The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1913-07-17
WASHINGTON LETTER.

| w July Lf.opS>iu
correspondence in con
gress are refusing to get excited ovel
the objections being raised by the
republican members to the plan Of
having the administration currency
bill prepared by the administration
party in the house. These objections
are not in good faith, of course, as nc
other plan has been followed, OF
could we'll be followed IN the prepa
ration of such legislation.
The democratic party is committed
to a revision of the tariff. President
Wilson and many of his supporters
in congress believed that currency
| legislation should be passed to sup
| plement the tariff measure to be en-
acted. Manifestly the president
must look to his own party for the
preparation of this legislation. TIC
permit the opposition to block the
preparation of these measures, solely
| for partisan reasons, would cause
! only needless annoyance and delay
The democratic leaders take it that
| what the people want are results
They believe the people are not con-
cerned with the manner of preparing
legislation for debate and adoption
or rejection on the floor of congress
but have real concern in the nature
of such legislation. The democrats
are responsible for the tariff and cur
rency legislation enacted while it is
in power and will be held responsible
| by the people for the success or fail
ure of laws enacted. Realizing this
the majority members do not propose
to be hectored or harassed by fill
clustering methods attempted by an
opposition party whose members
have an eye single to the political ad-
vantage they can gain by such tao
tics.
The full meetings of the house
banking and currency committee will
be open meetings. There will be
plenty of opportunities to amend and
debate the bill, and there will be the
fullest opportunity for such amend
ment and debate when the admins
tration bill is reported to the house
and comes up for final action.
While the house is shaping the
currency bill, the tariff bill has reach
ed the floor of the senate and the
debate on the measure has been
| begun. 1t is expected the bill will
| be before the senate for debate near
ly two months before vote is
reached. The finance committee has
given serious consideration to the
tariff bill for two months, and has
obtained the approval of the demo-
cratic caucus Only the two Louisi-
ana democratic senators have ex-
pressed opposition to the bill as it
stands-they objected to the provis-
ions for free sugar in three years
and it is assured that the tariff bill,
which already has passed the house,
will go through the senate without
the necessity of asking the vice presi-
dent to cast his vote for the measure.
Congressman Doremus of Michigan
and Congressman Pepper of Iowa,
chairman and secretary respectively
of the democratic congressional
committee, called the committee to-
gether this week for it's first meet
ing. The appointment Of an execu-
tive committee of five to cooperate
with the officers of the committee in
planning an aggressive campaign all
over the country was the one step
taken. The addition of several SEN
ators to the committee insures that
there will be a harder fight than in
recent years to increase the demo-
cratic representation in the senate.
The certainty of Bull Moose tickets
in the field in the election next year,
and the fact that senators will be
elected by direct vote of the people,
is believed to brighten the chances
of winning additional seats in the
70 for tho 6or0praov
President Wilson returned from
his brief vacation with his family at
the summer capital in Cornish, N.
H., refreshed and ready to buckle
down to the hard work ahead of him
that will keep him in Washington
until well into the fall. When the
president left Washington he was be-
ginning to show the results of the
strain to which he had been subject
ed. Left with Mexican revolution
on his hands by the last administra-
ton, the president encountered deli
cate situation with the Japanese
government over the enactment of
the California exclusion legislation.
There is every reason to believe that
through the efforts Of President Will
son and Secretary Bryan the Jap diff
ficulty will be settled by means of
diplomacy. Then the president tackl-
ed the tariff question right at the
start of his administration, and no
sooner had the tariff bill under way,
than he fathered a currency bill and
started it on it's way through con-
gress.
Not content with the manifold &C.
tivities he had undertaken President
Wilson then made his appeal to the
country" for support in campaign
to drive the lobbyist out of the capt.
tai and precipitated Investigations in
the senate and house which the press
and public have agree has brought an
end to lobbying in vicious phases in
which it has been conducted. The
president needed the brief rest he
has taken.
Judge Van Wagenen of Sioux City,
United States attorney for the north
ern district of Iowa, has been in
Washington in conference with Attor-
ney General McReynolds and other
officials of the Department Of Justice
on various legal matters pending In
the Iowa federal courts.