Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1914-09-25
More Of Mr.. FergussOn's Votes

During the last campaign Mr.. Fer
gusson announced that owing to the
great interest the people Of New Mex
leo had in the tariff on wool that he
should favor such a tariff. This was
a late convention, for on April l.,
1912, he had voted In favor OF the bill
to reduce the tariff on wool. The bill
was passed, but was vetoed by Pres
ident Taft. The bill came back to
the house, and 8 motion was made TO
carry 1t over the presidents veto. The
vote was taken on August 13, 1912,
and Mr.. F~ergusson's voted to pass the
bill, Notwithstanding the presidents
veto.
Soon after this he came home, and
then saw a great white light, and con-
cluded that a tariff on wool was a
good thing for his political prospects,
and during the campaign promised TO
do what he could TO have the tariff
kept on wool. At that election Mr..
Ferguson was reelected, and Mr..
Wilson was also elected.
One Of the first jobs Of the new ad-
ministratlon was to reform the tariff.
1t took a long time, and Mr.. Fergus
son made a speech on Schedule X, the
wool schedule, In which he said 1t
would be much better for the people
to have the bill passed, yet in defer
ence to the wishes Of some Of his
constituents, who wanted q tariff on
wool, he would urge the retention OF
the tariff. Whether he voted In favor
Of passing schedule X Of not is a
secret locked in his own breast, and
may be remembered by some congress
sional neighbor, but It is not q mat
ter Of record. There vas no roll cal
on that question, but when 1t came
to calling the roll on the final passing
OF the bill, which contained the Ob
noxious schedule X, reducing the
tariff on wool, he was told to be good
II he wanted to secure the appoint
ment Of any postmasters in New Mex
leo, and he voted 10 pass 1t.
Years ago, when the bill providing
for the erection Of dams on the river
in the arid regions, and forming irri
CATION districts, vas passed, the monet
arising from the sale Of lands In thesI
arid states was appropriated for TIT
purpose Of building these dams, TIT
money to be spent under the direc
ton Of the Interior Department. Be
fore any money was spent a careful
examination was made by the en-
glneers Of the department, and thu
people who were familiar with sucl
work decided whether this appropria
ton should be used. The result ha
been In this state, the Eddy project
aud the big Elephant Butte dam. Il
our sister state, Arizona, is the Roose
welt dam, and the Yuma dam. Larg
amounts Of money were wisely spent
and the decision as 70 where tn
money should be spent was made b.
men wise In their business.
At this term Of congress a bill wa
introduced providing for q change Il
the original law, making IL 3 littl
easier for the people TO repay the gov
eminent. When the bill vas befor
the house the democratic leader o
the house Jaw a chance for much POI
itical pie, which he thought would b
OF great value to the party In power
tO-wit: the democratic party, and h
offered an amendment repeating tn
original appropriation, and provldlnI
no money be spent on these projects
unless appropriated by congress, thu
making another "pork barrel bill, Z
20 with the public building and rive
and harbor bills.
The congressman from the ART
states, approaching this would b
the heaviest blow to the irrigation
and reclamation service that could b,
given, opposed the amendment. Tha
IL most Of them did, but Mr.. Fergus
son wa not one Of them. What did
he care for irrigation projects IN New
Mexico when there was q chance 70
soms democratic patronage Mr.. Fer
gusson voted for this amendment, anC
II will be q long time before New
Mexico gets any more irrigation pro
jects, except As the result OF Dolitlca
~dickering.