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4 TAFT AND HIS CABINET. RECORD OF THE MEMBERS. ITS STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS. Wickersham, Knox and Na<el Arc Rated Highly — Meyer an Efficient Man—Hitchcock More or Less of a Burden. From Our Special Correspondent. Washington. D. C., Saturday, May 28. A former president was once asked by one to whom he allowed considerable free dom whether a certain member of his cabinet was really of any value. Laugh ing at the bluntness of the question, be replied: “You must remember that a mem ber of the cabinet has two functions to perform. The first is to act as the head of his department, and the second is to act as a political adviser to the president. Now Secretary and here the presi dent apparently smiled at the obvious and intended inference to be drawn both from what he said and from what he did not say. “is of some use as a political adviser. To complete the anecdote, it may be added that the secretary whose services as a department head were thus passed over in silence and whose services as a political adviser seemed worth no higher praise than that thev were of “some" use, soon afterward retired to private life. It will doubtless be accepted that the statement made of the dual services of a cabinet officer was not only comprehensive, but that it discriminated with accuracy in the order in which those services were placed. While the political advice, or the political strength, which a cabinet officer brings to a president, may, at times, be of the utmost practical importance, it must be admitted as a general proposition that in the long run a greater importance at taches to the successful conduct of that department of which he is in charge. In fact, such conduct inevitably becomes of itself a political service of the highest or der. A presidential administration under which all the various departments have been carried on with signal ability can hardly fail to be a successful administra tion when the time comes, not after a single year, but rather when it approaches the end of its term, for judicious persons to pass fair judgment upon it. Such considerations as these appear to have special pertinence in any study of the Taft administration which aims to nav particular attention to the cabinet. The statement of the cabinet officer's func tions immediately suggests the indisputable fact that from the standpoint of mere political advice and support. Mr Taft's cabinet, as a whole, has thus far been conspicuously unsuccessful. But it also suggests the need of scrutinizing the ac tual performance and reasonable promise as departmental administrators of the members of Mr Taft's so-called official family, if a sound basis is to be established from "which to observe the administration's course. Attorney-General Wickersham. It is a well-known fact in Washington that Attorney-General Wickersham, al though not occupying that post in the cab inet which would give him traditional precedence, has been, from the first, the dominating cabinet officer and the one upon whom Mr Taft has chiefly relied. In forming any estimate of what may ulti mately be expected of Mr Wickersham, more weight must frankly be given to the general impression of the man. to his reputation among the best lawyers of the country and to the opportunities which will apparently come before him in the comparatively near future than to any actual achievement during the period in which he has already been at the head of the department of justice. In the matter of the famous antedated summary of the Glavis charges, also with regard to the Lawler memorandum. Mr Wickersham can hardly be said to have covered himself with glory in his services to Mr Taft. But both episodes, however unfortunate, may perhaps be most fairly described as illustrative of the lack of practical shrewd ness with which a very able lawyer may act when first called upon to deal with affairs subject to the glare of publicity and in which the utmost care must there fore be paid to appearances as well as to facts. In the early months of his adminis tration of the department of justice, there was bitter complaint against Mr Wick ersham on the part of newspaper men on the alleged ground that it was impossible to find out in any merely reasonable de gree what the department was doing, and that it was being conducted on a policy of secrecy where nothing was to be gained and even where a knowledge of its pro ceedings by the public would be both jus tified and advantageous. Good advice was then given to Mr Wickersham by some who had been longer iu public life, and this condition has since then been meas urably changed. This indicates that he may be expected to profit by experience. But the main point is that there seems to be an agreement of opinion among those who know anything of Mr Wickersham’s work and whose opinions are worth any thing, that in sheer ability he towers above any of the recent occupants of his post, with only the possible exception of Mr Knox. When the trust cases which are now pending before the supreme court are finally decided, it is probable that Mr Wickersham's opportunity will have come to make a name for himself and large capital for the administration in the en forcement of the antitrust law. Unless those who are in the best position to know Mr Wickersham err in their judgment, any Such opportunity will be taken brilliant advantage of. with the result that the country will have a somewhat different im pression of him and of the administration from that which now obtains. It cannot be denied that Secretary Knox’s administration of the state depart ment has thus far failed to catch the pop ular fancy, although the summary of his work which President Taft recently made in a speech at Pittsburg, suggests that the common criticism of him has not been al together soundly based. The most pointed criticism upon him has been in connection with his conduct of our relations with Central and South America, and the al leged forfeiture of a great share of that good-will which was engendered by Sir Boot ar the time of his South American tour »nd by his subsequent negotiations. It is known, however, that President Taft feels such criticism to be without founda