The Minnesota fiery cross. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1924-19??, 1924-03-21
Congress and Country Get
Nowhere With Buck Passing,
PuSSVOOting and Cabling

bureau Of Publication and Education)
WASHINGTON, d. c., March
12.-Let's take another look at
the political situation while we
are indoors and March weather is
at its worst. We have heard a
lot about the slush funds, partic-
ularly as to oil, and now we are
kept indoors by another slush,
composed principally of snow,
rain, sleet and high winds. This
nasty weather won't last long,
and three months from right now
we will be in the midst of ma
tional conventions in Cleveland
and New York, and the merry
month of June will be with us.
Presidential primaries are going
on all around US, and within a few
weeks all the delegates to both ma
tional conventions will have been Sc
lected and the roar of political bat
tie will be heard on all sides. Dem
ocratic leaders in Washington are
growing more and more confident
from week to week of victory, and
they now feel positive that any good
Democrat can win.
On the other hand. President Cool
idge and the Republican leaders are
becoming more and more confident
every day that the man in the White
House is going to be nominated with
out any trouble, and elected after a
short, sharp skirmish with the en-
envy.
May Use Big Stick
1t begins to look as though the ST.
lent, careful, cautious, conservative
man in the White House might res
urrect Teddy's Big Stick and pro-
coed to use it pretty soon on con-
gress. The president sent congress
a little message this week that had
singer in it; it sounded like the
crack of a whip when President Cool
idge asked congress to lay aside all
other issues before it right now and
get busy and cut the 1923 taxes for
the benefit of the taxpayers of the
country. The country, as whole,
will like that.
Then the president proceeds to tell
or intimate to congress that it has
been in session three months and has
not enacted into law a single one of
the So specific pieces Of legislation
which he recommended in his first
message in early December. No
president likes to recommend and
then have his recommendation ig-
nored. Therefore, Mr.. Coolidge is
likely to drag out the Big Stick and
commence using it pretty soon, if he
expects to accomplish what he start
ed out to do.
Nothing But Investigations
The trouble with congress is that
the fellows up on Capitol hill have
forgotten that they are sent here to
legislate and they seem to have
turned into investigating bodies and
nothing else. The country is going
to get mad one of these days and say:
"Oh shucks, what do all these in
vestigations amount to any way? 1t
looks like it is all being done for
political purposes and every body is
playing the political game for all it
is worth. 1t makes US tired. Why
not get down to real serious bust
ness"
| LenrOOt Resigns
Chairman Lenroot, of thte oil in
vestigating committee, has sent his
resignation as head of that commit
tee to Washington from down south
where he is resting and trying to re-
gain his health which he claims is
shattered by hard work the last three
months at the head of this investi
eating committee. He says he now
realizes that he is nearing the point
of complete exhaustion and gives up
his place to another senator.
Now the country wants to know if
all this gossip, rumors, reports, plain
gable if you please, for the last
three months is to get US anything,
or is it all to go up as a smoke
screen. The nation is more than
anxious that all mystery about this
affair soon be cleared up and let the
country count on some tangible re-
suits. If it don't, the country is
sooner or later going to regard all
this fuss as one big, grand bluff.
Government Still Lives
However, the government at Wash
ington still lives and there is lit
tie less hvsteria in the air right now