Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-05
TAFT TO WAGE
MERCILESS WAR
ON INSURGENTS
Opponents to Be Cut off
From Patronage and
Starved Out"
BITTER BATTLE is ON
CumminS and His Allies
Arouse Executives Ire
by StubbornnesS
BITTER BATTLE is ON

VIZ ASHINGTON, Jan. 4.-War with
wv out quarter will be waged be-
w tween the Taft administration
and such Republican insurgents in
congress as are opposing and who shall
oppose in the future the Taft legls-
lative program. -,
The battle is not with those tariff
insurgents who quietly sheathed thelf
blades after defeat, but with those
who are whetting their knives pubhcly
in anticipation of continued conflict.
The battle broke suddenly today. At
first it was a single shot, then scat
tered firing, spreading swiftly until
tonight it has taken on the aspect or
general engagement.
The substance of it is that senators
and congressman who have taken
stand against the present adminlstra-
ton and who continue to align them
selves with the opposition to the pres
ident's policies are to receive no con-
sideration in matters of patronage.
Utterances such as that made by
Senator Cummins at a recent dinner
in Des Moines, by Senator brlstoW III
previous speeches, anti-Taft artlcles
in Senator La Follette's Magazine ana
a recent interview by Senator Clapp on
the price of foodstuffs are said to nave
SIdIlGu lltO pl ColbSiiN AAANS
Sought Appointments
II has been reported further that
some Republican insurgents in the
house have tried to obtain the ap-
pointment of men out of harmony
with the Taft regime.
Mr. Taft's closest friends advised
him that it would be impolitic for MN
to give sinews of war to those VINO
might even cooperate with the Demo
Gratis in congress against the TART leg
islative program and In the country at
large by creating anti-Taft sentlIhehe
in advance of the 1912 convention.
If is said without reserve tonight
that the president has listened to such
advice and has decided to follow II:
In support of the position taken py
certain leaders of the administrator
the battle is not with the tarlH IN
surgents.
n was pointed out tonight that SEN
ators Nelson, Brown, BurKett anu
Borah, all of whom voted against the
PAYNE -Aldrich tariff bill, appear 10 DC
persona grata at the Wnlte aouse,
postoffice department, land oftlce ana
internal revenue bureau Wnere Ieuoi"i
pie" is served.
No politician who would discuss the
situation at all tonight dared haz-
ard an opinion as to the political out
come of the contest.
Various Coniectures
Some insisted that it would arouse
hitter opposition to President TAFT,
while others declared the effect would
be to make all Republicans line up
for or against the president, ana
"smoke OUT the neutrals.
Representative Miller of the Elghth
Minnesota district was the man enemy
Instruments in "blowing the lid off, OF
the situation today.
He did it by a statement TO the Ell
feet that Postmaster General Hltch-
cock had informed him yesterday t!aI
his recommendations for presidential
nostmasterships were being held up
because of his insurgent activities III
the house, He quoted the postmaster
general as saying in substance:
"a great deal of pressure is belng
brought to bear on me TO WlthnoIu
from the insurgent Republican con-
gressmen the patronage in their dis
tricts. I am loath to do this ana the
matter is still under consideration.
Mr.. Miller said he told the postmaste
general he intended to carry the thlnS
to the floor of the house. but that Mr..
Hitchcock urged him to wait until the
subject could be further considered.
Whereupon Mr.. Miller agreed to walt
full DEVELOPMENTS before precipitatlng
an open fight
Taken to Task
Assoon as the congressman's state
ment became known, the postmaster
general called him up on the tele-
phone and took him to task for not re-
garding the conversation as conhden-
tial, to which Mr.. Miller said that ne
felt he had violated no confidence.
Mr.. Miller said tonight that month
ago he complied with request OF the
postoffice department to forward ms
recommendations on several postnlast
terships in Minnesota
After waiting several weeks ne calleo
at the department, he says, but was for
a long time unable to see the postmas-
ter general He succeeded in gaining
an audience yesterday afternoon, and 1t
was in that conversation, according 10
Mr.. Miller, that Mr. Hitchcock in
formed him of the existence of STU
alton that had made it impossible for
him to act as yet on his recommenda-
tions.
Interview "Private"
Mr.. Miller states that he had no idea
that the interview was to be considered
private as there were three other call
ers at the time who might have heard
the conversation.
Representative Humphrey of Wash
ington was one of the three present, and
one or both of the others were con-
gressmen.
Before making the matter public he
had conferred with Senator Clapp, from
his own state, also an insurgent. He
did not desire, he said, to precipitate
any final break, but he had merely re-
peated words which he considered were
authoritative.
Postmaster General Hitchcock was
silent on the subject tonight, and no
other official representing the adminis-
tration would say word about it.
Another feature of the attitude of the