Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-09
PLUM TREE CONTEST
Gossip Over Baltimore Places
for Disposition
by GOVERNOR CR0THERs
Some of the Qualifications for the
Desired Positions.
ONE CHANCE FOR ECONOMY
Warfield-Seth Contention and Some
Comment on the Latter's
Charges.
BY GOVERNOR CR0THERs
ONE CHANCE FOR ECONOMY
Special Correspondence of The Star.

| on and Is arousing much interest here.
| Two men-former Gov. Brown and John
J. Mahon-have both rendered signal
service as city party leaders in two cam
paigns, and it remains to be seen which
will be formally ''recognized'' by the gov
ernor. If the plums fall into the basket
| Of Mahon, and there Is every reason to
believe that Mahon has the choice of
positions under the plum tree. it will
| eliminate Frank Brown as a leader in
| city politics. If, on the other hand,
| Browns recommendations are accepted
| by the governor. it will mean q lining up
Of the city forces against Crothers. Mahon
| Is securely entrenched as the city boss.
and failure of the governor to recogni re
him in the distribution of patronage viii.
only make his position at the head OF
Baltimore democracy more solid.
There are many reasons why Mahon
should have the governors ear, and the
faithful feel that Brown will be left
| announced. They point to the fact thai
Senator-elect Smith, who is Crothers'
sponsor and who is in the saddle as
state boss, Is friendly to Mahon. because
Of the splendid support given by the
| latter to Smith In the senatorial primary
| fight. They even go so far as to assert
| that everything has been fixed and that
Crothers has received a hint from the
state boss to take care of MahOn's Sc
| lectiOns."
Must Be Regular
| The word has gone forth that the first
qualification for office under Gov. Croth-
ers must be party regularity. The indie
pendents and those who have shown a
! disposition to kick over the traces at GER
| tain times may therefore be placed in
the class of also rams. True. Gov. Croth-
ers appointed 9 silk stocking and lnde-
pendent as his secretary of state and
| thereby caused some friction between
himself and Col. Smith, but the gov
ernor has been forgiven for this breach
of political etiquette and VIII be expected
f! to walk the Smith chaikline N future
the scrutiny of the Smith Mahon machine.
| Crothers is an astute politician, and with
| the fate of Warfield before him he is not
likely to again run counter to the wishes
of Col. Smith. He knows that the ma
chine is in absolute control in the legs-
lature. and that unless he follows the
advice OF the recognized bosses he Will
have hard road to travel during the mex
four years. Crothers knows as Well as
any man in the party that the "old guard
flowers are hungry for pie. not having
been allowed to approach within srrle4 ling
q distance Of the counter during the past
TOUR years. He knows, too, that it's up to
him to appease the hunger OF the faithful
followers. and that no excuses will be
accepted by the bosses,
Crothers. 1t is well known. has always
been a machine politician: and it is, not al
all likely that he will change tactics al
this late day.
Scanning Appropriations.
That Gov. Warfeld's last message to the
legislature regarding the eXtravagant ex-
penditure of money by the legislature has
| borne fruit is evidenced by the stand
taken by Gov. Crothers. who is making a
| systematic examination of all appropria-
| tons before the legislature now The gov
ernor believes that a considerable amount
| of money may be saved to- the state if the
appropriations for charitable institutions
are made In a systematic manner. He Is
of the opinion that the work of one insti-
tuition, in some cases, overIapS that of an
other and that a single appropriation
may be sufficient in cases where one or
| more are being made.
1t Is generally understood that the dem
ocrats Will proceed very cautiously in the
matter OF appropriations henceforth, as
! they Tear the cry of extravaganza may be
raised in future campaigns and because
the republicans will have the hot message
OF Gov. Warfield to back up there charges.
| There Is no disputtng the fact that Gov.
Warf1elds last message regarding extrav-
] agance at the statehouse has had a bene-
| cial erect. and that the machine has de-
cided to move very cautiously in the ex-
| PSuuiIuiC VI lAS SldtG moneys
Warheld VS.. Seth.
The failure Of the legislature to provide
for an investigation Of the charges made
by Gen. Seth against Mr.. Warfield by
tabling the resolution introduced for that
purpose is regarded as a backdown by
Gen. Seth. who was supposed to be the
mOuthpiece of the machine when he made
his now famous attack on the former
| governor. The charges made were of a
| grave nature and an investigation under
the circumstances seemed imperative To
| The Star correspondent Mr. WarfieId
| stated last week that he was most anxious
| for an investigation, and the failure Of
| the machine democrats, who are in abso-
| lutte control Of the legislature, to provide
| for public investigation has placed Gen.
| Seth in an unenviabfe light.
| The impression that now prevails is that
the charges against Warfield were with
| out foundation In fact. On the other
hand, the straightforward reply of Mr..
! Warfield to all the charges made against
| him personally and politically has created
a great deal OF sentiment in his favor,
and the stigma of having made unfounded
| charges against former governor rests
upon the shoulders of President Seth of
| the state senate.
Intercity Railway.
General Manager J. N. Shanahan Of the
1 w dSUluStOIls bdAlIIuOIc dIlQ Annapolis
| electric railway announced today that the
! line between Baltimore and Washington
would open about March 10, and that
! trains would be operated on a half hour
schedule from both ends of the line The
| fare has been fixed at $l25 for the round
| trip and IS cents one way. The rolling
! stock of the road is the finest ever seen in
! this section of the country. The cars are
sixty-two feet long and have a seating
capacity of sixty-four persons. The in
terror of the coaches is finished in Bra
lillian mahogany, with empire design cell
| ings finished in olive green and gold.
| being suspended over each seat. The cars
| are equipped with four .175-horsepower
motors and have a speed capacity OF
| sixty-five miles an hour. The total cost
| of the road. when completed, will aggre-
gate $6.5oOG0O. and will be the highest
| type of fnterurban railway construction
| in the United States. Tho road will be
| operated by the telephone system. booths
| being placed at intervals Of one mile
| along the route. The service will consist
of express and accommodation trains
| Vice President Shanahan, who made an
| inspection of the road yesterday. stated
+, that he was much Pleased with conditions
| along the route and that work on the
| Washington Baltimore line will be rushed
| to completion. j. NJ. d.
No ouida Manuscripts.
| Special Cabegram to The Star.
ROME. Februay San examination OF
the effects of the late Ouida, the novel;