Evening journal., 1906-10-22
NO CHANGES In
NEXT CONGRESS
Republicans Will S i'll Be in
Control Of Both
Houses

There will be no changes in the next
Congress. That is, the Republicans
viii retain control OF both houses
Their majority may be somewhat re-
duced in the lower branch. II there is
a reduction, the party leaders will not
shed any tears The majority in the
present Congress has been so large
that 1t has had its disadvantages.
The Democrats feel more chipper
than a month ago. The wave of OPP
position which greeted Mr.. Bryan's
leaning toward the public ownership
of railroads has partly spent its force
the Democrats believe, and they eX-
.pect the pendulum to swing back to
where IL was before Mr.. Bryan came
home from Europe with a satchel full
OF new and radical ideas Even with
the temporary shelving of Mr. Bryan,
they are not rid of their nightmares.
Those Democrats who were willing 20
concede that they VIII not sweep the
whole country are frank enough TO adj
nit that Mr.. Hearst is sowing the coun-
try with socialistic ideas, radical views
and unholy alliances which may cause
the party to reap the whrlwind at the
November. as we'll as at other elections
In the not distant future
Political Insight
The campaign for the control Of the
next House has reached that stage at
which it may be possible to get an in
sight into probable results. At the
election on November there will be
chosen S7S Of the $50 members Of the
House. The members Of the House
then elected viii be inducted into Of
flee on March 4, 1907. Eight members
of that House have already been elect
ed. and all are Republicans. compris-
ing solid delegations from Maine. ore
gon and Vermont. OF the 37S seats to
be filed, 119 are so far removed from
doubt that they may be dismissed from
consideration; they viii be all Demo-
cratic. Sixty-eight of these represent
the South These are distributed. Ala
bama, 8; Arkansas. Z; Florida 81;
Georgia. II; Louisiana, Z; Mississippi
s.; South Carolina. z. and Texas. 16
The other 81 stand for certainly DEM
ocratic districts in Southern States in
which Republicans have fiom time TO
time won representa- tion. These are;
Kentucky, 10 districts out OF Il; Mis-
souri, "a out Of IS: North Carolina. a
solid delegation of 10. and Virginia. Q
districts out OF 10.
The Present Division.
The present division Of the House is:
Republican. ESQ. Democratic. 1876; Re-
| publican majority, ia. Not for half
a century has q party had the ascend
ancy in the House by larger ma jority.
When Cleveland was first elected. In
| 1884, his party won the House By So
votes; its majority was reduced in 1886
to II. Harrison's election I'm 1883 was
attended by such small Congressional
success that the Republicans controlled
the House by barely seven votes. Two
years later in the landslide following
the enactment OF the Mckinley tariff
law, Democrats won a majority I'm the
House of 100. In 1894 the "off year"
election of Cleveland's second admin
istration, following the panic of 1898,
| Democratic supremacy was overcome
and the Republicans regained the
House by majority Of 1885, They have
not since lost control of 1t Their ma
jority was reduced in 1896 but it was
regained again in 1904 when, with
President Roosevelt's tremendous tri-
umph over Judge Parker. the present
membership was elected.
A Positive Drawback.
The Republican leaders have found
their present majority positive draw
back. II is too unwieldly. It gives rise
to insurgent movements within the
party. Two such movements had 20
be dealt with during the last session
Of Congress, Smaller majorities mean
a more compact party and lead 10 bet
ter results. SO certain are Republi-
cans OF their control Of the next House
that they are beginning TO look TO
1908 The battle this year is prelm-
linary to that of two years hence, when
a President and new Congress are to
be elected.
American political history has dem
onstrated the disadvantages Of top
heavy majorities in the House
When Jackson, IN 1882. obtained an
electoral vote Of 219 as against 40 for
Clay and when his party got a vote
of 80 In the Senate as compared with
is for its opponents. and 147 IN the
House against SO for all the antagonis-
tic factions. the future seemed to be
secure for his party. He was master
lof Congress and country.
Attitude Of Security.
Nowhere in the country was any
body or anything that was able to mo-
lest him or make him afraid. But the
very dimensions Of his triumph induced
an attitude of security which brought
trouble 10 his party a few years later
As the United states bank had been q
prominent issue I'm the election, Jackson
and his party naturally interpreted his
tremendous majority to be an express
! sion OF confidence in his policy against
that institution, and he started out tC
wreck il before its charter had time tC
lexpire in 1886. He removed the gov
ernments assets from it. turned on
Of office the appointees who were hos.
tile to this policy and raised up a coal
ition against his party which defeated
II four years after he himself retired
from the head OF the government This
lcoalition became the Whig party
which formally adopted this name il
1884, just before the opening of the
campaign for Congress in the middle
Of his last term.
! Though Van Buren had a large ma.
iority I'm sac IN the Electoral Colleg'
! over his Whig enemies, his margin il
the House Of Representatives choser
on the same day was slight. the divi.
sion of the chamber being III Demo.
Gratis and rs Wings IN the Senate
a body which is not as readily moyec
by sudden changes OF popular mood