The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-16
WASHINGTON FAST
 BECOMING ACTIVE Politics Will Take the Gen.
 ter of the Stage MIR. TAFT'S MESSAGE Has Indeed Very Hard Task Before Him to Help Regain the Ground
 That Has Been Lost By
 the Republicans
BY WALTER HARPER

Washington, November l1-tSpeclal.)- The return of President Taft to Wash
 ington last Sunday was the signal for a renewal of official and political activity
 at the national capital For about three
 months Washington has been perhaps the dulest city in the country.
 Most of the hcads.of departments and all tho cabinet members have been away
 most of the tilne. Following the close
 of the special session every man that was due vacation hurried away to
 snatch a few days of rest before the falling of the frost, and things have been dismal.
 | The newspap per man who had to stay on the job had to scratch his head day and night for something to fill up space and remind the home office that he was still | on the job. When he called at the de- I partments for 6 story he found usually
 an underling who had been temporarily 1 thrust into prominence by his absent SUI | perior. This sudden and temporary re- | sponsibility is never becoming to an un- l derllng, and he is usually too mindful of l his authority to be of much real ser vice to q man looking for information. l The newspaper man has a hard time get l ting news when the heads of depart ments are away.
 When newspaper men find things dull they are dull. But things are sharpening up this week,
 and thero will be plenty to talk about
 from now on to the opening of the next session of Congress, and then on indefin- l ite;y. Indeed, there will be no let up of live public topics and live action until after the next presidential election, and then some more perhaps.
 If the democrats fail to accomplish the Legislation they desire during the com- ing session, and are still unable to do all
 they desire during the short session that follows the election and @ democratic
 President is elected, which 1t is safe to
 figure will happen, he will more than
 likely call a special session to convene
 within 30 days after his inauguration.
 These are pregnant times in which we
 live, and the students of current events
 who go into the mortar where history is
 compounded has plenty of food for his
 mill.
 But what may happen in 1913 will take
 care of itself. Today and tomorrow have
 their important themes and work, and
 everybody is getting busy. President Taft
 finds his desk loaded with work He has
 about all he will be able to master in the few weeks that remain before the opening lcf Congress. One of the most important duties is the pr reparation of his message to Congress. This is always a big and laborious task. The coming message will be prepared with extraordinary care. 1t will Ina CpE town m
 vised and gone over many times before it
 will be turned over to the printer and be ready. for transmission to Congress No schoolboy ever sweat and toiled more over his first composition than will Pres ident Taft ever his forthcoming message. Those who imagine the President has an
 easy snap are sadly mistaken. Besides
 the great responsibility as the chief ex- ecutive of the country and the leader of his political party he has great amount
 of routine duty that is real work to per-
 form. rH
 Ti'e forthcoming message will be of
 great importance. It will necessarily be
 a campaign document and must be pre-
 pared with great care. No one realizes
 more than tho President himself that the
 document may bring either success or
 failure to his party. He will seek and
 will have the advice of the great leaders
 of his partr in it's framing. There are two
 strong factions in the party, and he will
 have to use great judgment in the selec- ton of his advisers. Both sides will be very free with advice and he must use
 his judgment as to what course is best
 to I'ursue.
 It is well for the reader to bear in mind that the Presidents next message will be letter tc a body of men that in one branch is hostile to his policies. The
 House is democratic and the Senate will be pretty evenly divided. Two or three votes from the ranks of republican insur-
 gancy combined with the solid democratic vote can defeat any measure that is put forward by the President and his stand pat followers. The insurgents are dis posed 10 oppose the President on every point that promises them any advantag ge or embarrassment to the President. The
 democrats and insurgents have a majority of the Senate. The democrats have a clear majority in, the House.
 The next session will be devoted largely to politics. So it is that in fact the President is addressing q body of legis- lators that seek his downfall Yet the President is expected to write them a long letter, advising with them, suggest ing needed legislation and reviewing the immediate needs of the government as he sees them.
 The President has been at work on this task for some time, jotting down memo randum. mailing a fact or storing away a proposition in moments of temporary inactivity on his great western trip. The officials of the various departments of the government are also engaged in gath erng data and information for his use All tllis will be gone over and gotten | together. The actual writing of the mes- sage will be the last act. and will con sist more of elimination of unnecessary matter and irrelevant matter than the construction of the thing itself. Theer are two processes in the writing of presidential messages-the accumula- ton and elimination
 And the greatest of these is eimina tion.
 Reeves May Accent Call