tion and that he believes that in general our relations with the republics to the south of us wore never so fortunate as to day. It is also possible that the success of Secretary Knox’s plan of mediation between Ecuador and Peru may mark the turning point. There is mneh talk here in Washington of so-called disorganization in the state department. And it would appear to be a fact that Mr Knox is not fortunate in having as his immediate sub ordinates men who are in all cases of suf ficient caliber for the positions which they hold. But it is only fair to say that praiseworthy efforts at reorganization are going forward and must be judged bv re sults. while the new attention which is being paid to the training of our diplo matic representatives is a distinct step in advance. Secretary MaeVeairh. Comparatively little, either of praise or criticism has gone out to the country in regard to Secretary MacVeagh’* conduct of the treasury department. Bui Mr Mac- Veagh’s administration is efficient, if not conspicuous, and is characterized ha that careful attention to organization and de tail which the cumbersome and wasteful methods of the treasury department have mug made deair able. Some alight though I inadequate interest has been aroused in the work which Mr MacVeagh is doing, by reference to such economies as arc to bo accomplished by the cleansing of soiled paper currency, by the very considerable saving of express charges on paper cur rency hitherto expressed to the treasury to be destroyed, but now to be sent by registered mail, and more lately through the laying off of a comparatively large number of employes whose services are no longer needed as the result of the adoption of labor-saving devieesandmodernmethods. It is none the less a fact, however, that the conservative faction of the Senate is, so to speak, after Mr MacVeagh’s scalp. At tho most he is charged with be iug a democrat aud ar the least with being hand in glove with the insurgents. Upon the whole, it would not seem safe to j predict that Mr MacVeagh will retain his post indefinitely, for it can hardly he alto gether comfortable under existing political conditions. But in giving Mr MacA eagh credit for ability in organization more is included than that somewhat loosely used term frequently implies; in this case it in cludes the wise and temperate manage ment of a department facing large financial problems of the utmost importance to the country. It cannot be denied, however, that the appointment of Mr MacVeagh, who has been classed as a near-democrat and of Mr Dickinson, who is an out and out democrat, and whose identification with Illinois would appear to be greater than his nominal residence in Tennessee, has proved indigestible to many republi can stomachs. As for Mr Dickinson, he was chosen to be secretary of war for the primary reason that Mr Taft felt it imperative to have a man of striking ability at the head of that department, so as to supervise the immense undertaking of the Panama canal. In selecting Mr Dickinson he got such a man as he desired. The pres ent secretary of war is to be unstintedly given credit for the possession of large ability and great force. Yet his case would appear to fall somewhat into a class with that of Secretary MacVeagh. Owing to his party affiliations. Mr Dick inson is practically estopped from giving the president political advice and support. In this connection it is worth while to make note of a report which has just come from reliable sources at Panama to the effect that interest is there taken in observing the frequency with which Mr Dickinson is filling positions in the canal organization with southern demo crats, But inasmuch as the report is coupled with a frank avowal that the men chosen are of excellent capacity, the matter seems to be one for public con gratulation rather than public concern, al though the republican politicians cau scarcely be expected to see it in that way. In the possible event that Mr Dickinson may be drafted by the Tennessee demo crats for the senatorship, it would seem as if the administration would be the gainer, provided, however, that Mr Taft could find an out-and-out republican of equally high ability willing to undertake the work of the war department. Secretary Meyer of the Navy Depart ment, Secretary Meyer is clearly doing a work of very successful and valuable reorgani zation in the navy department. This is cordially recognized, even by some of those who have been more or less politi cally opposed to him in past vears. More over, the strong feeling of protest which was rife in the service itself over the failure to reappoint Secretary Newberry and at the selection of Mr Roosevelt's postmaster-general, has now given wav to a satisfied recognition that the navy" de partment is at last being administered by an efficient chief who has the prospect of remaining at his post long enough to make his reforms permanent. It hardlv needs to be recalled that the primary cause of the trouble with the navy de partment in recent years has been the incessant change In the secretary’s office, there having been no less than six—or was it seven—secretaries of the navy un der Roosevelt. Altogether, it may ap parently be predicted with more confidence than in the case of any other cabinet of ficer that Mr Meyer will retain his post through the present administratioff. Secretary Nagel a Success. But the cabinet officer who is in general most favorably mentioned, both as admin istrator and adviser to his chief, is Secre tary Nagel of the department of commerce and labor. Since the episode of the re tirement of Commissioner North of the census bureau last spring, which Secre tary Nagel handled with tact, as well as with great firmness, he has not been con spicuously before the public. But he has meantime been steadily gaining the esteem of a large proportion of the republicans in Congress, including members of both the conservative and radical wings of the party. From discussion of the cabinet with a considerable number of senators and representatives, it appears that Mr Nagel has impressed himself upon them as having a broader and more accurate con ception of public affairs and of politics in the highest sense than anv one else seated at