Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1911-04-14
ALDRICH SLIPPED
JOKER in BILL
Chairman of Monetary Com
mission Pulled Off
ShreWd Play.
BY John &, Monk.

| N'I''ldl II u 4 7 ] II NCftrSnOndcnCC.D
| IWASHINGTON, ID. G.. Apr. l.-One
/ certain man, under existing law. has
! the authority to draw from the United
states Treasury all the money II CON
tains; the same law empowers him to
carry the money away from the Treas
| ury and to CXpend II as he sees 1T. and
the law explicitly provides that his use
Of the money shall not he subject to
question by anybody whatever. This
| man Is Nelson W. AldriCh. late SEN
ator from the state of Rhode Island,
and he holds this uncxamplcd author
| ity by virtue of his Craftsmanship of
the National Monetary Commission.
The discovery that Mr.. Aldrch in
cludcd such a provision In the law Gre
ating the Monetary Commission has
just been made by the Democrats, and
II Is their purpose to do something
about II. No such unrestricted access
to the Treasury ever before was given
to any man. At times the President
! Of the United States has been voted
authority to cXpcnd large sums In his
discretion. This was done when Con-
gross handed over $4,000 900 to Prcsi-
dent Mckinley with which to start the
Spanish War. But no matter how wide
! the authority with which. the President
has been clothed. Congress always has
placed a limit beyond which he could
not GO No President ever has been
, authorized by law to spend from the
public funds any sums he chose, with
out check or restriction. But this Is
| exactly what Congress authorized Mr..
Aldrlch to do.
Law Covering Point.
Here is what the law says:
"a sum sufficient to carry out the
purposes of this act, and to pay tho
! necessary expenses of the commission
and its members. IL hereby approrri-
atcd out Of any money in the Treasury
not otherwise appropriated. Said APP
preparation shall be Immediately avail
able and shall he paid out on the audit
and order of the chairman or acting
chairman of said commission, which
audit and order shall he conclusive and
binding upon all departments as to the
| correctness of the accounts Of such
commission"
Under this sweeping authority Chair
, man Aldrich can exercise his abso-
| lutte sweet will with the money In tho
! Treasury, and no officer of the govern
mcnt Is empowered to question him.
Were he to build himself castle on
! the Rhine and pay for II with an order
on the United States Treasury, the
transaction would he perfectly legal
and unimpcaChable, provided he ccrti-
, fled II to be for the purpose Of carrying
out the objects of the act creating tho
Monetary Commission.
Slipped Through as "Joker."
Such "a sweeping and unqualified en-
try to the funds of the country, OF
course, would not have been passed,
and could not have been passed. as an
original proposition. That goes with
out saying Congress with It's eyes
open never would give any person such
absolute powers over the national
money chest. Therefore, this must
have slipped through as little Joker,
imbcdded In other legislation. and that
Is exactly how II did slip through.
II viii be remembered that just aft
or the panic of 1907 there was a good
deal of excitement throughout the
country on account of the refusal OF
the New York banks to pay back the
money deposited with them by banks
of the interior This was attributed to
the lack of feasibility" in our none
tary system, and demand was made
with great insistCnCc for emergency
legislation to prevent a recurrence Of
this situation. A long bill. covering
some twenty sections, providing the
demanded emergency legislation, was
introduced and urged through Congress
under whip and spur Of another pos
siblo panic before II could he passed.
thrnnuh IN nf
was concealed the provision for the
Monetary Commission, and In the tail
Of the provision for the Monetary
Commission was this authority to Mr..
Aldrlch. to help himself to whatever
money he thought he wanted from the
United States Treasury.
AIdrioh an Expert.
Congress has contained a good many
legislative experts In its time, but
never one who knew better than Mr.
Aldrich how to pick the particular spot
and time and place for the insertion Of
n Joker to make II go through without
detection Under this peculiar law mo-
body has a right to audit, and nobody
/ has audited, the expenditures of the
| Monetary Commission. II has been OBJ
| served that the commission APPARENT
~ was employing experts to dish up a
large variety Of more or less illumina-
! tive vcrblaEe on the subject of finance,
and that this matter was being pub
lished But as to what the experts
cost or why they were hired. or what
| the expenses of the commission In any
other direction have been. and why, Of
course nobody knows, except Mr.. Al
drlch.
Democrats Busy.
The situation Is 20 without precc-
| dent that the Democrats are searching
| for way to uncover II. If they had
control Of the Senate they could pro-
coed to pass law repeating the None
tary Commission act and ihstructing
the commission to open its books to
the auditors of the Treasury But II Is
| feared Mr., Aldrlch Is too firmly in
trcnchcd in the Senate, what with Re
publican and Democratic reactionarles,
to permit favorable action on such n
measure At the least, however, II Is
! likely that the Democratic House will
| pass n hill and send II to the Senate
50 that the country may have its at
| la 10 Ia,