Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1914-12-01

| uulfcloiVy3 oCdbOCl OiiC Sduc Wdfucfis
to the four corners of the earth, and
so on for an hour.
/ told him that the proposed re.
forms he had in mind were all right,
but that to accomplish them he
should do so in statesmanlike man
liner; that he should undo this populis-
tic work without allowing the popu-
lace to discover what he had in mind;
in other words that he must work
along the same lines of diplomacy, as
that distinguished patriot, John G.
Spooner, whose methods | had closely
studied, and who was a postmaster in
the art of pretending to do one thing
while actually doing the opposite.
l suggested that in view of the fact
that one of the members of the rail-
road commission had rendered his
resignation, it would be a mighty
good idea to accept the same, especial
ly as this particular member had not
shown proper consideration for the
best interests of the railroads. If
his resignation were accepted 1 might
be appointed. Thus there would be
no necessity to abolish this particular
commission, for with me on it, the
railroads would receive that consider
alton which was their due, and we
would have no kick from the railroads.
while at the same time the vulgar
public would think itself represented
and would raise no howl about retain
ing this commission, especially as my
name upon it would be the hall mark
that would satisfy them. | also sug-
gested that if this position was given
me, could also aia in the work that
Mccarthy has been doing, and we
could fire him bodily. / would see to
it that any bill that was introduced
would be so full of holes that we
could safely pass iu, knowing full
well that the courts could knock it
out. / regret to say that the COVER
nor-elect, the migrate who is about to
fill the position which should have
been mine, would not listen to this
proposition, in fact intimated that he
would not let the man resign from
the commission. L fear, as knew all
along, that grave mistake has been
made in elevating this ignoramus to
high office. How different it might
have been had | received my just
desserts. My poor state, how my
heart bleeds for you
incidentally, in closing this letter
of my activities in the capital and in
the metropolis of this commonwealth,
| might add that | was disappointed
in not meeting Mr.. Bryan. l had
written letter to President Wilson
informing him of several new dangers
which confronted our country, sug-
gesting how the Vera Cruz matter
could be handled in the most salts
factory manner, how we might cope
with the Turkish situation, and sew
eral other things of more than passing
moment to the nation. / called his
attention to the fact that / was the
one who first suggested placing the
army and navy upon war footing,
not in spirit of jingoism but because
1 remembered what George Washing
ton had said at one time, and whose
wo-ds / quoted in full. When / read
in the newspapers that William Jen-
nings Bryan had hurriedly been called
away from his fireside in balmy Flor
ida, l knew that President Wilson
had received my letter and fully ex-
|pected that the secretary of state
would call on me in Milwaukee /
even went so far as TO advise Charlie
Pfster TO stock up his tavern with
grape juice, and now Charlie is mad
as me and says that | tried to bank
rupt him, for he will never be able to
sell that grape juice-in Milwaukee.
When the old ship of state runs on
real snag, when our liberty hangs
in the balance, when we require an
army for defense and an adequate
navy, wher we stand in need of the
real diplomacy. that saves states, rest
easy, do not despair, l Col. II. O.
Tair, assure you that will be ready
to be dragged to the front TO meet
and avert the great crisis.
Yours tremblingly,