the cabinet table. It" is to be noted that when Mr Taft prepared his letter to Senator Nelson upon his alleged use of the Lawler memorandum, the two cabinet offi cers whom he was reported as calling to the White House for a long consultation were Attorney-General Wickersham and Secretary Nagel. The tradition appears to have gradually been established in some minds that the agricultural department could not exist without Secretary Wilson, and that the somewhat mythical “farmer vote’’ -would be outrage;! the country over if he should be deposed. Undoubtedly Secretarv Wilson has accomplished a great deal in the de velopment of the department in the 13 years of his service as its head; or rather it might be more accurate in some ways to say that undoubtedly a great deal has been accomplished under him. But as a member of the Roosevelt, cabinet he was notoriously negligible, except in the ad ministration or his department, and even there some of his subordinates were ap parently better able to run him that he to run them. The same situation more or less obtains to-day. A change will have to come eventually, and in postponing it there is reason to believe that a burden of nec essary reorganization is being piled up for Mr w ilson s successor. Postmaster-General Hitchcock. According to theory, Postmaster-Gen eral Hitchcock should be President Taft’s greatest political aid and mentor. Ac cording to fact, he is the president’s greatest political handicap. As one stud ies the situation more thoroughly here in Washington. one is inevitably more and more impressed by the extent to which unnecessary troubles have been created for the administration by narrow political policies and prac tices on the part <of .Mr Hitchcock, who. although industrious and indefatig able in the smaller arts of politics, has apparently been incapable of rising to a larger view. His worst mistakes appear to hare been made in his handling of the so-called insurgents and progressives iu Congress. „At times it has seemed as if the members of these factions could have well afforded to have paid him his saiarv several times over for following just such a course ns he has pursued in regard to them. After the reaching of n certain point in the hostilities between them and the administration, nothing could have worked more to their advantage than the advertisement of the fact that patronage was being withheld from theta because of their stand. They were thus held up before the country, and particularly be fore their constituent* in the light of po litical martyrs. Observation of La Follette and other Insurgents does not encourage a too con fident belief that many of them are whol ly of the stuff of which martyrs are made. This ia not said altogether in der ogation. They are men who in the main . and in the last analysis are merely fol, I lowing a course of so-called enlightened selfishness. Radicalism is popular with their constituents, and ao they breath* THE SPRINGFIELD WEEKLY REPUBLICAN: THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 1910. radicalism at every pore. As a general proposition and with certain qualifica tions mid exceptions, which have pre viousiv been made in this column, they are sincere in their attitude, but while there may be ionic few Martin Luthers among them they are difficult to find. If the? are to be credited with statesman ship. then they must also be credited with recognizing ns tho first article in their statesmanlike creed that their owfi continuation in public office is the most important thing for the public welfare. In short, they have been after patronage just like any other body of politicians, and the wisest course would clearly have been to tactfully give it to them and keep them on the reservation so far as pos sible. It has been rumored about Washington that Postmaster-General Hitchcock has several times of lute expressed a desire to relinquish his post. Without any antag onism it would seem that he would be do ing well both for himself and for the ad ministration if he were promptly to take such action. There is unquestionably a very widespread feeling that he rather than Mr Ballinger is the real danger spot in the administration and the real influ ence inimical to the broadest public inter est. There is some reason to expect that when the Ballinger affair is disposed of. Mr Hitchcock will become the center of attack. Bettor than for him to retire un der fire would be for him to retire before the fire begins in earnest. Credit cannot be denied Mr Hitchcock for the manner in which he has worked his way up in the government service, and for the disnlay of a certain sort of la borious ability. At the present moment the decreasing deficit in the operations of the post-dffice department is. on its face at least, a long credit mark to his advan tage. But there are those who assert that this condition is due. not to his adminis tration. but to the development of the country. Moreover, it is declared by men who are qualified to judge with consid erable accuracy, but whose names for that very reason-cannot be given, that while he has a certain ability, he is distinctly not showing it to a degree sufficient for the effective administration of the great busi ness organization of which he is in charge as postmaster-general. As for Secretary Ballinger, it would be impossible, and in a sense, superfluous, to go thoroughly into his case in this resume of the cabinet. But apart from the ques tion of his original desirability or unde sirability as a cabinet officer, it is evident that he will be a heavy burden to the ad ministration as long as he remains. But the report again comes that in recognition of this and in order to effect the punish ment of those whom he declares to have slandered him. he will leave the cabinet after the expected exoneration from the investigating committee. THE BALLINGER INQUIRY ENDS. A PARTING SHOT BY COUNSEL. Secretary’s Official Career Without Spot or Stain. Says Vertrees—Com mittee to Receive Briefs June 11. The Ballinger-Pinchot investigation end ed Saturday at Washington in a blaze of verbal fireworks. The oratorical efforts closed the opeu hearings, and the attorneys who have been engaged in the case now will prepare briefs for submission