Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1909-06-16
WASHINGTON NOTES.
Items of Public Interest From Our
Correspondent at the Nations
Capital.

Will President Taft be able to avoid
quarrel with Congress? Specula-
lion has been rife as to whether
! President Taft would have the cour-
| age of his convictions and veto a
bill which does not carry out his
| pledge of revision downward, and
from out the chaos of doubt and un-
certainty comes the voice of his Sec
lretary of the Treasury; and in the
circumstances the significant utter
ances of the Secretary must be taken
asE message from the President
himself This administration will
be conciliatory if you do not ask it
to give up a principle or to go back
on its promises. Neither of these
things will it do. 1t will stand by it's
policies" said Mr.. MacVeagh. Again,
and you and l must agree-for we
cannot escape the conclusion-that
it might become at any time the
duty of any great party leader to
create for his party a new majority
and new control" Referring to
the Presidents disposition to respect
the rights and privileges of Congress
and to meet everybody half way. Mr..
MacVeagh continues, that this is "a
disposition which can be interpreted
Oily as 4 statesmanlike conciliation
and which it would be fatal mis-
take to consider as a change of actual
policy or purpose" Surely these ut
terances are a message to the people
of the United States that President
Taft will stand by his guns-for the
higher ideals of the people and the
progress of the nation as a whole.
1t can hardly be contended that the
present tariff bill is in harmony with
me Presidents promises, nor with
the platform on which he was elect
ed. Will the party leaders in Con-
gress whose ideals are known to be
so Numerically opposed to those of
the President, see the error of their
ways and in conference make all
necessary concessions and modifica-
tions, or will they come TO open
rupture with President Taft?
The Secretary of the Navy is not
alone in being appalled, at condition
at the Naval Academy which could
result in debarring from graduation,
because of physical disability, forty
three out of class of a hundred and
eighty midshipmen. And when it is
recalled that last year, out of a
graduating class of two hundred,
eight or more midshipmen were re-
jected after the physical test. the
most obtuse must reach the cOnclu-
sion that there is something radical
ly defective in the system at the
academy. 1t must be remembered,
too, that the members of these classes
were subjected to the severest ply
sicial examination before being adj
mitted to the academy, where they
live, presumably, under ideal physf-
cal conditions for four years. Some
of the members of the faculty at An
napolis have expressed the opinion,
privately, that the course of study is
so hard as seriously to Overwork the
men, and to constitute grave men
ace to their physical wellbeing and
the causes, for the most part assign
ed for the disability, defective eye
sight and a pathological condition OF
the valves of the heart, would seem
TO bear out this verdict. Whatever
the cause, and Secretary Meyer has
already instituted vigorous investiga-
ton of the conditions at Annapolis.
they should be corrected, arS ct
once
The somewhat sensational report
| ltelegraphed from Montreal that the
Canadian government purposes to
construct navy, and that number
| CT the smaller vessels are to be built
at Collingwood, on Lake Ontario. are
somewhat premature. According to-
officials in Ottawa the report appears
to be based on the fact that some
| time last fall the Canadian govern
ment called for bids for the con-
struction of two small cruisers to be
used on the Atlantic and Pacific
coasts in protecting the fishing fleets,
and that the Collingwood shipbuild-
| ing concern submitted the lowest
bids. The contracts were not award
ed and the matter has been in abey-
ance ever since. If it is decided to
build these cruisers, satisfactory
understanding with the United
States would be reached, unques-
| tionably as there could be no pos
sible objection to the construction OF
such small craft to be used OF the
nigh seas.
According to figures from Canadian
official publications, recently receiv-
ed by the bureau of statistics of the
Department of Commerce and Labor.