The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-03-18
THE ALLEGED FIGHT ON RAJ

possibility or republican oppos,f,. ','7<H
Speaker Reed are going the POUNDS :, N
press, probably becauac the writes. '>'.
nothing better to de- than to unload nv.
sort OF stun on unsuspccting newsnacs
The supposed strong feeling of certs,s 81
publlcans against Reed because NJ n. I 7',|
position to the Nicaragua canal pro,oc. q V
the known antipathy which administra,,.s
ieaaers mold toward the man from Nj.
are given as sure Indications OF ~
down of the big speaker by the noxt bo,,,
and some CT the doped drcamers wbo "a
writing that stuff go so far as to spccul,,.
as to his probable successor.
When 1t comes to guessing who VII, "
speaker of the next house there is Tue, n,
legitimate guess available. That no,n,. !.
Inc certainty of Tom Reed. Anything ~.
is the fancy Of disordered brain. Thers I.
no more chance of the defeat OF Recd Z,
that position than there is for the 6efs,
OF Mckinley for the presidential nomip.,
tion--not half SO much. in fact. Reed M
the complete master OF the situation IA
not six members of the house have ava,
let serious thought OF opposition 10 b,r
enter their heads.
or course, there are some OF them Win
are not fond of the big speaker. He n,
his favorites and his friends, and he n,
his enemies, for he would rather say n
sharp thing of a man than pleasant one
and he has made friends and enemies MI
marks for his rldicule. But everybody M
congress and out of 1t realizes that nrcS
of the strength OF the republican party N
due to the way Reed handles the housp,
and none know better than his enen,Ie.l
that an attempt to turn him down would
not only prove rank failure, but would
result in a revolution inside the republics,
party.
In his little speech ct tho adiournmc,,l
of congress Speaker Reed referred to AZ!
ofhce as one which had "but one suner,,,'
and no peer" That has set good ms,,I
people to thinking, but it is literally tru'
with Reed holding the speakership. II Nj
also true when Crisp was speaker for y.
other man had the prominence or nower N
Tue speaker then as now, except only M
president. "
IL is not the office, however, but the ma,
VINO holds it. In a few other cases II ~
peen true that the speakership ranked al
ond only to the presidency, but In a go,a
many IL has not been true. Man nan
been speaker of the house Of whom III
ana ! nave never heard. We know RED
ana crisp and Schuyler Colfax and r,ou,l
oooo ana Blaine and few others. hut y
could not complete tho list II our liz
depended upon it. 1t all depends upon NJ
man. With the republicans In power p..l
is the man and there is no other This
know it and recognize 1t.
There is no love lost between the nresil
dent and his immediate followers m hi
one side and Speaker Reed on the othe,I
| Rec y never attempted to conceal his cor
tempt for this administration. He Ia AZ
solutely fearless in expressing his VIEW
and many have been the curt and cuttIrs
shots which nc has given the presdsr.2
Mark Hanna, Secretary Alger and ahnof
everybody connected with the adninistrt
ton. Two recent shots are worth repeN
| ing.
Lacey of Iowa looks like Alger. MI
other day Reed ran across the Iowap
the lobby and with his characteristic drsl
called out SO everybody could hear s
Lacey. you look so much like Alger th
you ought to go around with a coat
whitowash over you'
Another shot at the administrator
administered by means OF shot at sha
ter The fat general evidently does rs
like the fat speakers methods and tot
occasion the other day to criticise bib
severely. To General Ike Sherwood I'll
Ohio. who enclosed Skaters criticism
letter TO Reed, the speaker wrote: Y
! have your letter Of the oath ultimo 4
with the enclosure, for which l IN n
very much obliged I suppose Genera
Shafter was looking for furlough o. ~
full pay. Very truly, 7. B. Reed. z
Which was, of course, the keenest psi
sible cut at the president for his acts
in giving General Eagan furlough on y
pay as punishment for criticism and tlN5
graceful actions.
There is no love felt by the McKinlt
men for Reed. and naturally; and yet u
have no sort of idea of opposing him
the speakership, for they realize they Pc =
him vastly more than he needs any f
them. AS matter of fact, he does
need them at all. Men like Grosvenor
the other especially created Mckinley *
in the house may be big in the newspsps
and in the regard OF the president \
they are pigmies in the eyes of Reed
in the eyes of everybody else when y,
bring themselves in comparison with ~
They know it. They are too sensipis
be fooled into the belief that they ~.
beat Reed, II they tried. and however ~
they might like to. they are not goins