to the committee, which will meet June 11 to receive them. “When I came into this ca%e, a stranger to Mr Ballinger,” ex claimed Attorney Vertrees in closing his address, “these were my instructions; ‘So far ns I am concerned, there is no bottom to this,’ said Mr Ballinger; 'as to mv subordinates, it is not a matter of knowl edge, but I believe those about me are honest, but whether they are or not, let this investigation proceed in every direc tion iu which it may.' Whatever your report may be, I realize fully that you cannot save him from the injury that has been done, but at the same time I know the report must be in accordance with the evidence and the facts in this case, and that his official career is without spot or staiu." “I am afraid Mr Vertrees has been cor rupted since he came here from the South west,” was Attorney Pepper's parting shot in defense ot Mr Pinchot. “Unsophisticat ed as he was. he came in contact with a spirit of suspicion, and I think he scented a conspiracy where there was none. What there was was a series of successive blows dealt by Mr Ballinger against interests which were vital to a group of men who had dedicated their lives to a cause. 1 shall take the responsibility of showing that the couception of a man of great capacity and independent resources, de voting himself to the interests of the peo ple, with no hope of reward and no hope of ambition, is so far beyond the ken of some people when they come into his pres ence that appreciation is impossible and unintentional detraction is inevitable.” Glavis’s attorney, Mr Brandeis, had the last word. “Here was a man disgraced, condemned not only without hearing, with out seeing the hundreds and hundreds of pages of evidence which were collected by Assistant Attorney-General Lawler, but without knowledge that there was a charge against him. Why, why was he sacrificed? It rests deep in the conception which ac tuated Mr Ballinger and the men who stood with him, and it is the conception of a class of privilege, that men high in exnlted station must be protected at all cost, but a man merely a humble servant of th<- government has no rights if for the protection of Ballinger it is necessary to condemn innocent men. He is nothing but an inferior official. This is a question of privilege, whether political or financial, and it is absolutely connected with that same idea that pertains to Guggenheim. Morgan and other great resourceful men of the countrj.” The hearing-rootn was crowded, and at. the conclusion of each speech a demon stration interrupted the proceedings Women crowded about the attorneys after the hearing and congratulated them. Mr 'ertrees consumed the greater portion "of the day in concluding his argument. He was most bitter iu his denunciation of Secretary Garfield am] t hies Forester Pinchot, who, he said, conspired to ac complish the removal ot Mr Bollinger from public life because his was an ad ministration of “law and not of men.” He said Pinchot had been credited with a “loftiness of purpose that he does not deserve.’ and insinuated that he would “scruple nt nothing to carry ont his pur poses and plans.” He referred to the 26 missing letters found in Glavis's box nt Seattle as evidence of th* tactics "iir sued by Ballinger's enemies, asserting that, they intended to charge Ballinger with concealing them if they were called for and not produced. Vertrees said the Xtir that had been raised over the Law ler memorandum was merely an ’ndirect attapk upon the prerident, and that the president lias fully and frankly explained the circumstances under which that doc ument was prepared. In beginning his reply Mr Pepper de clared that it was a "wholly baseless charge" that Garfield's opposition to Ballinger had been inspired by any feel ing of disappointment nt not having been retained in tho Taft cabinet. He said if that hnd been so. Garfield's antagonism would not have been directed toward Ballinger. Saying that he suspected Mr Vertrees of caricaturing conservation when be depicted Pinchot nnd his friend* us standing between private interests and "the people's co*),'’ exclaiming: “Don't let Guggle get It!" Mr Pepper added: "Bnllinger'a idea of conservation seems to be: ‘Do let Guggle get the coal.’ Mr Pinchot h*s been spoken of ns a dream gr." exclaimed Mr Pepper, "but I hare vet to see reference to a statement of Ids that cannot stand tho teat of th* president's definition of conservation.” ! la Mr Brandeis’* closing speech refer- ence was made to Vertrees’s statement that Bulljuger’s administration was one of “law and not of men.” “Rather of law yus and not of men.’’ suggested Brandeis; "lawyers’ who bnve been evet-readj to resort to loose construction of the law when private interests were threatened aud a strict construction of .it when the public’s interest was involved.’’ Mr Bran deis said that if Mr Ballinger, as secre tary. left to his subordinates, which lie said he did not believe, the matter of the Cunningham cases, he was unfaithful to his public trust. Replying to Vertrees’s inquiry ag to why he did not cross-exam ine Schwartz, “the man who handled the cases.” Brandeis said it was because he had already had an opi>ortunity to ques tion the man who was responsible, He scathingly attacked Ballinger’s alleged evasiveness and inability to remember on the witness stand, and unfavorably com pared him as a witness with Glavis, whom lie termed the "best witness you ever had before you." He highly praised the Pin chot following and the “independent press.” "But for these publications and these men," he declared, "there would have been done in this country an act of injustice as great as that done Dreyfus in Franco and for very similar reasons. As suggested by Mr Vertrees, men in ex alted positions have got to be protected, at all hazard, and if they cannot be pro tected by truth, then lying must be resort ed to for that end.” Attorney Lawler Apologizes. Oscar Lawler, assistant attorney-gener al for the interior department, said Satur day that he had sent to the Ballinger- Pinchot investigating committee and to Christopher P. Connolly and James B. Connolly, letters disavowing any intention of doing the Messrs. Connolly an injury in his testimony before the committee, and