The National tribune., 1910-03-10

llabored for five days in the preparation
Of the Tobacco Trust case.
He was in no danger of interruption
there. Very few people were in the
secret. and, Furthermore. there are we'll
recognized ways of keeping the public
and public officials out of New York
law offices.
| The Attorney General has been try
| ing to shut himself up for three days in
his inner Office at the Department of
Justice. For that space of time he
denied himself to all callers and got
along pretty WE'LL but it was found inn
possible to keep visitors out altogether.
Very Important Legal Work.
He has been doing a deal of impor-
tant legal work, beyond what has been
required of other ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
There are numerous great trust prose-
cutiops under way, as there have been
| for the last four or five years. But
| to those duties there has been added
for the Acknowledgement the work of
drafting numerous big measures. Last
Summer the President relied upon him
| TO draw the corporation-taX provision
of the tariff law. He spent many days
upon it. and the big test is soon to come
over the laws constitutionality, for an
| agreement has-been reached to have 1t
argued this Spring before the Supreme
Court.
The Attorney General spent many
weeks upon the draft of the Federal
| franchise law, which labor, except Tor
| its educational value and its value for
reference hereafter. promises to be of
| no avail. Congress is showing no dis
position whatever to enact that bill
into law, and there has not been scru-
tiny enough of it by the lawmakers to
ascertain how well il is likely to with
stand Senate and House attacks.
e1- INa +
torney-General drew the railroad bill,
as it is called. 1t, too, has been an ex-
ceedingly arduous task, the most ardu-
Gus in the bill-drawing line the Attor-
y-General ever attempted. He has
been working weeks and months upon
that measure, and hardly does he get
thru with one draft of it before sug-
gestions come from Congress or else
where, and the Attorney-General goes
to work to further safeguard the bill or
| to draw il into more acceptable shape.
| In this he has been doing more than
office work. He has fashioned his prod
| uct of paragraphs and qualifying
phrases, and, with these wares on pa
per, has given hours and days to the
Senate and House Committees on In
| terstate Commerce explaining and eX-
employing. So far the Senate Commit
tee has put its o. K. upon his work,
and there is struggle in progress to
persuade the House Committee to do
likewise OF course, the Attorney-Gen-
eral first shows his product to the
President, and whatever he takes to
the Capitol is fully approved by his
official superior.
| BY right, under the circumstances,
the railroad bill, if it should be placed
upon the statute books, should be called
the Wickersham bill or the Taft bill,
but it is doubtful whether Congress
will ever adopt that nomenclature. An
interesting question arises in that con-
nection. Representative Townsend, Of
Michigan, introduced the bill in the
House and Senator Elkins in the Sem
ate Both of them would like to have
the proposed law designated by their
names, but it would be hardly fair to
call it the Townsend bill or the Elkins
| bill. AS matter of fact. neither Con-
gresham had very much to do with
| the measure as reported out of commit
| tee. Perhaps it will be known as the
EIkins-Townsend law. 1t cannot well
| be called the Elliins law, for there is
now an EIkins law, which is a sort of
Ihandmaiden of the Sherman antitrust
| law.
1t means lot to Senator or a Rep
resentatiye to be able to say that his
name has been identified with legisla-
ton of Importance. Therefore, the
eagerness in such matters to file first
and get Senate and House to referring
to the measure as the Jones bill or the
Smith sbill..- When-Congress gets to do
ing that and thus recognizes a mans
title, the rest of the country generally
| follows suit, >and something has been
accomplished toward winning legisla-
| tive fame.