AtfGUST 26, 1S11
The Commoner.
11
and offered. The act was necessary
for payment of expenses of the investigation.
Fifty additional second class post
offices in seventeen states wero
designated as postal savings banks.
President Taft sent to the senate
the nomination of Captain Bradley
A. Fiske, U. S. N., to be rear admiral.
The senate amended the Rucker
campaign publicity bill to make it
apply to primaries and the house has
accepted the amendment. The bill
now provides for publicity of cam
paign funds both before and after
a general election.
An Associated Press dispatch said:
The treaties of arbitration with
Great Britain and France were de
fended in minority reports filed in
the senate in executive session by
Senators Cullom, Root and Burton
of the senate committee on foreign
relations. Mr. Burton contended
that the agreement required no
amendment, because, as he declared,
the prerogatives of the senate are
sufficiently safeguarded. Senators
Cullom and Root, making the same
contention, undertook to provide
against any possible mishap by sug
gesting a declaration, in connection
with the resolution of ratification, ex
plicitly excluding from the terms of
the treaty all questions "involving
the maintenance of the traditional
attitude of the United States con
cerning American questions or other
purely governmental policy."
In addition Senator Bacon sug
gested a modification of this amend
ment under the terms of which the
excluded questions are specified. He
named questions arising under the
Monroe doctrine and those pertain
ing to immigration and territorial in
tegrity, while Senators Cullom and
Root treated them as incorporated in
the general language of their sug
gested declaration.
When the reports were presented
to the senate the question of the dis
cussion of the treaties in public by
senators was raised. There was
general agreement that public policy
would not be violated by such a
course, Inasmuch as the ban of se
crecy had been removed from the
documents. No action on the con
ventions was taken and they go over
for further consideration at the
regular session.
The minority took issue with the
majority report declaring for the
elimination of the portion of the
treaty giving the joint high commis
sion power to determine the arbitral
character of any differences between
this country and the other countries.
. Senator Burton went further than
his two colleagues in making the
contention that the treaty should
stand just as it was forwarded to
the senate from the white house. In
his report Mr. Burton declared it
would be impossible for the senate
ever to have occasion to refuse its
approval of the arbitration of a
question which the commission had
reported to be within the scope of
Article 1. He added that the clause
in question did not deprive tht senate
of any constitutional right and con
tended, contrary to the declaration of
the majority, that "the proposed
treaties are quite the reverse of un
wise and perilous."
While asserting he was sure of his
ground, Mr. Burton said the senate
could protect Itself by adding a dec
laration that its approval had been
given, "on the distinct understand
ing that the foregoing interpretation
is the correct meaning of the clause,
or, if preferred specific exception
could be made of questions not re
garded as justifiable."
The statement presented by Sena
tors Cullom and Root contained the
declaration hitherto proposed by
Senator Root in connection with the
treaties. It is intended to bo a part
of the resolution of ratification, and
is as follows:
"The senate advises and consents
to the ratification of the said treaty
with the understanding, to bo mado
a part of such ratification, that the
treaty does not authorize tho sub
mission to arbitration of any ques
tion which depends upon or involves
the maintenance of the traditional
attitude of the United States concern
ing American questions or other
purely governmental policy."
As originally presented, tho
amendment specifically Included tho
Monroe doctrine among the questions
to be excluded from arbitration, but
in the draft introduced that subjoct
was omitted, evidently under the
conviction that it is included in the
general terms of the declaration.
The extra session of congress ad
journed August 22. Tho house con
curred in the senate amendments to
the cotton tariff bill by a vote of
180 to 107.
MR. BRYAN IN OHIO
The following report of Mr.
Bryan's recent visit to Ohio is taken
from the Cleveland (Ohio) Plain
dealer: Columbus, O., Aug. 14. "Bryan
for president in 1912! Bryan again!
Bryan! Bryan!"
The words issued from thousands
of throats when the former candidate,
speaking in the city where Gover
nor Judson Harmon makes his resi
dence, reached the climax of an ad
dress on "The Passing of Plutoc
racy." Col. Bryan was the star of the
'second annual baTbecue of the Jeffer
son club and the tens of thousands
of, c.entrol Ohio democrats who at
tended converted the outing into a
rally for the noted Nebraskan. The
size, of the audience was limited only
by the range of the 'speaker's won
derful voice, and for two hours and
twenty minutes his hearers stood
spellbound, except when breaking
into typical outbursts of Bryan en
thusiasm and Bryan cheers.
The name of Governor Harmon,
who declined an invitation to pre
side, was not mentioned, but Mr.
Bryan made plain his unalterable op
position to the presidential candidacy
of the Ohioan.
It was because of Mr. Bryan's
treatment of Governor Harmon that
the only incident to arouse comment
occurred. Resenting utterances of
Bryan that indicated that he was
fighting Mr. Harmon, Attorney Gen
eral T. S. Hogan refused to speak
at the meeting scheduled for tonight.
Mr. Hogan asserted he had proposed
to laud Harmon in Bryan's presence
and since he was asked not to
Bpeak until after Mr. Bryan had
left the city, he declined.
Bryan was the guest of Harvey C.
Garber, democratic national commit
teeman and HaTmon's implacable po
litical foeman.
"You ask me why I don't go back
to Nebraska and stay there since
I've been three times defeated for
president," Col. Bryan said. "I'll
tell you. While God spares my life
I shall do what I can to drive plu
tocracy from the throne and put
man in his rightful place.
"Should I retreat when Wall street
is trying to capture the democratic
party? I know its methods. I know
its lairs and I know its tracks. If I
saw a burglar breaking into my
neighbor's house and I sounded no
warning, what would be thought of
me?
"When I see plunderers trying to
make a tool of the democratic party,
shall I sit still?"
