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Show IDE F0IIS GASP WILSON'S PLAN TO VISIT THE CAPITOL OCCASIONALLY REAKS PRECEDENT. NO REASON HE SHOULDN'T Any Prealdent Who Sought to Influence Influ-ence Legislation Could Do It Much More Privately by Conferencea In White House. 8y GEORGE CLINTON. Washington Prealdeut Wllson'a bint that be may go on occasion to tbe eapltol where be can be In touch with leglalatlon, created Its ten daya' atlr, and It will create another ten days stir, and perhaps more, If after the extra session convenes be car rles out bis hinted Intention. It does not seem that there would be anything to create special intereat, let alone undue excitement. In the expressed desire of tbe president of the United Statea to alt for a few houra each week under the earn dome of tbe eapltol where be would b In easy reach of auch members aa might like to consult him or aa he might like to conauU, but anything which breaks precedent In Washington Washing-ton ralaee comment, atlr and frequently frequent-ly atrong opposition. There la nothing noth-ing In the Constitution or laws of the United Statea ia prevent the president pres-ident from making bis office anywhere any-where that he wishes In the city of Washington, and If hla desire Is to have a branch office In the eapltol. nothing can be done U prevent It, and very likely there la no reason except that of tiadltlon and precedent why It should be prevented Hat No Ulterior Motive. No one In Washington has been found to aay that be thlnka for an In-atant In-atant Mr. Wilson baa any Intention of coming over to the eapltol to make "his will dominant." They think that hla desire In the matter la entirely democratic, and that It la born of a wish to be In a closer and a more responsive re-sponsive touch with the membera than would be the case If he spent all hla time In tbe Wblte House while congress con-gress Is In session. This feeling of sn utter absence of any untoward Intention In-tention on Mr. Wllson'a part baa not, however, prevented criticism, and It baa come not only from membera of opposition parties but from membera of hla own party. The thing probably will prove after a little to have been only a tempest In a teapot. If tbe executive authority ever Ib used wrongfully to Influence legislation, legisla-tion, It can be ao need at the Wblte House just aa readily aa at the eapltol. eap-ltol. In fact, tbe observer of years In Washington knows perfectly well that If a president wants to make his will felt be Is much more liable to attempt It at a distance rather than from tbe eapltol. where all the membera mem-bera In a way would be watching him. Every day of tbe parts of the year when congress is In session scores of senators and representatives go to tbe Wblte House, some on their owner-rands owner-rands bent, and othera railed there by tbe president who wishes to consult con-sult with them upon matters of legislation. legis-lation. When the prealdent wanta to see a member alone he takes him into bis private office and closes tbe doors. Wbat passes there no one knows, unless un-less tbe president or bis visitor chooses to disclose It, and tbe visitor never will disclose It unless tbe prealdent prea-ldent glvea trim permission, for such conferences always are held to be confidential. con-fidential. Federal Protection for Birds. Dy an act of the last congress just three days before adjournment adjourn-ment tbe whole system of protection protec-tion of the wild birds of tbe United States was changed. This bill w ill go Into effect st once, but tbe existing state laws will remain as tbey are until un-til tbe department of agriculture bas prepared new federal regulations for tbe governing of the protection of game and Insectivorous birds In all sections of tbe Union. This matter la of Intereat to every sportsman and every market man. to every famer and to every bird lover, no matter In hat atate of tbe Union be Uvea. It should be aaid that the federal lawa will have no control of non-;nl-rratory birds, whether tbey be game birds or song birds. This limits tbe action of the law very little, however, because comparatively few birds remain re-main within the borders of sny one state through the twelve months of the year. One or two xamplea may fc- given, however, of birds which probably must depend hereafter, for the protection of tbelr Uvea and of their families from actual extinction on the action of state legislatures The ruffed grouse, called the partridge In many states and tbe pheasant In other ststes. la a con-migratory bird, at least It probably will 'be ao decided de-cided to be by the department of agriculture. agri-culture. Tbe prairie chicken aUo Is non-migratory and It probably also must depend upon state protection, but nearly all the other birds of tbe United States, gsme. Insectivorous and song, are migratory and hereafter will be protected by Uncle Sam. Scope of the Measure. Here ia a section of the bill which shows definitely what It Is Intended to do: "All wild geese, wild swans, brant, wild ducks, snipe, plover, woodcock, rail, wild pigeons, and all other migratory migra-tory game and insectivorous birds which la their northern and southern migrations pass through or do not remain re-main permanently the entire year within the borders of any state of territory, shall hereafter be dee need to be within the custody and protection protec-tion of the government of tbe United States, and shall not be destroyed or taken contrary to regulations hereinbefore here-inbefore provided therefor." It bas been found by tbe agricultural agricul-tural department that tbe game laws of the different statea do not protect In all cases. 