withdrawing his remarks with an apology. REPUBLICAN SPLIT IN CONGRESS And Senator Crane’s Task in the Senate. [From Edward C. Lowry’s Washington Let ter in Harper s Weekly. I lii the House.affairs are. simply rocking along, awaiting developments. No single republican or small group of repuolicans has yet ventured to take up the power of which Speaker Cannon was deprived, when he was. by a vote of the House, de prived of the headship of the committee on rules and specifically excluded from future membership on the committee. The republicans in the House have no leader whom they acknowledge, nor. indeed, has any persons ventured forth to offer him self as leader. There exists now no exact method of ascertaining/ what the repub licans in the House of Representatives will or will not do under any given set of circumstances. Virtually every vote that has been taken in the House since Mr Cannon was shorn has revealed a division regardless of party lines which defied even the most expert political analysis. The divisions in the House have not been alike in any two cases. Republican members in recent days, when told that the party "whip” wanted them to do certain things nJ certain times or to be in their seats on the floor when a vote was to be called for, have been heard to send hack this derisive, irreverent messaged' “You tell John to go Chase himself." This, mind you. to a man who, a little while ago, had all the disciplinary authority of a school master in a well-conducted school. In the Senate, Senators W. Murray Crane of Massachusetts is busier than a local freight train trying to bring order out of the present chaos. He is the heir ap parent to the Aidrich leadership by a process^ef natural selection, and he is doing everything in his power, which is not inconsiderable, to justify the responsibili ties which hare become his. He is one of the most attractive and competent per sonalities. in . the entire Senate member ship. He has the magic gift for inakinp friends and is animated bv the same spirit of friendliness JithSt induced ~rhe old Georgian “cracker".- to say to a casual acquaintance with whom he had struck up a conversation on a train: “Come over and visit us when you are down in this part of the country. We are poor, but we are as friendly as dogs.” Mr Crane never has an unkind word to say about anybody, and the natural consequence is ihat nobody ever has an unkind word to say about him. He flits about the Sen ate chamber and into committee-rooms all the day through like the busy little bee. and also like the busy little bee he usually brings the honey home with him. If he becomes the acknowledged leader of the Senate, as Aldrich was. and as it seems possible that he will, his rule will be a more benign one than that of the Rhode Island senator. It will not be so auto cratic; indeed, it will not be autocratic at all, for Mr Crane cannot only lead a horse to water, but can make him drink. Mr Crane's admirers say that if a mos quito lighted upon him with the instinctive ambition and intention of biting him the senator of Massachusetts would not drive him away with blows ns would another man. Such action would appear to nim brutal and coarse. Indeed, these admirers say Mr Crane might be expected to cap ture the attention of the mosquito and point out to him the small results to be attained by biting such a thin, slender man. “Why not, he might he expected to argue. “go over and bite Senator Hey burn? He weighs 240 pounds, and you would do much better for yourself Ilian by attacking somebody so nearly yonr own size.” When Mr Crane was appointed to the Senate in October. 1904, to fill the vacan cy caused by the death of Senator Hoar, he quickly became one of the controling republican group thnt wns associated with Mr Aldrich in his leadership. Mr Crane made it his business to find out what wns going on in the Senate, and he .al ways knew. Secrets disclosed thorns*lves to him. Democrats and republicans alike confided in him. Senators wonki tell him how they intended to vote when they would tel] no one else. He never sought to impose his views on any one. He has always' been ready to make con cessions and compromises in the strictest fairness and consideration for the rights, the prejudices and tho needs of those whose co-operation bo sought. He fur nished the greater part of the intelli gence of the alliance of republicans who were opposed to President Taft's nom ination for the presidency. and now he has become the rusted and confidential intermediary between President Taft and the Senate. When Mr Crane saw that President Taft's nomination was inevitable he ac cepted the situation, and he did ns much ns any other man at the republican na tional beadquarters during the campaign to bring about Mr Taft's election. At one time, when the republicans were most discouraged, and when republican criti cism of Frank Hitchcock was at its hight, nn effort swas nmde to induce Mr Crane to tnke complete charge of the Taft cam paign. It hns been commonly believed thnt Mr Roosevelt wns especially desirous that Mr Crane should supplant Mr Hitch cock, but Mr Crane’s excellent political sense prevented a consummation of this plan. While the junior senator from Massachusetts hns been so closeiy identi fied with the Aldrich group in the Senate now disintegrating, he has never had to henr any of the animosities of tho repub lican “insurgent” senators, nor has he at this day their ill-will. In the present temper of Congress, no man can foretell what the next day will bring forth. A little while ngo, when the administration's railroad bill was being emasculated in the Senate by the elimina tion of two of its important sectiona—one legalizing traffic agreements among the carriers, and the other permitting merger* of two railroad lines under certain cireum- StancetH-it seemed probable that no fur ther hitch would occur in securing the en actment of th* main item on Mr Taft’s program. The so-called “regular repub licans, as distinguished from the “insur gent" republicans, were showing a dispo sition to take what they could get if th«y could not get what they wanted. This at titude seemed to be shared by President Taft. But very recent event* hav» point- ed to a revival of open hostilities