The Indianapolis journal., 1891-01-12
THE BREACH HAS WIDENED
Curtis and His Friends Propose to Make
It Warm for the Niblack Forces.
Promises the Speaker and His Supporters Will
Find Ii Hard to Fulfill-Pen Pictures of
Some of the Democratic Members.
CONTINUING THE FIGHT.
The Curtis Contingent Determined to Nal

The Curtis Contingent Determined TO Mako
It Interesting for Niblack's Supporters.
When Mason j. Niblack was nominated
for Speaker last Wednesday evening by the
Democratic House caucus his nomination
was made unanimous upon motion of James
b. Curtis, his principal and only formidable
competitor. That the latter did SO was no
evidence that he accepted the situation
with perfect good grace but rather that he
was bent upon escaping the obloquy that
attaches to kicker The second
triumph of the staIwart young man from
Knox was sore disappointment to the
captain of the Light Artillery and the
forces that rallied round him, witnessing
as it does the further departure from the
indianapolis Democracy of the scepter of
authority.
wolf and q coyote contesting for the
same home would not settle the dispute
without exhibiting their maxillaries or,
percnance. without each attempting to
make q meal off of the other. No more
would the Niblack and Curtis factions.
Ihe latter make no cOncealment of their
purpose to make trouble for the dominant
element. Last Wednesday when it became
evident that n iblack was in jeopardy-that
curtis was making headway and might de-
feat thim-Niblack'sf friends went out among
them door-keeperships, janitorships and
anything that was asked. This last resort
proved successful and undoubtedly saved
the day Tor the Vincennes man. The Curtis
faction soon learned of IL and on Thursday
commenced preparations to block the full
nil.dent OF these promises. The first step
~as the Mccullough resolution providing
for the appointment of committee of nine
to report the smallest possible force and
expense under which the House can oper-
ate. Mr.. Mccullough Is the chairman of
that committee and will see that the lavish
promises of the Niblack people cannot be
realized on. The next step was the tenn
porary, defeat of Representative How
the expenses Of the session, which
was vigorously opposed by Representatives
Mccullough, Curtis and Ader on the
ground that it let down the bars for q
ago, when the number of House employees
exceeded the number Of members. 1t was
urged against the measure that the
party had been returned to power
that pledge must be kept. Representative
Ader raked the Democratic majority in the
| Senate over the Goals for expanding the
employment list. and was twice sharply
| called to order by the Speaker. The Re-
| publicans voted almost unanimously with
the Curtis folks, the motion to suspend the
| rules was defeated and the Curtis folks had
] secured the first kn0ck-d0wn.
Since that time the breach has widened.
and the war will continue. The Speaker
and his forces Outnumber the other faction,
but the latter, with the aid of the
Republicans, can pass or defeat any
measure. The Republicans have therefore.
become objects of the most friendly and
tender solicitude to both elements.
The policy of the Niblack folks will be to
crush out the opposition, Mccullough, who
Is regarded In many quarters as the ablest
man on the floor on the Democratic side.
being the especial object of their aversion.
on the floor are Oppenheim, of Fort Wayne;
Adams, of Whitley; Beasley, of Sullivan;
Nolan Of Vanderburg. and Zoercher, of
Perry. These members and several
Snsss Sams 70 whS 9e0S Ters sn0S.v unable to get
of the failure of the Harrell bill. spent yes
terday In calling down maledictions on
what they denominate the Curtis gang.
They call attention to the fact that the
desirable places under the State officers
and that now, out OF sheer spite, they close
the gates upon the only source from which
the humble workers from the obscure
counties can reap the reward of their
sSat may cause Se Curtis peopis
to weaken is that it will be very chilly
day when Indianapolis gets any thing at the
hands Of tle present General Assembly.
defeated; that the soldiers monument may
crumble for want of funds to complete it,
and that the people and factories who want
law to construct q manufacturers natu-
ral-gas plant may burn wood and coal the
l. balance of their natural lives
Already the Niblack people have made
overtures to the Republicans to help them
legislate. In return they have promised to
give generous consideration to any meas
ures proposed by Republicans and in redis-
tricting the State to give the people q law
that will in q measure alleviate the iniqui-
ties of the present gerrymander. The Re-
publicans contemplate the situation with q
good deal of complacency. They are in a
more advantageous position than they had
hoped to occupy, and the cards which the
enemy has placed in their hands will be
play ed for all they are worth.