Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-10-26

!
heated sessions Just preceding the civil
war, says the Washington correspondent
of the Troy Times, who continues as fol-
| lows:
Not only do the representatives and
senators who have served before feel the
responsibility. but those newly elected and
! untried in the halls of legislation fully
realize the Importance attaching to the
work before the Fifty-slxth Congress. In
! the past thirty years possibly there has
not been a time when the country needed
strong men to guide the destiny of the
two houses as it will need them during the
! az preaching session. 1t would seem that
the Spanish American war not only round
ed off cycle in the military history Of
| this country, but closed legislative
period "a well. The Congress which de-
clarcd war and saw the arms of the conn-
/ try victorious in it's own short lifetime ha
ceased to exist. When the Fifty-siXth
| Congress is organized it will he by other
men than those who have shaped the
.destines of Congrcsses in the recent past.
This will be especially true Of the House
of Representatives though the personnel
| of the Senate will be so changed as TO
shift leadership Of parties and possibly al
ter materially the methods of doing bust
ness in that body.
When the gavels fall in the House and
Senate on the 4th Of next December many
a we'll known face in both bodies will be
missing. Most conspicuous in it's absence
| will be that of Thomas Bracket Reed,
former speaker, the man who naugur1tcd
his quorum counting rule and thereby
changed the entire methods of procedure
in the House and made speedy business
there possible He was not only the auto
Crat of his party in the House. but gov
| crned with an iron hand every member
| who sat beneath the das. His will was
largely the will of the House, and by his
| rules he could control the legislation not
only of the body over which he presided
but shape to very large extent, the en-
tire legislative business of the country, In
his place will stand David h. Henderson
from the third district of Iowa. Whether
| or not he will adhere to the old system
and adopt the rulings of Speaker Reed
is an open question. Sentiment in his
| party is divided and 1t is possible that he
will give more freedom to the House in
the choice of committees and thereby re-
linquish some of the power possessed by
his predecessor Mr.. Henderson mas as
yet given no animation to ANY me what
his policy will be and doubtless he will
BE guided by the majority of those who
vote TO place the gavel in his hands He
is strict party man and believes firmly
in the wisdom of majority rule. Speaker
henderson by virtue of his Office becomes
the leader Of his party in the House. He
will have some of the trusted friends of
Mr.. Reed to choose for his lieutenaptS On
the floor but at any moment all calcula-
| items might he upset by the appeara nee
of some one, now unknown, who will seize
the reins and virtually become what is
known as the leader on the floor. Such
n@n is easily developed in the rough and
tumble Of debate Ia the House, and every
party fight gives an opportunity for such
a man to appear.
THE MINORITY LEADERSHIP
, The leadership of the minority is stil
an unsettled question. Since the last Con-
gress the minority has assumed additional
strength by force of numbers, and the
post of leadership become CORRESPONDENCE
/ ly more important. Representative Bailey
of Texas has voluntarily retired from the
, role of leader and declines to assume it
. again. The leadership of the minority is
dxed by the minoritys nomination for the
, ST akerShip. The fight i'm the democra lie
, ranks for this honor will be of greater in
terest than the election of speaker. for
, the reaS that whoever the republicans
nominate will be elected and they have
already settled upon Gen. David T. Hen
derSun. The democrats will gather in
Washington several days in advance of
: the opening OF Congress and meet in
, caucus to nominate one Of the members
: for the speakership. There are a number of
4, candidates for this honor. hut there are
on.y three whose names will pc seriously
. considered. These are Hon. James D.
Richardson of Tennessee, Hon. j. H.
, Banlhead of Alabama and Hon. D. A. DE
: Almond of Missouri. One CT these three
will most likely be chosen. unless the
friends of Mr. Bailey persuade him TO
consent to assume the role Of leadership
, again a thing which he declares he will
I not do
So it will be seen that not Only does
the majority change it's leader in the
/ coming Congress but the minority as ell.
) What will be the effect and how far these
changes will affect the legislation before
the House cannot be measured
: CHANGES IN THE SENATE.
g over in the Senate there will be seen
: Ia time changes which will have great
/ influence on public questions. IN the first
= place the republicans, with scarcely a
plurality before, will find themselves with
: a majority Of sixteen over and above all
opposition. Senator William V. Allen, v no
has always led the populists in that body,
has been retired. while the democrats have
lost such men as Arthur Pue German of
Maryland, Gray of Delaware, Turpfe of
Indiana and White Of California. all lead
ing men in the councils of the party apd
powerful factors in the Senate itself.
Senator Jones of Arkansas, who gained
prominence and leadership in the taritf
fight during MIR. Clevelands admia,stra-
ton, and who is now chairman of the
national democratic committee has been
forced to lay down much of his work for
ms party on account Oh poor ntHltn. The
republicans have not suffered many
changes, though n Uumber OF their mem
bers has been retired chiefly through the
failure of legislatures TO re-elect. This is
the case in Pennsylvania. The Legislature
having made no choice. the governor APP
pointed Senator Matthew Stanley Quay TO
succeed himself. He will present his
credentials, and the Senate will have to
say whether or not he can be seated
There will undoubtedly be a heated
wranglc over the proposition, and at the
PIE sent time public sentiment is consider
ably divided, and opinions differ very
widely as to what will be the outcome
STRENGTH OF THE PARTIES.
If the republicans had a larger ma jorty
in the House there would be no apprehen-
sion at all az to the fate of any measure
recommend. The republican majority, how
ever has been cut down to thirteen and
while this may be increased by unseating
some democrats in contested cases, vet
there cannot be sufficient number of
such changes to solidify majority in
favor of any special measure. The repub-
lcans hold fifty-one seats in the Senate,
the democrats twenty-six, while the popu-
lists and free silver republicans have only
nine This gives to- the republicans "A clear
working majority over any combination
J More than this, there are several senators
included in the doubtful column who