The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1909-12-16
ROLL UP SLEEVES
Congressman Getting Ready for
Fights-President's Message Has
Little Effect Members Working
for Re-election--waiting to Hear
from Taft.
WASHINGTON, ID. &.

December IL, 1909.
AS is usually the case during the
first weeks OF a session OF Congress,
most of the work is being done, not
In the great halls where the two houses
sit, but In the committee rooms, the
Hobbies, and even at the hotels, in fact
wherever Congressman meet and
loaf. There the plans for the session
are being talked over, and there the
news OF the day is to be sought. And,
incidentally, a great deal OF the most
important work is being done in the
Speakers room, where Cannon and
his satraps meet, and where they de-
eide along what lines they will fight
and on what lines the demands OF
the people have become too strong 20
be longer resisted.
SO far, the Presidents message has
still formed the basis OF discussion.
II is only fair to say that there has
been general disappointment with
the message IL is good, and all the
things 1t advocates are pretty gener-
ally recognized as being good, but
that is not enough. In almost all resp
ects the message deals with what are
known as administrative reforms, and
while these things are very important
they do not possess the popular interest
that the moral, social and economic
reforms which have been stirring the
country for the last ten years do. On
these latter questions the message is
silent. and II is on those that the
real fights of the session will come.
The Progressive" are sorry that
Taft has not yet seen his way
clear to take up the fight along
these lines-the "Reactionaries" want
to know just whore Taft will stand
when Il comes TO a show down. Both
sides are waiting.
There Is one point in the message,
however, which has been received as
a call to battle. That is the recon-
mendation for Postal Savings Banks.
Cannon and Aldrich are again 'em.
The insurgents are for EN-, and as
the lines OF battle are drawn 1t is
plain that Cannon ct al. will not be
able on this point to muster anything
like the strength that they had on the
tariff IL is not yet sure just who
will come out ahead. but 1t is signi-
ficant that the opponents of the mea-
sure are not making an open fight
against it-they are simply working
for delay. This would make 1t seem
that they believe the majority will
vote against them on the showdown.
The insurgents" have strengthen
ed themselves a good deal by their |
determination to stand squarely by
the president on this proposition. |
They have Cannon on the run, and |
In this case have the strength of
party regularity behind them. II is 1
but the first move in the fight which /
they plan to put up turnout the ses-
sion. and there is a good deal of con-
fidence here that long before the day /
of adjournment comes Cannon viii /
be forced 20 announce that he will not
be candidate to succeed himself
One other point on which the Presi- I
dents message gives signal for a
fight is on the matter OF the tariff |
commission, created under the AL
drich Tariff law. IL was the intention
of the trainers of the tariff law to
make this commission so helpless
that 1t would not accomplish the pur-
pose for which Taft intended it. He
wanted a body of experts who would
determine the facts which would max
possible scientific tariff, according
to the Republican platform-that is,
aetly what is the difference between
the cost OF producing any given arti-
Gle at home or abroad. The "standpat-
ters" did not want any such thing.
They prefer to have matters left as
they have been, with a chance for
the man with the inside influence to
get more than his share of the bene-
fits of the tariff So they provided,
or thought they did, that the COM
mission which Taft insisted on their
creating. should only have power to
advise the President as to whether or
not foreign nations are practicing I'M
due discrimination against us. That
would not hurt any CRATER.
But Mr.. Taft looked over the law
and decided, and the Attorney-General
backs him up in it, that the law is
broad enough to allow him to set the
at work finding out the
facts he wants. He stu claims that
the new law is the best yet, but he
believes that a much better one can
be made when the facts are found out.
So, rather than start an agitation
which will call for a revision OF the