Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1923-07-05

paratively modern elder day SO to
speak, there were attempts to secure
the enactment of legislation which
out-radicaled present-day radicalism.
There is nothing new under the sun.
The only thing is that, seemingly, man
forgets and looks upon things as new
which are not new.
Baker, the Brooklyn Radical.
Not SO many years ago there sat in
the house of representatives member
from Brooklyn, N. Y, Robert Baker
by name. He is now dead. Representa-
tive Bakers speeches used to set the
teeth of the house on edge, whether
they were Republican or Democratic
teeth. One Of his propositions was that
all railroad passes should be done
away with. This proposition of his
brought fear into the hearts of scores
of his colleagues. He was called rad
ical and was accused of intimating
that his fellow members were COM
hitting heinous offenses by accepting
gratuities from the carrier companies.
Today no members of congress have
railroad passes. 1t is against the law
to issue them. Robert Baker did not
succeed in securing the enactment of
any of his proposed legislation, much
of which the records show was too
radically fanatical for even the most
advanced thinkers Of that day or this,
but he was to be credited with Initial
ing. the movement which in later legis-
lation was responsible for the aboli-
ton of the railroad pass.
The Brooklyn member one day made
speech in which he told his fellow
members of the house point-blank and
without any explanatory reasons that
they were guilty of causing the death
of $50 out of every 1000 babies that
were born. Naturally, after being ar
raigned for wholesale murder In this
way the members were curious to
know along what lines their guilt lay.
Mr.. Baker, however, paused after
accusing the members of being modern
Herods in the matter Of slaughter Of
the innocents, and before he had a
chance to show willingness to let the
members know whether they we're
sending infants to the grave by fire,
steel or the rope, his time of speaking
was up and he was shut off by the
chairman of the committee of the
whole, and as result a great murder
mystery still is hanging in this year
1928 over the heads of the members
of the house of representative
Treasury Attracts Visitors.
Secretary of the Treasury Andrew
w. Mellon is accounted one Of the
very rich men Of the United States.
He would be somewhat richer if he
owned the money which lies in the
vaults Of the building In which he does
his daily work. Visitors like to walk
through the rather dark corridors OF
the treasury building because of the
natural human satisfaction which they
get from fleeting glimpses of stuff that
they would like to own.
If the treasury of the United States
could be moved to a. central point in
one of the great Washington parks
it would command much more atten-
ton from persons who have an eye
for that simplicity and solidity in ar
chitecture which make for great
beauty. The treasury is so located
that except from one or two view
points it gives the impression OF an
ordinary building doing commercial
service in the marts of men.
There is an old yarn about the Sc
lection of the site for the treasury
which may or may not be true. The
story runs that when the erection OF
the building was contemplated a dis
pute arose as to where it should be
! located 1t is said that Andrew Jack
son grew tired of the chickering's and,
walking out of the White House one
day to point about three hundred
| feet distant, stuck his cane in the
ground and said: .Put it up here,
and "put it up here it was. Jackson
laid the cornerstone of the structure
just at the close of the long-draWn-
out row over the Bank of the United
States.
Small Chance for Robbers.
| One of the guide books of Wash
ington gives specific statements con-
corning the location of the vaults OF
the treasury. Some people might
think that to tell just where a good
many millions are located would be a
case. of bad judgment, for the world
has some people in it who are not by
nature disinclined to break through
and steal. If there be any such, how
ever, who read what the guide book
says about the present whereabouts
of the vaults they may as well know
that any effort toward thieving would
have about one chance in two hundred
millions of being successful
The United States guards its stored
money in a hundred ways, many OF
which are unknown to anybody except
the guardians. Under the law there
must be gold at all times in the pos
session of the treasury of the United
! States to the amount at least OF $780,
100000. This reserve is necessary in
order that the credit of the United
States may not become furnished
| There is a special office in the
treasury building to which are sent
remnants of bills, the greater part of
which has been destroyed. An ex-
| ample will show what is meant. If
some careless American citizen has
! allowed a ten-dollar bill to catch fire
while lighting his cigarette and he
| IL. a l.