The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-11
PROBE MONETARY COMMISSION NEXT Regarded as Asylum for
 Lame Ducks" DEMOCRATS AFTER IT Feeling Against It Has Long Existed But Aldrich's Iron Hand Has Stifled Much Public
 Criticism
DEMOCRATS AFTER IT
By RopERIoK CLIFFORD

Washington, June 10.-tSpecial.)-
 The congressional probe is extending
 into many government affairs which have hitherto been exempt from the white glare of publicity, and among other things which are now being in vestigated is the national monetary had their eye upon this organization, which is commonly regarded as an asylum for flame ducks" and what the probe has already discovered has been little short of amazing.
 The national monetary commission has been chiefly monetary" in its ca pacity for spending money. It has or ganized rich junkets to Europe; it has
 issued voluminous and expensive mono
 graphs; it has contrived to spend the
 peoples money in score or more of
 original ways.
 | Naturally, the democrats are not go- | ing to make the probe too harsh and se- were, since some loyal members of their | party are also members of the commis- sion. Among these are former Senators | Hernando De Soto Money of Mississippi
 and J. P. Taliaferro of Florida.
 One of the delightful facts about the | national monetary commission is that | the law creating IL gives IL dDSoiule l immunity from the sharp eyed auditor
 The chairman of the commission, form | CT Senator Aldrich, can reach into the
 federal treasury, extract from 1t what
 ever sum of money he requires, and nc
 questions are asked.
 The criticism of the national mone- ] tary commission is by no means con- 1 fined to the present Congress. A reel | ing against 1t has existed for more than | a hpca1lSa of the strong | grip which Senator Aldrich kept over l the Senate, it was impossible to pass | any resolution of investigation in the upper chamber. It was not until the 1 democrats were swept into power Tn the House of Representatives that there i was any hope that the monetary com
 mission would have to submit to the whip of effective opposition.
 Among members of Congress there IS | conviction that it has wasted an im-
 mense amount of money in fashion 1 utterly ineXcusable and that resolu- | tion to abolish 1t will hardly have 8 | single dissenting vote when presented | to either the House or Seate.
 1 The European trip of the commis- 1 sion-"an expenses paid without audit | ipg"-cost the federal treasury $1S,- 1 250.19. There are ten of the commits | sioners, and apparently they had good
 time abroad, while supposedly in search
 of financial information.
 1 Then there was the celebrated junliet al
 Narragansett Pier in July, 1909, in the
 height of the fashionable season. Its l bill for a single meeting there-that is
 series of sessions lasting not more than weel<-was $3493.73. The commission has
 never been able to put forth any press | ing business reason why 1t met at Mar
 ragansett Pier except that the ocean
 breeze there might furnish excellent re-
 cuperative treatment for "lame ducks. ' l In June. 199S, a meeting in New York
 cost a comparatively modest sum- only s217 GO. Later sessions in the metropolis
 were similarly cheap so that the Mar
 ra gansett Pier nieetns looms up all the more significantly in consequence.
 One of the striking and humorous fea-
 lures of the repoN of the commission is
 that relating to a history of the Paris
 bourse. This history was written by a
 French economist, M Vidal, for the Naltry sum of s2c0. but translated by