The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-02-26
to uphold the League of Nations in
their plan for permanent peace"


here Cunningham and Denton, Ar
kansas City. returned from Red Cross
! overseas work; Burrow of Topeka
made chairman finance committee for
Kansas. Others here are Price, Of
tawa; Charles Scott. lola; Emerson
Carey. Hutchinson; Frank p. MacLen-
nan, Topeka; Chandler. Wichita !:
Rev. Doctor KuIp, Topeka; E. E. Muir
| ply, Leavenworth; A. P. Elder, OF
tawa; Needham Lane. of State Grange,
Salina; Josephine Berry of Marshall
county; Elledge, Sabetha; Burke. Lit
| tie River; Rev. Charles NJ. Sheldon
and Mr.. and Mrs. H. o. Carney OF To-
peka.
Mr.. Taft and the writer are early
risers. That is the reason we had
pleasant personal conversation on the
train. before our arrival in st. Louis
Tuesday morning at o'clock. We
| two were fully dressed. Some of the
twenty-three others on the league spe-
cial cars were not yet out of their
berths. Taft was going over the final
| revision of his typewriter speech
| which he was preparing for Tuesdays
noon and evening editions of the st.
Louis newspapers.
81 can't make too many revisions,"
said the former president.
And yet later in the morning he de-
| livered his speech without notes, taxi
ing an hour for its delivery. He
thrilled his audience and handled the
sensational Interruptions from the gall
| lery in a smooth manner, not permit
ting the officers who grabbed the
friend of the Irish cause and were
preparing to hustle him from the
opera house.
When he made this revision of the
last page he looked up and saw me in
the doorway. With cordial greeting
he began to quote Shakespeare and
said I reminded him of a scene from
! Hamlet. I think he must have taken
me for Banquo's ghost, altho I was
not dressed in white.
Taft was as fresh and rosy as the
| crisp bright morning sunshine.
BY the way, I had the good fortune
to sit down at breakfast in the dining
car next to Henry Morgenthau, TO
whom I was presented. Our former
ambassador at Constantinople tells a
| thrilling story about the unspeakable
Turk made more unspeakable by the
German propagandists in that unfor-
| tunate eastern country.
The union station was thronged with
| st. Louisans who gave Taft an ova-
| ton. The usher stock us to waiting
automobiles of the citizens reception
committee. A camera squad was
there. My red cap man with my suit
case showed up big in the evening
papers picture. 1 was right there all
right behind the red cap but you could
not see me. 1t fell to my happy lot
to have a charming woman chauffeur.
I was her only passenger. She drove
! her own car. She is the wife of a
prominent merchant, Mrs. Slaughter.
| Her brother is our Senator Thompson
of Hutchinson. Before we reached the
Hotel Statler headquarters we be-
came quite well acquainted. Later in
the morning 1 saw her in a front box
at the meeting. I think Burrew and
Scott took street cars, but their trans
portation to the hotel cost them more
than mine.
In taking a long range view as well
as on the Topeka ground this legisla-
ture now in it's closing days has been
one of the safest. sanest bodies that
ever represented the state. The fact
that little legislation has been enacted
is to its credit. We have too many
laws. How fortunate we have only BIZ
ennial sessions. Much time has been
consumed by debates on measures for
which there was no very great de-
mand, for instance the governors new
constitutional convention and the Ber-
gen reserve state bank bill. The SEN
ators and members are for many OF
Henry's reforms but they want to
bring them about under the regular
procedure of the constitution by
amendments, debated and submitted
by the legislature itself. Here's hop
ing that only three may be submitted
that three of the very most impor-
tant may he presented to the voters
at the next general election. Here is
a fine chance for wise discrimination.
The state bankers were hopelessly d.
vided on the Bergen bill, with the SEN
ate and house strongly against it. S.
E. Cobb, president of the Bank of To-
peka. is for the bill, but his directors
Low, Kendall, Bowman, and others,
were forninst
The provision to permit the school
teachers and educators to dominate
the text book commission does not
look good to the State Journal nor to
our wonderful school book printing
plant owned and operated by the state
of Kansas. The school teacher is in
SO many cases so close to the book
trust. Let the friends of the public
schools 'ook out for any changes in