Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-30
CONGRESSMAN MOORE'S
LETTER
bud" Eaton Coming Back From
Haltl-The Free.Port Plan Not
Favorable to Philadelphia.
Washington Gossip
Washington. July 30.

| .. Washington. July 80.
| TNHE House of Representatives is preparing
u to quit work this week and recess until
about the second week in September. The
members feel that they have gone about as
far as they can to put the government in
| running order and to enable the investigation
| committees to get down to real business.
| kollcalls have become an abomination, and in
| some instances are due to the pctulance of
| some members who do not have things just
| as they want them. Committee work is thus
disturbed and no real good is accomplished,
except to show up the persistent absentees,
| while injustice is done to many faithful
members who get caught in committees or on
| departmental work while the rollcalls are
| going on. 1t will be n good thing for every
| body to permit the House members TO return
| home for few weeks while the Senate is
! celebrating over the peace treaty They
| can talk to the folks in a way that the news
| papers do not. For instance, the eastern
| members. If so inclined. can tell their con-
stituents what the soldier settlement scheme
means. They can tell them that this BILL
although sponsored by the Republican leader
is in substance the scheme of the secretary Of
the interior, Mr.. Lane, who desires to colo
nze certain western states and bring into
use certain lands that are not attractive to
settlers and which promise to be very ex-
penSvc to the government. They can tell
their constituents that there is fierce pa
triotir demand for an appropriation of
5000, 900 900 to begin with. an appropriation
which will fall upon a few big tax paying
states to enable the secretary of the interior
to buy semi arid, cut over and swampy land
so that it may be offered to our gallant soldier
boys on practical terms, including mortgages,
along with the community settlements
and return payments for stock along with
amortization. The secretary has spent a
barrel of money booming this project and
has received about 10000 postcard replies
from the 1000 900 soldiers to whom the
alluring bait has been held out. Up to date
so far as some of the eastern experts who
have looked into this soldier settlement
scheme are able to divine abodt . per cent
of the soldiers might be induced to quit the
cities and the productive farms where the
farmers now need their aid to help out with
the project of unloading undesirable land
upon the government and the soldiers. But
the proponents of the bill are extremely in
siStent that this is the way to help the
soldier, notwithstanding the soldier himself
has thus far said very little about the matter.
pCD EATON is coming back from Haiti.
- where he lived with the marines
100 miles from nowhere" And Buds
Homecoming is a delight to Mr.. and Mrs.
Arthur b. Eaton of West Philadelphia who
have been anxious about his welfare. The
marines who were assigned to Haiti went
Loyalty. but were never thoroughly stuck on
the job. The climate and the food were
not always desirable and rumor has it that
the ~atives. with the menacing and ever
ready machete, were not too compan!onable.
A THOUGH number of prominent
"A Philadelphians have been drawn into the
free port scheme sponsored by President
Wilson's friend, William Kent, of the Tariff
Commission. considerable opposition is de-
veloping to the bill introduced in the House
by former Governor Sanders of Louisiana
Kent is from California and has obtained
Endorsements for the free port project from
commercial bodies in San Francisco. New
Orleans is also interested and has Joined
hands with the Merchants Association, of
New York. which does a great deal of reso-
luting to Congress. At recent meeting
under the auspices of the Merchants As
socation New Orleans man was elected
head of free port association. Now comes
Savannah and other southern cities asking
to be made free ports along with New York,
New Orleans and San Francisco. The
movement has become so active that Chair
man FOrdney, of the ways and means COM
mittcc, induced the House to transfer the
Sanders bill from the interstate and foreign
commerce committee to the committee on
ways and means, which had it when Mr..
kitrhin was chairman, and was afraid, under
Democratic auspices, to bring it out From
the Washington viewpoint the free port idea
does not look very favorable for Philadel-
phia. Its friends not friends of the
protective tariff principle, and William Bur-
CESS, of Trenton who was recently before
the ways and means committee, expressed
the opinion that Republicans do not want to
have anything to do with it anyhow.
MRS. MARY D. OBDYKE, of Philadel-
A'1 phia, who is attached to the Chester
committee on protective work for women
and girls in the field service of the United
States interdepartmental social hygiene
board, is very happy woman. Her son,
Ben jamin, has been admitted to the Naval
Academy at Annapolis. And there are sew
eral others who are feeling quite proud of
the boy. including Colonel Ben Obdyke. who
figures at the Manufacturers Club and who
sometimes looks in at the Master Builders
Exchange.
A BOND of union between the Pilots AS
"A sociaton for the bay and river Delaware
and the old United States Coast Guard pre-
walls to such an extent that the pilots have
forwarded resolutions suggesting that the
coast guard be taken from the Treasury
Department and be permanently attached to
the Department of the Navy, under which,
according to Captain John p Virden, presi-
dent of the Pilots Association, it logically
belongs The pilots think the coast guard
would be happier with the navy and that
a million dollars annually would be saved by
the transfer. The coast guard has been oper-
ating with the navy during the war. And
Captain Virdens boys have been CO operating
with both
TIE USED to be colonel, but owing to his
l. l. splendid war service is now Brigadier
General Cyrus s. Radford, depot quarter