THE ; 
National Capital 
Events of epimers from the Seat of 
overnment 
By J. E. Jones 
The Breeze Bureau 
Washington, April 7, 1914 
‘‘Wait Until the Clouds Roll by, 
Emma.”’ 
Since the course of true love was 
never known to run smooth, it 
ought not to be so surprising that 
the Democrats have been indulging 
in a sort of ‘‘lover’s quarrel.’’ The 
partisans within the party should 
not forget that Democratic har- 
mony was first established in Con- 
gress two years before the begin- 
ning of the present administration, 
and that for more than a year past 
its inventors have kept the cogs 
of peace running easily. It is un- 
reasonable to expect the President 
to do all the thinking for his party, 
and if some of them go off in an 
opposite direction at times it ought 
to be their privilege under a free 
government. Our ‘‘Uncle Champ’’ 
and our genial ‘‘Osear’’ think they 
are right, and they certainly have 
as much reason to support their 
judgment as anyone else. Political- 
ly this Panama canal toll exemp- 
tion matter is very exciting, and 
while some of the big steamship 
companies and the transcontinental 
railroads doubtless have axes to 
erind, yet there is no evidence that 
they are becoming agitated by con- 
ditions. Meanwhile it is a mistake 
to think that harmony has been 
routed at the Washington wigwam, 
and the more conservative expect 
to see the hosts of Democracy break- 
ing bread and-singing glorious hal- 
lelujahs in harmony in a short time. 
It is only a lover’s quarrel. 
The Broader Question. 
It has been several years since 
Washington has become so perturb- 
ed over a public question. Tariff 
bills, currency revision, and the go- 
ings and comings of new political 
parties have hardly caused such dis- 
turbaneces as the proposition to treat 
everybody’s vessels alike at Pana- 
ma. The President says the treaty 
stands for just what it says. Read 
it yourself, and you will agree that 
it is plain enough, no matter what 
your political creed may be. The 
opposition says that American ves- 
sels engaged in the coastwise trade 
can be exempted because they are 
not engaged in ‘‘foreign com- 
merce,’’ which is the meaning of 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
the Hay-Pauncefote treaty. There 
are Supreme Court decisions and ac- 
ceptances after a sort of this claim 
from the British. Still another ar- 
gument is that the treaty was made 
before the Canal was commenced, 
and at the time it was not known 
whether Britain, France, America, 
or some other country would dig 
the ditch. However, the time came 
when the Canal Zone ceased to be 
a territory of Colombia, but was ac- 
quired by the United States, after 
which the canal was built in do- 
mestie territory. Ex-Presidents 
Roosevelt and Taft have taken po- 
sitions exactly opposite to that of 
President Wilson. Add to this the 
division of opinion in the Senate 
and House among the President’s 
own party, and you have proof of 
the claim that this is not so simple 
a matter, after all. Undoubtedly it 
is a many-sided question. 
Is This Conservation? 
There are two thousand acres of 
coal lands in Montana lying idle, 
and one of the western railroads 
offered to purchase this acreage 
from the government. Senator My- 
ers of Montana, introduced a bill to 
dispose of the land, and get the coal 
to the consumers, and incidentally 
stir things up in an industrial way. 
By a vote of 28 to 27 the Senate 
defeated the proposition. Of course 
the thousand of acres of Alaska coal 
lands are to be leased, but original 
proposals to do this very thing were 
invariably defeated in Congress. 
The law-makers have been so scared 
of the conservation issues that for 
several years they have stood so 
straight on the question that they 
have bent over backwards most of 
the time. 
A good many people have won- 
dered how it happened that a ‘‘reg- 
ular Republican’’ like Congressman 
Burke happened to become the 
choice of ‘‘Progressive’’ South Da- 
kota, and the answer seems to be 
in the persistent fight Mr. Burke 
has carried on against what he 
terms ‘‘professional conservation- 
ists.” He has been a bitter foe of 
the government policies that tied 
up homesteaders and settlers in re- 
clamation projects. 
Results in the Burke case demon- 
strate that the side-stepping of the 
conservation issue as was the case 
in the Montana instance, is becom- 
ing unpopular with the people. 
Financial Conditions of Railroads. 
Inasmuch as the stockholders of 
the railroads have been missing 
their dividends, they have naturally 
been rather persistent in asking the 
federal government whether it is a 
fact that the numerous shake-ups 
admistered by Uncle Sam are the 
reason. The Interstate Commerce 
Commission has been spending 
weeks in the attempt to determine 
whether the five per cent. advance 
in rates asked by the railroads 
should be granted. Most of the 
‘“‘progressives’’ of the different po- 
litical parties in Congress hold to — 
the notion that the troubles of the 
railroads are all of their own mak- 
ing, and they assert that the only 
reason that the railroads are not 
paying is because of the frenzied 
manner of their capitalization and 
financing. Senator Cummins has 
made a big speech going into the in- 
tricacies of ‘the question, while Sen- 
ator La Follette has been interest- 
ing himself in getting the results of 
the hearings of the Commission be- 
fore the public. Many public men 
take the position that the biggest 
questions of government are involvy- 
ed in the final determination of the 
railroad rate problem, and they are 
closely following its progress be- 
fore the Commission. 
Advertising—By Governments. 
On one or two occasions there has 
been somewhat of a shake-up in the 
War Department because of the al- 
luring copy that has been hung up 
in posters, and featured in maga- 
zine advertising, in the securing of 
recruits for the army and navy. 
Washington officials have been 
warned that this copy should ‘‘tell -~ 
the truth,’’ rather than picture in 
poetical terms the care-free visions 
of life in the army and navy. Now — 
England has introduced a similar 
advertising campaign and the old- 
fashioned Britishers feel that pat- 
riotism must have indeed sunk to a 
low ebb when its War office resorts 
to such methods in order to secure 
recruits. There is an explanation 
forthcoming in defence of the Brit- 
ish digression, to the effect that 
the immigration agencies have been 
securing the best young men, and 
in order to keep them at home and 
get them into service, it has been 
necessary for the War office to 
adopt competitive measures. There- 
fore, the British, in looking about 
for pointers, have taken up the 
scheme of the United States in ad- 
vertising for soldiers and sailors. 
“This is an absolutely silent 
motor, sir.’’ 
“‘T don’t want it, then. What I 
-want is a ear that will attract a lot 
of attention.’’—Detroit Free Press, 