between the republican factions. A recent Satur day night conference at rhe White House to talk over the whole legislative program and the prospect for its enactment was participated' in by 21 republican senators at the president’s invitation, representing all shades of republican thought and be lief in the Senate except out-and-out “in surgency.” Their exclusion was resented by the “insurgents.” Their resentment was increased when they heard that at the powwow they had been criticised by Mr Taft in unmeasured terms. Whether this was true or not, it had the same ef fect. So now, at this present crisis in the history of the republican party, there are six republican senators from five politically important states in the middle West who do not- visit the White House and who hold no intercourse with a republican pres ident. These senators are Beveridge of Indiana, Bristow of Kansas. Cumming and Dolliver of lown. Clapp of Minnesota, aud La Follette of Wisconsin. They are clean off the White House reservation and are Mi Mr . feaWL! 1 Br . w? I’/vH rw " lIL s RUBBER MAD. LA typical scene outside the London stock exchange during the present wild rubber gamble. When the exchange is closed brokers flock out into Throgmorton street and continue business there ] no more consulted by President Taft thau if they were open and avowed democrats. It only the personality and individual for tunes of these men were involved, this would not be a .serious matter or even worthy of more than casual passing com ment: but there is at hand every manifes tation and every evidence to show that, as these men think and believe, so think and believe the majority of republicans in their respective states, and this is a matter of first-rate importance It is to be Suspect ed that President Taft has not compre hended this. This is a sketchy outline Of the situa tion which Senator Crane is undertaking to Compose in the Senate and which no one has appeared to attempt to compose in the House. It is a situation that has been familiar to democrats in the past, but possesses all the elements of novelty to present-day republicans. One blunder treads on another's heels, so fast they fol low. Nor are the blunders and the de moralization confined to Congress. The whole Ballinger-Pinchot investigation has been a huge blunder from a political stand point. It might have been avoided in the first place. Had Gifford Pinchot and Richard Achilles Ballinger been summoned to Beverly when it first came to the knowledge of the president land that was long before the news became public) that they were beginning to make faces at each other, had their official heads cracked to gether sharply, nnd had they been told that they must either fish or cut bait, the long, causeless, and stupidly-conducted in vestigation that has ensued would not have been held. Mr Taft was too tolerant by half in the very beginning, and he has had almost daily cause to rue his for bearance. Until n<iw it has not been proved that Mr Ballinger was dishonest in the conduct of the affairs of the interior department; but it has been shown that he is stupid, and on this score he is damned and doubly damned. FIGHT ON LAND OFFICE METHODS. Total Amount In the Appropriation for Safeiguardlng; Public Lands Re duced. A determined fight was made on the general land office methods and policy in the House Saturday. It resulted in the adoption of nmcn'dments to the sundry civil appropriation bill, offered by Mr Page of North Carolina, to reduce the to tal appropriation for safeguarding public timber lands from illegal entry, adjusting claims for swamp lands aiid for swamp land indemnity from $750,000 to $500,000 and the portion thereof for bringing the work of the office up to date from $500.- 000 to $250,000. No part of the proposed appropriation is to be immediately avail able. The vote to reduce the total wns 32 to 70. and against making the amount available at once it was 50 to 64. AN OLD-FASHIONED FOURTH. Mayor Gaynor Names Committee to Make Arrangementa. Mayor Gaynor of New York appointed a representative committee last week to ar range for “an old-fashioned Fourth of July,” which will meet nt the city hall to perfect plans on June 1. New York hns put the ban on the sale of fireworks between June 10 and July 10, and as a substitute therefor there has been much discussion of appropriate exercises. Mrs Isaac L. Rico, president of the society for the prevention of unnecessary noise, hns been named ns one of the com mittee. which includes in addition promi nent business men, members of the board of nhiermen and representatives from palriotlc and fraternal organizations. There will likely he a big parade and appropriate veiemonie* ns a windup. Fire cracker dealers nre fighting in the courts the ordinance prohibiting the gale of fire works. PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE. (From Mr Bryan's Commoner.] Delegnre Quezon of the Philippines, who recently petitioned the House of Representatives for independence for the Filipinos, has received n cablegram from the speaker of rhe Philippine Assembly congratulating him nn<l assuring him that the desire for independence “remains nn altorable." This ought Hot to surprise liny ono. The Filipinos liar* always wanted imlependeuee, and IJiey will con tinue to want it until foreign, rule, no matter how good it may be. ia terminated. In this respect. they do not differ from others. The sooner we announce the na tion’s intention to give Independence to the Filipinos the sooner will there lie harmony and good will in th* Philippines, ENGLAND’S RUBBER GAMBLING CRAZE LIKE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE. A Foolish Greed In the People, Boom ers Robbins in the Old Fashion, Venal Newspapers Lying and the London Exchange Listing Stock Thnt New York Would Bar Ont. (Copyright hl the United States and Great Britain by Curtis Brown.] Correspondence ot The Republican. London, May 19, 1910. For anything bearing nay close resem blance to the present virulent gambling fever over rubber shares in England one must go back to the days of the South Sea bubble. Men and women of all grades and conditions have been smitten bj- it. My lord and his valet, my lady and her maid, clergymen and clergymen’s