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Our Commentaries on the Week’s Netos
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THEODORE E. BURTON. *
Ohio congressman who leads
the Taft forces in the Taft-Fora
ker contest for presidential prefer
ment.
Taft’s Candidacy.
Although Secretary Taft has not
made any formal admission of his can
didacy for the Republican nomination
to the presidency next year, the coun
try assumes that he is already in the
race by the president’s initiative. The
big secretary need hesitate no longer.
Everybody knows that he is not jump
ing into the swim, but is being pushed
in by his chief in the White House.
The other candidates are evidently
. anxious for Taft to “say his say,’’ for
then they will know who to fight and
how to go about pooling their issues
to prevent his getting the nomination
with a whoop and hurrah. It is mani
fest that if Taft gets the nomination
he will have to fight for it all the way
to the winning post.
_
To Kill Gambling.
.Judge Pendleton, of Atlanta, deliv-J
ered a strong and eloquent charge
against gambling to the Fulton Coun
ty grand jury on Monday. So far, so
good. But Judge Pendleton knows as
well as he knows his name that
charges to grand juries will not kill
gambling in Atlanta or anywhere else.l
If Judge Pendleton will use his influ-!
once and power to stop the fining of
gamblers and will send a bunch ofi
them to the chaingang for twelve
months, he will kill this damnable
form of thievery deader than Hector.
Atlanta judges used that club once
and the city was practically free of
gamblers for twenty years afterwards.
Let Judge Pendleton try it again.
Corporation Democrats.
What the country might well ex
pect if the Eastern Democracy could
name a Democratic winner of the pres
idency was illustrated the other day
in New York. There are nineteen
Democratic senators In the New York
assembly and when the issue came on
the removal of Kelsey, the insurance
commissioner who was made by the
grafter insurance companies, seven-1
teen Democratic senators joined the
Republicans to - defeat Governor
Hughes and keep the questionable
Kelsey in office. Those were Belmont-,
Ryan senators. Now wouldn’t a Bel
mont-Ryan Democracy In power im
Washington do a-plenty to the peo- .
pie’ v ' I
WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
Jones on Lynching.
Judge Tom Jones, ex-governor of
Alabama and present judge of a Uni
ted States District Court in Alabama,
has decided that the United States
courts have jurisdiction to arrest, in
dict and try persons accused of taking
a prisoner from the lawful custody of
state or federal officers and lynching,
or attempting to lynch, such prisoner.
If the Supreme Court of the United
States upholds Judge Jones it will be
hereafter an offense against the Uni
ted States for any mob to take action
against a prisoner in official hands.
There are plenty of good men who
would like to see the law stretched
that far so that it may stop the
stretching of men’s necks unlawfully.
A Short Wheat Crop.
The latest reports from the wheat
fields of the nation indicate that
weather conditions have cut down the
possible yield by 100,000,000 bushels.
There is no present prospect that this
deficiency can be recovered, and it
means that the flour market will rule
high and folks who love wheat bread
and biscuits will have to pay more
for their enjoyment. Nobody doubts
that a short wheat crop makes for
dearer loaves of bread, but there are
millions who yet cannot see that an
overproduction of either wheat or cot
ton makes for lower prices to the pro
ducer. Here’s where the Farmers’
Union can get in good and profitable
educational work.
Watterson’s Wooziness.
A good many Democrats are puz
zled to explain the queer talk that Col.
Henry Watterson has been handing
out since his return from Europe.
Judged on its face it means that he
sees no hope whatever for a Demo
cratic victory next year. His predic
tion that Hughes will succeed Roose
velt, and that only an epidemic of
cholera and 40 cents wheat could bring
about a Democratic year, seem to jus
tify the conclusion that Uncle Henry
has gone up against the wailing wall.
Things don’t look well in Kentucky,
either. If Yerkes is nominated for
governor by the Republicans, his
strength aided by the sulking of Sen
ator McCreary’s friends and Joe Black
burn’s exile on the Panama zone, may
B; 'A: W-
I
HORACE PORTER.
Ex ambassador to France and
one of Uncle Sam’s delegates to
The Hague peace conference in
June. 5
1 ' ’“r- ""fuiai
make it hard for the Democrats of
Kentucky to hold the Blue Grass State
in hand.
Death of “lan MacLaren.”
