The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1908-09-25
THE CANNON BLIGHT"
Republican Situation in the West as
Affected by Uncle Joe.

One of the great sensations of the cam
paign is the onslaught on Speaker Can
non and the conservative republican mem.
bers of the house of representatives. This
began among the Roosevelt republicans
the day after the nomination of James ).
Sherman to be vice president. Many of
them, already angered at the modifica-
tons of the republican platform. were flu
rious at the apparent victory won by Mr..
Cannon in getting the second place on the
ticket for Mr. Sherman. Newspapers
that had been supporting President
Roosevelt and his policies and had been
urging the nomination of Mr. Taft began
to suggest that it would be an excellent
thing to elect Taft and a democratic
house of representatives. This started the
fire. The democrats were quick to take
advantage of it, and the anti-Cannon re-
publicans welcomed them as allies.
About this time Frank H. Hitchcock,
chairman of the republican national com
mittee, opened negotiations with the re-
publican congressional committee for a
close community of interest. The repub-
lican congressional committee was to
surrender its autonomy during the cam
paign. The manager of editorial work for
the congressional committee, Mr.. Curtis
was to work under the national commit
tee. All documents were to be sent out
management of Richard " Oulahan. The
speakers were to be assigned by the ma
tional committee. The republican con
gressional committee was to be allowed
large sum. placed at 100000 by some re-
ports, to be placed in bank for the con-
gressiona election of 1910. This agree
ment still seems to be working in part.
No one has been at the western head
quarters of the republican congressional
committee since the campaign opened.
But Speaker Cannon and his friends re-
fused to be bound by the national com
mittee in the assignment of speakers, and
have been making their own dates and
filling them
Meantime the fight against Speaker
Cannon and those members of the house |
prominent in the organization at Wash |
ington waxed warm. Mr.. jenkins of
Wisconsin, chairman of the house com
mittee on judiciary, was attacked by the
La Toilette faction and defeated at the
primary by Mr.. Lenroot. one of the lieu
tenants of Senator La Toilette. Mr..
Miller of Kansas, member of the spe-
cial committee appointed to make an in
vestigation of the free paper and free
pulp demand of the American newspaper
publishers association, was almost de-
feated in Kansas Mr.. Tawney only
barely got through in Minnesota. j.
Adam Bede OF Minnesota. also member
of the committee on judiciary was de-
feated. "More of the Cannon blight"
was the comment of the Chicago Daily
News in its issue of last night.
Meantime the republican managers in
various states began to get timid over
the possible effect of injecting "the Can
non issue" as it is called, into their
states. Requests were made that the
speaker avoid going into Indiana, Kan
sas. Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North
Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska In
the speaker has in congress requested
him to cancel his engagements. But the
speaker refused. He was too old cam
paigner to run. He decided to keep his
dates, and is now keeping them The 1
democrats are jubilant. They are spread {
irg the report that Gov Hoch of Kan
sas refused to introduce the speaker