Catoctin clarion., 1910-03-03
THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 1910.
WASHINGTON LETTER.
(FRoM OUR REGULAR CORRESPONDENT.


What is everybody's business is
nobody's business, and everybody's
business is the government OF the
United States. Most men have
enough to do with the government OF
their families, sometimes assisted by
rccalcitrant wives and children, but
if they are public-spirited, they may
turn their attention to village or
county affairs, and even know some
thing about the affairs of their state,
whether it be Texas or Rhode Island.
But when it comes to national and
international affairs, not one voter in
ten is or tries to be well informed.
Nevertheless, this voter has his say
in the most delicate, multifarious and
momentous of national and inter-
national affairs. 1t is wonderful
system, without having much system
about it, and one wonders how long
it will last, or what will be the result
of the evolution in popular govern
ment.
There is a continuous discussion in
Congress with reference to ship sub
sides. The American carrying trade
sixty years ago covered all seas, and
the Stars and Stripes could be seen
in every port in the world. The flag
at present is confined exclusively to
our interior and coast trade. Two
years ago when our battle ships cir
cumnavigated the globe, they were
supplied with provisions and coal by
foreign vessels. Ex-Sccretary of the
Treasury Leslie Shaw has recently
made the startling announcement that
Japan is determined to rule the Pacific
or tinge its waves with blood, and he
has added to this statement details as
to how Japan can do it. He says
that we hired twenty seven foreign
ships to carry supplies for our around
the world battle-ships, and that one
hostile shot from any country that
owns a cannon would under inter-
national law have sent every one OF
these twenty-seven ships home, for
no country can afford to have its flag
involved in our quarrels. He further
stated that in 1909 the War Depart
mcnt hired over forty foreign ships to
do its work, and that we are sending
food to the soldiers in the Philippine
Islands in japanese ships. He stated
further that Japan can put two hun
drcd thousand soldiers in Hawaii in
thirty days without firing shot, and
that it would take us two years to
put one hundred thousand there. The
Secretary of the Treasury has q
Happy faculty of graphic statement
and illustration, and his combination
Of arithmetic and rhetoric produce a
vivid, impressive and true picture.
For better or worse, we have become
tirst-class power and part of the
international system. This has been
brought about through our Hawaii
and our Philippines. The secure in
sularity once afforded us by the two
great oceans is no longer ours. We
must be able to defend our frontiers,
Hawaii in mid-Pacific and the Phil
ippines in Asiatic waters. We can
not do this without soldiers and
ships, not only war-ships, but col
licrs and commissary ships. How
are we to get sailors and ships when
owing to our tariff, other nations can
build ships and employ sailors fo1
half the price that we must pay, or
in the case of Japan, for less than
one fifth the price that we must pay
As Mr.. Shaw says, "These are not
state secrets. Everybody knows them
except our voters. We are building
battleships, and this is well, but bat
tleships without colliers and trans
ports are absolutely worthless. In
case of war we could not get our At
lantic fleet to San Francisco. No
vessel in the fleet can carry enough
coal to take it there. We have nc
colliers, and could then hire none. "
Tx Secretary Shaw further stated that
if every powder mill in the United
States was to make powder twenty
four hours per day for thirty days,
the product would last our present
Navy only two hours.
Oh. mberlain's q Stomach and Liver Tab