Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-08-08
.N[N ERA IN SENATE
Obstructive Craftsmanship to
be Followed by Construct
i've Craftsmanship
CONTROL OF THE COMMITTEE
CONTROL OF THE COMMITTEE
Likely That the Progressive Element
Will Make a Strong Fight Against
the Former Methods Adopted for
Control of the committees-ee General
] News.


Washington, Aug. s.-Reorganiza
ton of the senate, which began il
reality when President Roosevelt
squeezed from that reluctant body tn,
almost unanimous vote by which Il
passed, a little over two years ago
the railroad rate law, is proceeding
apace.
The rate bills passage was accom-.
plished by processes of moral suasion
The conservatives, of the senate, tho
not liking tse measure-and there
were plenty of such on both sides OF
the party line'-were made to believe
that there was public sentiment de-
mand.ng the law, which it would be
dangerous to ignore. SO the bill passed
Bnt that struggle was not marked by
any particular evidences of the sort
of changes which have taken place
since.
LaFollette had Just come to the up-
per chamber in time to take prom
inent part in that debate. Defying
precedent, he entered the debate and
made great speech. offering numer-
Gus radical amendments, among them
one for a physical valuation of the
railroads, which received a very re-
spectacle vote, including half a dozen
republicans. But even then there was
no evidence that the new radicalism
was going to have the direct effect of
making many changes in the personnel
of the body.
Now, however, it is plain that La
Toilette was building wiser than he
knew, for the purposes Of his radical
propaganda, The first. senatorial
change. attributed directly to LaFol-
lstte influence was that occasioned by
the defeat of John Fairfield Dryden,
senator from New Jersey LaFollette
was in league with the independents
in Jersey who made the fight against
Dryden; he talked for them and he
was much in conference with them.
They gained power enough to dead
AOCh a sCtOSC lG6 |AyNGh was
beaten; land the first senatorial scalp
hung at the Wisconsin mans belt.
Meanwhile LaFollette had taken an
interest In behalf of Norris Brown,
candidate for senator in Nebraska.
Brown was elected. The Wisconsin
man early developed feud with Long
of Kansas, and now Long has been
defeated, and his defeat is popularity
attributed directly to speeches by Lar
Toilette against him in Kansas La
Toilette didn't approve Of Senator AL
bert B. Kittredge of South Dakota, and
LaFollette has talked much in South
Dakota, where he has large follow
ing. Kittredge was defeated this
spring, in the statewide primary, AMI
Governor Coe I. Crawford, another Of
the LaFollette type, was nominated by
the republicans for senator.
LaFollette had also invaded Oregon,
and aired his reasons for believing that
Senator Fulton was an undesirable.
Fulton was defeated and the state pri-
mary named George Chamberlain, a
democrat, now governor Of the state,
for the succession. He will be elected,
under the Oregon law, by the unan-
imous voice of the Legislature, without
regard to politics.
LaFollette and his Wisconsin col
league, the veteran Spooner, did not
mix well. They represented the OPP
posite factions in the state, Spooner a
stalwart, LaFollette a half-breed.
Spooner, rather than make a race for
reelection with LaFollette certain to
fight him, resigned his seat, and per-
mitted Isaach Stephenson, millions
aire lumberman, to be sent for the
short term to the senate. Stephenson
had been the friend Of LaF'ollette and
supporters in the legislature
made him senator. But after he had
taken his seat he hogan presently to
affiliate with the conservative crowd;
it was charged that he constantly in
dulged vicious and insulting remarks
about I,aFollette, he didn't vote with
LaF ollette,except rarely; and in short,
B breach developed which led to open
rupture. Now, Stephenson is out as a
,anidate for reelection, and LaFol-
Lette is opposed to him 1t is set down
as reasonably certain that, whoever
may be elected. he will not be Step
henson. LaFollette's hold on Wiscon-
sin is too good for that.
During the last session LaFollette
began to gather about him few
younger republican senators, a nucleus
Of organization for the future. Borah Of
idaho, and Brown of Nebraska, were
pretty consistently with him; Burkett
was at times, but commonly for po-
itical reasons relating to the sentiment
Of his home state, rather than from /,
liking for LaFollette, whom he doesn't
ike. For precisely similar reasons
Dolliver at times supported LaFollette
Then came the big fight
,or the four battleship proposition.
Beveridge was the leader of tn, young
IT and independent element this time.
lid not succeed in forcing the senate
% grant the presidents demand. for
our Dreadnougfrts, he did go SO far
Is to make instruction respectable,
ind insurgency an established and sig
lificant fact. That battleship fight
showed the determination of the
younger element hereafter to insist on
is opinions even tho they might in
erfere with the designs of the ira
litional elder statesmen.
It is not quite accurate to refer to
he insurgent senators as the young
n group" tho in the main they are
hus accurately described. But the
inc of division is not age; it related
o views on public questions. The in |
urgents are the men who believe the |