The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-03
CAMPAIGN ORATORY BEING GROUND OUT Democrats Seem to Keep in
 the Lead ECONOMY AND TARIFF Two Big Issues Between the Parties Are Clearly Outlined-Inyestiga- tions by Democrats Bringing
 Out Campaign Material
ECONOMY AND TARIFF
By SIDNEY EsPEY

ber's fight, still the purple and green ire of the political campaigns the pinwheel'
 of Issues and the skyrockets of stump speeches must all be prepared And that is what is taking place in Washington now
 More legislation and less investigation
 has been the cry of a good many leaders
 both on the democratic and the republi- can sides of the House of Representa- lives. but notwithstanding this fact, in vestigation goes on, and hardly day al the national capital passes that does moi see something in the way of a pyrotech-
 nlc argument or sizzling accusation added to the intuition stores of the next campaign
 The. democrats are working overtime
 with their majorities in most of the big investigating committees. The republi- cans are more or less putting their eggs 1 all in one basket, and are keeping ar eye peeled upon every bit of legislation which even smaclSs of tariff importance whenever it shows it's head above the mass of matters now before Congress
 Jim Mann, of Illinois, minority leader of the House is the foreman of the repub- llcan campaign fireworks factorv. Behind him stands Ebenezer Hill who is always right In front with a little bunch of statistics. to prove anything in the world which the republicans may be interested; Sereno Payne, who entertains a deep con tempt for any democratic tariff legisla- ] ton, and does not hesitate to express a.frf ..fI vigilant and industrious in the work of boosting along the cause of stand pat republicanism
 On the other side of the house, oscar Underwood of course is at the throttle of the big steam roller which the demo- crats captured from the republicans while Mann was the engineer. His cohorts in- clude representatives Hay of Virginia, whose army reorganization bill has pro- duced as much campaign stuff to the line as any measure now before Congress. A. O. Stanley, of Kentucky, the chair man of the steel committed: Hardwick, whose committee report on the sugar in- dustry was made public a few weeks ago; Moss with his eyerglade probe: Will liam Sulzer, who is engineering the Panama canal investigation before the committee on foreign affairs, and many others.
 From the number of mills at work it looks as though d lot more charges stored up in the democratic political arsenals, to be fired at their opponents, than the republicans will be able to get together for reply.
 The big issues will be economy with a capital "E'' from the democratic camp, as opposed to the Payne-Adrich ideas of tariff revision, which the republicans will urge.
 Time and time again. however, the democratic probes have brought to light information of more or less value. if applied to a body of citizen kings, from the top of a stump, or the tall gate of wagon.
 Take for instance the case of Major Beecher Ray. of the pay corps of the army The case of Major Ray started out with comparatively insignificant im- portance as far as national political aspect was concerned It appeared to be merely the story of how a superior officer had been charged with utilizing his official position to repress his clerk. and break up a home But once the probe got to work, there has been dragged to the surface by the House committee on expenditures in the war department, in- formation which not only involves the president of the United States, but his brother, Charles P. Taft and former president Roosevelt who will be in ths running when the Chicago convention convenes to select the republican nom- inee.
 The letters which President Taft wrote to General Whippe concerning the com plaint which Major Rays clerk made to the department, made good sensational reading, but their. chief value as cam paign material lies in the fact that in one of them the president refers to polit- ical services rendered Charles P. Taft by Major Ray. and that the army officer had been prone to place too high a value upon them.
 Right on the heels of this came the removal of Fred C. Ainsworth from the post of adjutant general by executive order; and Richmond Pearson Hobson, of Alabama on the floor of the House. forsaking the party affiliations, charged openly that General Ainsworth had bar tered his information to the Hay mil- tary committee in the hope of retiring as lieutenant general,
 The next day General Ainsworth re- tired voluntarily, and was immediately summoned before the committee on ex- pedtures in the war department to he questioned concerning some data and let ters alleged to. be missing in the Ray case, and incidentally to give the com mttee some facts to work on as to the extent politics affects the army. 1 For some time before these things | transpired the House committee on foreign affairs had been quietly probing the circumstances surrounding the acqui sition of the Panama canal by the United States. Henry N Hall had just complet 1 ed many days of testimony before the lcommittee. during which he declared that nnder the Roosevelt administration, revolt was fostered in the Panama zone, and the United States today stands in the light of nation who has broken pledges and ruthlessly seized friendly territory. Just at this time. Minister Ospna. of Columbia. wrote the now famous Knox lstter, and its effect was immediately seen in the activities of the foreign af- fairs committed There is no doubt that lot of good campaign material will come as the result of the ospina letter and the Sulzer committees investiga- ton.
 In fact 1t is most certain that much will be said in this campaign concerning what Mir. Srlzer and representatives Rainey have already termed the utterly indefensible position of the United States in the Panama matter
 And so the democratic probes are dig gine deeper. turaing up nrojectiles with which to batter the political heads of their opponents. who, on the other hand. are plling up breastworks from the mistakes they declare they see In demo- cratic tariff legislation.
 
 f.rN