The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1909-07-05
Capital Tales

z ENATOR BAILEY has his enemies
aud critics about Congress. but
there is none OF them who
does not have wholesome respect for
his ability. It was noticeable that when
Senator Root was expounding the cor
pcrati0n tax, he seemed TO address Che
bulk Of MS remarks 10 the Senator from
Texas. incidentally he paid Bailey a
compliment that made even that veter-
an legislator blush.
He referred 10 the Senator from Tex
as, whose mind always works with the
precision OF a Corliss engine"
Az interesting reflection OF what is in
the Senatorial mind, aside from the
tarim and the corporation tax. is to lie
seen in one Of the telephone booths a.
the Senate end OF the Capitol II is a
booth much used by Senators for long
distance 'phoning. IN the booth is one
OF the Senate directories, in the back
part of which Is a blank space where
Senators who have beer waiting for the
party At the other end OF the phone
have drawn pencil sketches OF various
sorts.
one of the drawings represents some
thing remarkably ike a deuce of spades
and carries its own suggestions. An
other draw wing seems to bear close re-
sem0lance TO mint julep with a straw
sticking out Of the top. A large
bottle with mans head sticking out OF
the mouth of It is portrayed. Houses
of various sorts are represented.
Some one also has set forth with vivid
imaginings the form of an octopus.
They have an amateur fire depart
naent in the Senate Office building. Su-
perintendent Woods has supplied a min
iature chemical fire engine. mounted on
a hand truck Any OF the force about
the office building is supposed to know
how TO use 1t in an emergency. &C.
casional drills are hello aud one Of them
was engaged IN this EseK, lot Of dry
goods boxes being set on fire in the
court Of the office building sinllaa
precautions have been taken as 70 the
House office building
=
Not in a long time has a speech been
made in the Senate which was more
carefully followed by the Senate Law
ycrs than the one made by Mr.. Root
in support Of the corporation tax. IL
was hot and muggy in the chamber.
but nearly ever. constitutional shark
was ia his seat. Some OF them didn't
/ agree at all with Mr. Roots version OF
the matter. but they were none the less
interested.
senator Root is not an easy speaker.
though he is en- intensely earnest one
His voice is not the best possible. and
is pitched in rather high key.
When he spoke on the corporation.
tax, he get out in the middle aisle Of
the Senate chamber and walked I'D and
down, laborins with the Senators as hs
might talk to a coUrt ri a jury. II WIS
hard and fatiguing -wJrlSs and Dir. Root
showed the effects OF il before he haG
completed his exhaustive address his
speech was not prepared save Tor some
notes on decisions Of the courts.
s
According TO Senator JeG Davis, the
American people viii get nightly neI-
vous if they md The tariff has been
revised upward. They will dodge from
YOU, Mr. President" said -the Arkansas
Senator. like a blind goose in A back
alley that hears a Kissing noise, or an
old mule who mas Deen MT zoo ire
quently over the head With bride
Representative Thomas w. Bradley OF
the Twentieth New Y erk district is 0Ee
of the few medal Of honor men in Con-
gress. He entered the Union Army as
a private soldier As sergeant of the
I24th New York Regiment, at Chancel-
louisville. as the War Department rec
0rds show, ne volunteered in response
to q cali and alone. in the face Of
a heavy fire of musketry aud canister.
went and procured ammunition for the
use OF his comrades.
He was brevetted major of volunteers
/ for ueritoriOuS service, and was wound
ed at Gettysburg, in the Wilderness,
and at Petersburg And al this hap
pened before he was twenty-one years
old.
TT seldom happens that a Senate
constitutional lawyer viii admit he
is hoored at anything, but one cues
ton came up in the course OF the cor
poration tax debate that made 3 lot OF
grief for all concerned and then It had
I to go unsettled. Senator RayueF had
/ been saying that the corporation tax
was a tax on the business Of q corpora
I ton. This led Senator Cummins to ask
what the word business" included.
/ About this every one had different
/ opinion. The Senator from Iowa had
/ in mind that If sne business could be
/ taxed another could. whether Of a cor
/ poration or of an individual. In this
! Senator Rayner agreed. Every bust
/ ness that a man enters upon IS bust
ness" said the Maryland statesman.
! Senator 0IcCumbsT wanted TO know II
I farming was, a business. and il the
! business OF farming could be taxed.
/ Nobody could answer satisfactorily.
/ Then came the question If the practice
I of medicine is q business. II law pTac-
/ tice is a business and 50 one. Cum
minis suggested that farming was a
/ facility, presumably for making
! money, as it undoubtedly is out in
Iowa with hogs at S. Finally, Senator
/ Sutherland OF Utah. who is a highly
! capable lawyer. frankly owned up that
4 be didn't know what the word '-busj-
ness did include. 7 am somewhat in
( the fog as 10 just what the word bust
ness does mean, said the Utah Sen
/ atOr.
-
Boom for Cummins.
An interesting BIT Of Capitol gossip
! is Foating around TO the effect that
/ Senator Cummins of Iowa, insurgent
/ though he is may be made a member
/ of the Senate Finance Committee WREN
4 the next vacancy comes along IL Is
well known that senator DolliVer las
1 been an aspirant f0I a place on the
I Finance Committee. and lis friends feel
/ that ne was entitled to so on there al
/ the beginning OF the special session. In
/ the tariff debate, Senator Deliver has
/ cut loose and has not only made a
/ powerful demonstration On some OF the
[ injustices of the tariff measure, but he