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THIS STORY Is telegraphed from Hot Springs,
Va., to tho Philadelphia North American:
"President-elect William H. Taft is on the water
wagon. While ho was always temperate in his
use of liquors, he was never known as a' total
abstainer until last night. There was a small
dinner on Friday night and it was noticed that
Mr. Taft solemnly turned his glass down. There
was some comment. 'Yes, . it is going to stay
turned down,' he said. 'I am not going to
drink anything again, ever.' 'You never did
drink enough so that any one could notice it.'
said a boyhood friend. An organization invited
Mr. Taft to a banquet 'any time beforo you are
inaugurated.' 'What is the matter with these
people?' the president-elect exclaimed. 'Do they
think I am going to be any different after I am
inaugurated?' "
WHBN JOHN D. Rockefeller greeted his
friends after Thanksgiving service he
took occasion to remark that he was always
thankful for the many blessings bestowed upon
him. And this prompted the New York World
to say: " 'Always thankful' that is the phrase
oxp rossing the habitual attitude of the richest'
man-'dn' 'earth. It runs like a stream of oil
through hla' 'testimony, his writings, his dis
course. Touching -' the 'hazardous risks' of
Standard Oil, when Mr. Kellogg- asked Mr1,.
Rockefeller if the production o oil instead bf
decreasing ha'd not greatly increased, the' hit
king meekly replied, 'Yes, , we jire Very, very'
grateful for that Every day durjng his hear
ing he told the commissioner, the .reporters, the
chance- listeners, that he was 'very, vey grate
ful' for something for oil, for health, for sav
ing habits, for liver and kidneys, for shrewd
partners, for pipe lines. To him every day is
Thanksgiving day. Always grateful and always
humble unctuously grateful, unctuously meek.
The, oil of meekness and gratitude drips from
Mr. Rockefeller's lips, exudes from his skin,
shines in his face, lubricates his smile; the odor
of it permeates the atmosphere of his environ
ment. . He is tho personification tho livings
moving embodiment of the beatitude, 'Blessed
are the meek; for they shall inherit Ihe earth.' "
the work. Twice came the offer of a place on
tho supremo bench. My inclination was to ac
cept, and it was not due to my judgment after
all that I did not. I have much for which to
bo thankful, and' I can not help wondering if
there is not to be some compensatory sorrow."
No one will begrudge Mr. Taft his great hap
piness and men of all political parties will wish
that nothing will occur to mar his present joy
ful frame of mind.
JOHN BIGELOW, journalist, statesman4 ahd"
diplomat, celebrated hid ninety-first ' birth
day at his home in New York City. The New
York correspondent for the Denver Post, de
scribing his visit to Mr. Bigelpw, says: "Bo
fore him was a pile of letters, every one of
which would; be answered with his own hand.
On either side lay notes of the various brochures
upon which he employed his spare time. His
form was hardly bowed, nor were the strong
shoulders greatly stooped by the weight of near
ly 1Q0 years, every one of which had been
filled with willing service. 'But I have nothing
to say today,' said he. 'The attainment of al
most a century of life is not a matter for which
I am responsible. Mere longevity is not a thing
to bo boasted of. Why should I preach to the
world from a pinnacle of ninety-one years of
life, when I have reached that age through no
act of my own? Groat age is no achievement.
I have simply lived. To give an interview upon
the anniversary of my birth would seem to in
dicate a pride In having attained that age
which I do not feel.' "
IF THE BILL for the revision of the postal
laws, which is being prepared by the joint
postal investigation commission, appointed by
congress two years ago, becomes a law, the four
offices of assistant postmaster general will be
abolished, a director of posts with seven assis
tants provided for, and the entire postal service
of the United States divided into fifteen separate
districts. A Washington dispatch, carried by
the Associated Press, says: "It is claimed that
a director of posts, appointed to hold the office
until removed for cause, and who shall receive
a high salary, will tend to improve the service
through a continuity -of policies for the benefit
of the postal, service. By providing for seven
assistants, the disadvantages due to frequent
changes, and the appointment of inexperienced
men to four offices of assistant postmaster gen
erals will, it is believed, be obviated. The assis
tant directors are also to hold office during good
behavior. To perfect the system of manage
ment, the provision for fifteen superintendents,
'. to have direct charge of the fifteen separate
, postal districts, has been decided on. Another
f provision of the bill is the assignment of certain
duties how performed by the third assistant
-postmaster general to a commission of appeals.
This commission would issue all fraud orders
and pass on the admission to the mails of second
. class: matter. The codification of; postal Jaws is'
also a' part of the work' required-of the commission."
SPEAKING BEFORE the Economic club at
New York City recently E. H. Harriman,
tthe railroad magnate, said: "I'm a sort of an
economic subject myself, an economic morsel, a"
bone of contention; I've been pursued by the
pack and the scent is getting pretty slim. I
dont Intend to do anything to renew it. ' I wish
that I were able to say, free to say what I would
like to you; but I am not yet freed from a
situation that prevents my speaking my mind
to you fully. Some things that have been said
here tonight are not right and some day you'll
know they are not right. Surely you'll know
it. I've tried to do things satisfactorily in a
lasting way and to give right transportation.