widows, merchants, clerks, newsboys, waitresses, seamstresses and even chimney-sweeps have joined in the wild rusn tor shares. Bridge has to a large extent. diminished in popularity owing to the keener excite ment offered by the opportunities for a flutter on ’change in the indispensable elastic product; and.even the extraordinary political ..situation has been engulfed by rubber as a dinner table topic. The extent to which the public enters into it may be gauged from the fact that no Jess than five two-cent weekly,, papers hgve been started within the last few weeks devoted exclusively io rubber nnd rubber shares. And each of them claims to Ite the only’ journal which provides the innocent and ignorant investor with such reliable in formation that he can launch his little bark safely on the sea of rubber specula tion with the assurance that it will return to him freighted with gold. Since the beginning of the year nearly 200 new rubber . companies. have been floated, their combined capital aggregating something like $100,000,000. Each day sees a new rubber company added to the list —sometimes three or four. Promoters only have to assert that their lands in some out-of-the-way corner of Africa, Asia or South America can grow rubber, and the demented public scrambles wildly to buy their shares. The banks taking subscrip tions are besieged by eager crowds long before the doors are opened. The mad struggles to get inside resemble the scenes that take place in the rush hours at one end or the other Of the Brooklyn bridge. Coats and dresses are torn, hats are knocked off. and light-weighted people are swept off their feet. West-end swells nnd. East-end costers, fashionable women and shopgirls, brokers, clerks, messenger boys and street porters fight their way to the counters to threw over the rail their ap plications for.shares, with checks or money orders attached. In several instances the shares have heen subscribed for several times over within a few minutes of the opening of the sub scriptions. And it has happened more than once that these much-coveted lottery tick ets have been run up to premiums of 500 or 600 per cent on the stock exchange a few hours later. Those shrewd ones or lucky ones who get in on the right-aide of the gamable and out of it at the proper time are making big money these days-, and their jubilations fill the air. Later, when the inevitable slump takes place, the multitudinous losers will raise a vastly louder chorus of lamentations nnd exeera' tions.' But the day of reckoning has not come yet. Every investor nnd speculator is buoyed up by the hope that he will land among the heavy winners. And so the ma.l •amble continues. Everything goes—wildcat, schemes as easily us those that rest on something like solid founda tions. > Meanwhile the brokers are ns busy as bees and making money hand over fist. Scores of firms have not closed their offices day or night for several weeks. The staffs are housed at nearby hotels, and, with the aid of such extra help as can be obtained, Work in relays. A prominent broker,.rush ing into his office on a recent Saturday afternoon, and finding nb- clerk working somewhat languidly, called bls manager. "Your men look like collapsing. Stop work at once and take them all to Brighton. Do. them well and briug them back as fresh ns paint on Monday morn ing.” "But some are married—” "Let the wives go,, too.” “Th- juniors have sweethearts—” “Let 'em all go." That evening the party arrived at Brighton, bent on enjoying a glorious week-end. The trip cost the banker $600,' but he was paid for it jiy the vim with which the meh worked on 'their return. The rubber market on the London stock exchange, which a year ago was quite small nnd attracted little attention, Is now and has been for weeks past tile center of a maelstrom. Mobs of men- besiege it, shrieking and shouting like maniacs, try ing. often vainly, to execute orders. Be cause they lack the time or strength for such football-like scrimmages, many bro kers have been driven to engage brawny, athletic jobbers to carry out their orders. And these nieii, tempted by the chance of making money fit the rate of from $o to $25 a minute, by sheer force of weight and muscle force Uiemsplvea into the ring nnd gayly. make prices in shares that they scarcely know the names of. One big rubber trust wns so vigorously “boosted” thut Its original' capital of H/tOMOO shot up to $3,500,000 before it was a week old. The R?iarea put Into it appreciated about SIOO,OOO whil the prospectus was printing. They were £IOO,- 000 higher on the day of issue than they had been when turned over by the vend ers to the company. It 'does not follow, however, that the venders lost that ¥400.- 000. It is quite as likely that they made twice or three times as muck by their apparent self-denial. Most alluring are the prospectuses issued by these new com panies. They are superb examples of financial and statistical art. They all prove that they are bound to make money, lots of it—on paper. They aim. particu larly. to catch the small fry investors. The shares are offered for subscription at prices rar.giu* from cl pssl down to twe shillings <4B cents). Of the companies doing a bargain business at the latter figure there are a large number. Hence this boom appeals to the crowd as no other boom has ever done. He or she must be poor indeed who can't afford 48 cents for a rubber share. And the 48 cents has not to be paid cash down, either. Only six cents has to be paid on applica tion. Another 18. cents per share has to be paid on allotment; 12 cents a month or two later, and the final 12 cents two or three months after that. And there are dazzling prospects of being able to sell the share for four, five or six times its cost long before the final 12 cents has to be shelled out. It is small wonder that hum ble folk who never before even dreamed of ever having shares iu anything yield to the temptation and invest their small sav ings in rubber. Aud the profits—big profits —are figured out as absolutely certain, even after making the most generous al lowance for a possible heavy fall in the present high price of rubber. One com pany promises a modest dividend of 8 < per cent this year, but investors are-as