Gilpin observer., 1914-06-25
WASHINGTON NEWS
By Edward Heating.

w'oefully crude. not to say, stupid.
By way of illustration, let us consider
the effort to defeat President Will
sons program of trust legislation.
Every intelligent student of national
affairs should have discovered by this
time that Wilson may be reasoned
with but that he cannot be fooled or
bullied. In the face of this well
known fact, big business undertook
to fool and bully the president at
the same time and both policies have
fallen flat.
Those astute gentlemen who were
entrusted with tie task of fooling
the president attempted to manufac
ture public sentiment which would
flood Washington with letters and
kilograms, protesting against anti
trust legislation and urging congress
to ''lock up shop and go home. II
| they might have gotten somewhere,
but they were not. They adopted the
old, threadbare scheme of having GER
tain influential financial interests
send out stereotyped letters and res
olutions and kilograms of protest to
| commercial organizations and busi-
ness men, with the request that the
latter mail or wire them to their
senators and representatives in Wash
| ington.
Now the average senator and con-
gressman has a little common sense,
and when he receives a dozen tele
grams and a score of letters in one
days mail urging him to do certain
thing and he finds those letters and
kilograms worded exactly alike, he is
disposed to look for the ''nigger in
the woodpile''. His suspicious will
not be allayed by the discovery that
all his colleagues have received the
same brand of letters and kilograms
and he will probably conclude that
some gentleman with an AK to grind
has been getting busy.
Spoiled by Publicity.
That's exactly what has occurred in
Washington within the last few
weeks. The president spoiled the
whole scheme by calling in the news
paper boys and giving them the
names and addresses of these man
ufacturers of public opinion. That
was his way of demonstrating that he
could not be fooled.
Those who want to bully the admin
stration resorted to the ancient tao
tics of making money tight, laying
off men and shouting calamity from
the rostrum and in the press. They
might have precipitated panic If it
had not been for two things the
Democratic party had provided the
country with a panic-proof banking
and currency svs'em ard the Lord
had supplied tie farmers with record
breaking crops.
Even the money trust could not get
very far against that sort of COM
bination.
So, congress will not adjourn until
the presidents antitrust program has
been written on the statute books of
the country. THAT is final. official
and irrevocable". as Colonel Staple
ton used to say. when he was speak
ing ex cathedra.
The task may keep us here until
August l. and, IL the reactionairies in
the senate become obstreperous, they
may postpone adjournment until Sep
tember /. However that may be, the
Democracy will go before the people
this fall with a clean slate. having
redeemed every important pledge in
the Baltimore platform.
Worried by Good Crops.
The good crops are sore trial to
the standpatters. Il is hard for them
to understand how wheat can grow
with Democrat in the White House
A few months ago they were sure
the country was going to the demni
ton bow-wows. l never heard such 6
whole-hearted calamity bowling In m,
life. When l was a young fellow
was a populist-and l have always
been mighty proud OF it-and I used
to think that some of our orators
could paint highly-colored pictures OF
the fate Of this nation IL the people
did not turn from the worship Of the
golden calf and vote for the"free and
unlimited coinage Of gold and silver
at the existing ratio Of is to L." But
those old-time Populists couldn't hold
candle as calamity howlers to such
I standpat champions as Mann. of iii
nois. Humphreys, of Washington. and
Mondell, Of Wyoming. Those latter
day Jeremiahs could make you fee
like pauper II your pockets were