Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1913-12-31
ITEMS OF INTEREST
AT NATIONS CAPITAL

One of the new inventions that
came along just ahead of the auto
mobile and the moving picture and
a few other common necessities OF
the time, was the cigarette. From
government statistics it appears that
over fourteen billion cigarettes were
consumed in the United States dur
ing the last fiscal year. The revenue
tax on cigarettes is considerably
over million dollars a year. BY
the same figures it appears that the
use OF whiskey in the United States
has doubled in the last fifteen years.
Looks Toward Government Owner
ship.
Already the roalroads are shaking
in their boots, sInce the attitude of
the Interstate Commerce Commits
sion has lead the railroad managers
into the belief that the Commerce
Commission wants practically to run
the land transportation lines, as EVIL
denced by regulations provided for
the parcel post, and the fixing of eX
press and railroad rates, as we'll as
! the Investigations of wrecks. The
complaining railroad companies are
telling Washington that the meth
DDS of the Commerce Commission
point entirely to eventual govern
ment ownership.
Ashurst's Earbed Fence.
Senator Ashurst of Arizona in eX-
planning his bill asking an appropri-
alton of 100000 for barbed
wire fence along our Mexican boun-
Diary, has left the people in doubt as
to whether it is to keep out Next
can rebels or cattle ticks.
Another Chautauqua Victim.
Chautauqua 'gets" the best of
them, and now Vice President Mar
shall has followed the example of the
illustrious William Jennings Bryan,
Champ Clark, Captain Hopson and
others, and has signed a contract to
deliver from thirty to fOrty-five lee
lures in Missouri, Iowa and Kansas
next summer. A good deal of sym
pathy has been bestowed upon the
| Vice President because of the fact
that he is compelled to live on his
salary, and this restricts him to a
palatial suite of rooms and board in
| ouC vi thC HlooI lotONl dtlS lolCiS
| in the United States, where the char
ges are so high that he undoubtedly
has to take up the Chautauqua to
piece out expenses.
An Indian i'm Statuary Hall.
The contribution of the State Of
Oklahoma to the Hall of Fame in
the National Capital will be a life
size statue of Sequoiah, said to be the
son of Hessian soldier and his
Cherokee wife; who served under
General Braddock and rendered dis
in what is now the State of Oklaho
ma. Sequoiah was the inventor o
the Indian alphabet which is uset
to this day in the west. His re
mains rest in cave on the Pacific
coast Mrs. Winnie Reanhoxie ha'
received her commission to perform
the task. There are great man.
unusual statues in Statuary Hall
among which is that of Susan b. An
thony, which was placed there by tn,
State of New York. Wisconsin con
tributed the statue of Father Peer,
Marquette who explored the Greer
Bay and Lake Superior regions il
the sixteenth century. AS rule tn
states have selected their grea
sttesman for the two places allOt
ed to each of the states in the Hal
of Fame.
Statesmen Who Shine.
The currency act, long sought b!
students of our financial problems
has finally become a law. Although
this measure has been one of thu
greatest of national questions in the
consideration of the legislation few
men in Congress have attained any
| distinction. In the House who car
one remember except Carter Glass
and that only because he was chair
man of the committee. Then in the
Senate there are Owen, Hitchcock
| Weeks and Root, practically the on.
| ly persons whose identity appear
coupled with the measure. The ex-
PLANTATION seems to be in the fact that
Administration measures" reflect
most of their glory upon the White
| House or the party in power, and
that the halo is dulled by the time
! it Eliminates minor figures of great
ness.
Wire Takers i'm Retreat.
The American Telephone and Tel
egraph Company has not been slow
in making haste to get under cover,
and shield itself from the prosecu-
ton instituted by the Attorney Ger
eral of the United States. The ac-
tion of this telephone monopoly is
viewed in Washington as an attempt
to forestall government ownership
but it is safe to say that the senti-
ment that has been created by Post
master Generals and other publil
officials has been advanced by the
retreat OF the wire people.
Works is Still Fighting.
Senator Works of California i:
among that class of statesmen who
never know that it Is too late to dc
anything, and 10 emphasize thai
fact he has introduced measure il
the Senate that would undo the grea
victory of the champions of the
Hetch Hetchy measure, who fnall,
secured their legislation after years
of struggle in Congress.
Government Seizes Shipments.
In emphasizing the determination
of the federal government to enforce
the food and drugs act, recent large
shipments OF tomato pulp from Bal
! timore to Galveston, Texas, have