Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-11-12
Elections Chow Some Notable Changes in
Personnel Of Congress
ALL ARE IN NAME OF REFORM
GrosvenOr, Babcock, WadswOrth, Me-
CIeary and Lacey Disappear To-
Rether with Few Democrats
of National Reputation.
From a STAFF Correspondent

OF trCSluent Roosevelt, but bN lnt urt VI
his name as a pledge for further reform.
While party lines were smashed in many
states and while republicans and democrats
exchanged places for candidates, It must
not be forgotten that the exchange was in
the interest Of reform as viewed by those
opposing interests.
notwithstanding that the republicans will
have IN the neighborhood of fifty majority
in the lower house of the Sixtieth con-
gress, the power Of the independent voter
was never so forcefully expressed as dur
ing the last election. end the absence Of
many Of the stalwart ig-rcs which have
been in evidence in former congresses, par
ticulary on the republican side, will he
noticeable. The sage of Athens as
Charles II. Grosvenor has come to be
known well as "Old Probabilities will
be particularly missed. a republican sue
ceeding him from the Eleventh Ohio dis
trict. General Grosvenor was defeated by
Albert Douglass Of Chillcothe in the pri-
maries by an exceedingly small majority
This left many sores. and In the earliest
returns on election night it looked as IL
the friends of Grosvenor had knitted"
Douglass for his democratic opponent
Later returns, however, showed that Doug
lass was elected but by a small margin.
Next to the absence of Grosvenor, that
Of Joseph w. Babcock of Wisconsin,
chairman OF the District of Columbia COM
mittee, will be most commented upon.
While 1t was known he had hard fight in
front Of him by reason of his continued op-
position to Senator La Toilette IT was be-
lieved Babcock, who is an exceedingly re-
sourceful politician, would win out; but
the opposition proved too strong and he is
amongst the missing. Babcock came to
congress IN 1894 and has continuously served
/ in the lower house ever since. He was not
| only chairman Of the District Of Columbia
committee since 1886, but has been mem
her OF the ways and means committee for
the last eight years. His defeat means
/ two splendid committee assignments for
somebody of republican principles who will
have the ear of Uncle Joe" Cannon, the
next speaker Of the Sixtieth congress.
Striking Cases OF "Scratcners.
The independent voter who really de-
serves the name OF "scratcher" because ne
MARKS ms ucAet to. suit himself, mas at
his Delt three otner republicans or national
reputation. FIRST II Mr.. Wa1swortn, pos
sIDiy because OF his antagomsm 10 the So
Cared Beveridge meat inspection bill.
! Wadsworth as chairman of the committee
on asrleultprel lloppossd the. provision that
I the packers snouiu pay the cost OF inspec-
ton instead OF the. government, as the bill
| now provides.
/ Mr.. wads worth has been at the head OF
the com nIttee on agriculture for ten
years, and 1t is due largely to his intelh-
gent knowledge Of the agricultural anairs
of ;he country that the department has
grown 10 be the important division of the
federal administration which It is today.
Ten years ago the budget provided less
tnan S5,UlO,1O for the expenses of the de-
partment. The appropriations this year
are approximately sy,VOO,UOO or three times
as muHh. Mr.. Wadsworth made a close
study of the work of every bureau of the
department and made personal examina-
tions of the accounts of the different bu-
resus each year. The biennial hearings
upon the appropriation bill are telling wit
nesses to the knowledge possessed by the
chairman, for they show on each page
through the questions which he submitted
to the various bureau and division chiefs
that he always kept himself fully informed
as to the work and accomplishments OF
each. II was because of his insistent IN.
quiries into the most minute details of the
work OF the department that he was not
cordially loved by some of the scientists
Several Of them contributed TO the col.
umns Of the agricultural press and aided
; in poisoning the minds of the editors o
those journals against Wadsworth.
WadswOrth aud the OIeO Tax.
In 1900 during the fight over the propo.
sition to increase the tax on oleomargarin,
t to a prohibitive figure, Mr.. Wadsworth
although a large owner in several cream.
cries, declined 10 be party TO the move
, ment. He held that II people want oleo,
margarine they have right 20 buy It with
out paying au exorbitant tax ana he pro
, posed substitute which would, II adopted
, protect the consumer and the maker of but
ter absolutely. without destroying a legiti
mate industry. There is reason to believ,
that the Wadsworth substitute or some
q thing very similar 70 it. viii be adopted b,
. congress this winter But Mr.. RadsworthI
: position in 1860 and his attitude toward tb,
, meat inspection bill last May was used as :
club 70 drive voters away from him by tn
thousand. The district was literally ioodc,
with circulars aud newspapers pIcturinl
= him as a friend Of the packers, an enem,
/ of the farmers and an antagonist of tn
president Mr wadsworth was urged q
=. appeal to the president TO refute the Iat
: ter charge. but he declined to do so.
There are several facts connected witt
: the meat inspection legislation which ar
not generally known. In the first plac
MI W duaWollh mas urged Tor ten year
that the cost OF inspection ought 10 b
paid by the packer so long as inspectio
!, was not compulsory. But the oomptrolJe
!. OF the treasury decided that under tn
section OF the revised statutes which pro
hibits the acceptance OF voluntary servie
, by the government, II was not competen
> for the Agricultural department to an
I, point inspectors to be paid by the packer,
y when inspection for all meat food product
to he used in interstate commerce va
made compulsory in the interest OF publi
= health, Mr.. Wadsworth held, and conEres
- stood by him, that the cost of such IN
't spection was just and righteous chars
70 against the public revenues. Further TIA
n this the president himself declared he or
posed the policy OF public payment OF IN
spection only because a time might con,
when the appropriations would become m
= adequate and inspection might fan Bu
y this contingency was met by the incress
't Of the appropriation for inspection FRO,
II $4,000 last year 70 $4,000 for the chi
e rent hscal year
a. Still the public has been worked IN ,
D.. such a degree that no argument IN fayc
p OF Mr.. Wadsworth was OF any avan. n
ID could not follow the lies which had he
d circulated and which were circulated u
Il 70 the hour Of election. These misstat,
fr,,ef,-.-.a -. c5.--...