The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1908-02-21
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER
WASHINGTON, D. G. FEE. 10, 1903.

WASHINGTON, D. G. FEE. 10, 1908.
Mr.. EDIToR:-One of the most bril-
liant speeches to which the House of
REPRESENTATIVES has listened in recent
years was that which Rep. Champ
Clark of Missouri delivered this week.
T here was no malice in Mr.. Clark's re-
ma ks, but they fairly scintillatsd with
wit and the House almost shrieksd
with laughter, 50 that many times Mr..
Clark was compelled to suspend. Mr..
Clark discussed tho President and said
"He cannot express his views upon
any question nder the sun, even upon
a sui ject 80 presai and threadbsre AZ
the weather, without prscipitating a
row, his extreme adherents swearing
that there never has been such a wea-
Their prophet on earth since Adam and
Eve ere driven from the Garden of
Eden with fla ming swords, and his ex-
trene en- emies vocifsrating that he
knows no more about the weather than
the ground hog"
Parenthetically, there is story
which Mr.. Clark is telling Of the Presi-
de Mt. to. illustrate his supreme self-con-
fdence, VIII &c seems to me worth re-
peat:-g here. 1t appears that when
Mr.. Roosevelt was a very small boy his
father approac he'd him one day and
said, "Theodore, am going away, on
long railr DAD journey. I expect you
to be very good boy and to take good
care of Mother" That night as the
little Teddy was about to retire he
knelt by his bed repeating his nightly
prayer to his mother, and in conclus-
ion he added "And dear God take
good care of papa, for he has gone on
long railroad journey. Never mind
about Mamma, I'm taking care Of her."
To return to Mr.. Clark's speech, how
ever, he pointed out how the Rspubli-
can majority had been reduced from, ia
in the last Congress to 55 in this and
declared that the next election would
witness sweeping away of the Repub-
lican majority altogether, and return
of good working Democratic majority
with a Democratic President in the
White House. Mr.. Clark pictures
Speaker Cannon surveying his reduced
majority in the House and repeating
the sad exclam atien of Pyrrhus, King
of Epirus, when surveying hard won
field, Another such victory and we are
undone.'
An extraordinary spectacle is being
presented in the Senate where Mr.. Aid
rich is crowding through his financial
| BILL Almost ne Republican is saying
word. Everything is bsing left to Aid
| rich and it is freely admitted on the
Republican side that the Senator from
Rhode Island is the only man who
really understands the financial quss-
ton. Democratic Senators are daily at
tackipg the bill but of course with
mem bership of only one third of the
Senate they can accomplish nothing,
and especially is this true when some of
that third seem to be more in sympathy
with Mr.. Aldrich than with their COL
leagues on the Democratic side of the
chamber.
The pol itical situation in the Repub-
lican party becomes daily uglier, while
in the Democratic ranks order and dis
cipline are steadily increasing. Every
now and again the newspapers make
much of some anti-Bryan movement bat
the large majority Of Democrats in
Congress, at least, are convinced that
Mr. Bryan will he the Democratic NOM
inee and are prepared to support him
Loyalty and enthusiastically. Of course
it would not be a campaign year if there
wero not, from time to time, sensational
stories regarding Democratic disaffec-
tions, but the most farseeing men in the
Democracy assure me that there need
be no apprehension regarding the out
come of the convention at DsnYor or
the unan unity with which the party
will support its former leader sncs
the convention il over. The movement
to elect Rep. Ryan chairman Of the
Democratic Congressional Committee
was an anti-Brvan movement, but it
"died aboTn:tg"
The Republicans, on the other hand,
were never more widely split asunder
The Roosevelt Taft reaction isl orking
strenuously, Of course, to secure the
nomination of Mr. Taft and the contin-
uance of the Roosevelt policies, sspec-
tally those dealing with corporations.
The genuine "old line Republican"
headead by Crane of Massach usetts,
Speaker Cannon, and Senator Foraker
have adopted rule or ruin policy and
are willing to go to any lengths to pre-
vent the nomination of Taft and the |
continuance of those policies which |
are so Objectionable to the interests
W hich have Away been the fouD dation
and su pport of the Republican party.
The latest proposition, and it is seri-
ously considered and promoted by the
Crano- Foraker Cannon faction, is to
steal the national convention by The
election of what are known as "rotten
l I l.