The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1905-02-15
IN THE STATE HOUSE.
Effect Of Tanner Confession -Sena
toria1 Timber-The Trump
Burns Played.

Salem, February IA. John II.
Mitchell, whose name has stood for
so much of leadership in Oregon
politics for 40 years, is fallen
chieftain. His foes shout it from
the house tops and his friends ad-
NIT it. His most loyal supporters
are crushed beneath the weight of
the Tanner confession. By that
token, the whole fabric of the Nit
chell defense, SO far as public SEN
timent is concerned, has fallen with
crash. The old time senator
himself is in the heap of debris,
and cannot be extricated. The
collapse is such that even his best
friends wish the man would resign
from the Senate. They know that
his influence is gone, and that he
cannot be of further value to his
state. His very presence III Wash
ington and his unoccupied seat will
tend. they say, to keep before the
public current incidents that they
are beginning to want to forget.
Then there is the fear that his fast
multiplying troubles may break
down his health and vacate his seat
at an inopportune time. They fail
to realize that the seat occupied by
an appointed democrat would be
infinitely more creditable to the
state than seat unoccupied because
the encumbent is under indictment
for a felony. What they do know
is that if their fallen idol would
only resign and get out of the way.
another Senator from the Mitchell
faction could be elected and a
chance be given for the nation at
large tos forget all this dreadful
business. It is question of rid
dance, riddance, for man who a
few short months ago stood high
in public esteem as any man in
Oregon, riddance for a man who,
until those fatal months had been
for decades afactor in the nation,
and riddance for him at time
when he is an old, old man,
when by every law of life his hours
should be full of honor. But that
Senator Mitchell will not resign is
regarded as certain. If he lives,
the opinion here, is, that he will
serve out his term. 1t might take
as long period as that to deter
mine his case in the courts. While
his case pended, it is considered
unlikely that the Senate would act.
That body would be slow, in any
event. to act against a man who
has been for forty years one of its
most popular and most influential
members. The friendships of a
lifetime and the associations that
knit men together by powerful ties,
would be involved in any move
. ment in the Senate itself to oust
the old Senator from his seat.
The fine stratagem by which
Judge Tanner was led into his late
confession, has become known to a
few people. w. J. Burns, who is
!. in fact, the wizard that collects all
the damaging evidence in the land
fraud prosecutions. was the central
figure in the incident Burns is
described as man that would be
overlooked by all who might be in
search of him. His shoes are but
half blacked and his over coat is
more ordinary than would be ex-
5 pected in the chief of the United
States secret service. His suit is
not more than ordinary and his hat
may, be cap or very common
hat. Whether by design, or by
accident, it is fact that his appear
ance would not suggest Mr.. Burns
to be the magician, the sleuth, the
ferret. the dreaded diviner who is
apparently reading the innermost
thoughts and certainly discovering
the most private transactions OF
men of high and low degree alike.
A thing known of him is that at a
given moment he may be in the
federal court room, and in the next
instant, nowhere to be found. He
disappears, not by magir, but so
quietly and swiftly that nobody
notices. But when Mr.. Heney
wants him, there he is. Not only
is he there. but he has at his finger
tips every damaging fact that Mr..
Heney wants to hurl at the men,
whom developments apparently
show, have been doing a lot of
crooked things. Such is Mr..
Burns, whose raid upon the gang
at their work has sent the whole
nation agog with sensation and
kept it keyed up to high pitch of
exnsctatinn for MANY weeks mast