sured. that the profits are bound to rise, ' like :i beautiful golden stream plunging into a reservoir, until a dividend of 130 per cent is paid out in 1918. ' Other companies, with perhaps less faith, in human gullibility, content themselves; with promising dividends ranging any- j where from 20 to 50 per cent —a few vears • hence , for the most part. Always‘it is I pointed out that dividends are bound to I increase at a rapid ratio, year after year, as the rubber trees mature and larger areas are brought under cultivation. Audi the companies, which have to admit thev hnve not started planting rubber trees yet. - and that there can be no dividends until' the trees that still have to be planted grow i big enough to be tapped, make the lean! years of waiting for returns, on the money | iiivested seem easy by positive assurances i of whacking fat dividends as soon as the rubtier sap begins to flow. Meanwhile the' money of the mania-strteken crowd flows! into the pockety of the promoters. For,! as I said before, everything goes. What has made possible— wnat causes* have contributed to—such an outburst of! maniacal speculation in rubber shares?! First and foremost is the substantial fact! that owing to, the great demand for rub-’ ber it has advanced enormously iu price.; It now is fetching something like 200 per* cent more than it did a year ago. Several of the well-established, companies have! paid huge dividends—6o, 100 and in one; instance 250 per cent—with the certainty; that their dividends will be larger when, i they share with their stockholders the‘ profits accruing from the sale of their, rubber at the present prtces—over ?3 a.! pound. The rush for shares in the new com panies and their inflated premiums are based on the utterly unreasonable as-* sumption that they will prove equally profitable. The fallacy of that is easily* demonstrated. That the present high price' of rubber will be maintained is impossible. The areas devoted to rubber cultivation are increasing rapidly. If only one-half of the new companies make good—or any thing near it—the promises of their glow-' ing prospectuses, the production of rubber will be increased to such an enormous ex tent as to outrun the demand for it, save at greatly reduced prices. Another most potent factor In promoting the rubber gambling mania is the attitude of the newspapers toward it. The London! dailies are reaping a golden harvest out of the boom hi the shape of advertise ments. Day after day they print columus of prospectuses of rubber companies. An eight-page one-cent newspaper recently had 12 columns of such advertisements. With the newspapers everything In the shape of a rubber prospectus finds prompt ac ceptance at advertising rates. Wildcat concerns organized by rogues to secure promoters' profits—such as no respectable newspaper would aid and abet In fleecing ’. he public get .their column or two-coliinin advertisements printed along with those of sound and stable enterprises. But that is not the blackest part of It. Because these advertisements pay so well, with one or two slight exceptions, no hos tile criticisms of such companies are al lowed to appear in the financial column of the newspaper printing them. And the financial column is published ostensibly to afford honest guidance to the money investing public. The rubber boom pays a handsome tribute to the staid and dig nified London papers, and therefore they support it through thick and thin. Ex posures there are none. Only such inter views are printed as will help prolong the boom. , As for the interests of the public —they don’t count. One financial editor frankly told me it would be as much ns his job was worth if he dared to write his honest opinion of or tell what he knew about some of these much-advertised rub ber flotations. As with the gullible public and the venat newspapers, so with the London stock ex change. Everything seems to go tnnt brings grist to that mill. There Is no trouble iu getting rubber shares listed there that would be barred from the New York stock exchange and dealings iu them restricted to curb brokers and bucket-shops. Au other thing that has helped the boom con siderably is the fact that It struck the public when the public unexpectedly bad something like f 100.000.000 in its pockets in the shape of uncollected income tax, owing to the failure of last year’s budget to go through the House of Lords. Trouble will begin when the fancy pre miums have to be paid in hard cash. Speaking of the recent inflated dealings in rubber shares, W. R. Lawson, a sound English financial authority, says: “From a purely financial point of view such wild speculation must be suicidal, no matter how profitable the subject may be on which it is based. Eveu if 83 rubber were guaranteed five years ahead, the boom codld not be carried on for a half .or a quarter of that time, simply because It could not be financed. There are too many ’wild men’ in it, too many small gamblers, aud, worst of all, too many West-end plungers. It is said smart clubs in Picca dilly and Pall Mall have underwritten, new isues so eagerly that they took every thing offered to them. They inevitably will be landed with thousands of shares when Chapel Court and Mincing Laue have no further use for them.” Sir Frank Swetteuham, late governor of the Straits Settlements, where the estates of several of the new rubber companies are. located, also has had the courage to speak out. “I think,” he says, "there ar a I far too ninny new companies being pro moted. It is difficult to understand how tun flotation of one or two and sometimes three companies a day can be justified. No doubt some of the companies recently promoted are quite sound, but there nro । many thnt none but a lunatic, so one would think, would dream of trusting with his money." Unlike all previous big stock jobbing booms, thia rubber boom has evolved no great central, dominating figure. The, man who hns the best claim to tha title of “rubber king.” by virtue of the extent of his interests ano dealings, is Keith Fraser Arbuthnot. He is a director iu no less than 24 rubber companies, and is credited with having made $8,008,000 out of the gamble. The world's production of corn amounts to about 90,000,000 ton* a year.