The Penn's Grove record., 1911-06-16
DOUBLE CROSS IS
GIVEN TO WILSON
LittIeton and Lafferty Suspected
of Political Cunning.
TWO RECORDS OF GOVERNOR
His Preachments az Professor and
Politician Brought Out In Debate
Facts and Figures From
British Report on American
Cost of Living.
BY WILLIS J.. B

BY WILLIS J. ABBOT.
Washington. = Out Of the speech
of Congressman Littleton Of New
York attacking all three of the prin-
cipals Of direct legislation-initia.
tive, referendum and recall-has
sprung a dark suspicion Of political
cunning. Mr.. Littleton emphasized his
argument by copious quotations from
the writings of Prof. Woodrow Will
son-"The State" Congressional Gov
eminent" and 1.-THE Constitution" To
students of history and political phil
osophy these volumes are rich mines
of argument of the sort now called re-
dictionary. and dreaded by the poll
tician as a sort of political death war
rant for him who uses them. But they
fitted in well with Littleton's plea
against direct legislation and he was
rolling the PROFESSIONAL logic u%nctuous-
ly under his always eloquent tongue
when Lafferty of Oregon came to the
rescue of New Jerseys favorite on.
No reactionary is Lafferty, but a
progressive Republican, Of so progress
sive a type that he would like to see
Senator Chamberlain Of Oregon given
second place on the Democratic tick
ct, and predicts that if this were done
the Democrats would sweep the Pa
cific coast. So Lafferty sprang into
the breach and demolished Prof. VIII
son with heavy shots forged by
Gov. Wilson, presidential aspirant.
Mr.. Littleton quoted the professor as
declaring that direct legislation, gov
eminent by the people, would be in
effect government by newspapers. MIR.
Lafferty came back with the govern
or's ringing plea for direct legisla-
ton in his Portland (Ore.) speech.
In the end Mr.. Littleton was fain to
defend his W line Of argument by
the declaration that he would rely
upon the student, the author, the his
torian, the political philosopher, rath-
er than upon the ambitious politician
touring the country in search Of
votes.
This rather infelicitous line of de-
tense prompted Representative Henry
George to remark that it looked as
If Littleton and Lafferty had con-
spired to give Wilson the double
Gloss" The same theory was main
tanned by half a dozen other Demo
cratic congressman with whom l dis
cussed the matter. 1t was pointed
out that at the psychological moment
Littleton paused in his speech as If
inviting Lafferty, who sits directly
across the aisle, to interrupt him;
that Lafferty had his material ready
for the attack, and that the net re-
suit of the colloquy was to force upon
the country the knowledge of just
what the Wilsonites most want ig-
nored-the marked difference between
the PROFESSIONAL and the political
preachments of their candidate.
American Cost of Living.
In the congressional dull days, with
the senate a%ssiduously seeking the
best way to renew Lorimer's coat of
whitewash and the house active chief
ly in passing resolutions to adjourn,
both interest and profit may be OBJ
LII iOlh q otuuy VI 6OluO lCCOllL
congressional documents.
Latest of these is senate document
%, being a reprint of a report made
by the board of trade of London on
the cost of living in American towns,
and the relation it bears to the cost
of living on a similar scale In the
United Kingdom. Presumably 1t is
wholly unprecedented, as the statistics
were gathered by a commission of
visiting Englishmen. But the bearing
of it's conclusions on the pending tar.
If discussion is so very obvious that
the statesmen here exhausted the first
edition as soon as it was off the press,
and a resolution for the printing of
500 extra copies is now before the
senate. | would not, however, advise
any constituent to send for one, I'M
less he has special claims to its pos
session, for In size and typographical
style 1t is one of the most expensive
public documents, and will hardly be
distributed except to Libraries and
recognized students of social statistics.
The cost of living in twenty-eight
American cities, all east Of the Mis-
sissippi, except st. Louis and st. Paul
and Minneapolis-the two latter being
regarded as n town on both banks
OF the river-is reported. The lives
the cost of which is computed in dol
lars and cents (the report being Eng
lish puts it in pounds, shillings and
pence), are exclusively those of work
ing people living in houses of from
three to six rooms This Is unfortu-
nate. The gaiety of the report would
have been enhanced and its value not
lessened had it given us figures as to
the cost of living in Bar Harbor, New
port, Palm Beach in season, the Fifth
avenue district in New York, the Lake
Shore Drive in Chicago or the homes
of the steel ~millionaires in Pittsburg.
However, like all social studies, 1t is
confined to the poor.
Wages and Hours Of Labor.
In their comparative of
conditions in the United States and
the United Kingdom the investigators
take 100 to express the standard of
the latter. Thus wages in the build