I have had many confabs with representatives
of the government and I've heard some of them
agree that what they had proposed was not
right. I told the president of the United States
three years ago that in passing the present
interstate commerce act without changing the
Sherman act ho was inviting a great deal of
trouble. Now he will probably recommend at
least I think he will recommend tho very thing
which I suggested. There ,are two things that
menace the prosperity of the country idle mon
ey and idle labor. The one is as mischievous
as the other. It should be the object of gov
ernment to create a condition where both may
bo used properly and fairly."
PLAINLY, William H. Taft is a happy man.
In a recent newspaper interview ho said:
"When I consider all that has come to mo I
-wonder, with trembling, if there is not to be
some great misfortune to offset it all. We have
our health and our children. My parents are
dead, but they lived to an honored and peaceful
old age. I have not had any grievous sorrow.
Politically, there were the Philippines; it was
the turn of a hand whether I should go there.
If I hadn't I don't suppose I should be the president-elect
at this time. Of course it is some
times said that opportunity comes to every man
and that it is to his credit that he seize it, yet
looking back. I can not see that I exercised any
ghrevd discrimination. I can not, persuade my
self 4tf wfii iny own wisdom . that led me into
o
A S TO CAMPAIGN funds the Indianapolis
jtX. News makes a few remarks. It savs
"According to tho report of Treasurer Sheldon
it cost $1,655,518 to prosecute the campaign of
Mr Taft. Out of this there was t5?ned oveJ
to the various state committees "$62 0.000 con
cerning which no detailed report is made.' We
have no information in regard to the amount
received by the congressional committee How
much of the $620,000 turned over to the Btato
committees was saved wo are not informal
Further than this we have no report of any
tributions less than $500. Doubtless these gias
ari w11 compai;ed with those of other yearl
-1&96, for example. But they are neverthl
less .disgracefully large. " The democrals got
through with $620,000, and they had all tho
money they really needed for all honest pur
poses. To be sure we have no report from their
congressional committee, but there is no reason
to think that it had much money. If a cam
paign can be honestly financed for $620,000
anything spent over and above that must either
have been wasted, or spont for corrupt pur
poses. In the republican list will be found the
names of many protected manufacturers, such
as the Joneses, Olivers and Laughlins of Pitts
burg, and the Disstons of Philadelphia. Of
course, our old friend Cromwell responded lib
erally, his gift being $15,000. The committee
had $20,000 from Andrew Carnegie, and another
from J. Pierpont Morgan. Robert Bacon, an
assistant secretary of state, and an associate
of Morgan, gav.e $5,000. Brother Charles heads
the list with a contribution of $110,000. We
do not discover the names of any of the Stand
ard Oil people or of Edward H. Harriman in
the list. However, no one can know who helped
to make up the funds given by the Union League
club of New York, or the Union League club
of Philadelphia."
THIS REPORT of Treasurer Sheldon raises,
in the opinion of the News, the old issuo
and in very direct form. The News says that
the American people can not afford to shirk
this issue, and it adds: "With the increasing
tendency- to look on politics as a mere depart
ment of business, and with the growing disposi
tion to subordinate everything to the so-called
'prosperity' issue, we are' likely to see larger
rather than smaller campaign funds. Yet they
are so large now as to be a positive menace to
the purity of, our elections and so to the per
petuity of our institutions. , We must in some
way arrange to hove the fullest . publicity both
'i of receipts and disbursements ancU,tq. hay.e, it
prior to the election. This was the' demand of
the democrats during the campaign. It is a
righteous demand. If our presidents are to
continue to be elected by the people rather than
by the interests, if in a word we are to pre
serve free and popular government, we must
put an end to this campaign fund scandal. In
some way we must make it impossible, or at
least very difficult for contributions to be made
by men who have any direct and personal in
terest - in legislation, for after all that is the
greatest scandal in the business. It is a scandal
because it amounts to a direct purchase of law.
Protected manufacturers make large gifts to
the campaign fund and they then plead their
generosity as a reason for protective duties to
be levied in their interest. No one Is foolish
enough to impeach the validity of Mr. Taft's
title. The result shows that nothing could have
defeated him. He was fairly the people's choice.
The election could not have been bought away
from him any more than it was bought for
him. But there Is still the danger that our
elections may degenerate into a mere financial
struggle in which the longest purse will win.
If the republican fund had been no larger than
the democratic fund Mr. Taft would still have
been elected. The necessary conclusion is that
the fund raised in his behalf was much larger
than was needed. Its only effect will be to cre
ate a feeling of gratitude on the part of repub
lican leaders toward the men who gave so lav
ishly to the party's war chest. Thore will thus
be the usual feeling of obligation an obliga
tion that ought not to exist. The best thing
that could happen to the country would be to
have both party committees 'hard up' all the
while. This would enforce an economy which
would make for honesty, make even for true
party efficiency. For the only men who really
strengthen a party are those who vote for it
because they believe in its principles, and never
those who vote for it because they expect or
hope to get something out of it."
o
AST LOUIS reader of The Commoner sends
the following clipping from an editorial
in the New York World: "While the national
republican . committee has published a list of
contributors ;to the -campaign fund, according