A self-imposed refusal to discuss
individuals was the only limitation
on Bryan's words. Intimating that
ho did not oxpect his own name to
go before tho democratic national
convention, tho three times candi
date announced that later ho would
have plenty to say about Individuals.
He insisted ho was seeking informa
tion, and when ho got it ho would
glvo it to his party, with announce
ment of the sources.
A warning that tho speaker know
thoroughly tho real attitude of tho
big democrats now suggested for
president, with Bryan's previous
statements nbout Harmon, made It
clear In tho minds of tho audience
that the Ohio governor's aspirations
would bo rejected. Choors followed.
Attorney General T. S. Hogan had
boon depended upon by tho gover
nor's supporters to forestall any ad
verso result which might follow
Bryan's address. So completely wore
Bryan's friends In control, that Mr.
Hogan at tho last moment refused
to speak at all. Loyalty to tho gov
ernor left him no other course. Ho
so expressed himself to the club com
mittee in language thdt lacked noth
ing for vigor.
Mr. Hogan denied that ho had de
serted Col. Bryan, but his action
brought Joy to tho friends of Gover
nor Harmon.
President Vetoes the Wool and Farmers' Free
List Bills
President Taft returned tho wool
bill with a veto. An effort was mado
to-pass tho measure over the veto in
the house but after heated discus
sion the motion to overturn tho veto
was defeated. The vote standing
227 yeas and 129 noes, 22 of tho
affirmative votes were insurgent re
publicans and 1 was an Independent
republican. The motion lacking tho
necessary two-thirds it was defeated.
The president also returned tho
farmers' free list bill with his veto.
The motion to override this veto
lacked tho necessary two-thirds, tho
vote being 226 yeas to 127 noes.
Speaker Clark made a Btrong speech
in favor of overriding tho veto mes
sages. The twenty-two insurgents who
stood on their former record and
voted to pass the wool bill over the
president's head were: Anderson,
Davis, Lindbergh, Miller, Steener
son, Volstead of Minnesota, Hanna
and Hagelson of North Dakota,
Haugen, Hubbard, Woods of Iowa,
Kerit of California, Norris of Ne
braska, Jackson, Madison, Murdock
and Young of Kansas, La Follette
and Warburton of Washington, Len
root, Morse and Nelson of Wisconsin.
Aiken of New York, independent
republican, also voted to pass the
bill over the veto.
WOOL VETO MESSAGE
In his message vetoing tho wool
bill, tho president said:
"I return without my approval
house bill No. 11,019 with a" state
ment of my reasons for so doing.
"Tho bill is an amendment of tho
existing tariff law and readjusts the
customs duties in schedule K, em
bracing wool and the manufactures
of wool.
"I was elected to the presidency
as the candidate of a party which,
in its platform, declared its aim and
purpose to be to maintain a protec
tive tariff by the Imposition of such
duties as will equal the difference
between tho cost of production at
home and abroad, together with a
reasonable profit to American indus
tries. "I have always regarded this lan
guage as fixing the proper measure
of protection at the ascertained dif
ference between the cost of produc
tion at home and abroad, and have
construed the reference to the profit
of American industries as intended,
not to add a' new element to the
measure stated or to exclude from
the cost of production abroad tho
element of a manufacturer's or pro
ducer's profit, but only to emphasize
the Importance in including in the
American cost a manufacturer's or
producer's profit reasonable accord
ing to tho American standard.
"In accordance with a promise
made in the game platform, I called
an extra session of the Sixty-first
congress, at which a general re
vision of the -tariff was made and
adopted in the Payne bill. It was
contonded by those who opposed tho
Payno bill that tho existing rates
of tho Dlngley bill were exccsslvo
and that tho rates adopted in tho
revising statute wero not sufficiently
reduced to conform to the promised
measure.
"Tho groat difficulty, however, In
discussing tho new rates adopted,
was that there wero no means avail
able by which impartial persons
could determine what In fact was
the difference In cost of production
In tho products of this country and
tho same products abroad. Tho
American public became deeply Im
pressed with tho conviction that in
order to secure a proper revision of
tho tariff In tho future exact Infor
mation as to tho effect of the new
rates, must be had and that the evil
of log-rolling or a compromise be
tween advocates of different pro
tected industries in fixing duties
could bo averted and tho interest of
tho consuming public could bo
properly guarded, only by revising
tho tariff ono schedule at a time.
"To help these reforms for tho
future, I took advantage of a clause
in tho Payne tariff bill enabling mo
to create a tariff board of three mem
bers and directed them to make a
glossary, and encyclopedia of terms
used in tariff and secure Informa
tion as to the comparative cost of
production of dutiable articles under
the tariff at home and abroad."
Hero tho president quoted from
his message of December 7, 1910,
requesting money to continue tho
work of tho tariff board and stating
tho good results he believed would
be obtained by scientific revision.
The message continued:
"A popular demand arose for the
formal creation by law of a perma
nent non-partisan tariff commission.
Commercial bodies all over the coun
try united In a movement to secure
adequate legislation for tho purpose
and an association with a nation
wide constituency was organized to
promote the cause.
"The public opinion in favor of
such a commission was evidenced by
resolutions adopted in 1909 and
1910 by republican state conven
tions in at least twenty-eight states.
"In addition efforts were made to
secure a change in the rules of pro
cedure In the house and senate with
a view to preventing the considera
tion of tariff changes, except sched
ule by schedule.
"The business of the country rests
on a protective tariff basis. Tho
public keenly realized that a distur
bance of business by a change in the
tariff and an injury to the industries
of the country ought to be avoided,
and that nothing could help so
much as to minimize the fear of
destructive changes as to the known
existence of a reliable source of In
formation for legislative action.
"In the deep Interest In the mat
ter of an impartial ascertainment
of facts before any new revision was