The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1908-04-03
WASHINGTON.
Legislative and Cen
eral Topics from
the Capital.
March 2S, 1905.

ilEcItu NY representative BPalI,
of Texas, who declared that it
would he better if no legislation
was passed, or that legislation rs
crude as the Railway Rate Bill
when it passed from the House
to the Senate be placed upon the
statutes, than that the President
should usurp the Legislative func
lions OF Congress and dictate the
course of the majority in the Nat
ional Legislature. He declared
that Congress was no longer a leg
islative department of the govern
ment, but had degenerated into
a ssmachlne to record the will
of the man at the other end of the
avenue" After reviewing The
legislation to which the President
had driven his party in Congress,
and showing the incapacity aud
unwillingness of the Republican
leaders in Congress to carry out
the will of the people, Mr.. Beall
said that "a more disgraceful ex
hibition of the abdication of
power by one of the great de-
partments of the government was
never given to the people. and
more disgusting uSurpation of
power was never witnessed by any
nation" Concluding, the elo
quent Texan paraphrased the
book of Solomon, saying among
other things, of the Presidents:
"He is both bronco buster and
a trust bnster, the difference be
ing that when he breaks bronco
he blindfolds the horse and W hen
he starts to burst a trust he blind
folds himself He is tickle in his
affections. In the White House
Code book of 1904 Harriman's
name was "donation," in 1908 it
is "damnation.n
Representative John Sharp
Williams announced his purpose,
one day this week. to introduce
resolution of inquiry to invssti
gate the extent to which the
President has hauled Represent
alive Diekama. of Michigan,
over the Goals because of,he char.
acter of the report which sub
committee of which Diekama is
chairman, had made in the case
OF Judge Wiley of the United
States Court of Shanghai. 1t
has been reported in local paper
that this report severely censured
Judge Whitley. and later that
the President had severely scored
the chairman of the sub-com-
mittee. Mr.. Diekama arose in
the House, however, and declared
that the President had not haul
ed him over the Goals at all, but
had merely called his attention to
the fact that if Judge Wiley
were scored it would so injure
his prestige in China as practi-
cally to end his usefulness there.
The fact is. every unprejudiced
observer believes that Judge Will
frey deserves the highest com
mendation. instead of censure for
his course in China, but Mr.. Will
liams took the ground that en-
tirely apart from the merits of
the case, the President should do
nothing to coerce the mem berS
of a committee of Congress, a.
point which cannot be contro
verified. Mr.. Diekama's explana-
nation that the newspaper story
was false, however, cleared the
situation.
William j. Bryan is in WASH
ington and he has made a great
hit with the Irish by attending a
banquet given by the Ancient
Order of Hibernians at which he
spoke, boasting OF the fact that
his ancestors were Irish and Civ
ing high praise to the Catholic
Church for its beneficent work in
this and other cauntries. To the
politicians the most interesting
and significant feature of Mr..
Bryan's visit was his long con.
ference with Bourke Cochran,
with whom he walked to the
Capitol. Mr.. Bryan would throw
no light upon his conference with
the eloquent New Yorker, who
has just been read out of Tam.
many Hall. The Peerless Leader
visited the House and his coming
was the occasion of an enthusi
astic, although informal recep-
ton In the room reserved for the
reception of the mem bers of the
press, on the Democratic side of
the House.
There is comment in some
quarters away from Washington
because there is SO little written
from here of Democratic politics,
but there is really very little to
write. The Democrats in Con-
gress seem to be almost anani-
mously OF the opinion that Mr..
Bryan will be nominated, and the