The Topeka state journal., 1909-03-22
BEER men DID IT.
Attorney General jackson Makes
Startling Statement.
Breweries Helped Defeat the In
surgents at Washington.
WANTED A SHOWING
By This Means Secure Represen,
tatiOn on Committees.
Also Says Their Earmarks Are
Apparent on Tariff Bill.


turned from Washington, where he
has been in attendance on the supreme
court. in important litigation for the
state. Speaking today of these cases
and the important matters now under
consideration in Washington, he said:
Our cases were given marked at
tention by the court. No cases which
have been before it for months at
tracted the same interest. Opposed to
the state were some of the most
eminent counsel of the country. Rush
Taggart and E. D. Estabrook, both on
the regular legal staff of the Western
Union Telegraph company, the latter
a partner of Jno. F. Dillon of New
York, Frank B. Kellogg. special
prosecutor for the government in the
government Standard Oil cases, and
Charles Blood Smith of Topeka, all
appeared on that side.
81 should feel very timid arrayed
against this force of great lawyers, but
for the fact that I was sustained in
the case by an opinion from our own
supreme court which rang sound and
true, and all questions and remarks
dtcated that the position of the state
will be sustained. This means much
to the state for while the money asked
from these companies was only $34,
100000, and many thousands more
will be realized from other companies.
Fight on the Rules.
81 was especially fortunate in the
time Of my visit to Washington as L
arrived in the midst of the excite
ment over the great contest on the
rules of the house and the victory of
the insurgents over the house ma
chine Murdock's and Madison's
names in the gossip in the hotels lead
all the rest. The victory was modified
to some degree by surrender of Tam
the Importance of the defeat of the
motion to adopt the rules cannot be
it will set the country
to thinking and lead in the end to
making the representatives. in congress
what they were intended to be by the
the real representatives of
the people of their respective districts.
Breweries Forced Compromise.
''I was much surprised to learn the
next day after the fight, that the lobby
of the Associated Breweries of the
United States acting through the
Tammany Democrats, had been the
agency that decided the contest in ia
vor of the machine. AS pay for this
service, the brewery interests are said
to get representatives on the com
mittees in the house and new mem
Der of the senate is advanced to a
position on the finance committee of
the senate. This is an innovation un-
heard of before in that great conserva-
tive body of legislators. The earmarks
of the brewery interests was still more
when the new tariff bill was
made public. The committee an
nounced that the great problem was
to obtain sufficient revenue to run the
and yet make the neces- |
sarv reductions in the tariff And for
this reason, tea was reported out with
a tariff of eight to nine cents per
pound and yet the revenue tax on beer
was reduced from $3.50 to $1.0O per |
barrel instead of being raised to $500 |
as has been advocated. Barley, |
product consumed almost entirely by
the breweries was reduced from |
thirty cents a bushe1 to fifteen cents.
Talked to johnson.
ST had the pleasure of talking few |
minutes with Senator johnson of |
North Dakota, the man who while |
member of the house, was responsible |
.or the present tariff on barley, and he |
old me Mr.. Dingley said to put on |
When the present tariff was enacted, |
barley brought abiut SO cents per |
oushel in the northern markets, but |
since then it has reached as high |
1gure as 83 cents.
''I think practically all of the Kan |
;as delegation will fight for the in |
creased revenue on beer and the main
enance of the duty on hides, but the |
'ules prevent the amendment of the |
dill in the house.
These are a few things which show
he weight of the great liquor inter-
.sts with the Cannon hierarchy and |
,ffers an explanation also why the |
people were given the dehorned Knox |
oiu instead of a law of real merit on |
he interstate shipment of liquors.
cit must not be supposed, however, |
hat all liberal or progressive Repub- |
leans live in the west. It is not a |
alignment, and many of |
he old senators and members of the |
rouse talk with the greatest freedom /
# the progress policies and indeed |
ust like Kansas Republicans Now
hat a start has been made I believe |
hat the Republicanism of the whole /
will rally to the support of |
President Taft and the administration
will be more quiet, perhaps, but just as
as that of President
roosevelt