Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1918-08-14

Congressman Harold Knutson OF
Minnesota read letter in the house
showing that certain attorneys had
! been in correspondence with one OF his
constituents in regard to the back pay
of soldier who died in France. The
amount was $500, not very large, but
the Washington attorneys wanted to
get a rake-off of 20 per cent. which
would mean that the relatives of the
soldier would receive S160 instead of
$780, and these attorneys would get
$40 for services of no account what
ever, as in due course of time the pay
ment would be made to the estate OF
the soldier, to his next of kin, or Who
ever was designated as the person to
whom it should be paid. Congress
man McClintic of Oklahoma also pre-
sented letters showing that the same
sort Of a game was attempted upon
soldiers from his state.
1t is not likely that the exposures OF
Knutson and McClintic will have the
effect of preventing victims from be-
ing held up by attorneys and claim
many people from becoming dupes OF
these leeches in Washington who would
pick the bones of a dead soldier and de-
prive his relatives of their just due in
order to fatten their own pockets.
With perfect confidence the treasury
department is making arrangements
for the fourth Liberty loan and no
doubt Is expressed about putting this
over with the same success that has
attended every other loan thus far. 1t
is believed that the people have been
getting the habit" Of doing whatever
is necessary to make the war sue
cess. Money is one Of the chief req
uisites, and while we may have more
than a million men in France now, with
possibly 100000 year from now, it
is absolutely necessary to pay their
expenses and see that they are sup
piled with everything necessary to beat
back the German army. That the
fourth Liberty loan is going to be a
success there cannot be the slightest
doubt.
When John J. Fitzgerald was chair
man of the committee on appropria-
tons at the time the United States en-
tered the war he rather startled the
country with the statement that the
war would cost the United States $685.
000,000,000 a year. Many scoffed at
the idea, but it was only the other
day that Senator Smoot, who is an
aut hority on all kinds of figures, told
the senate that for the first year of the
war we had appropriated $24,000000,-
900. Fitzgerald was in Washington a
short time ago and referred to his pre-
diction and the comments that it caus-
ed. 81 observe that l was not very
far wrong" said the New Yorker, "and
if the war goes on we will find that the
average cost will be around the figure
1 gave. But we are rich country and
can find the money"
There is a possibility Of water
power legislation, judging from the
discussion that took place in the
though the adjournment has tended to
postpone action on the bill. But it
does seem as if the special committee
on water power had prepared meas
ure which might get through. AT all
events less opposition was manifested
to it than to any other such bill that
has ever been presented. This was
l. l. IL - 10.
measure by Western men. AS a gen.
eral thing in the case of representa-
tiyes of states where there are vast
forest reserves, Indian reservations
and other large bodies of land with.
held from development and settlement,
there is nearly always strong opposi-
ton to any water-power legislation
satisfactory to the representatives OF
Eastern states. Western men as a
general rule claim that the resources
of a state, even if they are on public
lands, are to large extent state prop
erty and ought to be handled and de-
veloped Independently of the national
government. But the large majority
of members of the house have never
acQu1eSced in that view.
AT present there Is considerable
doubt as to what will happen when
the bill reaches the senate. The bill
now pending in the house is a substi-
tute for one which passed the senate
and was agreed to with some reluc-
lance on the part of Western senators,
and the changes which have been
made may make it obnoxious to them
to such an extent as to cause them to
use all possible efforts to defeat it.
The condition in the senate possibly
will make water-power legislation
doubtful at this session.
In the senate one day during the
consideration of various bills on the
calendar the body received a rude
chnoly WhQD tho o1orE rood tho %fxIa