Dr. John Watson, of Liverpool, Eng
land, died of blood poison Monday at
Mt. Pleasant, lowa. His literary name
was “lan MacLaren,” which he made
famous with his first book, “Beside
the Bonnie Briar Bush.” He has writ
ten many notable books since, both
stories and polemics, and in both
fields won distinction. His splendid
knowledge of Scotch life and his happy
use of the dialect of his people made
his works delightful. He was on a
lecture tour in this country when
stricken with tonsolitis and this ran
into the malignant condition that pro
duced his death. He will be greatly
mourned in all English-speaking lands.
A Jefferson Celebration.
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial As
sociation has conceived the celebra
tion of Independence Day, July 4, at
the Jamestown Exposition by a re
union of the descendants of the sign
ers of the original Declaration of In
dependence. It is asked that all such
descendants forward their names to
the Thomas Jefferson Memorial As
sociation, Washington, D. C., and re
ceive formal invitations to the event.
Many public men have approved the
celebration and it ought to be a unique
affair. But a greater event would be
the union of all true Jeffersonians at
the polls in 1908 to restore the prin
ciples of the Declaration of Inde
pendence in the conduct of the Fed
eral government.
COL. GAILLARD A DIPLOMAT.
(The Columbia State.)
To the Editor of The State: In your
last Sunday’s issue, there was pub
lished an article from your Washing
ton correspondent relative to Uncle
Sam’s engineers’ part in the undertak
ing of building the Panama canal. Tn
this article was a very well merited
tribute to Col. D. D. Gaillard.
This writer had the honor of serving
during the Cuban war for independ
ence on Col. Gaillard’s staff. During
the life of that regiment, there hap
pened an incident which, I believe, de
serves to be chronicled. This incident
also happened in Macon, Ga., where
your Washington correspondent, Mr.
McGhee, so vividly describes the dis-
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JOSEPH 11. CHOATE.
Who will head the American
delegation to The Hague peace
conference in June.
/
I
DAVID DU B. GAILLARD.
Major in the United States ar
my and first assistant to Lieuten
t/
ant Colonel Goethals, chief engi
neer of the Panama canal.
armament of the Sixth Virginia regi
ment. Os course, all soldiers are sup
posed to be ready for battle, murder
and sudden death, but few of them are
supposed to be ready to rise to the oc
casion of another kind of a call which
requires not only courage and patriot
ism. but certain decision of character.
It, was in Macon that Col. Gaillard
demonstrated the fact that he had not
only all the courage of a soldier, ’but,
also, all the finesse of a diplomat. The
bandmaster of the Third regiment of
engineers was a skilled musician and
had trained, to an excellency which
was unsurpassed, the band of our regi
ment. When President McKinley
came through the South on his tour of
inspection he visited Macon, and our
bandmaster, who was a “crank” on
unification, had prepared a program of
music to be played on this occasion.
Among other numbers he had selected
to be played as the Third regiment
passed President McKinley’s stand,
“Marching Through Georgia.” This
came to the notice of Col. Gaillard,
who sent his orderly to the bandmas
ter with the request that he report.
On his arrival, Col. Gaillard handed
him a program of music and said,
“You will please see that this is play
ed tomorrow.” I do not now remem
ber all the pieces which Col. Gaillard
chose, but I do remember that his im
plicit instructions were tnat as our
regiment filed by the president’s stand,
the band should play “Dixie,” and as
we passed by the monument, erected
by the women of Georgia to the dead
Confederates, his orders wore that the
band should play “Tenting Tonight.”
As Mr. McGhee says, Col. Gaillard is
not herculean, and I well remember
his rising in his stirrups and see 9s*
his throat swell and his breast he: ( '
as the regiment reached the m<K •
ment, and I still hear his swelT)
voice as he gave the order “port
arms.” I do not know how far the
sound of the human voice can reach,
but I think from the hills of Haber
■ shaw down to the Valleys of Hall, the
echo of those Maconite voices could
have been hoard and there was no en
gineer in the city of Macon for the bal
ance of our stay who was not gener
ously welcomed into every home of
that place, and in my mind Col. Gail
lard’s action in this little Incident is
as worthy of notice as any of his other
deeds which he has so well performed.
AN ENGINEER.
Columbia, S. C.» April 27, 19f•
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