The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-02-15
Ry Ernest G. Walker.

WASHINGTON, February Topics
galore crowd in upon the Washington
view these days. There is the steel
trust. Big witnesses are treading Tue
wav to the Senate Committee on Jul
dietary They are expected to nlighten
the learned Senate lawyers whether the
President was warranted in approving
the merger of the Steel Trust and the
Tennessee Coal and Iron Company
Most of them, however, are trying to
do just the opposite thing-to keep the
light away from the committee. 1t
would reflect upon the President
There is the old friend-the Browns
vile case. The Republican factions
that have been warning in the Senate
for two years and more have shaken
hands and agreed upon compromise.
But there the Democrats come in. They
do not propose there shall be legisla-
ton at this session permitting the col
ored soldiers to reenlist. 1t would have
bad effect, it is claimed, upon the re-
fractory negro population of that sec
ton
1t is big time for treaties. Secre
tary of State Root signalized the close
of his term as premier with negotiating
several instruments. Some of them
have been ratified by the Senate Only
the other day treaty was closed up
with Honduras, providing for the ex-
/ tra6 ifinr Of lie &c oho,,t ba
last refuge there is left for those who
flee from the law and justice. Secre-
tary Root was very active concluding
extradition treaties, and very soon
there will remain but a few corners
of the earth, where man, who has
violated the laws of the United States,
will be secure. He also signed, Just
before he quit Office, a treaty to arbi-
trate century old fishing dispute be-
tween the United States and New
foundland. But how these and other
treaties are to fare before the Senate
is question. Senators are very care
| full about ratifying treaties. Only a
few days ago they bucked' against
| a treaty for defining the international
boundary between Canada and the
United States and for determining the
water rights of the two countries along
| the northern boundary. Just few
| Senators were strong enough to "bust -
| that document, which now apparently
must be redrafted and probably resub-
mitted, for treaties have to be ratified
| by two-thirds majority.
And thus, with the Washington air
full of politics and with interest over
| the approaching change of administra-
| ton, things are doing. President and
| Mrs. Roosevelt are packing up their
| personal belongings so as to be ready
to get out of Washington the moment
| President-elect Taft has ridden down
| Pennsylvania avenue to the Capitol to
take the oath of office. He is gather
ing up odds and ends. Congress is
| bending to its task, passing appropria-
/ ton bills at a rapid rate and promising
to make this billion dollar session of
| Congress.
The Steel Trust investigation, al
ready alluded to, is full of ginger. The
other day the President made public
letter Attorney General Bonaparte
had written refusing to make public
certain information about the Steel
| Trust. That action made the Senate
Judiciary Committee mad When the
law was enacted creating the Bureau
of Corporations, the President wanted
| a provision to make it discretionary
with him whether the results of in
quiries by the bureau should be made
public. The Senate was unwilling this
| should be done. 1t authorized inquir
les to be made on promise that the in
formation should be confidential.
The President acquired some infor
nation of that confidential character
regarding the Steel Trust. Now wher
the Senate is trying to embarrass hin
by its inquiry, growing out of charge:
that ne has favored the Steel Trust il
a very marked way and permitted thai
trust to buy the southern corporation
the President gleefully turns the tables
upon the Senate. He sent for the in
formation in the possession of Herber
Knox Smith. Commissioner ofCorpora
tons, locked it up in the White Hous,
offices, and is defying the Senate Ju
dietary Committee.
In turn, the Judiciary Committe,
throws its doors wide open and allow
the public to enter and hear the exami
nation of witnesses. It hailed Georg
III w. CI kluSy VI buG New OGh HIin o
j. p. Morgan & Co., to its presence
and he is one of number of verv en-
tertaining but reluctant witnesses VIII
have been heard in recent days. TIL
inquisatorial Senators have alread
dragged out the information that Their
was a stock brokerage concern inter
ested in selling the Tennessee Coal an
| Iron Company to the Steel Trust. i
spite of the fact that H. c. Frick an
| f. H. Gary, in the midst of the PAM
| of October. 1907, came to Washineto
and pleaded with the President to pei
l nit of the consolidation because
| would save number of big fnancia
| institutions
| Panama Investigation May Come.
1t seems as though the House wi
start up another investigation. althoug
| Speaker Cannon is very loath to Civ
the word. William Nelson Cromwell
pressing him to do so, and the Speake
is almost on the point of yielding. Tha
Is on an investigation of the Panam
Canal. For the House has been NOR
or less stirred in recent DAVIS b
sweeping charges from Representativ
Henry I. Rainey, an Illinois Democra
In a long and emphatic speech, whic
he had prepared carefully and While