Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-05-22
GOSSIP ABOUT.
U. S. SENATOR
Lively SpeCuIatiOns Going On
and the Party Leaders Are Won
derinS Where They Are At.

IAEAN Vim mdy 4G."ll WASH l
} easy to tell whether a~nybody's boom
for United States senator had a boost
, at the Kuser dinner at Washington
Park Saturday. Certainly there was
no impulsive, spontaneous outburst of
enthusiasm for Senator Dryden. Just
as certainly there was no outward
manifestation which could be in any
wise construed as a desire to place
any one else at the front.
OF course, it would have been at
least indelicate not to say downright
discourteous, for any one to suggest
the launching of any other boom in
that company. 1t was essentially a
Dryden gathering, although from a
purely social standpoint it was just
as much a Stokes crowd or a Briggs
crowd or any other crowd you might
suggest, since it's conglomerate pol
itical tendencies were so conspicuous.
But as for a feeler of the popular
pulse regarding the senatorial situa-
ton, it looked very much like a fail
ure. Naturally Dryden followers and
Dryden well-wishers predominated,
since the most conspicuous figures at
the feast, barring a sparse leader or
two of some other line, were men at
the front of things in the combina-
JlOn Oh INTERESTS lOT WHICH TIE S0HdlOT
is supposed to stand. And not the
least of these was the somewhat sig
~nificant presence or former United
States Senator James Smith, Jr., the
hitherto head of the democracy of
the state and recent enemy of the
Public Service Corporation. Mr..
Smith had one of the seats of honor,
close to Governor Stokes, and indica-
tions that peace, like a gentle dove,
had alighted upon the threshold and
the sun had its old-time radiance
were strong.
The game is going on at a fast pace
now, but there are so many h1dden
plays tnat the tyro in politics cannot
fathom them. If Governor Stokes
expects to come out as an open can
didate for Dryden's place; if George
l.. Record means to remain in the
race as the representative of the Col
by anti-machine forces; if former
Governor John w. Griggs. or Con-
gresham John J.. Gardner, or any
other potent forces are expected to
be injected into the contest are as
yet only c%onjectura1 phases of the
situation, but to the tyro 1T looks as
though Stokes might be a formidable
factor; that Record would stick, and
that Dryden would have a thorny,
uneven path to the goal.
Much depends upon the results of
the party primaries next September.
The Colby men have announced their
intention of concentrating their en-
ergies upon the ballot-boxes then,
presenting candidates for the nomin-
ations upon the declaration of prin-
ciples which gave them their present
/ Npoctina Tho dnoran of fhnir ctIc-
cess in this contest will determine
the fate of Senator Dryden. If they
fail to re-elect about all of their
eleven assemblymen 1t would be
scarcely reasonable to suppose that
Essex county would stand for Dryden
since it's senator and. assemblymen
would be against him. Nor is it cer-
tain that Essex would be for Record
in this contingency, since it is assert
ed that the present delegation, who
are likely to be the anti-machine men
of next year, are by 40 means pleased
with the projection of Record upon
their horizon. But whether they
would make Griggs a preference in
case Passaic stood for him is another
phase of the peculiar situation. And
thus, it would appear that the fate
of Senator Dryden depends almost
wholly upon the result of the battle
in Essex. Once eliminated as a fac
tor there he would practically become
an impossibility as a candidate, for
it is not reasonable to presume that
he could win without his home
TVS delegation.
But after Dryden, whom?
Stokes?
That's another phase. Just now
the governor seems to be in that re-
ceptive attitude he maintained in
1902 when Dryden carried off the
prize by a narrow margin. Grlggs
has not made known his desires, and
Passaic may not find it necessary to
stand for him, and in that condition
of affairs matters are liable to drift
until something more definite brings
a crisis.
1t is no secret that the republican
machine is shaken up by the force of
the Colby movement. 1t is said that
at the meeting of the state commit
tee last week some of the party lead
ers who had been most skeptical of
it's influence and extent were most
pronounced in their desire for i'm
mediate and vigorous action. 1t was
said that it would not do for the
party which had carried the state by
such big majorities in so many cam
paigns to sit idly by and permit the
independents to take possession of
the field, and that was what appear
ed to be coming. (.
The selection of the sub-commit-
tees charged with the duty of prepar-
ing permanent organization plans was
with the purpose of bringing new
life and activity into the committee
which has lain dormant in what are
known as "off years" 1t was sug-
gested that if that plan were pursued
this year it would be very much off"
for the machine and worse than ever
next year when a. new governor is
the stake. S