New-York tribune., 1911-01-07
lFrom The Trihune Bureau. ]

| Washington, January o.
TAFTS FIRM STAND.-Presldent Tar
declared himself to-day squarely opposed ''
any mitigation Of the punishment OF 'h'
rich man. because his wealth and socia
| position made punishment by Imprisonment
greater hardship to him than to the poor
er lawbreaker. saying: Fines are not ca
| fective against men OF wealth. lmpriSoh
ment is necessary" This was In his opih'
ion denying an application for the paluo'
| Of w. s. Harlan. a wealthy res!deht VI
Florida, convicted OF peonage. 1 am wei
aware OF the grievous character OF coi,iiile
ment in jail to a man Of Mr Harlan
standing" the President said. "and shouio
be glad to yield to the appeals OF DE
friends, but / cannot do so. ] believe MN
to be guilty Of the charge on which ne naS
been convicted. To retain and enforce the
Imprisonment part Of the sentence WIZ
operate powerfully to prevent recur.en.e
OF such offences. by men Of large ana"
and business standing. To relieve su0,
one from the penalty Of imprisonment Wh."
properly convicted and sentenced "ouiu "
TO break down the authority Oh lne "a
with those Of power and influence hho
would tempt on their part further orescnes
What is worse, It would give further srouno
for tba contention so often heard that IL Is
only the poor criminals who are really pun
ished" The Presidents attitude III uh'.
case may afford some criterion vi t,
which he will assume when the apphcauoi
of Morse. the New York banker coihe'
before him for review. 1t Is characteiis''>
of Mr., Taft that before rendering an opii'
ion In this case he spent many noulS ano
frequently burned the midnight oil III 'n'
holiday recess reading the l,Soo or iioi'
napes of evidence submitted for MS con-
sideration. and II is equally characterls'O
that ha should take something more 'hai
5oo words in which to render his opinioh
That the President made himself iail'il"i
uith ali nhases Of the case is clearly snow
bv his discussion OF its details lha' '"1
course will prove powertui oe'ei ~, :,
the practice of peonage is the coh','r.o ,,oo
those officials Of the Department Oh 'u'''o :,
who have had to deal with TINS ioi'n
llawlessness.
RECIPROCITY DINNER.-ConVihceu
A.. rotb;n0 is more conducive to sue
ass,,I d,n,omacy than generous hospi'al-
,,v Mr.. Taft has planned an e'ao0'
dinner at the White House at VIM
| Canadian participants IN the
negotiations will be the guests VI noo.'
The President has gone even -
moreover, and has extended lh'itd'0"9
the Governor General OF Cahau"' o.
Grey. and to the Canadian frehiie''
wufrid I,aurier, who are not III a'ie
a., Those Canadians who are mere anu
ho,.o been invited to the dinner are 'ne
,Uris,er of Customs. William Patterson
49,. ,,Irister OF Finance w. S. Flelolhg'
A., N,,rieter Of Marine and Fisheries IA
p Rrodeur. the Minister of Jusuce, Oh
u AvIesworth: the Minister or KAN
ways George p. Graham, and the Nli'iiS,e
of Labor. w MacKensie King. lhese IL
clude not only those who have coiiie "
washington to take part In the reclprooitS
neqotiations but those who are mere -,
connection with the proposed lnterna'ioiia'
railway convention and with the a1'erihati VI
~ the fisheries decision. The dinner VIII
toLa nIace next wednesday, the evening
after the annual reception to the dipio-
matte corps.
NEW YORK ARCHITECTS W1N.-NeW
York architects won a decided Victory III
the competition Of designs for the ne"
government buildings which are 10 mouse
the departments of State, Justice aii.
| Commerce and Labor to-day. All three Vi
the plans chosen were submitted py ne"
York architects, and the selections TOT hrs'
place we're as follows: Department VI
| state the plan OF Arnold w. Drummer
Justice. Dom Barber, and Commerce ano
| Labor. York & Sawyer. Four AWARDS were
made for the plans for each building ano
| oil the honors went to New Workers, WIFI
the single exception of third prize for oe-
sign for the Department Of Justice, Whlcn
was awarded to Parker, Thomas & Rice
or Baltimore and Boston. An amusing In
! c,dept occurred I'm connection with the final
selection. The government architects nav
inc made their selections, the President
was asked TO go to the Treasury Depart
r,ert IN mass on their work. The arrival
OF the Chief Executive created oommo-
ton among the employees, and Whlie ne
was in the building work was dispatched
with an expedition never before known IN
that historic pile. Mr.. Taft has been so IN
sistent on efficiency and dispatch In the
government departments, and the Secre-
tary of the Treasury has been making such
earnest efforts TO promote these ends, that
the clerks thought Mr.. Taft had come over
10 observe their work for himself, and
elderly persons Of both sexes who have
heen government clerks for thirty, forty and
fifty years, and have always resented any
suggestion that they work with celerity,
were actually seen TO hustle. Secretary
MacVeagh is expecting an exceptionally
large sick report tomorrow as result OF
the unprecedented efforts due to the Presi-
dents visit.
IMPORTANT NEWS.-The Department
OF State has received assurances from the
| American Minister TO Honduras that In SO
| far as has come TO his knowledge there has
been no uprising or outbreak in that coun-
| try, although there appears to be some
unrest, and the government is prepared
and alert II is also officially announced
at the Department Of State that the gov
ernment Of Portugal has decreed that cold
storage meats may enter that country free
OF duty. These two important items con-
stituted the sum total Of the diplomatic
news obtainable at the Department OF
NIL te