Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1914-07-24
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL
Events Of Interest from the Seat
of Government. .
BY j. Il. JONES,
The Timber BarOns.


Joseph E. Davies of Wisconsin has
long been a friend of the Wilson
family and carried that friendship
into the campaign two years ago
when he was secretary of the Demo-
cratic national committee. Davies
had ambitions to be cabinet officer,
choice of a lot of Enthusiastically
and the place of governor of the
Philippine Islands, he finally accept
ed the place of commissioner of cor
poratiOns, and as soon as the anti
trust busters in congress complete
the administration program he will
inherit the position of chairman of
the new trade commission. His du-
ties will be to investigate nearly ev-
erything that is going.
BY way of getting his hand in, Mr..
Davies has issued report covering
the ownership of timber throughout
the United States, and he has gone
Commissioner Smith, who covered
the subject of water power. one bet
ter. The Davies report contains
some startling disclosures and it ap-
pears that 82,500,O00 a1res of land
granted to three Western railroads
in the sixties is still largely boarded
by these railroads, since they retain
40 per cent of the original holdings.
The further discovery is pointed out
that 1894 timber owners hold over
one-twentieth of the land area Of the
entire United States from Canada to
the Mexican border. Washington,
Oregon, California, Idaho and Louis
lana are in the hands of the timber
barons. Mr.. Davies finds many po-
tential evils in this large concentra-
ton of ownership, among which are
"high prices for land sold to settlers,
increase of the tenantry system. or
direct farming by large corpora
tions."
<AA hWC1OAU AIVA 0AANA - ANOW NOAA-
science"
Jane Adams of Chicago has writ
ten a new book. the title Of which is
IAN Ancient Evil and a New Con-
scious." Senator John Sharp Will
liams has declared on the floor of
the senate: II will wager my head
that that book alone will do more
good in accelerating the spiritual
growth--it win bring the men who
possess things and the men who do
not possess things more nearly to-
gether upon q common plane Of
thought and feeling than all 4, that
congress could have done II It had,
been doing nothing else for the past
10 years." Now let the observers
note whether this testimony from the
senate is as effective in making Miss
Adams new book one of the best
Sellers" as was that other voice of
the government which spoke in the
past, when sanctimonious John Wan
amaker used the power Of his ONCE
as postmaster general to exclude
popular novel from the mails, re-
sulting in a million copies being sold.
The Senatorial Chuckle.
No doubt the United States senate
is having good chuckle behind
closed doors-you know they have
closed doors at the senate. with star
chamber sessions. executive sessions.
caucuses and secret committee meet.
ings. But this time one Warburg
with business Offices in the suspicious
financial district Of New York has
replied to a request Of the senate
that he appear before it in order that
he might be questioned in reference
to his appointment on the reserve
board, telling the senators in sub