The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-03-11
ON SECOND THOUGHT
By JAY =. HOUSE
(yrsn Yaiisselvhia Psbiis LsdsssJ


Returning from a series of confer
ences with President Harding, none of
which was held, we found in our mail
two or three letters from women who
advised US to stop knocking" the
baby bill One of them. from a lady
residing in Germantown, was quite
hectic, If we may, for the moment, as
sumo that a lady residing in German
town can become hectic of speech. At
any rates she left US standing in the
chill March wind minus much cpl
dermis and under the necessity of
growing new stand.
Now, SO far as we are aware, we
haven't been knocking the baby bill.
We entered the express stipulation
that we knew nothing about the baby
bill; that SO far as We knew it was
meriSorious legislation. We had only
one reason to suspect the baby bill;
that was Bill White's espousal of it.
Old Bill is one of natures noblemen,
but We have never known him to be
right on any political or economic
Tissue. We proceed, however, on the
theory that anybody can be right once,
and we preserve a strict neutrality on
the proposed legislation. We did print
a couple of facetious letters from T.
F., who was disposed to kid the
millions of women were anxiously
watching the fate of the bill, and we
did a little kidding" on our own ac-
count along the same general lines.
For it is perfectly apparent to any
casual observer that much fewer than
millions of women are interested in
the baby bill or Care anything about it
one way or another.
Now, the column is always for good
legislation and always against bad
legislation. But We believe every
American citizen has a right to an
opinion and is entitled to speak his
mind on any legislative proposition.
There is something in the Declaration
of Independence about that, and the
Declaration of Independence is one of
our favorite documents. And We
doubt that any legislative proposition
winch can be endangered by the gentle
kidding of two such obscure gentle
men as j. T. T. and the reporter who
writes this column is of supreme i'm
portance.
All of which payes the yay to the
information We desire to <impart. RI
may De OF interest to a few. ON Satur-
gay last we talked with one of the
most powerful members of the house
OF representatives in Washington. He
deplored the present trend Of legfsla-
ton and disclosed Nthe method thru
which good deal of it is stopped.
Congress" he said, lis flooded with
i'chiidhood-to the-grave' legislation; :"
ana he named a dozen such measures.
the baby bill among them. TT is all
paternal and as socialistic as anything
the most radical Socialists propose. In
my judgment, it is very bad legislation.
But both the senate and the house are
so lacking in leadership, so mawkishly
Senfirnanfa
with the words public welfare or car
ryfng the inscription, For the people,
Will be accepted by either body, once
1t reaches the floor Of that body. The
only way to stop it is to keep it off the
floor. We try to do that
| Now the member in question has
been in congress twenty years. He is
one Of the half a dozen very powerful
members Of that body. He is clean,
highest type, intellectually gifted and
Of scholarly attainments. The baby
bill isn't going to become a law if he
has anything to say about it, and he is
likely to have considerable to say.
One more thought in the connection
struggles for utterance. If the women
are going to be a force in govern
mental affairs, they must get over the
notion that the man who opposes the
| measure of which they have made a
pet is necessarily vicious or an enemy
| to his country. And they must stop
saying SO. The gents resent that sort
| of thing, and, notwithstanding all
claims to the contrary. the gents ave
going to have considerable to say about
running this country for the next twen-
| ty-five or thirty years.
Joe Jackson saysnb matter what the
president, gets, it isn't enough to
recompense him for living in WASH
| ington.
| \Col. Eugene Stotts has favored us
| with a picture postcard depicting Col.
| W. J. Bryan's white palace at Miami.
When one recalls that Colonel Bryan
got it talking to chautauqua audiences
| at q dollar a head-s500 guarantee
| certain sum-he marvels again at the
opportunities this country affords to
the young man Abraham
The Whispering Post.
r. E. H.-No fictitious letter ever is
printed in this column. They have to
be genuine and then, most of the time,
they don't get in. The chief has a
| ridiculous notion that we ought to
write some of the column.
J. T. B.-You staked US to a hearty
chuckle. We still, so to speak. cachin-
nate. But we couldn't print yours
without printing the others, and we
should have needed eleven columns for
THAT.
P. r. 1.-THE thing intrigues us, but
we don't know whether we can COM
ment on it or not. Wen ask the chief
tomorrow.
| r. B. Gwen a chick" picks up a
bit of fine language now and then.
| c. c. S.-One doesn't worry over
| that sort of thing after he has been
thru 1t million times. We've had the
esteemed public on our neck ever since
we got into this gamea But, thanks
| just the same.
| It was ours to sit at table adjacent
| to the Hon. Calvin Coolidges at din
ner on last Thursday evening. We
hereby admonish this A. J. s., who has
been pTess-agenting the vice presi-
dents sartorial investiture, that he is
| out ahead of a poor show. The Hon
Mr.. Coolidge appeared at dinner in
tia TaSS Willard tho hic> stiff