The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1902-12-11
THE RUSH OF POLITICAL EVENTS.

THE RUSH OF POLITICAL EVENTS.
We deplore the necessity OF con
tinually watching political move
ments in this State, but he that neg
lects TO do so for a single day in Vir-
GINA Is apt to fluid himself in a sadly
muddled condition as result of bis
momentary carelessness. In fact. to
follow intelligently the political trail
in this State one must be as alert, as
watchful, as silent as the North
American Indian, and even then
there is always a chance of wander
ing from the path. New conditions.
new men. new movements seem to
be the order of the day. and especial
ly is this the case with the dominant
party in Virginia. Not long since a
gubernltorial fight took place. which
elevated unexpectedly to power the
man who now presides a. Nirginis's
chief executive His fight was a
grand one, hispOwer of organization
wonderful, his subsequent campaign
successful and yet hardly had the
counting OF the ballots which elected
him Governor been completed ere his
name was rushed to the front as the
next United States Senator from
Virginia. Thus rapidly political
moves on the checker board OF the
Old Dominion follow each other. and
the first move precipitates the
Others. Montague from that time on
was regarded as a candidate for the
Senate in opposition to the man
whom he had practically out-gener-
aled in the gubernatorial fight and
1t looked as il the battle. still years
on, would resolve itself into "A death
struggle between the Junior Senator
from Virginia and the Governor
Thus the lines began 10 be drawn.
and the partisans of each prepared
TO line up on the sides OF their re-
spective leaders: but Virginia politics
furnishes nothing if not surprises.
and to-day instead of the impending
Observation-Disclosures battle roval we
find the fight n four-cornered one.
For years Ex-Governor Tyler. who
was defeated by Martin in the last
contest for Senator. has nursed in
silence the resentment resulting from
that defeat. and to-day we find him
actively prepared TO further resent
by his candidacy for the Senate the
evident effort in the part of men.
whom he had every reason to be-
lieve his friends, 20 shelve him on the
dusty boards of political retirement.
So we have the Ex-Governor. whose
course was supposed to have been
run, again a live factor in the Sena-
torial equation, and upon the heels %
Tyler's candidacy comes the an
nouncement of another man. whom
the late Constitutional Convention
brought into public view and a man
generally reported TO stand as "a peer
OF any statesman in his party, Hon.
Allen c. Braxton, OF Stanton. With
his entry, unless Congressman Jones
sees fit to enter the race, the lists are
probably closed, and from now on
this four-cornered fight will gather
momentum until the weaker candi-
dates fall oy the wayside exhausted.
the goal beyond their reach. What
prospect is opened by this state of
affairs to the average virginian poll
ti9ian. What an opportunity to the
purified Republican party in this
State to take advantage of the gap
ing wounds sure to result from this
contest. And what a contest it will
be. Martin representing in the fight
one faction of Virginia Democracy
lately defeated, Montague, Tyler.
Braxton the other lately victorious.
Have the victors strength enough to
win divided thus? Time only will tell
but the fact remains significant that
so far Senator Martins leadership OF
his side remains undisputed
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4. NJ.