The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1912-07-18
Washington Whisperings.

washington WhlSper1ngS.
WASHINGTON, d. c., July Is, 1912. 1t
is matter Of sincere congratulations on
the part Of the officers of the National
Rivers and Harbors Congress that the
two great political parties through their
conventions have spoken in no uncertain
tones in favor of comprehensive policy
of waterway development. While the
platform of the Republican party is more
general in terms than that of the Demo-
Gratis relative to the improvement of the
inland waters of the United States, it
stands four square on the position as
sumed by the National Rivers and Har-
bors Congress, that all improvements
should be made with an eye single to the
commercial potentialities in each case,
and not with a view Of satisfying local
interests.
Committees of the National Rivers and
Harbors Congress were present at both
conventions to urge upon the committees
of resolutions that no backward step be
taken in behalf of the waterways of the
country and the planks adopted relating
to this subject.
President Taft has been busy recently
through proclamations modifying the
boundary lines of the national forests in
Montana, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and
California, whereby 275, 600 acres of land
in these States are eliminated from the
forests, while about 65, 600 acres are add
ed and about S., 900 acres are transferred
between two forests, while new forest
is created by the division of an old unit
into two.
The net result of these presidential
proclamations is to bring down the total
gross area of the national forests to
about 1877, 400,000 acres, of which nearly
81, ZOO, 900 are in Alaska.
Gathered at Congress Hotel in Chica-
go short time ago during the Republic
can convention were a number of old
time newspaper men who have been
"doing" politics for many years. One
said it is rather curious that no presi-
dental candidate and no president had
ever split his name in the middle. One
vice-presidential candidate did so and he
was B. Gratz Brown.
This reminded another of the group
that in the long list of Presidents there
were only two instances in which names
had been duplicated-John Adams and
John Quincy Adams and William Henry
Harrison and Benjamin Harrison.
''And in both instances they were
kim, said another
''But there We're two Presidents, "
chimed in a veteran New York Sun man,
'who had the same christian name and
whose family names began with the
same letter, Andrew Jackson and An
drew johnson"
This led Samuel G. Blythe, of the
Saturday Evening Post, to remark that
there had been three Johns in the White
House. He mentioned the two Adamses
and Tyler.
''And there were five Jameses," said
Jim Faulkner, of the Cincinnati En-
quirer, Madison, Monroe, Polk,
Buchanan and Garfield
But there was only one George,
Let's go and liquor to his memory"
''Have you overlooked the fact that
we have had three Williams for Presi-
dent?" asked an ex-judge in the group.
William Henry Harrison. William Nc
Kinley and William Howard Taft
'That reminds me-" quoth another,
'that we had but two Presidents who
signed both christian names, John Quincy
Adams and William Henry harrison"
Nineteen of our Presidents had no
middle Christian names or if they had
they never signed them. Mr.. Cleveland
had middle name but eliminated it early
in life, said the starter of the gabtest.
And as we look at them,' said the
oldest reporter of them all, ''all of our
Presidents save Mckinley and Roosevelt
had English Names
''You have forgotten that there was
one with Holland name-Van Buren,.
l suppose some of you Dutchman would
claim him.