he would put them with
he Democratic votes and pass a num-
,er of the bills that the President
wants. He would pass a limited anti
injunction BILL which the labor people
want, an employers liability bill, and
o on, but would not go into some of
he Sherman antitrust amendments
which the President is believed to
Vant more than anything else.
The Peerless One, William Jennings
y ! / :
pect his presidential nomination =
ences, dropped off in Washington at
bout the same time and stamped his
K on Mr.. Williams program, at
hitch there was more applause in the |
Do galleries. OF course the Democrats 4
lust not be slow in their impoverish-
d condition about gathering in few
ems of political advantage, even if it |
to a degree an endorsement of a
republican president.
Hence the hilarity has been coming
I big chunks and probably there will
e lot more of it before the curtain
rung down upon Congress. For a
me tickle Washington is forgetting
3at there is a Senate. If the House
crews up courage enough to balk at
lie Presidents program, there is no
uestion about what the Senate will =
0. There never has been a time since
heodore Roosevelt became President
lat the gray old wolves of the Senate
ould not rush out into the moonlight
nd try to chew the jugular of any
dvanced legislative idea which had |
merged from the White House.