Evening journal., 1905-06-17
FRIENDS
GETTING ANXIOUS
West Virginia Senator Has
Already Begun to Build
Fences
Ills DISTRICT WENT DEMOCRATIC
By William Wolff Smith.

tive TO take the seat of Mr.. Dayton has
created some uneasiness here among
the friends of Senator Elkins. who will
have to make fight next year for re-
election. The Second district which
has just given a Democratic majority
for the first time I'm ten years, is the
home district of Senator Elkins, and
its loss to his party is regarded by
some as indicative Of the loss of pres
tige Of the distinguished Republican
leader. on the other hand, many of
his friends think that the defeat OF
the Republican candidate was wholly
owing to a disaffection among the
miners and that when Mr.. Elkins Is
himself a candidate those same miners
win Loyalty support him.
An election for members of the Leg
islature will occur next year. and the
Republicans win start into the fight
with the odds in their favor owing TO
the number of Republican hold-over
Senators At the present time there
/ is no outspolen opposition to the re-
election of Mr. Elkins. Some time ago
there was some talk in favor Of Judge
Gon and an effort was made to start
"a boom for him, but lt appears to have
fallen by the wayside. and the friends
Of Senator Elkins freely predict that
he will have no opposition in his party.
To give the Democrats a majority on
joint ballot viii require practically
political landslide.
There are few Senators in Congress
whose services have been more yalu-
able than those Of Senator Eikins. .He
has been consplcuously prominent as
chairman OF the Committee ON Inter-
state Commerce, and is also a member
| Of the Committee on Appropriations.
1t is freely admitted by those who
closely followed the hearings before the
| Committee on Interstate Commerce
since the adjournment of Congress-
that the work of the committee was
thorough: the hearings have resulted
In gathering a large amount of valu-
able information for the use Of the
Senate when It comes to discuss the
lQuestion OF fixing railroad rates. Since
the subject first came up Senator Ell
kins has been most diligent I'm pushing
the hearings. all of which he attended.
Administration circles are not dis
posed to regard the election Of Colo
mel Davis as giving any indication Of Il
weakening of the hold of Republican,
ism on the people, but Democratic
leaders here look upon it as a distinct
lrift i'm the cloud that has overhung
their party for so many years They
lclam that while local conditions may
have helped Colonel Davis to some ex-
tent the local conditions alone were
not strong enough to have brought
about what they think may be prop
erly called political revolution.
The recent expressions. of Repre-
sentative Cushman condemnng the
riotous conduct of strikers In Chicago
and elsewhere. has created consider
able comment i'm Washington. where
Mr.. Cushman's viriie personality and
frankness Of manner and speech has
given him quite a vogue. Mr. Cush-
man had occasion to deliver an address
on Memorial Day at Mount Vernon
Washington, and devoted the greater
portion Of his remarks contrasting the
red flag of anarchy with the Stars and
Stripes. The keynote of his address IS
contained in the following brief eN-
tract: Some men who advocate ant
practice dawlessness and violence IN.
sst that they are not anarchists. All
lmy countrymen. they may qualify, thes
(may distinguish, and they may differ.
. (antiate. but any man who tries to set.
;le a dispute by murder is an anar-
chist at heart--I don't care what das
he is parading under
In conclusion Mr.. Cushmau said
when President Mckinley was sllii
|. lby the hand OF an assassin there wer0
a great many people who denounced
violence, lawlessness and anarchy n
unmeasured terms, and thar was per
, fectly proper. Well. that Is eNnctl,
! what is going on i'm Chicago right now
violence, lawlessness and anarchy
! And that being true. now is he TIM
ror all good and .law-abiding people IL
this nation TO put their patriotism in
(, to practice. No man can look me u
y the face and say that ever as private
citizen or public servant ! have beei
reci cant or untruthful to the cause o
those who labor. But when they re-
b sort TO violence and bloodshed--righ
there I quit I won't march under
$ fag hat is drenched with the bloud @
p lssassinated victims-I don't care wh'
Is carrying It or what emblem IS paint
ed on It,"
. Coming from some politicians tn
: above might be suspected OF SAVIOR
s ling OF demagoguery, but those Wit
! know Cushman realize he spoke witt
earnest conviction and characteristic
s fearlessness. His excoriation OF tn
iawlessness which accompanies SOM
strikes calls to mind a scene in tn
! House one time when Cush
imam undertook single handed &
defeat the powerful Committee on Riv
ers and Harbors and to obtain an ap
lnroprlation for his state to which h
thought Il was justly entitled. O
course he failed. for while given az
tention and applause the pork barrel,
as this bill Is popularity kDown, wa
! hooped and headed, and the division o
Its contents arranged to a nicely 70
the purpose of securing the necessar
Votes. Consequently. while the mem
bers applauded Cushman, they vote
y with the committee.
. At an early date thereafter Cush
man overturned the Walls Of his scor
on the House organization, and i'm
=, speech replete with wit and sarcasm
scored the system by which mediocr
men came to the top by sheer force O
long service. while others, more bril-
: lnant and better fitted for high posi-
, tions, retire after n few terms becaus
4 they cannot wait FOR promotion whe
& biased on seniority Of service. Cush
\ mans speech swept the House like
81 whirlwind. but injured the organiza
n tion not at all. Nor did II benefit hin
II personally for while in the rush q
a events the incident is almost forgotten
4 the wounds inflicted on personal van
. tf.- t,fe I,arFaT cl,nffe cffT r4nxl