IO 
THE 
National Capital 
Events of Interest from the Seat of 
Government 
By J. E. Jones 
The Breeze Bureau. 
Washington, Sept. 29, 1914. 
Cororapo CoaL STRIKE 
The President has enlisted as a 
strike breaker, and is using his ef- 
forts in an attempt to settle the big 
Colorado strike, which has been in 
progress for several years. Mr. Wil- 
son has told the operators who visit- 
ed Washington that they should wave 
all technicalities and look only to the 
main proposition of re-establishing 
normal conditions in the Colorado 
coal fields. When President Roose- 
velt intervened to settle the great 
anthracite coal strike in Pennsylvania, 
John Mitchell appeared expressly as 
representing the miners. ‘That strike 
was settled in accordance with the 
principle that each man, whether a 
union member or not, had a right to 
contract for his labor with his em- 
ployer. This incident in urged in 
behalf of the appeal being made by 
the President and outsiders for mu- 
tual concessions from employers and 
employees alike. 
CANDIDATE FoR LiGHT-WEIGHT CLASS 
Secretary of State Bryan has taken 
off twenty pounds in avoirdupois. In 
doing this he has, for the first time 
in his career, followed a Republican 
as ‘his example. | When President 
Taft left the White House he was 
so corpulent that one of the White 
House automobiles was hardly spa- 
cious enough to carry him about. 
But the ex-president reduced at the 
rate of twenty pounds a month for 
three months. In view of this record 
Secretary of State’ Bryan has con- 
cluded that to drop from 220 to 195 
pounds by dieting and violent exer- 
cise ought to be an easy thing for 
him. Once a week Mr. Bryan goes 
to the farm of Senator Blair Lee of 
Maryland, cuts down a tree, and then 
cuts it into lengths suitable for short 
fire-places. 
PRIVATE ENTERPRISE CAN AccoM- 
PLISH MucH 
The Washington government has 
been carrying on a far-reaching and 
effective press agency propaganda 
with reference to South American 
trade. The exporters and opponents 
of the Adminstration have been 
shouting from the housetops that it 
is about time to have some sort of 
real shipping done between American 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
ports and South American countries. 
The Panama Canal- has been doing 
business for several weeks, but there 
has been no rush of orders that would 
indicate that it would be necessary to 
dig another ditch across Nicaragua, 
and with foreign shipping tied up by 
the European war, -it would seem 
that something really ought to be 
done to promote our South American 
trade. ‘The Washington schemes ap- 
pear to be largely visionary, and some 
of the plans suggested are pure 
“bunk.” Senator Weeks of Massa- 
chusetts suggests that six American 
warships, loaded with sample of 
American products, be sent to South 
American ports, and he would also 
permit representatives of trade or- 
ganizations of this country, in a 
limited number, to accompany the 
ships, so as to explain the advantages 
of American wares to prospective 
purchasers. 
Now, to avoid misconstruction, it 
should be said that Senator Weeks 
has been a most intelligent and per- 
sistent champion of the policy of 
“getting busy” for Uncle Samuel on 
the high seas, and, after all, what 
could afford a more useful diversion 
for the idling battleships than to go 
on parade with Yankee wares? But 
Secreary Redfield says no, and he de- 
clares that although his department is 
keenly interested in any legitimate 
plan to promote our foreign trade, 
yet when it comes to making an act- 
ual investment of capital in Latin 
America, with the idea of securing 
early material advantage, that indivi- 
dual and corporate products should 
be pushed and displayed, not only un- 
der the auspices of the federal gov- 
ernment, but by commercial and 
other firms. 
“Our MERCHANT MARINE” 
One of the first things that hap- 
pened when foreign commerce closed 
down, and German ships tied up in 
the harbors of the world was 
an attempt by the American Congress 
—and this was instigated by the 
President—to establish some sort of 
a basis for a merchant marine. The 
whole affair seems to have resulted 
in a fiasco, and now comes forward 
Secretary Redfield of the Department 
of Commerce, who opposes the pet 
scheme hatched by the Secretary of 
Navy and the Postmaster General, to 
have certain transports that are in- 
cluded in the Navy used for mer- 
chant purposes. Mr. Redfield might 
have kept his peace without interfer- 
ing with the seemingly patriotic per- 
formance of his associates in the 
Capitol who were patriotically wav- 
ing the American flag over imaginary 
United States ships, had not the ; 
scheme proved obnoxiously popular. 
Wuen Mark HANNA Was ALIVE 
When Mark Hanna was alive, he > 
bent every effort to secure ship sub- 
sidies, and most of the country was 
of the opinion that the Ohioan had 
simply invented a new method by 
which to loot the Treasury. But 
years have come and gone since Mar- 
cus trod the floors of the Senate, and 
Uncle Sam still stands stock-still on 
the pathways of the high seas. States- 
men are beginning to realize that is is — 
necessary that there be some sort of 
government aid, if private enterprise 
is to invest its capital in steamships. 
The German and British governments 
devised many plans to make their 
shipping supreme upon the high seas, 
and while Uncle Sam looks wistfully 
out across the waters, he still con- 
fines his efforts to press agency work 
—and this is getting to be somewhat 
of a “chestnut.” 
Tue Ruratr Mat, SERVICE . . 
The Post Office Department has 
joined the economy crowd, and as a 
result the increase in salaries for em- 
‘ployees of rural free delivery service 
has not gone into effect, and probably 
will not for some time to come. The 
Postmaster General is advocating a 
new plan to put the entire rural mail 
service into the contract class, as has 
been the policy with reference to the 
so-called star routes. 
General Burleson states that by do- 
ing this the government would save 
twenty million dollars a year. 
Tue War Tax 
Republicans are insisting that there 
' would have been a deficit in govern- 
ment revenues, even though there had 
been no European war, and while 
they are willing to submit to the 
steam roller process by which more 
than one hundred million dollars are 
to be raised, yet, in view of the fact 
that the fall elections are but a few 
weeks away, they are going to make 
all the noise possible to have it ap- 
pear that the Underwood tariff is as 
much to blame as the break in for- 
eign commerce. 
Mort RETRENCHMENT 
The Secretary of Agriculture has 
instructed all chiefs in the depart- 
ment to retrench, and to keep all their 
work within the emergency restric- 
tions. ‘Therefore there will be no at- 
tempt at extensions of projects until 
the -government :money market has 
‘improved. 
Everybody reads the Breeze. 
Postmaster 
7q 
