Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1909-08-13
Was, IEGTCN LETTER.
lFron Our Regular Correspondent

lFrom Our Regular Correspondent
Washing ton, d. e., Aug THE
tariff bill, such as it is, ishnally passed,
Congress has adjourned and the Presi- |
dent and his cabinet have left Wash |
ingtCn for the remnant of the summer |
S ven Republican Senators stood stead |
f ST to their convictions 10 the last and
voted against the conference report on
the tariff bill and one Democrat, Mr..
Nc Emery, Of Louisiana, practically
voted for it. That is, he was paired for
it, President Taft, although obviously
disappointed thut the measure did not
go farther in the direction of revision
downward, approved the measure and
made a public statement voicing his
qualified approval. MIR. Taft says that
the measure will be taken as evidence
that his party made an honest effort to
revise The tarid downward. In that
he MAY be mistaken, although every
unparalleled observer must admit that
| IL is Il good deal for Republicans, elect
| ed TO Congress by the funds and infiu-
ence of protected interests, to make any
reduction of the tariff, and possibly
thai is the charitable view which the
President takes of it.
| Reading between the lines of the
! Presidents statement it is possible,
| however, to see that there are other
thing in the tariff bill besides reductions
of the duty which especially crafty
him. For instance, he points to the
measure of free trade accorded to the
Philippines as especially gratifying to
him, saying that it is something for
which he has been working consistent
ly for ten years. Whatever Mr.. Taft's
critics may say of him, no one can
charge him with lack of loyalty to
ssthe Little Brown Brother" whose
cause he has always espOused, and his
fidelity to the interests of the Filipino
wards is to many the occasion of sim
cere admiration.
Next to the personal qualification af
forded him by the granting of a meas
ure of justice TO the Filipinos, the So
called tariff commission provision af-
fords the utmost satisfaction to the
| President of any feature of the bill, un-
less it be the corporation tax. Both of
these he has contended for against fear
full odds and he has finally won, al
though many members OF Congress
| thought they had emaculated the COM
mission feature: AS if in immediate
answer TO Senator Hale, of Maine, who
declared in debate that Congress had
not authorized the President to ascer-
tain cost Of production, Mr.. Taft took
occasion in his formal statement on the
tariff bill to express his qualification
that he was empowered to ascertain
lust these facts aud incidentally he in
timated how little regard he has for the
information submitted to the commit
tees of Congress by interested manufac-
turers by saying of the facts to be CLEAN
ed by his commission that the informa-
ton will be gathered "under c1rcums-
tances favorable to its truth" That
statement made the old line Republi-
cans vince and some of them besought
| the President to strike it out, but with
out avail.
On the day following the passage of
the tariff bill, the President held a
cabinet meeting at WHICH the chief
topic Of discussion was the tariff COM
mission. He instructed the Secretary
of the Treasury Immediately to inves-
tigate the qualifications of certain men
whose namef has been suggested for
the commission and declared his lnten-
ton of calling it into existence at once.
He also told Secretary Mac Veagh that
he wanted the experts To go to the bot
tom of things ana procure for him ev-
! cry fact that had any bearing on the
tariff. "Congress does not want the
information" he is quoted as saying,
shut that will not prevent my laying
it before it in an annual or special
message if it is of a character which
seems to demand further reduction of
the duties" Again, when the ques-
ton of a name for the new organization
was under discussion and Secretary
Mac Veagh remarked that it would
make it especially unpopular with
Congress to term it a tariff commission,
the President said 81 don't care what
you call it. A rose by any other name
would smell If sweet" 10 me,-and l
gness 1t would be Eugene Hale"
The Secretary of the Treasury has an
nounced his Intention of issuing nc
Panama bonds under the recent authori-
zation of Congress, which delegated to
him authority to issue bonds to the
amount of 1878, 100000 to pay for the
canal. The Secretary if businessman.
lie does not, believe in borrowing
money when. it can be avoided by
economy, and he does not like long
term notes. He had decided, therefore,
it compelled to borrow at all, to do so
cd Treasury certificates which are pay
able within one year.
| ->A $780,