Cleveland County herald., 1918-05-09

this country 1t could not be enacted
unless it had the active support OF the
administration, and President Wilson
is not vet ready to take such dras-
tic step.
1t was quite a compliment to Con-
gresham Tilson of Connecticut that
he was asked by the house to describe
from a military point of view the bat
tie situation at q time when the coun-
try was most apprehensive that Ger
many was about to break through. Con-
gresham Tilson has exhibited a won
derful knowledge of firearms OF all
kinds and character, and has several
times given the house great deal OF
useful information. When he was
called upon to make his last statement
he exhibited q map showing the bat
tie lines, and indicated what might
happen to the advantage of the allies.
His statement was somewhat reassur-
ing to members Of the house, who were
really quite gloomy over the outlook.
frequently at the capitol. In fact, from
the beginning of the administration he
has been a sort of legislative agent for
the administration and often tells SEN
ators and representatives what the
president would like to have done In
regard to some measure that may be
pending. Burleson was for long
time a member of the house Of rep
resentatives, but he is not the only
member of the presidents cabinet who
has had experience. Secretary Red
field of the department of commerce
was also a member of the house. But
Redfeld is not considered as much of
politician and Burleson has that rep
utation.
Elihu Root, former senator from
New York, left a good impression in
the senate and he often receives high
praise from men who were opposed to
him politically. Senator Williams of
Mississippi was quoting Root, and re-
ferred to him as "the best intellect
that has stood upon the Republican
side of this chamber since my service
in this body" But that did not en-
tirely satisfy him, and he remarked
that he would "go little bit further
and say the best intellect that has
stood upon either side Of the body dur
ing my service in it." There are
great many men who entirely agree
with Williams.
The constant pounding of men
opposed to river and harbor bills,
or many of the provisions of such
bills, has had the effect of mate
rally reducing those measures COM
pared to what they have been In the
past. Instead of bills carrying appro-
priationS of from 40 to 80 million dol
lars, bills with only Is or 20 million
dollars are now reported to the house
and passed. Several times the eppo-
nents of these measures have caused a
considerable reduction. At the present
time, policy has been inaugurated Of
making appropriations simply for con-
tinuing projects heretofore authorized
or for work that is deemed necessary
In the prosecution of the war. Nat
urally that cuts down the big bills
which have heretofore been passed by
congress.
1t would be almost impossible to de-
tail all the changes that have taken
place In Washington since we started
out to exterminate k,ltur. In common
with the rest of the country, Washing
tonians observe meatless days, fuel
less days, etc, but many other things
have happened to jog the one-time
sleepy old town and overturn long-es-
tablished conditions. Soldiers guard
the white house; searchlights brighten
the sky at night; theater seats are at
a premium the telephone and street
car services have fallen down badly
and are just beginning to recover uni
forms are everywhere (the small boy
has stopped initiating Charlie Chaplin
and now tries to look as much like
"doughboy' as possible). Also the cap
itol dome, formerly Mecca for sight
seers, is closed. 1t offers too many
temptations as a standing point from
which boche bombers could hurl dyna-
mite down through the glass roofs over
the chambers of senate and house.
The words of an ancient political
ditty describe the new Washington
pretty well: "He may get over it. but
he'll never look the same"
One result of the enormously In
creased amount of government bust
ness since war was declared has been
the impossibility of getting suitable
buildings in which to house the new
bureaus and sections of bureaus Of the
war and other departments. The con-
sequence is that these bureaus are
scattered all over town, in all sorts Of
buildings. and in the most unlikely To-
calities. The structures that have been
Communicated range from warehouses
of musty brick to stone apartment
houcac with tiled floors and carved