Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-08-16
HITS BACK HARD.

O1DS3li INNJl CAAItA
speech on the Navy league as of suff
cient merit and containing informatiO
and revelation of sufficient value to
read by as many people as possible.
Representative Benjamin c. HilliaI
Of Colorado, who sent a number
them to his constituents. A copy fe
into the hands of G. MacA Wilcox,
Denver manufacturer and multimi
ionaire who wrote his congressman
letter of resentment, calliI
Congressman Tavenner a "backwoOC
congressman" and construed the sent
ing of the speech to him an insult
his intelligence and sense of humor
Representative HilliaTd came BAG,
however, in a letter that has gone int
the Congressional Record. In it he NJ
only calls the Denver multimilIioI
aire good and proper, but defends M
ongressman billiards. letter is {
good it is republished in full:
House of Representatives Uni
ted States, Washington, D. c., May
81, 1916 Mr.. Charles MacAllister
Wilcox, Denver, Col. My Dear Mr..
Wilcox: Referring to your note
Vi the -OLu INSTALL, freely 6A-
press regret that the receipt by
you of a copy Of Congressman
TaVenEer's speech under my frank
caused you any annoyance what
ever. Certainly no such purpose
was in my mind.
You refer to Mr.. Tavenner as a
"backwoods congressman" and
that is the view of few members
of congress and an unknown num-
Der of munitions magnates enter
tanned until they had pressed too
close to the saw. Now they know
differently; and you would hold
their views, too, could you know
Mr.. Tavenner personally or would
trouble to read the speech. / hold
no brief for Mr.. Tavenner, but
for your information I may say
that while he is one of the younger
members of congress he probably
is one of the best informed men
that ever saw the halls of the ma
tiOnal legislature. Beyond ques-
ton he is one of the most Travelled
of men both at home and abroad
From the beginning he has been
consistently watchful of the COM
mon veal; and so appreciated is
he by the people of his Illinois dis
trict that, while politically his
party allegiance is at variance
with the majority, he has twice
been elected to congress, the sec
ond time by an increased vote.
Mr.. Wilcox, you are one of the
successful business men of Den
yer, and trouble yourself only with
transactions of large magnitude;
still l think | should say to you,
and I do so in all respect, that
your views on public affairs con
Germs me very little. You do not
appreciate il, but il is true. never
theless, that you rarely give
thought to that which would be
helpful to the average Of men. You
thought it smart to write me the
curt note you did, but it was not.
Your dictated lines, on richly en-
graved stationery, written by your
salaried help, are not entitled to a
1.-THE of the consideration by me
accorded to the more labored and
s-practiced efforts of the ordi-
nary man and woman of Denver,
written on plain paper and in
closed in envelopes of like charac-
ter-and there are dozens of them
coming almost daily. These people
do not criticize me for sending
them the information contained
in the Tavenner speech; widely
to the contrary, they are Contin-
ua1ly asking for more.
You are a man of intelligence.
having leisure and opportunity for
extended and exhaustive study and
research. Why don't you read the
Tavenner speech? AS a critic Of
the speech you are in honor bound
to do so; also to examine the au-
thorities cited therein. The bur
den of the speech is not, as / sus-
pect you think, against prepared
ness; neither is it specifically
against an adequate army and
navy; but ii does point out unmis-
takably the reason for the activity
of the Navy league and demon
strate how fabulous profits do and
would accrue to those engaged in
the propaganda For example. it
proves conclusively that the gov
eminent has paid "a per cent more
to private manufacturers than the
cost to produce the same article at
its own factory.
Mr. Tavenner's effort was rath-
er to indicate a policy that would
at once work a vast saving TO the
people and eliminate the POSSIBLE
ity Of those engaged in the manu-
facture of war munitions cOnfus-
ing patriotism with profit. For the
same reason that you would not be
a competent juror in a suit against
your company, 1t is scarcely con-
Ceivable that those whOdo not profit
TO the extent of millions, if their
plan should be adopted. are COM
petent 10 determine the amount to
be appropriated. At least the
people are entitled to know who
the advocates are and their rela-
ton TO the agitation.
If there is 10 be increased and
improved preparedness, is il also
necessary that the government
shall turn the matter over to pri-
vate monopoly? The munitions
plants magnates are quick TO urge
to action that branch Of the gov