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NORTH SHORE BREEZE and Reminder 67 
— 
THE : 
National ¢ Capital 
Events of Interest from the Seat of 
Government 
By J. E. Jones 
The Breeze Bureau. 
Washington, July 21, 1914. 
THE TIMBER BARONS 
Mr. Joseph FE. Davies, of Wiscon- 
sin, has long been a friend of the 
Wilson family, and he carried that 
friendship into the campaign two 
years ago, and was secretary of the 
Democratic National Committee, 
Davies had ambitions to be a cabinet 
officer, but missed fire. After having 
a choice of a lot of ambassadorships 
and the place of Governor of the- 
Philippine Islands, he finally accepted 
the place of Commissioner of Cor- 
porations, and as soon as the anti- 
trust busters in Congress complete the 
Administration program he will in- 
herit the position of chairman of the 
new trade commission. His duties 
will be to investigate nearly every- 
thing there is going. By way of get- 
ting his hand in, Mr. Davies: has 1s- 
sued a report covering the ownership 
of timber . throughout the United 
States, and he has gone to Commis- 
sioner Smith, who covered the sub- 
ject of water power, one better. The 
Davies report contains some startling 
disclosures, and it appears that 82,- 
500,000 acres of land, granted to three 
western railroads in the sixties is stiil 
largely hoarded by these railroads, 
‘since they retain forty per cent. of 
the original holdings. The further 
discovety is pointed out that 1,694 
timber owners hold over  one- 
twentieth of the land area of the en- 
tire United States from Canada to the 
Mexican border. Washington, Ore- 
gon, California, Idaho and Louisiana 
are in the hands of the timber barons. 
Mr. Davies finds many potential evils 
in this large concentration of owner- 
ship,among which are“high prices for 
land sold to settlers, increase of the 
tenantry system, or direct farming by 
large corporations.” 
“An ANCIENT Evi, AND A NEW 
CONSCIENCE” 
Jane Addams of Chicago, has writ- 
ten a new book, the title of which is 
“An Ancient Evil and a New Con- 
science.’ Senator John Sharp Wil- 
liams has declared on the floor of the 
Senate: I will wager my head that 
that book alone will do more good in 
accelerating the spiritual growth—it 
will bring the men who possess things 
andthemen who do not possess things 
more nearly together upon a common 
plane of thought and feeling than all 
that Congress could have done if it 
had been doing nothing else for the 
past ten years. ‘‘Now let the obser- 
vers note whether this testimony from 
the Federal Senate is as effective in 
making Miss Addams’ new book one 
of the “best sellers,” as was that other 
voice of the government which spoke 
in the past, when sanctimonious John 
Wanamaker used the power of his of- 
fice as Postmaster General to exclude 
a popular novel from the mails, result- 
ing in a million copies being sold.” 
THE SENATORIAL CHUCKLE 
No doubt the United States Senate 
is having a good chuckle behind closed 
doors—you know they have closed 
doors at the Senate, with star cham- 
ber sessions, executive sessions, cau- 
cuses and secret committee meetings. 
But this time one Warburg with busi- 
ness offices in the suspicious financial 
district of New York has replied to a 
request of the Senate that he appear 
before it in order that he might be 
questioned in reference to his appoint- 
ment on the reserve board, telling the 
Senators in substance to go chase 
themselves. These real nice Senators 
do not like to be treated that way, and 
they have put Mr. Warburg’s appoint- 
ment into a dark pigeon-hole. ‘The 
President wants them to take it ‘out 
and act upon it. In every other-in- 
stance since Woodrow Wilson ‘as 
been in the White House, the Senate 
obeyed his mandate, but this time they 
only return a blank stare, murmuring 
meanwhile: “Why, Mr. President, 
Warburg has been so rude that we 
could not think of it.” 
GROWTH OF GOVERNMENT CONTROL, 
The Interstate Commerce Commis- 
sion is shitting bad railroad manage- 
ment right between the eyes, and it 
has not minced matters in analyzing. 
the manner by which “reckless and 
profligate’ financial operations are 
estimated to have cost the stockhold- 
ers of the New Haven railroad from 
$65,000,000 to $90,000,000. Former 
President Mellen told a straight for- 
ward story when he was before the 
commission in Washington recently, 
and although he and his confederates. 
established a basis for the Interstate 
Commerce Commission’s findings, yet 
he now declares that politics lie at the 
bottom of the report; however, it is 
noticeable that while the government 
is tightening the reins on corporation 
control, that the managers of big’ busi- 
ness are trying to “keep within the 
law,” and gauge their transactions in 
such a manner that the big officials 
vill be able to escape judges and 
courts. The process of an awakened 
business conscience has gone so far 
that it may even be possible for some 
of the heads of trusts to enter heaven. 
Wuen Witt Concress ApyJouRN? 
When the flowers bloomed in the 
spring, tra la, President» Wilson ask- 
ed Congress to finish its work and go 
home by July tr. Leader Underwood 
cogitated and stretched the date to 
July 10, and Senator Kern pulled the 
suggestion along to the middle of the 
month. But the prospects are no 
better than they were weeks ago, and 
now Kern, who is quoted most be- 
cause he is the nominal Senate leader, 
is advocating some sort of a stop- 
watch proposition upon Senatorial 
eloquence. Kern is too much of a Sen- 
ator and a gentlemen to suggest a 
gag rule, but within the last few days 
he has said: ‘‘I believe the majority 
to the Senate is in favor of some 
cloture. Under the present rules one 
perverse Senator may, on his own mo- 
tion, delay proceedings by holding the 
floor against all comers, while with 
the aid of one or two.others he can 
demand roll calls and block proceed- 
ings indefinitely.” ‘Theré are a lot of 
campaigns out into the country that 
are suffering for want of ‘personal at- 
tention; and political leaders are jin 
full sympathy with that part of the 
country which is’ tired and _ believes 
that it is time for Congress to go 
home. ~ oo 5c2 eee aS ee 
WILSON AND NEx’y TERM . 
A good many people hang to, the 
notion, that a strict reading of the 
Baltimore platform takes Mr. Wilson 
out-of the equasion for 1916. But 
the practical method of looking at the 
matter. was expressed by Speaker 
Champ Clark, at the time he broke 
with.the administration on the Pana- 
ma Canal tolls matter, and declared 
that if President Wilson’s policies 
were successful that the country 
would demand his renomination in 
1916; and if his policies were a fail- 
ure then the nomination would not be 
worth having. It is doubtful if there 
has been as violent a case of presi- 
dential itch in recent years as that 
which has attacked Speaker Clark. In 
consequence he manufactured a num- 
ber of panaceas to remedy the evils of 
the presidency, and he has recently 
blossomed out as the advocate of a 
one term of six years, because, he de- 
clares, ‘‘the president spends most of 
his first term trying to get back 
again.” 
“What kind of a plant is the Vir- 
ginia creeper?” 
“Tt isn’t a plant; it’s a. railroad.”— 
Columbia Jester. 
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