The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1909-07-16
BEvERIDCE AND
TOBACCO TAX,
His Success In Having His
Amendment Adopted.
CONTROVERSY OVER SUBJECT

Pressure to Have Amendment Droppe
S In Conference-Passine of Distin
guished Man-Three Easy Marks
} Gossip of the Statesmen at the Ma
tionaI Capital.
Washington, July IA. - [Special.l-
, Senator Beveridge of Indiana is feel
ing and almost looking a couple O.
: inches taller since he realizes that hi!
long and exhaustive speech on the to
, bacco tax question caused the finance
: committee to bring in the amendment
giving him practically everything de
manded This tax is to be increased
all along the line, and it is causing &
big rumpus among the manufacturers
The talk is that the so called trust
does not object to 1t as much as the
independent manufacturers, who have
been here in force trying to defeat the
increase, as they claim it will prove q
heavy blow to them. They cannot af
ford to raise the price of a five or ten
cent bag Of tobacco. This being the
case, the retailer will not be hurt
1 When the tobacco tax was increased
on account of the Spanish-American
war it is alleged that in order to pro-
tect themselves the manufacturers cut
the wages of their employees, and they
also were compelled to pay the grow
ers Of tobacco less money. The fear
now is that this will happen again, and
for that reason pressure will be
brought to bear to have the amend
ment dropped in conference.
Passing of a Distinguished Man.
Word comes from Norfolk, Va, that
former well known member of the
house of representatives is lying at
the point OF death-John Goode, who
represented that district during the
memorable reconstruction era. He was
solicitor general of the department of
justice in the first Cleveland admin
istration and after that practiced law
here and was familiar figure on the
streets Of Washington. Mr. Goode also
has the distinction of being the sole
surviving member of thee Confederate
congress at Richmond during the civil
war. He was president of the last
convention which met at Richmond to
make a new constitution for Virginia.
He has enjoyed universal popularity
among both Democrats and Republic
ans at the nations capital, and 1t
has often been remarked Of him as
he strolled about the capitol building
that he looked like tn old time states
men whose faces are portrayed in the
historical paintings that have been
purchased by the government.
Wedding the Departments.
There is much uneasiness among the
government clerks. 1t is noised around
that steps are to be taken to weed out
OF the departments the incompetent
ones, and this is particularly harass-
ing to the old men and women who
realize only too sadly that they are
incompetent on account of their in
firmitles. 1t is really getting to be a
very serious question. Several Of the
members of the Taft cabinet have
looked into the situation and have
found that on account of such large
number Il decrepit employees the pub
lie business suffers. 1t also is said
that men and women in the prime of
life have been soldering" on Uncle
Sam. and those who are not up to the
mark and are known to be inefficient
will eventually be dropped. The I'M
Outstanding is this reform will be car
ried out in the service all over the
country just as soon as the machinery
can be put in motion. President
Taft's attention has been called to the
fact that a considerable percentage of
the civil service has been weighed and
found wanting.
Three Easy Marks.
An aged negro who claimed to be |
a bishop appears to have successfully |
obtained money from at least three |
members of the house First he went |
to Representative Murdoch of Kansas,
telling him that he was from his city |
of Wichita and lacked money with |
which to convey to Kansas the re- |
mains Of n son who had died in Vir- |
ginia. Murdoch had some doubt in |
his mind. but drew his check He hap |
pened to tell Congressman Gardner of |
New Jersey and Currier Of New Hamp-
shire about IT, and they admitted that
the bishop" had worked them the
same way, claiming that the body Of
the dead son was TO be taken to the
states in which these two eminent
statesmen lived. The "bishop" real
lied from the three about $40 The
are now the subjects of
much merriment among their friends
in the house on account of the ease
with which they parted with cash.
A Friend Of labor.
Political gossip here has it that
James Hamilton Lewis is being urged
10 run for congress in the stockyards
district Of Chicago. But to do that he
would have to supplant Representative
Of that district. and the
latter might object to being crowded
out. McDermott is exceptionally
Wrong with the labor element. He is
prominent In the Telegraphers' union.
The first money ever earned by him
was as a messenger boy. and then he
became an operator. Since coming to
he has worked necessarily I'm
behalf Of legislation in the interest Of
the workingmen Of the land and is in
close touch with most Of the big
unions. CHARLES W. ARTHUR
SAH m