The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-12-07

gone days, used to rejoice when Col
Roosevelt's strenuous preachments were
read in the House.
1T Is an excellent historical review"
was the comment of an insurgent in the
Senate.
The Republican regulars and many OF
/ the Bear-insurgents-and these comprise
| the greater part of the party's repre-
| sentatives in Northumberland the doc
ument however. as an able and dignified
presentation OF the conditions and prob
lens confronting the government. This
class of Republicans regard the Presi-
/ dents recommendations in the message
on the whole as reasonably progressive
and sane and predict that IL will have
a splendid effect upon the country.
Differ on ship Subsidy.
The President and the insurgents are
directly at variance on several points In
the message. The President is strongly
in favor Of ship subsidy and some of the
most prominent Of the insurgent leaders
have announced that they viii oppose
| such legislation.
! The Presidents discussion OF the tariff
! seems. however. 10 be the most disap-
pointing feature 10 the more radical of
the insurgents. Some OF them had been
! hopeful that the President would recon-
mend revision OF the wool schedule with
out waiting for a report from his tariff
/ board. They are accordingly disgruntled
at the Presidents announcement that he
will not have any recommendations 20
make on the tariff until probably the
! Sixty-second session OF Congress meets
| In December, 1911. The insurgents ap-
parently are not going 10 rest upon this
statement. but VIII continue 10 agitate
the tariff revision question in the present
| Congress.
The insurgents and the President differ
also on the question OF a tariff commits
sion. The President recommends that the
present tariff board of three members be
made a permanent body. The insurgents
want a commission created with power
To subpoena and examine witnesses,
! which is not possessed by the present
board. They want the membership OF
| the commission also to be chosen subject
TO confirmation by the Senate. whereas
the present tariff board is named in
| dependently by the President
Commend ''RestfuI' Tone.
Regular Republicans declare that the
| general ''give-us-a-rest tone OF the
| Presidents message is timely.
with the new forces that are entering
1 the House and the Senate" said this
Republican leader, cit will be case
mend the things that should not. rather
than those that should be done. II Is
time that we rested on our oars"
Democratic Senators, as usual, had a
good deal OF fault to find with the mes
sage, but many Of them were inclined
10 regard il as a strong and cOmprehen-
sive document.
Senator Money. OF Mississippi. the mi
nority leader in the upper branch OF Con-
gress, said that although he differed
with Mr.. Taft in many OF his recomnen-
dations. he regarded the document on
the whole as a good one.
Senator Fletcher. of Florida. said
1.-The message is undoubtedly a strong
document ] cannot agree with the Pres
ident in many OF his conclusions, but
wish 10 commend that feature OF the
message which urges economy in the ad-
ministration Of the government"
Praise Economy Note.
An Republicans, regulars as wen as
insurgents, and most OF the Democrats,
unite in praising the economy feature of
the message. They acknowledge that the
President has made a good showing and
that his recommendation in this respect
are sound.
Representative Mann, Of Illinois, Re
publican regular, gave this opinion Of the
message:
In the face Of a great party defeat the
President shows his courage and wisdom
by calmly discussing and advising
needed legislation without even tinge
OF bitterness or fear. This is great
craftsmanship. He endears himself to
his party followers by his recommenda-
tions, and his message ought to go far
toward reuniting Republicans"
Representative ollie James, Of Ken
lucky. who has never been known TO see
anything good in Republican adninistra-
ton, declared that the Presidents mes
sage disclosed him as weak and incon-
sistent on the tariff question.
Stirs Little Applause.
The reading OF the message in the Sen
ate occupied a little over two hours 1t
was about 5000 words long There was
a fairly large attendance when the read
ing began, but the Senators soon began
to drift out. and for the last hour or
more the Clerk was reading. with but
few exceptions, to empty seats. Each
Senator had a copy of the message on
his desk, and apparently preferred TO
peruse it at his leisure rather than listen
TO the droning tones of the Clerk.
Mrs Taft was an interested spectator
in the gallery when the message was |
sent in. She remained, however. only a |
few minutes.
It took nearly three hours to go |
through the Presidents message in the |
applause when the document was pre- |
scented. but Republicans refuse to enthuse |
over anything these days. There was a |
full House when Speaker cannon called /
for order, but few remained to follow the |
reading of the message, BY the time |
reading clerks had concluded their work !,
the House was practically deserted.
Asks Views of Powers.
The most striking feature of President
Taft's second annual message is his an |
nouncement that he has invited express |
sions from the other powers of the
world on the proposition of limiting |
arniaments by international agreement
The general tone of The message is re-
assuring to business. The time has
come, in the Presidents opinion, when |
Congress can pause from legislating for
the regulation OF corporations and the /
restraint of business and witness the eff
feet Of the laws already on the statute /
books. The activities OF the government. |
he says, should be directed toward econo- |
my OF administration and enlargement /
of oppe; tunities for foreign trade. the !
upbuilding OF home industries, and the !
strengthening OF the confidence OF capital /
in domestic investment.
There will be no tariff revision upon /
the Presidents recommendation in the /