pECBMBER 22, "1905
J
The Commoner.
FROM THE NATIONAL CAPITAL
Washington. D. C. Dec. 18. Rnnuhiirvm i
ers in the house of representatives at the very be
ginning of the session make it plain
Afraid by the tactics being played that
of they are afraid of the enormous
the Tariff majority their party has in the pop
ular branch of congress. Every
move shows beyond any doubt that Speaker Can
non, General Grosvenor and Mr. Dalzell, the pow
erful triumvirate who are to make drastic spe
cial rules for rushing through bills, for the strang
ling of certain propositions no matter from which
aide of the political fence they spring have made
up their minds not only that there shall be as
little legislation as possible, but that an adjourn
ment early in the spring will be forced upon the
senate if it can possibly bo accomplished. Never
before at this stage of the proceedings have thero
been evidences of the party lash being applied
so vigorously.
Speaker Cannon in his daily contact with
both republicans and democrats does not conceal
the fact that outside of the reg
Ordinary ular appropriation bills this con
Appropriation gress, if he can have his way,
Bills will do little else than vote the
annual sums necessary for the
operation of the government. Already scores of
republicans who feel that not for four years have
they been permitted to accomplish anything for
their districts are groaning under the frightful
discipline In store for them. "Weeks before the
assembling of congress it was generally under
stood there would be no river and harbor bill
passed at this session. Tha was not surprising
because a measure of this sort was passed on the
3rd of last March, ami it made ample provision
for the continued improvement of the waterways.
But members were hardly prepared for the edict
that has gone forth in regard to public building
bills. More of these measures have been intro
duced this session than usual. The speaker and
his chief lieutenants will not listen to the plain
tive appeals of the congressmen to permit at
least a limited "omnibus" measure to be enacted.
There is grumbling on all sides and quiet threats
that before the adjournment a combination will
be formed to override the presiding officer and
those who agree with him In preventing legisla
tion calculated to deplete the treasury of the
United States and bring about a greater deficit
than Secretary Shaw has been willing to admit
will be shown probably at the end of the fiscal
year.
The house republicans in their conversations
have difficulty in concealing their fears concerning
the next congressional election.
Republicans And that feeling is uppermost
Afraid of at this writing in the minds of
1906 Elections the legislative managers who
are endeavoring to weld their
big majority nn n.nf i ,.
be broueht n,m.r mi .' aaJarnmont may
confab lerVV7o1 UbUt th BUOrt'
commL?lf?Lh?3 pc thc wars and means
committee of tho house to his complete satisfac-
Wave m Uon a&ainst tho possibility, he
cSmmttKean8 yNeaiy inks, of its male-
pTJS ?s dlrcct attenipt during
-racKed the present session at revising
PYfcHm fnrif i eire,n In the slisMest degree tho
ex sting tariff schedules. Mr. Cannon and those
who agree with him appear to bo certain that
they have on that committee ten republicans who
can be absolutely relied upon to "stand pat," to
use the famous expression of tho late Senator
Mark Hanna. They are Messrs. Payne, of New
York, chairman; Dalzell, of Pennsylvania; Gros
venor, of Ohio; McCleary, of Minnesota; Hill, of
Connecticut; Boutell, of Illinois; Watson, of In
diana; Curtis, of Kansas; Needham, of Califor
nia and William Alden Smith of Michigan.
There are eighteen members of tho ways and
means committee. Two of tho republicans thc
speaker would, not care to trust too far. They
are Mr. McCall,.of Massachusetts and Mr. Bab
cock, of Wisconsin. They have in the past acted
with the "insurgent" republicans on matters af
fecting the tariff. The most dangerous insurgent
of all has been Representative Tawney, of Minn
esota. It will be recalled that in the last con
gress on tho Porto Rico question, which involved
a fight alleged to have been in tho interest of
the beet sugar producers, Mr. Tawney was the
head and front of the revolutionary element of
hi3 party. By taking him off the ways and means
committee and putting Mr. McCleary, of Minne
sota, in his place, the speaker is credited with
having not only obtained a good floor leader, but
a vigorous chairman of the all-important appro
priations committee. Mr. Tawney has a constitu
ency that Is reported to be for tariff revision, and
it is well known that his own sympathies are
in accord with the people ho represents. Mr.
McCleary belongs to the ardent, high protection
wing of the republican party. The Bpeaker has
put Mr. Tawney where he Is not apt to stir up
any great amount of trouble for his party. Had
he remained on ways and
May be Special means he would have been in
Message a position to kick, out of the
on Tariff traces in the event President
Roosevelt later In the session
sends in a special message pointing out some
of the glaring defects in the existing schedules
and the necessity for certain modifications that
would lift the pressure upon the administration,
for moderate revision. It is quite well known "
here that Speaker Cannon and his closest friends
in the house have a fear that after the railroad
rate question is disposed of the president may
concludo to try conclusions with tho hoirao re
publican leaders on tho tariff. Many woll ln
formed pooplo hero think that Is why tho spenkor
has been so careful in packing tho ways and
means committee bo that It is, In his opinion, un
alterably opposed to tho consideration of tariff
matters during tho present sossion. With Ion
anti-rovision republicans on It tho speaker fools
certain they can prevent tho upsetting of his
plans by outvoting tho two tariff rovlsion repub
licans and tho six democratic members.
