Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1914-03-10
STONE IS IN LINE
MlSSOURIAN LIKELY TO BE
CHAIRMAN OF FOREIGN RELA.
TloNS COMMITTEE.
PLACE OF HIGH IMPORTANCE
Patriotism, Rather Than Politics, Gov
erns the Deliberations of This Body
of the Senate Which Deals
With Big Affairs.
BY GEORGE CLINTON.

AGOhoE SGiN ON'
Washington.-The death of Senator
Augustus o. Bacon of Georgia caused
d vacancy in the craftsmanship of the
senate committee on foreign relations.
Senator Bacon succeeded Senator Cul-
lom as presiding officer of the com
mittee last March. He had been a
member of the foreign relations body
for great many years, and therefore
was thoroughly familiar with all the
work with which it is charged Sen
ator Bacon was a conservative man,
able and forceful, and he had the re-
spect Of all the senators, no mat
ter what were their political affilia-
tions.
The position IF chairman of the for
eign relations committee of the SEN
ate is one of high Importance. The
duties of this committee frequently
are of the most delicate character,
involving as they do on occasion che
issues of war and peace. Senator WI
liam ]. Stone of Missouri probably
will succeed to the position of prestd-
ing officer Of the committee, for he is
the ranking Democrat holding mem
bership in that oJqy. Mr.. Stone is
known as a politician and as an in
tense partisan, but PROFESSIONALLY he
will shed politics and partisanship
when he takes Mr.. Bacon's seat at the
head of the foreign relations table.
Some men have called William j.
Stone Gum Shoe Bill' for a good
many years, and the name is not sug-
gestive Of high capabilities, but there
are such things as misnomers. The
Missouri senator Is known to his col
leagues regardless Of party as a man
of brain and corresp )nding under
standing, and, moreover, he always
has held that patriotism ranks poll
tics, although the latter has been his
close companion.
President Took His Advice.
President Wilson, to a considerable
extent, has been viewing legislation as
party matter. Seemingly he has
given little thought to the probability
that Republicans and Progressives
might help in putting through bills
which appeal to their judgment Mr..
Wilson made his partisan position
clear when he told the suffragists
who called on him that he could not
do anything fer them because their
cause was not party one,
While Washington understood pref
ty we'll Mr. Wilson's views along these
lines, it nevertheless was puzzled
when in the early days of his admins
tration he made an attempt to deal
with foreign affairs solely through the
Democratic members of the senate
committee on foreign relations. The
Republican members of the committee
were astonished and perhaps hurt.
Senator Lodge probably knows more
about the intricacies of our foreign
affairs than does any other member
of the committee.
Senator Root was once secretary or
state. Today ne is a member of the
foreign relations committee. His
knowledge Of Central and South Amer
lean affairs is greater than that of
Senator Lodge, and on European and
Eastern matters mis- knowledge prob
ably is equal to that of the Massa-
chusetts senator. When Senator Ba-
con. a Democrat, VINO succeeded Sena-
tor Cullom as chairman of the com.
mittee, found out that IL was Presi-
dent Wilson's intention to consult on
foreign affairs only the Democratic
,,oop,borc IF tho oopnuoittao ha told hic
party chieftain frankly that he was
making a mistake, and that he had
better unmake IL as soon as possible.
Mr.. Wilson followed the Georgian's
advice instantly and every member
Of the senate committee was invited
Mexican conference, and has been in
vited to every other conference OF i'm
portance since that time.
Way Are SO Many Out of Work.
When the federal industrial COM
mission began its inquiry in New
York city to discover the rea-
son why so many men and women
were out of work, the administration
waited with interest for the first word
from the commissions chairman,
Frank P. Walsh. The Democratic ma
jority in congress also awaited the
word with interest. while the Repub-
licans and Progressives awaited it
with interest supplemented by keen
curiosity.
One of the first reports which came
from the commission was to the eject
that its chairman declared bluntly
that there were $4,000 persons out of
work in New York city. This state
ment without adequate explanation
was wired to Washington and it
created a disturbance. and caused the
opposition parties to taunt their Demo
cratic opponents with having insti-
tuted national policies and having
passed national laws which had In
iured industry and had thrown hun
dreds of thousands of willing workers
out of Jobs.
The White House read the reported
words of Mr.. Walsh with arnazement,
because the inference naturally was
that the condition of unemployment
was unusual and could be traced only
to conditions which had sprung from
some recent cause. and the adminisrra-
ton knew that it would be charged
that the cause was improper legisla-