The Cairo bulletin., 1907-02-11
WILL CANNON Be
IN 1903 F|CH12
QUESTION FIRE 1UENTLY ASKED
IN WASHINGTON NOT YET
ANSWERED.
HAS A STRONG MACHINE
At His Back if He Wants to Enter
Presidential Race-Neariy Every
Republican Congressman is
For h,m.

Chicago Fen. l0.-A pccal to the
Chicago Tribune from Washington to.
day says.
There nov left OF the session
practically only three weeks, and it is
q remarkable thing f.om a political
point of view that almost nothing at
All has come up in this congress which
has helped or hurt either of the two
great parties.
BY the time the next congress is
fairly under way the selection Of dele
"a .es to the two national conventions
viii be gun. 1t was supposed, also
that in this q ngress some hing would
develop which would affect materially
the chances of one or more Of the
republican candidates for the presi-
dency. SIP aker Cannon, who is in
his category pre- ided over he ses
sjc9s of the house and Vice President
Fairbanks who also is an active can.
didate for the presi ency. sal in the
elevated chair during the sessions Of
the senate. Sena or Foraker has been
in the lin light from he beginning
of the snort session. On account OF his
attitude in The Brownyille matter.
There were. therefore, three prom
inent candidates for the presidency
who were right in the public eye at
the same time AT the capl OIL and yet
the net result Of the legislative work
of The winter has been such that no
man can claim any benefit, and no
one has been injured seriously by it.
There has been no clash between con
& ess and the executive sufficient to
involve any OF the cabinet officers,
and Taft. Root, ard Shaw are as
strong with The people collectively
and individually as they ever were.
Apparently the adjournment will come
on March I with the personal issues
Of the next campaign still in the fu
ture.
Is "Unele Joe" a Candidate?
One Of the questions which are most
frequently asked and not always an
swered Is whether Uncle Joe Cannon,
speaker of the house, is an active
candidate for he presidency. Possibly
his nearest fir ends might deay that
he has any real ambition in this direc.
tion, and they would point to the faci
that his age is os much against him
that the people in the long run would
be more likely 10 turn to a younger
man. The speaker already is more
than three score years and ten. but
he is as full OF life and energy as the
youngest member of the house. and
although he might not make good
president al timber from a purely
statistical point of view, he is more
than likely TO outliye some of the men
who are many years his junior. The
interesting thing about Uncle Joe is
whether he is really an active candi-
date or not, that he has at his dis.
posal today better personal machine
than any of the others who have been
mentioned as possible successors of
Theodore Roosevelt
Advantage over Fairbanks.
Recently newspapers and magazines
have begun to refer to the fact that
friends OF Vice President Fairbanks
were at work in his behalf. aud that
q more r less compact personal or
ganization had been formed already to
secure votes for him, particularly in
the south and west
The speaker Of 7he house of rem.
resentatiyes under ordinary circmm-
sstanceg does no; have TO resort to an
outside personal organization. He has
a ready made one of his own. and It
is more complete. more enthusiastic /
and more generally loyal than any or |
dinary political organization in either |
party.
There IS a free masonry about the /
house of representatives as there is |
about the senate which Induces its !
members to promote the inter SIS Of I
one of their number al the expense /
Of the othe- and outside people. This .
is nothing NV L has been the his 1
tory of American politics that a mem
Der of either branch of congress could /
depend up his colleagues for a large /
Of support o. exactly the
same principle that an army man
would support an old solBer or a
Methodist might forget his political /
Civilizations 10 stand bv a recognized f
champion of his own faith.
Speakers Well Oiled Machine
Other pc pie may have their ma 1
chimes scientifically cons -ucted and
carefully oiled but the speaker Of the
house OF representatives has behi-d 4
him a majority Of the house. This
means q GOOD deal more than some
1eople might imagine. In The next
.ouse here will be 222 republican rep
Re eniatives. They come from 222