Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1926-02-05
Truth OUT AT LAST.

The article below, from the
Baltimore Evening Sun, Of Jan.
29th, lets the truth out at last
as we have always contended in
the fact that Democrats hunger
for office The beautiful story
of "people's interest" without Of
fee with its emoluments fades
away
Colonel the Honorable Millard
E. Tydings, Representative in
Congress from the Second Mary
land district, is making a gallant
effort to dramatize for the benefit
of his colleagues the gigantic in
flation Of the United States Gov
eminent which has taken place.
in the past few years. He has
introduced a reso' ution ASKING
Congress TO appoint a special
committee to study the situation
and to discover where there is
overlapping in the work done.
He is also preparing list of
the bureaus which in his opinion
are of doubtful value, and Just to
show how the taxpayers money
is being wasted on useless "trip
peries which have no discernible
relation ID legitimate activities
of government he mentioned the
names of a few of the puJlica.
tions of the Department of Agri-
culture. There is one on care of
canary birds, another on plumb
ing, a third on bedbugs, another
on how to remove stains from
cloth, and many others equally
picturesque.
The effort is a good one and
should be made. But lest Col
onel Tydings, or any of his ad-
mirers, should make the mistake
of believing that he has any rea-
sonable chance of accomplishing
what he seeks to do, it is advisa
BILE to remind him that ia Con
gress at the present time there
are but few men, either Demo
Gratis or Republicans, who have
any regard for the principle
which animates his effort If
there were any principle in the
Democratic ranks, the Demo
Gratis would have protested long
before this against the initiation
of the Government and the piling
up of taxes. But the history of
the two last sessions proves that
the Democrats, next to the Pro
gressives, are the most arrant
offenders in supporting measures
which are chiefly remarkable for
the jobs and bureaus they create.
Volsteadism, the largest of mod
ern excrescences on the Federal
Government, is largely a prod
uct of Democratic votes, and
there are many other similar bu-
.reaus for which the Democrats
are mostly responsible.
The reason for this is very
simple. The traditional princi-
pie of the Democratic party is
that government is best that
governs least" but unfortunate
ly there is little political nourish-
ment in such a doctrine. Con
gressmen, more than most poll
ticians, live on the patronage
they are able to control-that is,
they live on jobs, Hence it is to
their personal and private a6van.
tage to vote for those measures
which create jobs. The Repub-
licans have known and acted on
this theory since their begin.
nings. The Democrats were a
little late in learning it, but
once they caught the idea they
threw principle to the winds
and climbed aboard the band
wagon. 1t is only occasionally
that some old-fashioned fellow
like Colonel Tydings, ventures
to recall to them their original
beliefs, and while a few of them
may give lip service when the
votes are counted you can see
where they stand.
So there is very little hope
that much viii be accomplished
by the present movement. 1t is
good, but its value lies chiefly in
the fact that it proves there are
still few men in Congress who
are not afraid to speak their
minds.-Evening Sun, Jan 20.