Middletown transcript., 1908-12-05

sion is heard eyeryEhefs Tor il carrie
with il The election d new speaker Of
the House and presidential policy.
Whether there Is really uide.diyergence
between the policy 81 the Preaident.eIect
and the spsakerloi the House and the
Committee on Rules or not, cannot be al.
firmed wish absolute certainty Neither.
party is disposed TO magnify the difference
but inasmuch as there was a pronounced
difference between the policy Of President
Roosevelt and that Of Speaker Cannon on
various subjects, it may be fairly assumed
that anyone SO "set ia bis ways'' as
Speaker Cannon will not agree with the
policy of the President-elect.
-
/ The tariff investigations through the
Ways and Means Committee, now being
held in the annex offices OF the House at
the Capitol, are, of course, to gre. de-
gree perfnnctory and farcical No new
facts or views are ELECTED. 1t is the same
old situation. Everyone is quite willing
TO have the duties on his neighbor's goods
lowered, and General Hancock's remark
that the tariff was local question for
which be was so much ridiculed. is proven
in many ways, News comes that preach
era in number OF towns and cities
throughout the Missourian and Kansan
zinc mining district, took occasion to in.
yoke divine aid on Thanksgiving Day for
the fight being carried on by their Repre-.
sentatives in Congress for a protective
tariff on zinc ore, without which, the
pastors informed the Almighty. the in
dustry would be ruined. There are no
doubt thousands of other and quite as eff.
fectiye prayers preferred by benefciaries
of the tariff throughout the United States
for the defence of high duties.
Mn
Speaker Cannon and his powerful staff
OF stand-patters effect to believe that
there is nothing alarming in the effort to
elect another man as speaker Of the
Sixty-irst Congress, but there is no doubt
that the present administration, az well
as the coming administration, would like
to see younger and more progressive
man in the Speakers chair and there is a
large recalcitrant element in the House
against the domination of the Speaker and
his Clique. Representative Charles 4.
Townsend from Michigan, has been apv
preached by q number OF members OF
Congress who were disposed to support
him for Speaker Of the House. Mr.,
Fowler, of New Jersey is alsB prominently
mentioned as are 8 number oi other
gentlemen and il the opposition would
unite upon one man, ii is not impossible
that another speaker would be- placed in
the chair after March the fourth.
*#*
There is much talk in these ante Con-
gressional days about the legislation to be
enacted in the coming short session, but
it may be predicted with some certainty
that it will be confined mostly to appro-
priation bills and that economy will be on
the lips of such Congressional speakers as
are able to catch fhe Speakers eye, but
whether economy will appear in the ap-
priation bills is another question. Pres
sure will probably be brought to bear for
large Rivers and Harbors bill and so
many members Of Congress have interests
in their districts, fayoring improvements
of rivers and harbers that economy has
small chance in this appropriation. Then
there are the friends of larger navy and
these will come forward for the four bat
tleships that were so much urged by the
President and his friends during the first
session Of this Congress. An increase of
the army will be urgently advocated,
though 1t may be assumed that in these
piping times Of peace, there is not much
prospect of such increase.
***
The Inland Waterways Commission
which will be in session in Washington
in q few days will probably hold its meet
ing in the conference room OF the House
Office Building. A number of Congress-
men are members of this commission and
il ia probable that the request for the room
will be granted. The movement for
waterways improvement is a very
popular one and it is expected that
fifty millions OF dollars a year will be
asked for this purpose. The demand for
the conservation of the natural resources
of the country, to which Speaker Cannon
has been stubbornly opposed, viii, if ef-
fective, involve considerable appropria-
tion. Inasmuch as Clifford Pinchot, head
Of the Forestry Division, has been most
enthusiastically sustained and put forward
by the President aud it is said will have
the Agricultural Department Portfolio
under President-elect Taft, there is in
this situation, another ground of differ
ence and contention between the Admin
istration and the House of Representatives
as at present organized.