Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-12-20
BITS OF WASHINGTON LIFE.
Minor Scenes and Incidents Sketched
on the Spot.


Short as the session of Congress VIII
be, II promises to develope two or the
iveltest contests witnessed in recent
years. Very little OratOrial fireworks
will be displayed in the open, but the
oratoIy will be there and orators Will De
heard In way that will make states
men wish the fishing season was ripe
The orators will be women and when
women crate, who will dare fold their
ears and refuse to listen?
The agitation for the restoration of
the army canteen brings to the fore an
organization of the wives of army Otfi-
GERS, who are championing the cause of
the canteen. This II n o u n m n
aroused war cry among the members
oil the WOmens Christian Temperance
| Union, and they are preparing to de-
scend upon Congress the moment there
is & sign favorable to the canteen. The
odds are in favor of the latter; for hav-
ing once excluded the canteen, it's res
tOration is fraught with political
trouble. and wise statesmen are not
looking for that article.
Fiercer than this prospective contest
is the war declared against the suffrage
clause in the Oklahoma statehood bill.
A deluge of protests is pouring in on
TIE senate committee. which has
the bill in charge. and the expressions
employed by the protestants are not
| exactly fit to be classed as endearing
terms, the trouble comes from the one
word sex" 1t is 4 little word, but its
possibilities are immense. 1t is used in
the provision recitng that suffrage
shall not be withheld on account Of
race. color or previous condition OF ser
vitude, or on any account other than
| ''illiteracy, minority, sex, conviction of
a felony, mental condition or of resi-
dence." The connection in which the
word is used is held to be insulting and
humiliating to the wives and daughters
Of the land.
| Among the warm protests already on
hand there is not word about any
| other feature of the bill. All pounce
upon the passage quoted, denouncing
it as "outra gcous.' One writer says:
Injustice is III erein threatened to our
| sisters" She continues: This would
allow these states to disfranchis. min
ors. criminals, nonresidents, ignora-
muses-and women
| Further. she argues that the pioneer
women who suffered and toiled as ear
nestly and as successfully as their hus-
bands in behalf of the Country's prog
ress. ought not to be treated in this
more than discourteous manner.
| A prominent Michigan club woman
uses somewhat hysterical style. do
unto others she quotes. las you
| would they should do unto you. Susti-
| tute the word male before the word
| sex and see how you like it. The deaf
cHinS clalnor that would then arise
| would simply raise tile earth. Hoping
| that the honorable body of which you
| are the honorable chairman will never
| report such travesty on human rights.
| believing that the Senate of the United
States will not thereby lower the status
Of the sex. / am, ETC.
| Some Of the committt e have been i'm
pressed and are st,ivin.; to eliminate or
soften the expression.
Several young men think they would
| like to be secretary to Senator Fair
banks after he is sworn in as vice pres
| ident.
here was q question t. day as to what
| are the duties Of a seer etary to a vice
president
I'm tell you" said man who has
been in the Capitol foI many years.
THE secretary of the rice president is
| required to sit in the vice presidents
gorgeous room and when a party of
| 'rube' sightseers stick their heads in
the door say to them: Come right in
and I'll show you the mirror John Quin-
cy Adams bought for 500"
| There is to be a decided invasion of |
| the Senate by man uf short stature. |
which greatly plea Ses Senator Alice Of |
Delaware He was talking proudly |
recently of two things. One was that |
| his son, who has come here as his |
secretary, is nearly 4 head taller than |
| the father The other was that Sena- !
tor Knox OF Pennsylvania is in the |
same short class with the Delaware |
senator and. although being a short |
man. is recognized as having distin- |
gIished ability.
But the prospective senator from Ne
vada. George S. Nixon, will probably be |
the shortest in stature of all tina. |
branch of Congress. He is described rs
nearly a head shorter than Senator
Knox. although. like nearly all the
short men Of the senate. possessed Of
muCh aDlllty.
Senator Stewart of Nevada, with his
flowing white beard looks the part Of |
old Father Time. He is 7T years of age,
although resenting insipuations that he
is an old man. Yesterday he was
speaking of Tonapah and the rapid
growth OF that section Of the State II
know of no finer place for young
man." said he. II am going right out
there to practice law"
When Mr.. Stewart becomes a lawyer
Of Tonapah George s. Nixon of Winnie
mucca will become senator. One has
changed his political coat quite as often
as the other. Mr.. Stewart was for
years 2 Republican. then a Silverite.
Democrat. and then a Republican Mr..
Nixon was originally a Republican,,
next a Silverite. a Populist. a gold
Democrat. and now Republican. He
is accounted very estimable citizen
among the Nevada voters who have q |