Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-10
WILL HENDERSON BE A CAR?
Probable Course of the New Speaker of the
House of Representatives.
METHODS MORE KEBLAlNE'S THAN REED S
Is n Natural PencemaI<er and Loyal
Party Mnn-MaEnetic and SymDa-
thetic and Past Master
in Diplomacy.
METHODS MORE LIKE BLAINE'S THANREED

! WASHINGTON, Dec. S.-The days Just
preceding the beginning of a term of con-
| gress are always days of questionings in
Vulnerable and of speculation upon many
! topics at the national capital; each ques-
| tion and each topic being of special impor-
| tance to some particular circle or coterie,
| though of no great moment to the majority.
| But as a rule, there is one general topic of
such supreme Importance as to overshadow
all others whenever it is brought forward,
and the last days before the convening of the
Fifty-siXth congress have offered no eXcep-
tion to the rule. The supreme question this
year has to do with the probable course and
policies of the new speaker, Colonel David
b. Henderson. To everybody in Washing
ton and to many scattered through the
country this question is an interesting one;
to the representatives and to all directly
concerned with legislation it Is paramount
of course. Naturally it takes many forms,
but as oftenest heard it is put in exactly
six words: "Will Speaker Henderson be
czar?" In other phrase: "Will his course
be similar to the course pursued by Reed
when he was speaker|'
Considered specifically, as Washington
looks at it, this question may safely be
answered as simply as it is asked, by the
monosylable mo" The new speaker will
in no sense be another Reed. No one who
has ever known Henderson well can think
of him as a second edition of anybody. But
neither can anyone who knows the colonel
conceive of him as weak and vacllating
presiding officer or as one who can be
swerved easily from any course which he has
once determined to follow. As to expeditng
legislation and carrying his point, say men
who have watched him for score of years
or more, the colonel certainly will be the
equal of Reed; perhaps the superior But
he is a better tacticlan than Reed and his
methods will create less friction than
Reeds. Henderson's ways will probably re-
semble Baine's more nearly than those Of
any previous head Of the house.
Like Blaine In Many Ways.
This prediction has been made by many
close students of men and affairs here
within the last few days, not because they
think Colonel Henderson will consciously
initiate Blaine, but because they consider the
colonel's character and makeup much like
the character and makeup OF the earlier
man from Maine.
Like Reed. say these experts, Colonel
Henderson has the power of making quick
decisions in a remarkable degree and is
quite as capable of backing them up as was
Reed. But, like Blaine, Colonel Henderson
is magnetic, impulsiye and sympathetic; at
tho same 'lhle ne 10 thoIouBh politician in
the broad sense; a yeritable past master in
diplomacy. Therefore, while he is likely to
carry his points quite as uniformly as Reed,
practically speaking he will do so in ways
that viii seem far less aggressive; his
methods will be effective, but they will sell
dom wound as Reeds often did, and those
whose pet measures are defeated will not be
nearly so likely to cherish personal ami
mostly to the speaker
Reeds methods said public man Of