The Saint Paul globe., 1900-05-07
Capital Chat.
Washington Gossip, Political and
Otherwise. for the Readers
of the Globe.

!
the Republicans are successful in electfng
a majority in the next house of repre-
Sentatives, and the prospects now are
against them, Gen. David B. Henderson
| of iowa, will not be elected speaker. Gen
| Henderson, it is admitted by his Repub-
! ilcan associates, has not been a success
as presiding officer Of the huose during
the first session of this congress. His pc
culiar course in dealing with legislative
| matters that have come up has not added
! to his reputation as a great statesman
| No one questions the fact but that the
loWan is honest, but he is not looked
upon at this time as man perfectly
qualified to fill the Office of speaker
| There is great deal of gossip in Re
publican circles regarding his failure to
meet the requirements of the great office
/ he occupies, and more than one Repub-
! Ilcan member has announced his intention
| if the Republicans control the next house.
/ to vote for some other man for presiding
| officer. and the prospects for Henderson's
reelection are therefore extremely doubt
| full
| In view of the fact that the Democrats
are pretty certain to have a majority in
! the lower branch of the Fifty-seventh
! congress, Gen. Henderson may be saved
! from a sure defeat at the hands of his
own political friends. The opinion still
! prevails that the next house will be Dem
| ocrat1c, and, If 1t is, Representative Rich
i ardson, of Tennessee the minority leader
! at this session, will probably be selected
/ by his Democratic colleagues for the office
which is now occupied by Gen. Henderson.
| The Democratic national congressional
| committee, of which Representative Rich
! ardson is chairman, still predicts the
overthrow of the Republicans in the con-
| gressional fight this fall and, if this is
| brought about, the chairman of the COM
mittee unless the unexpected happens,
/ will be the presiding officer in the lower
branch Of congress during the Fifty-sev-
enth session.
! The Republican and Democratic nation
| al congressional committees are endeavor-
! ing to conduct what might be termed a
still hunt campaign from their head
| quarters in Washington. Several days
! ago / stated that the committees of both
the Republican and Democratic parties
| would not begin the active work of the
! campaign until about June 10. 1t appears
! however, that another tack has been
| taken, and that the real work is already
under way and will be pushed to the ut
| most from now until the polls close next
November.
! In connection with the congressional
work these committees are doing some
! preliminary campaigning for the presiden-
! tlal campaign committees. 1t is not de-
| slrabe for the presidential committees to
! inaugurate their campaign until after the
! two national conventions are held AS
! the Kansas City convention will not have
! completed its work until about July g.
! next, the canvass for the presidency be-
! tween the two great parties, the leaders
| believe, should be begun at an earlier
! date. This is said to be the reason why
the national congressional committees are
trusted with the first work in the presi-
Dental contest for 1900
| In vie%: of the fact that both the Re
publican and Democratic committees
have begun the conduct of the quiet cam
paign, the opinion prevails here that the
leaders of all the parties see the necessi-
ty of educating the voters, and there
| fore it is just as easy for the men in
! charge of the congressional fight to send
broadcast the literature which will, it is
| thought, give the voters Of the country
some insight regarding the issues most
prominent in the campaign of 1900 and
after the two national conventions are
held, the presidential and congressional
/ committees will be separated, and a per-
sonal canvass will be conducted from the
headquarters of the opposing committees
! representing the two dominant parties
1t is probably well known that the head
quarters of the congressional campaign
committees will remain in Washington,
while the presidential committees will
make their fight from their headquarters
to be established in Chicago. The man.
ayers of both the Republican and Demo-
cratic presidential committees will not
only have their main headquarters in the
Western metropolis, but will also have
| branch establishments in New York and
in Washington city.
The Headquarters of the Populist COM
mittees, both presidential and congress
Sional. will be in the Capital City but as
this party will not cut much of figure
in the campaign soon to be on, very little
consideration is being given to its efforts,
except on the part Of the Democratic
leaders, who look for assistance in the
presidential and congressional contest
from this source.
The policy pursued by the managers of
both parties regarding the opening up
of the campaign at an early date is con-
sidered wise by politicians, but, in view
of the fact that both are pursuing the
same tactics, it is impossible now to fore
see how one can gain advantage over
the other. 1t is understood that this plan
was first put into operation by the Re
! publicans. The Democrats having seCur-
ed information regarding the so-called
still hunt of the Republicans, decided
to follow the policy pursued by the oppo-
sition. This, therefore. is the real expIa-
nation of the beginning OF the national
presidential and congressional campaigns
early in the present month.
Heretofore, as is well known, the po-
ltical machinery of all the great parties
has not been oiled for successful work