Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1910-02-17

verdict to the effect that the tariff
bill has nothing to do with the sky
scraping prices of the necessities of
life.
It can be said definitely that Mr..
Taft believes that If the investigating
committee, which of course will be
dominated by Republicans, shall make
1t appear by the trend of their inquiry
that they are concerned first wits
proving that the tariff is sinless, the
Democrats will make the most of the
circumstance, and will 90 before the
country in the congressional cam
paign to tell the people that the in
vestigation was begun and carried
through simply to whitewash a Re.
publican tariff bill.
Wants Straight Investigation.
The president has conferred in the
last day or two with many of the Re-
publican members of the senate com.
mittee on finance and of the house
committee on ways and means and
has told them that 1t is his sincere de-
sire that their efforts shall be bent
solely, in conducting the investigation,
to discover the true reasons, II 1t is
possible to discover them, why it
costs nearly twice as much to live to-
day as 1t did a few years ago.
Those who are close to the admins.
tration say that the president cannot
for a moment allow it to appear to
the men who are to conduct the cost
Of living inquiry that he has any sus.
picion that they simply wish to clear
the skirts of the tariff 1t must be
taken for granted, the presidents ad-
visers say, that members of congress
sworn to do their duty will do it with
out having any Interior motive in
view. Unquestionably Mr. Taft would
like to have it proved definitely that
the tariff has nothing to do with the
advanced prices, because last summer
he declared that the tariff bill was the
best that the Republican party had
ever passed, and to a considerable ex.
tent this has been considered an in.
dorsement of the tariff-making efforts
Of Mr.. Payne, Mr.. Aldrich and the
other high protection believers who
framed the measure and who put It
on the statue books.
The speakership Situation.
Several senators and representatives
in congress are keeping Presi-
dent Taft informed as to the
speakership situation in the house
There are one or two members of the
upper house who have close relations
with the members of their state dele
cations in the lower house, and these
members keep the senators informed
as to the trend of speakership events
The president will take no active part
in the matter of securing a successor
to Speaker Cannon when the time
comes to elect one, but he is deeply
interested in having it made as GER
tain as such things can be that the
next speaker shall be a man who will
in no way obstruct the legislation
which the administration intends tc
recommend on behalf of the country.
Idea Is to Unite Factions.
OF course the sole idea of the ad.
ministration is to try to influence Re-
publican members to elect a man who
that there will be no such trouble as
there has been during the last two
years of Mr.. Cannon's incumbency.
hr. Taft is very much concerned to-
day lest the fact that there are fac.
lions in the house of representatives
shall imperil some of the measures
which he has recommended for pas.
lie fC hnf In he
congress, if there is Republican ma.
! jority, the fight over the rules will
have been settled and that some man
to the liking of both regulars and in.
surgents shalt sit In the chief seat.
In all human probability the next
| Speaker of the house will be a con.
servative. The insurgents are not
strong enough yet to elect speaker
out of their own ranks and they make
admission to-day that they are not
likely to recruit enough strength at
the next election to give them caucus
control of the next house. They do
say, however, that they will have
enough recruits to make it certain
that change in the rules of the house
| VIII NC mduS pSlOIS Tue pISbeuJ Gull
gress becomes thing of the past.
Speaker cannon's Position.
Speaker Cannon has enough loyal
followers to make 1t seemingly certain
provided the next house is Republican
and of about the same fractional make
up that it Is to-day, that no man who
is not to the liking of the present
speaker car be elected to the chief
official place. No man ever left a
high office without at least some curl
osity as to who was to come into his
place. Mr.. Cannon has more than
mere curiosity at stake. He has
steered certain course during his pi
lotage of the house affairs, and he
thinks unquestionably that the most
convincing praise that can be bestowed
upon his work as a pilot will be tC
have the relieving pilot steer practi
cally the same course. In other words
Mr.. Cannon would like to name the
next speaker of the house If he car
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