Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-11-25
CAPITAL CHAT.
City Shows Signs of the
Approaching Session.
The Maine Delegation viii Be Looked
After In Assignments.
Senator Hale In Close Touch With President.
Maine Men at Capital.

Washington, y. G., NOV. 2I.--CSpec.
aD.-Thc activity that marks the BE-
ginning of Congress is already in tn.
air Of the Capital city The bunk ot
statesmen will rot arrive till aftei
Thanksgiving but already the Whit.
House and other public places has be.
come the mecca Of numerous senators
ana members. As for the Maine DELE
cation Senator Hale was the first Il
| take up permanent residence for IN,
winter. His 18th street home has bael
open now for about 10 days. Gov. Bur
leigh is expected at the Richmond
where he has lived for several winters
about the middle of this week 1t Il
said at the Hamilton, where Senate
Frye lives, that he will not be along
till the latter part Of the week. Repre-
sentatives Littlefield. Allen and Powers
are eXuected here by Saturday
FX- Gov. Powers, while the Oldest il
! point of service in the House. viii.
nevertheless be the junior member o.
the House quartet. He was in Con
Grcss for term - years ago GOV
| i3urleigh will be the senior Of tn,
House delegation. There viii be @ lit
! tie interest in the committee assign
| mentS this year. Gov. Powers. who is
| an old friend OF Speaker Hender rson
/ will undoubtedly be looked out for II
| served on the invalid pensions com.
| mlttee when he was formerly in Con
| "resS. Representative Littleficld viii
! Of course. retain his place on the judi
| cldry committee, but he Will move III
| one seat. because of the failure o. Rep
| icSentatiVc Kerr Of ohio. for re-elec-
| tion. Hc will now sit next to Repre-
| sentative Warner Of Illinois. who was
/ his earnest associate in the fight on the
| Porto Rican tariff bill. Gov Burleien
Will retain his membership in the COM
| mittee on public buildings ana grounds.
being now the fourth member Of that
committee. Representative Alien Will
he moved up TWO seats nearer the head
Of the District Of Columbia committee
through the dropping out Of Represen-
tatives Sprague Of Massac achusetts. and
White (colorcd) of North Carolina. il
i not improbable that some additional
places will go to the Maine men, when
Speaker Henderson gc,s the names
finally written down but the possibiIi-
ties in that line are not known here
yet.
In the Senate. Of course. there Will Lp
little change fer Mi. Hale and Mr.
Frye. both Of whom retain their infIu-
ential assignments. MIR Hale at the
mead Of the committee on naval affairs
and next to Chairman Allison on 2ij-
preparations and M. FRYE as head Of
the commerce committee and next to
the chairman Of the committee on
foreign relations. 1t is already Well
settled that Mr.. Frye does not desire
TO become chairman of foreign rcla-
tons, in preference to the chairman
snip Of commerce. He could have the
former Craftsmanship ii he desired it,
Since he came to Washington Sena-
tor Hale has been frequently to the
White House. He is on very pleasant
terms with the President who has
hi2h regard for his judgment on cur |
rent political questions. The senator |
lunched at the White House on his +,
first visit there. as has already been |
told in the newspapers. 1t is hardly |
iet essary 10 say that the President will |
have the cordial cooperation of both
The Maine senators in the maintenance
II his administration. Senator Hale
4nce with which the new President ap-
Droaches public questions. the while he
'onsultS with his elders and with the
wise men Of the party before he acts.
Not for many years has there been
'hoWn Il more generous inclination to
Keep in touch with both branches Of
congress than has been shown by Mr.
tooSevelt There is no doubt that the
Maine members Of the House will have
very cordial reception when they ar
i've here and go up to the Presidents
fice to pav their respects.
Maine will be Interested in no small I
egree this winter in topics before the
legislators At the national capital.
There are numerous river and harbor
appropriations desira bic, the shin sub
idy bill is coming up for considera
ion and the discussion over tariff and
which are Of deep concern
q the State will be a leading theme of !
eOate.
The prevalence of Maine men at the
apital was emphasized few days ago
hen Frank a. Munsey, the editor of
averal magazines, came here and pur-
hased the Washington Times a morn
ng and evening daily. AS the Journal
eaders well know, Mr.. MunSey is a
ative of Mercer, Me. and for some
ears was manager of the Western
MON Telegraph office at Augusta. He
ltends to make the Times an indie
endent newspaper with Republican
,aningS and announces that he has
~ Of money behind him. One Of the
ther two leading newspapers al the
Continued on page 81 u