Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-11-21
Contest Waxing Warm-The Three Lead
ing Candidates in the Field, Aided
by Their Friends,
Plying Their Powers TO Secure the Gov
eted Prize-Carlisle Still in the
Lead as the Fayorite.
RandalPs Canvass and Cox's Hopes-IIis.
tOrie Resume in Reference TO For
mer Speakers OF the House.
The Fight for the Clerkship Likely TO End
in the Election Of Gen. Atkins,
OF Tennessee.

Regular Correspondence of the Appeal
WASHINGTON, November 19.-The Speak
ership fight has been an altogether one
sided affair during the past week, as
Mr.. Carlisle has had the field all to him
self. 1t is true that Mr. Cox arrived two
days ago, but he has spent pretty much
all his time in heroic endeavor to prove
that his candidacy is not joke. and his
presence docs not seem 10 have sensibly
affected Mr.. Carlisle's monopoly OF pub
lie interest. The. arrival of Mr.. Randall
this morning, however, with retihue
of faithful henchmen, has served
to divide the popular attention,
and it may be predicted that the
rivalry between the managers OF the Car
Isle headquarters and the Randall
headquarters will at once become spirited
and fierce. So far the outside calculations
| in Washington have all been in favor OF
Carlisle, and it does seem as if the Ken
tuckian is closer to the wire than either of
his competitors. But it is to be noted that
up to this time only handful of Randall
men have been on the ground, and there
has really been nobody here to blow the
Randall trumpet. 1t is also mat
| ter of observation that Mr.. Ran
| dali is one of your quiet
workers who does a great of log-rolling
after dark, when other people are asleep.
| The difference in the methods of Carlisle
and Randall has been strikingly illus
trated since the Speakership campaign be-
gan. All the summer and fall Carlisle had
no manager" but prosecuted his cause in
an open manner, writing personal let
ters and utilizing influences that were
| known to everybody To use a familiar /
phrase his canvass was "open and above /
board" On the other hand,
MR.. RANDALL
has been under cover at his farm near |
Philadelphia, conducting his negotiations |
in the true spirit of diplomacy Unlike |
Mr. Carlisle, he has had manager"
This delicate relation has been sustained
by Mr.. Converse, of Ohio, a gentleman
| who, while loyal to his chief has nour-
ished q secret hope that the lightning of
party favor might be diverted from the
chief to the henchman at the last and
critical moment. On several occasions
| bhO SOliNClSc lSlt
his home in Ohio and came to Wash
ington. AT one time it was given out
that he was here to attend the business in
the departments; at another that he
was looking out for "winter quarters"
But Mr.. Converse always managed to turn
up in Philadelphia before he got back
home, where he reported to his chief and
received instructions for the future. The
Randall farm was generally deserted
about this time, and the drumhead cab
bage and the squash vine were whiting for
want of care. The great Pennsylvania
farmer was closeted in his Philadelphia
office with his trusted lieutenant from
Ohio, counting over the votes that
had been captured, and devising schemes
to secure those included in the uncertain
or hostile catalogue. The result of such
a system of campaigning tactics, is that no
one can form definite idea of what Ran
dalls strength really is. In the past he
has generally shown much greater vote
when the balloting commenced than his
opponents expected, and there is an I'M
easy feeling among the Carlisle men that
very large proportion of the "undeter-
mined vote" which has refused to pledge
itself to any candidate, will go to Randall
when the caucus meets.
Cox's CANDIDAcY
appears to be the eccentric feature of the
Speakership fight. The Office of Speaker
, has always been very solemn one, and
there is something naturally grotesque in
the spectacle of man whose fame is
founded so largely on capacity to develop
i good jokes, seriously aspiring to an office
: which requires the keeneSt sense OF gravity
and decorum. "Why" said Carlisle
: man yesterday, "it would turn Congress
into a burlesque show to elect Cox Speaker
{ His mania for Intervening humor in his
remarks would keep the members in q
roar of laughter all the time, and un-
utterable confusion would be the result.
