The Sauk Centre herald., 1909-08-12

position are you after, and will the
delegations indorse you?" They could
net imagine an ex-congressman COM
ing to Washington unless he was
looking for an appointment; it is
irregular and without precedent, and
according to the code of morals pre-
vailing here, the objectionable sin is
to be irregular, and breaking a pre-
cedent is considered much more
heinous offense than breaking one
of the ten commandments. l sadly
told the newspaper boys that l was
not an applicant for an appointment,
that 1 would like a good place, that
! needed one, but that 1 was ineli-
BILE, was barred, that had never
been repudiated by Republican con-
stituency and it is one Of the In
flexible rules of modern Republican
administration that the voters must
repudiate a man for a legislative po-
sition before he can be appointed to
an Administrative one.
CHANGES.
They tell me that Washington has
grown wonderfully in the six years l
have been absent, but it did not seem
that way to me. 1t looks smaller,
seem so high or the capitol so big
and don't feel nearly as big as l
did when l first visited this town 16
years ago. Then l thought NJ. c.
stood for mighty cuss'; now l know
it stands for mere craeture" with
the mere underscored twice. 1t is
hard to conceive a more undesirable
position than that of congressman at
the present time. If he is "regu-
lar" everybody hates him and abuses
him, and if he is an "insurgent" he
hates everybody and abuses every
body.
ON THE FLOOR OF THE HOUSE.
Very few OF the men who served
with me l found left to greet. AS
one tersely stated, MANY have taken
their journey to that land where there
never has been and never will be any
Joe Cannons.'' (Puzzle-Which place
is it?) Some have gone home and
got rich, some have gone home and
become poor, one or two have been
sent to Jail, quite number nave
been still more disgraced by being
sent to the senate. The OLD chair
man of the Indian committee, under
whom l served for eight years, once
one of the most honored and res
pected of the house members, has
committed some dishonorable deed,
l did not learn what, but anyhow he
has been sentenced to solitary con-
finement, without labor, in the vice
presidency for four years. His
friends talk of promoting him after
his sentence expires, but doubt
ii he can get rid of the stigma.
TWO HISTORIC EVENTS.
Two historic events have taken
place in Washington during the last
week-the passage of the tariff bill
in the house, and the successful tests
of the Wright aeroplane. The latter
has attracted very much more atten-
ton than the former. 1 am told
the latter is going to revolutionize
warfare on land and sea, but l await
future demonstration. How a ma
chine that must await perfect atmos-
pheric conditions before it's navigators
dare leave the earth, makes more
noise in it's flight, than a steam
ing machine in full blast, and man
with a double-barrelled shot gun,
loaded with buckshot, could pick off
its operators easier than he could
bring down mallard on a duck pass,
can be Of any value as war engine,
is more than l can understand, but
the war department has paid the
Wright brothers $4,000 for it. The
war department is welcome to it.
| do not want to buy it. What i'm
provements may be made on this
machine in the future, cannot, of
course, be foretold, but at present,
it is only a huge, expensive, danger
GUS, wonderful, unreliable mechanical
toy-nothing more, nothing less.
THE TARIFF BILL.
The tariff bill has passed the
house and in all probability, before
this article is published. it will have
passed the senate, have been signed
by the president, and be the law of
the land. It's passage will have cost
the government more than $5,0OO, 900.
1t may be worth it, but I doubt it.
The ideas as to the merits of this
measure are as divergent as the poles.
According to Congressman Payne, it
is the greatest document ever pro-
mulgated by, American craftsmanship
excepting only the declaration of in
dependence, and the constitution. TAX,
Champ Clark's word for lit, and it
is the worst enactment ever passed
by any legislative body ever assem-
bled in America, except the ordinance