Thero is littlo probability that Sonator For
aker will yiejd to tho administration on tho rail
road rato question. Ho tolls
Foraker his friends and allies that It
Vcrsuo Is his purpose to romain firm,
Roosevelt and that ho will press to the
. utmost his views. Ho Is not
willing to grant to tho interstate comraorco com
mission tho rate-making power, and with thc
strong sentiment in tho senato against tho proHl
dent's plan it would seem reasonable to conclude
that If Sonator Forakor can not have his way
thero will bo enough men with him to prolong
tho discussion and keep congress In session much
longer than the house lenders figuro at present.
On tho railroad question tho policy of the house
democratic leaders is to proparo a bill of their
own which will bo offered in tho committee. No
mattor how much superior It may bo to tho meas
ure to bo framed by tho republicans they do not,
of course, expect the republicans to adopt their
bill. Tho democrats will make a roport to the
houso on tholr proposition. If thoy can not se
cure any amendments to tho republican bill in
tho event it proves to bo unsatisfactory thoy will
then support the commltteo proposition, provided
it is known to bo satisfactory to President Roose
velt. In other words thoy will come to tho support
their leader, Mr. Williams, como to tho support
of President Roosevelt should it bo discovered .
that a republican combination has been formed
to defeat the domands for railroad rate legisla
tion. In spite of tho personal controversy In the
houso between Mr. Williams and Representatives
Lamar of Florida, and Shackloford of Missouri,
tho democrats are more united and determined
than they were In tho last congress. Thoy are
attending the sessions of tho house regularly,
and but for this strict attention to their duties
it would not havo been possible for the democrats
to havo compelled their political opponents to lop
$5,500,000 from tho emergency appropriation for
tho Panama canal. That was an unpleasant ob
ject lesson for tho republicans and proved what
a determined minority can accomplish If their
men are on tho watch for such opportunities.
ALFRED J. STOFER.
4t
ONCE WAS BORN A MAN"
"Once in the world's history was born a man;
once in the roll of ages, out of innumerable fail
ures from the stock of human nature, one bud de
veloped itself into a faultless flower. One perfect
specimen of humanity has God exhibited on
earth."
This fine sentence will be found in an ad
dress delivered many years ago in London by
Frederick William Robertson. It had reference,
of course to the One, the anniversary of whose
birth all Christendom celebrates.
Mr. Robertson pointed out that nothing, in
the judgment of historians, stands out so sharply
distinct as race national character; that nothing
is more ineffaceable. For instance:
The Hebrew was marked from all man
kind. The Roman was perfectly distinct from
the Grecian character; as markedly different
as the rough English truthfulness is from
Celtic brilliancy of talent. Now, these pecu
liar nationalities are seldom combined. You
rarely find the stern old Jewish sense of holi
ness together with the Athenian sensitive
ness tf what is beautiful. Not often do you
find together severe truth and refined tender
ness. Brilliancy seems opposed to perse
verence. Exquisiteness of taste commonly
goes along with. a certain amount of untruth
fulness. By "humanity," as a whole, we
mean the aggregate of all these separate-excellences.
Only in two places are they all
found together in the universal human race
and in Jesus Christ. He, having as it were,
a whole humanity 4n .himself, combines them
all. Now this is the universality of the na
ture of Jesus Christ There was in him no
national peculiarity or individual idiosyncrasy.
It would be well if everyone who delights In
searching for good reading without concern for
the suggestions made by those who fix our lit
erary fashions, could read Mr. Robertson's entire
address. The universality of Christ's sympathies
and their intense particular personality are "the
two powers of his sacred humanity," which Mr.
Robertson emphasized.
Touching the universality of his sympathies
we are reminded that tho sacred characters of
Scripture priests, prophets, and apostles were
intensely national In their sympathies. For ex
ample, the apostles "marvelled that he spake with
a woman of Samarfa" and Just before his resur
rection their largest charity had not reached be
yond this: "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore
the kingdom unto Israel?"
Coming down to modern times, when Christ's
spirit has been moulding men's ways of thought
for many ages, the national spirit is yet predomi
nant with us; and while Mr; Robertson offered no
criticism to this, he pointed out that "fellow feel
ing, true and genuine," is even in this day limited
to tho men of our national household if not, in
deed, confined to a much smaller sphere. But
this thought was employed by Mr. Robertson not
for the purpose of criticism, but rather in order
to illustrate what he called "the mighty sym
pathies of the heart of Christ." He said that "none
of the miserable antipathies that fence U3 from
all the world bounded the outgoings of that love,
broad and deep and wide as the heart of- God.
Wherever the mysterious pulse of human life
was beating, wherever aught human was In strug
gle, there to him was a thing not common or un
clean, but cleansed by God and sacred."
There was no such things as tho "lower
orders" in the conception of the Nazarene. Ah
Mr. Robertson said: "He whoso homo was tho
workshop of tho carpenter did not authorize you
or me to know any man after the flesh as low or
high. To him who called himself the Son of
Man, the link was manhood and that he could
discern, even when It was marred. Even in out
casts his oye could recognize the sanctities of a
nature human still. Even in the harlot 'one of
Eve's family;' a son of Abraham oven in Zac
cheus." Referring to "the power of Intense, particular,
personal affections," Mr. Robertson pointed out
that the Nazarene was the brother and Savior
of the human race, "because he was the brother
and Savior of every separate man in it" Mr.
Robertson said:
Now, It is very easy to feel great affection
for a country as a whole; to have, for In
stance, great sympathies for Poland, or Ire
land, or America, and yet not to care a whit
for any single man in Poland and to have
strong antipathies to every single Individual
American. Easy to be a warm lover of Eng
land and yet not lovo one living Englishman.
Easy to set a great value on a flock of sheep
and yet have no particular care for any one
sheep or lamb. If it were killed, another of
the same species might replace It Easy to
have fine, large, liberal views about the work-
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