I 1t can be said of Cox, however, that for
the first time in his life he has the sub
stantial backing of his fellow-Democrats
: in New York. He will certainly get the
support of seventeen of the twcnty-four
I Democratic members from that State, if
/ not more. 1t is said that several of the
New Workers will vote for him unwilling
e ly, and are ready to desert him after the
first ballot, but this is vehemently denied
: by his friends. The Hon. w. ID. Hill, OF
v Ohio, Gen. Slocum, of New York, and
!, | Gen. Rosecrans, OF California, are the
special champions of Mr. Cox, and they
profess the most enthusiastic confidence in
his election. The possible but not proba-
BILE election of Mr.. Cox suggests the fact
8 that he is sixty years old, and that only
one man ever held the office of Speaker
after reaching that age.
G THE AVERAGE AGE OF SPEAKERS
e has been forty years, several wielders of
the gavel being much under forty. The
9 exception was Mr.. Pennington, of New
Jersey. Among those who were over fifty
years of age when elected to the Speaker
e ship were Theodore Sedgwick, of Massa-
! chusetts, Speaker OF the Sixth Congress !;
. Varnum, OF Massachusetts, Speaker of the
Tenth and Eleventh Congresses; Linn
IL Boyd, of Kentucky, who presided over the
+ deliberations of the House in the Thirty
n second and Thirty-third Congresses. The
- Youngest Speaker the House ever had was
. Henry Clay, who was thirty-four when
, first elected. He was forty-eight when he
], left the Speakers clair, having filled it
|. longer than any man ever did before, or
has done since. Randall, when first elected
:, Speaker, was forty-eight, and is now fifty
n five. Colfax was forty when chosen, and
n so was Polk while keiier was forty-seven.
Stevenson, of Virginia, next TO Clay,
occupied the chair longer than anyone
else. He was Speaker for eight years.
Four men have held three terms each,
A. Macon, Blaine, Colfax and Randall. The
first named, Macon, was elected from
North Carolina in 1901. Six Congressman
|
:. chair. These were Muhlenburg, of the
&c First and Third Congresses; Dayton, of
Df the Fourth and Fifth; Earnum, of the
n. Tenth and Eleventh; Taylor, of the Six
10 teenth and Nineteenth; Polk, of the
Twenty-fourtha and Twenty-fifth, and Boyd,
of the Twenty-second and Twenty-third.
4 The various States have furnished Speakers
D. as follows: Massachusetts, four; Virginia,
n four; Indiana, three; Ohio,o one; New York.
one; Maine, ,one; South Carolina, two; Ten
nessee, two; New Jersey, two; Conneeti-
cut, one; North Carolina, one. Only one
Speaker af the House, Polk, was ever
RI elected to the Presidency, though Clay re-
ceived a nomination. IN
THE REPUBLICANS, A\
y quite naturally, are taking very h Ne in
ST terest in the organization of the : Nmo-
I'll cratic House. 1t is the common un >er-
r. standing that in accordance with pan
!, usages, Ex-Spsaker Keller will be renomf
!, mated by the caucus and receive the vote
IL of Republican members. There are indi-
cations of determined opposition to this
plan, however, and Mr.. Keifer will find a
number of representatives in the caucus
u who do not consider him entitled to the
usual honor. Nevertheless, as the honor
is an empty one, the prospect is that his
ne opponents may be prevailed upon to with.
n. draw their objections. The fight for
THE SUBORDINATE OFFICES OF THE HOUSE
promises to be liveiier than ii has beer
for several years. The result of these con
tests may depend 10 some extent on the
outcome of the struggle over the Speaker
ship, but so far the ilspirants appear TO bs
,rss.aG their claims without reference tc
"a Seegrsnhicai. ss;;..aation, or the demands o
lis any pastienlar section OF tnc scauntry. Inc s
or two candidates fof clerk are from the Sou,s
an Atkins, OF Tennessee. and Ciark, Of Mis-
he souri,; the principal claimants Tor ths
RS. doorkeepership ara frn;a the same sectior
m OF the Union-W insersmith, OF Texas, ant
70, Field, OF Georgia, while the candidates
ne for sergeant-at-arms, lesdona and Thomp
son, are both. from Ohio. Both of thes.
err gentlemen claim a majority OF the Ohi'
cir Democratic delegation, and il has been an
prs noancni that they have ssreed 70 leave
he to vote OF the REPRESENTATIVES, IRON
of that-State - rs to which shall re