8ome of the states bavs put protective laws on tbelr statute books giving protection to certain birds for certain periods, but In many of these cases It Is found that tbs birds do not occur in tbs states during dur-ing the periods In which protection is provided. In other words, there is no protection at all As things are to bo In the future, the department of agriculture will adopt regulations prescribing and fixing fix-ing closed seasons, having due regard to the zonea of temperature, breeding habits and ttmea and linea of migratory migra-tory flight, thereby enabling the department de-partment to select and designate suitable suit-able districts for different birds of the country, "and It shall be unlawful to shoot or by any device kill or seise snd capture migratory birds within ths protection of this law during said closed season, and any person who shall violate any of the provisions or regulationa of this law for tbs .protection .pro-tection of migratory birds shall be guilty of a misdemeaoor and shall be fined not more than f 100 or Imprisoned Impris-oned not more tbsn ninety days, or both, in the discretion of tha court" 8upport Almost Unanimous. The Influences for this federal legislation legis-lation for tbe protection of birds which It wss feared rapidly were becoming be-coming extinct, were exerted from every state in tbe Union. There was no sectionalism in It, and few persons raised the plea of states' rights in order or-der to defeat the measure. It Is said that public opinion all over tbe United Statea had become so aroused because of the diminishing game birds and song birds that all quibbles were put aside and virtually a unanimous sentiment senti-ment exerted Itself for the measure. There were only fifteen votes against it In tbe house of representatives. National and state granges, state and local game protective ' associations, associa-tions, bird societies of all kinds, and other organizations worked for this measure. It Is declared to be the most Important event In the history of bird lire conservation in tbe United Statea. Wilson Likes Tsft's Idea-There Idea-There Is a belief among Democratic Demo-cratic members of congress that Presides Wilson may Uke as tbe suggestion made by ex-Presl-dent Taft and urge legislation which will enable bla cabinet officers to appear ap-pear on tbe floor of the two bouses of congress when matters pertaining to tbelr departments are under consideration, consid-eration, to answer questions and to give Information which may enlighten on tbe points at issue. Such a course would be In entire keeping with Mr. Wilson's Intimation that bs may go to the eapltol on occasion oc-casion to be within easy reach of representatives rep-resentatives and senators who care to consult him. It Is all a part of a plan to bring the administration and congress con-gress closely together In conference on matters of legislation. Mr. Taffs idea was that if the members mem-bers of his cabinet could go to tbe bouse and tbe senate, especially at times when appropriation bills were under consideration, tbe actual need for money In this case or that case would be more clearly presented, and the doubts of members who did not know bow to vote could be cleared up and a more Intelligent consideration could be given to each Item In every appropriation bill Tbe former president did not Intend, In-tend, however, to limit the appear ance of members of tbe cabinet to appropriation ap-propriation occasions. He wanted congress con-gress to provldo that whenever a cabinet cab-inet officer's presence seemed advisable advisa-ble be might be summoned, given a seat on tbe Door and allowed to answer an-swer all questions and to vouchssfs such opinions as suggested themselves them-selves to Mm ss being pertinent to tbe subject matter la band. "Influence Is Fssred. It Is tbe fear of some congressmen that the admission of cabinet mem bers to the floor would bring about a condition of "administration Influence" with the legislative branch and that thla ought to be avoided, especially In a Democracy. It was the fear ol this asme Influence which .has mad many membera of congress oppose thi suggestion of Mr. Wilson tbst b might come to the cspltol himself on occasion, a auggeatlon which bas bton treated of In another dispatch. There la any amount of peraonal In fluenre uaed to away leglMation la congress and some of this personal Influence bas been condemned by lb pub! If snd the press ever since Ihi first congress convened. Tbls Influence Influ-ence is that of the lobby which In times past and even today has 1 strong representation In Washington The lobbylsta are nothing like as Inv portunate aa once they were, nor d( tbey carry on tbelr Importunities with the asms disregard of publicity and of the actual decencies as once tbey did. A good n.any members of rongresi ' say that the legislative lobby ablet comes here from a distance Is mon Inimical to Democratic tuitltutloni than the presence of the president ane hla cabinet officers In the cspltol pos slbly could be, but those who are cp posed to tbe sp pear a nee of tbe rtpre sentstlves of tbe administration say , the constitution draws the line K , shsrply between the executive and tbs legislative branches that the line 1 should not 1e crossed even la appear ance. If the world Is round, fcnv eaa II ever come to aa end? |