The Monte Vista journal., 1916-02-12
Ry EDWARD HEATING.
Congressman from the Third Colo
RADIO District).

sunnort of his contentious, the writer
submitted figures to show that only
ono in ten of the men who sought
10 enlist in the U. S. Marine Corps
oor1d mass the test prescribed by the
regulations
"Here is food for thought for the
advocate of preparedness" wrote
tho friend who sent me the clipping
"Our army to be prepared must
he made up of strong, virile men. 1t
is not sufficient to place guns in the
hands of our youth, we must pre-
pare' their bodies, also"
At first | was disposed to dismiss
the editorial as the fantasy of an
oyer-wrought editor, but on second
thought l forwarded it to the Secre-
tary of War and the Secretary of the
Navy and requested the facts.
have the replies of those distin-
guished gentlemen before me.
THE "YELLOW" EDITOR TOLD
THE PLAIN, UNVARNISHED
TRUTH!
According to Secretary Daniels of
the Navy Department, 1888 young
men sought to enter the Marine
Corps during 1915, and only 1850
could pass the tests.
During the last four years 147 1874
men sought to enlist in the corps and
just 1927 passed.
Secretary of War Garrison has al
most as discouraging story to tell
During the last year 16S,S42 men
offered themselves for enlistment in
the army and only 45,111 were ac-
cepted.
The cause? l do not pretend to
know the answer. I am told that
when Kaiser Wilhelm issued his call
to the colors 80 per cent of those
examined were able to pass the ply
sical tests ACROSS the channel in
England, the same authority says,
less than go per cent could come up
to the mark set by the regulations.
1t will be argued that those who
seek to enlist in our army and navy
are not representative of the man
hood of the nation. 1 hope that is
true, but 1 confess those figures
worry me little.
A TARIFF COMMISSION
President Wilson has suggested
the creation of tariff commission,
and good many gentlemen who
should know better, and probably do,
are clamoring that the Democratic
party Is about to flop" on the tariff
question.
OF course, there is nothing to that.
What the President wants is body
OF experts who will gather the facts
on which future tariff bills will be
based. Now the drafting of tariff
Dill Is largely matter of guess work.
Under the Presidents plan Congress
Will have reliable information on
every controverted point.
The tariff commission will not be
permitted to draft tariff bills-to
pass on questions of policy. Con-
gress cannot surrender the power
conferred on it by the constitution,
out 1t can exercise that power in the
haphazard methods of the past.
My views on the tariff are very
aehnlte and pretty we'll known, but l
can see no objection to the kind of
larih commission proposed by the
PRESIDENT. 1t will prove one of the
most popular achievements Of his ad-
ministration.
CHILD LABOR BILL PASSED
Inc so-called Keating- g-Owen child
'aoor Dill went through the House,
after two days debate by the sur
prising vote of 337 to as. The meas
uie now goes to the Senate, where it
VIII be managed by the brilliant Sen
a'or from Oklahoma, Robert l..
Owen.
mere were many interesting and
'oile highly significant incidents
,onhected with the passage Of the
bill.
among those who voted "aye,'
VAS the former czar of the House
uncle Joe" Cannon. Yet, only
e'eht years ago, the Committee or
suuiciary OF the House, appointed by
nf' Cannon, then Speaker, declared