River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1916-08-03
Washington Letter
(From James A. Frear, M. c.

former college president and is an au-
thority on the tariff. Answering an
Interrogation why the House showed
a Democratic majority of 145 after the
election of 1912, he replied that it oc-
Cured through campaign of mlsrep-
resentation and that in an off year at
the last election, a majority OF l45
was reduced to "a At the same rate
of progress he looked for a vertical
ton of Nick Longworth's 100 Republi-
can majority prediction this fall. Re
minded that Southern Democrats re-
garded his talk sectional, he replied,
s'There are some Democrat Mem
bers from the North but they are mere
veriform appendices to the Demo-
cratic party that is ruling the country
Fess was pointing to the fact that
for many years Alabama, Arkansas,
Georgia, Louisiana, the Carolinas,
Texas, Virginia, and other states,
have been represented entirly by DEM
ocrats, with one or two exceptions.
In some Southern states the total vote
is no larger than that cast III the
Tenth District. On the tariff, rev.
enue, local appropriet and other
legislation, he further sought to prove
that legislation was determined by
those states. Ind 'vidual income tax
returns disclose that the total contrl-
button of eleven Southern States, in
Guiding Texas, Kentucky, and Virgin
ia. for the fiscal year 1916 reached
S2,437 1853, whereas Wisconsin alone
contributed $559,948, or nearly one
quarter of a like amount. Illinois
contributed $5,166,686, or over twice
the total for the eleven states, while
New York's contribution of $50, 1885,
GOT, is a dozen times as much as
eleven states that today furnish 10Y
of the Democratic Members of the
House. In many Southern districts
there is no election campaign and only
one party represented at the polls.
1t was charged on the floor that this
fact explains why an exemption OF
5000 income for single men end $4,-
900 for married men appears in
revenue bill that begins by taxing the
excess income at per cent. Several
of the strongest Democratic papers of
the East have attacked this provision
as class legislation that is fundament
ally dangerous because inequitsble.
Sumner Curtis, an able Wisconsin
newspaper man who furnished Madi-
son political "dope" for Milwaukee
papers some fifteen years ago, again
writes leading political articles on the
general situation for the Washington
Post. Apparently he has a rowing
commission and is now sending cleo
ton probabilities from New York.
Briggs, the celebrated cartoonist, is
another Wisconsin man, who told me
one day he was proud of his home
state and generally and generally
spent his summers there. A cham
pion for Wisconsin was unexpectedly
found in Jim Mann the minority lead
er. When discussing our numerous
lakes recently he said he had visited
many of Wisconsins attractive places
and declared the whole state is second
to none in its beauty of surroundings.
Hills, valleys, great trees and lakes,
may reduce the quantity of arabic
land, but they add wonderfully to
pleasing landscapes found ir every
county of the old Badger State.
By strange coincidence, Sparkman
of Florida, Chairman of the River and
Harbor Committee who has served in
Congress for % years, and Burgess
from Texas, second member of the
same committee who has served in
the House for sixteen years were both
defeated in the primaries of their re-
spectIve states and are retired to pri-
vate life. Both were aggressive
champions of such bills and strong on
liberal appropriations for Southern
waterway projects, but evidently long
continuous services in exploiting these
virtues did not appeal to their con-
stituents. Other significant changes
will occur in the Committee member
ship while exposures of recent waste
full bills are causing constituencies
and members alike to think hard.
The Naval bill is now in conference
between the two houses. 1t is a IA
miliar practice to pass bills that have
trading stock" so that conferees may
be able to get concessions for their re-
spective Houses. For that reason the
Objectionable practice of writing bills
in conference has grown to inexcus-
able proportions.
Some days ago the writer gave what
he believed to be strong reasons why
the measure placing 100000 in the