The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1909-11-20

offer a welcome home to President
Taft on his return to Washington
was Robt. N. Harper, who enjoys
the distinction of being the first
man convicted under the criminal
provisions of the pure food law.
He was fined $500 for misbraRd-
ing species of dope which he
sells as a cure for the headache.
President Roosevelt urged jail
sentence for Harper. but the dis
trict attorney was unable to have
his way with the judge. Harper
is enthusiastically for Taft.
Senator A. B. Cummins of Iowa
who is back in Washington, tells
the newspaper representatives that
he favors a second terms for Pres
ident Taft. Now that doesn't look
as if us progressives were all in a
deep. dark plot to bring about 1.-The
return from Elba," does it?
Experts in the treasury depart
ment have just discovered that the
American tobacco trust has saved
itself 100000 a month" by i'm
porting wrapper tobacco as filler
tobacco. This is pleasant way Of
saying that the American tobacco
trust has been practicing frauds on
the customs service by which the
government has been robbed 70
the tune of 100000 month. Do
Iyou suppose Mr.. Taft will be able
to get them to compromise?
Efforts are now being made to
compel Thos. l.. Week to accept
the position of assistant secretary
of the department of commerce
and labor. Mr.. Weed has commit
ted no offense other than serving
as private secretary to Secretary
Nagel. Nevertheless it looks as ii
he were to be the victim. Ormsby
McHarg was the last. Before him
there was gentleman from Los
Angeles named Wheeler, who
tquickly returned to the hardware
business. Before that there was
diminishing vista of harmless rm-
knowns, whose names are not to
be found upon the scrolls of time
And the office was only created
about six years ago. Truth to tel
| it is a doodoo office. There il
nothing for the incumbent to do
no place to do it and nobody in.
Iterested in whether he does it Oh
not. 1t is the veritable vice presi
dency of the departments.
Did you see Ballinger's canned
interview? When l say canned
l mean that it was one of those in.
terviews in which the interviewer
and the interviewee are one. The
Hon. Richard Achilles sits up in
his private office and asks himself
leading questions. Then he an
swers these leading questions to
his own satisfaction. His cum
ming stenographer, Mr.. Carr, takes
them all down ON his useful pad
and puts them all into tipping
Then the Hon. Achilles goes over
the copy and blue pen ellis. After
he gets it all fixed up so that ev-
Jerry question is answered just as
it should be answered for the pur-
poses of legal brief, the humble
scribes are called in and handed
carbon copies. The useful Asso-
ciated Press is given permission to
put 1t on its wires, and the public
is expected to guilelessly read and
believe it all, and to almost see
the able statesman handing the
young reporter fresh cigar.
at Is probably inevitable that
at the beginning of an administra-
ton the new members of the cab
met will fail to appreciate the ad-
Visibility might even say i'm
Iportance-of making perfectly
clear to the representatives of the
press their purpose in the various
steps they may deem 1t necessary
to take. To employ the, vernacu-
lar, they are mot on the job"
The above is taken from Secre-
tary Ballinger's canned interview
This was part of what he had to
say after he had asked himself the
question, "Mr. Secretary, it seems
extraordinary that your course
should have been so widely mis-
understood and so extensively mis-
represented. To what do you
|ascribe the misunderstanding?
You see. he ascribes it to us
members of the Washington corps
|of correspondents and to his own
failure to be ION the job" Dear.
dear! 1t recalls the time when /
went to Ballinger's office and had
almost to resort to a jimmy and
dynamite in order to pry loose the
fact that he had opened million