Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-06

There are sharp contests In several
states for United States senatorships the
result of which will be of general inter
est. In New York n vigorous fight has
been wagcd for weeks between the platt
and nnti-Platt fractions, but the former
have maintained the ascendency and 1t
may now be- regarded as foregone con-
clusion that Thomas G. Plntt will be
the successor of David II. Hill If he de-
srcs TO be- Sixteen years ago Mr.. Platt
was a member of the senate, from which
body he resigned with Roscoe Conkling.
If again sent there he will probably have
Il great deal TO do with the distribution
of federal patronage in the Empire state
and thus the republican factiona con-
tlict in New York will be continued and
perhaps intensified.
There is an interesting contest in Penn
sylvania, with at least half Il dozen
aspirants for the seat of Senator Cam
cron, though the real fight is between
cX-Postmaster General Wanamnker and
State Senator rcnrosc. The former is
backed by the business interests of the
eastern portion of the state while the
latter has the support of Senator Quay.
The fight is not only very earnest, but
somewhat bitter. Mr.. Wannmaker would
undoubtedly make an excellent senator
and his election would be satisfactory
TO republicans generally. He rs thor
oughly practical man, perfectly sound in
his republicanism and could b. depended
upon to stand squarely with the next
administration.
Next in interest is the contest in Illi-
nois over successor to Senator Palmer.
The most prominent candidate is Martin
B. Madden. conspicuous in Chicago poll
tics and not of the highest repute as a
politician. Madden has had no expert
ence in public affairs to give him Il claim
to a seat in the national senate, nor does
it appear that he possesses exceptional
qualifications for high Legislative duties,
but he has Il strong and aggressive sup
port. There is. however, very vigorous
opposition to him which gives reason to
hope that Il selection will be made more
creditablc to the republicans of Illinois.
In Indiana there are several aspirants
for the seat of Senator Voorhees,, the
most prominent being General Lew Wal
lace and Hon. G. X. Fairbanks. one of
whom is likely to be chosen. All the can.
didnteS are men of good standing and
ability SO that whoever the choice shall
fall to Indiana will have Il republican
senator who will worthily represent the
state.
The contest in Idaho for successor to
Senator Dubois is commanding no little
attention. Dubois wants to be reelected,
but the democratic-populist combination
that controls the legislature is bound by
an agreement entered into in the last
campaign to vote for II populist for
United States senator and there are sew
eral populist candidates. 1t is quite pos
sible however, that this agreement will
be broken and it is certain that the sill
yer mne-OwnerS will spare no effort to
break it. Senator Squire of Washington
is making Il fight for reelection, but the
chances seem to favor the election of
IA populist in that state.
There are contests in other states that
are of interest in connection with the
probable attitude of the senate of the
Fifty-fifth congress toward the tariff.
Although Senator German recently eX-
pressed the belief that the republicans
would control the senate of the next
congress and be able to pass such n tariff
measure rs shall be framed on repub-
lican lines, the opinion of the Maryland
senator is not conclusive as to this
However if the democratic senator's who
have given assurance that they will not
stand in the way of the passage of
Il republican tariff bill adhere to their
promise the outlook for the enactment
of a new tariff law is not unfavorable.