Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-08-24
Cannon Fight to Be Resumed
When Congress Meets.
PLANNING FOR NEXT YEAR
Strong Effort to Be Made to Defeat
Speakers Reelection.
INTEREST IN TAFT'S ATTITUDE
Conflicting Assertions Regarding
the Loyalty Of the Head of the
House to the President.

AS certain as the sun rises. the opening
of the next session of Congress will wit
ness the beginning OF contest against
the reelection OF Mr.. Cannon as Speaker
of the House a twelvemonth later and an
effort 10 deprive the Office OF Speaker OF
some of its arbitrary power. Although
these objects could not. in regular or
der, be achieved until the beginning of
the Congress assembling In the succeed
ing December, the ground work for them
will be laid at the coming session.
1t is too early to prophesy tile prob
able outcome of the fight against Mr..
Cannon. He is a fighter himself, his
blood is up, he is strongly. though far
from irnprcgnably, intrenched in a loyal
organization, whose members welfare is
Identical with his own. He has announc-
ed his intention to defend his course. and
II he keeps his vigor can be depended
upon to make the defense a lively pro-
ceeding for his antagonists.
This impending contest is not due to
the attack of Representative Fowler upon
the Speaker. but that onslaught undoubt-
edly will be used by the anti-Cannon
forces as material of war. Mr.. Fowler
will not lead the attacking lorces, for
his influence In the House is not that
OF leader. He can tote" ammunition,
what subordinate, capacity his services
will be utilized.
Taft's Apprehended Opposition.
The antagon!stic influence most feared
by the House organization. as it at pres
ent exists. is the apprehended opposi-
ton of President Taft to the Speakers
reelection. No one is at this time author
lied to say that the President will favor
the supplanting OF Speaker Cannon by
another. IT may be that the President
himself has not determined positively
upon that course. But ut.soale-Sasynbers OF
the House, loyal to Mr.. Cannon. fear
that the President may find it desirable
TO sympathize with efforts TO elect an
other as Speaker
All that aside. II Is an undenia BILE fact
that, the movement has already been
started among republican members of this
Congress, all of whom hope to be men,
bers OF the succeeding House, to turn
down the present organization and It's
rules. The work will be prosecuted at
the coming session for its moral effect
upon the country and upon the prospective
candidates for nomination to the Sixty
second Congress. The propaganda is to
be carried beyond Congress and to the
people at the polls before the next House
IL elected.
Returning to speculations upon possible
executive influence against tine Speaker.
tne support lOuNC 1Cr SOCn suggestion hes
In the consideration OF some we'll known
facts of the past and present In the
first place. it is known that prior to the
Presidents election, and to Mr.. Cannon's
reelection to Congress. President Taft re-
garded the Cannon policies. of which Mr..
Cannon was held up Is type. as la
bllity and not an asset Of the republican
national campaign last year.
To put IL brutally. although correctly.
Mr. Cannon was regarded as a drag upon
the campaign then being entered upon and
load to be carried. 1t will not be for
gotten that year ago there was open dis
cussion OF the possibility of Mr.. Taft's op-
position TO Mr.. Cannon'S reelection as
Speaker, and that some conferences were
necessary at Hot Springs between Mr.
Taft and Mr.. Cannon's friends before that
talk could be quieted. The public impress
sion was that assurances were given at
those conferences that Mr.. Cannon would
support the Taft policies in Congress.
Cannon's Loyalty to the President.
Now, no one except President Taft him
self probably knows whether he considers
that the Speaker has made good those as
surances or not. Mr.. Cannon's friends
claim that he has. They declare that the
Speaker did all In his power to forward
the revision of the tariff demanded by the
President. They point out that the Speaker
fell In with the Presidents plan to put
rho House plan of inheritance tax, al
though a majority OF the republican lead
ers were opposed to the substitution. They
say that the Speaker welded the power of
the committee on rules to facilitate the
progress of the bill in its successive
stages.
As against this. the charge is made that
the Speaker packed the conference COM
In!ttee BY the substitution of Messrs.
Fordney and Calderhead for men in line,
this with the alleged purpose OF strength
ening the high protectionists on the con-
ference committee. Further, that the
Speaker, in the interest of his friend ex-
Representative Littauer, opposed the
Presidents demands for lower duties on
gloves and had TO be ridden down by the
executive.
Those are charges which have been spe-
citically and repeatedly made. To the al
legation that he packed the conference
committee Speaker Cannon in an inter-
view Yesterday replied that It was be-
meath his dignity to take notice of II.
President Taft has not indicated his
opinion of these charges, and no one
thus far has been authorized to speak
for him, but it has been persistent SUBJ
ject OF gossip that he felt resentment
toward the Speaker upon these alleged
grounds.
1t Is certain. however. that the oppo-
nents of Mr.. Cannon are busily circulat-
ing these indictments and as Zealously
claiming that they constitute basis for ex-
pscting the aid or President Taft In the
fight against Speaker Canncn's re-elec-
ton. II is not known whether President
TAFT is aware of all this or not but
there is no mistaking the fact that the
anti-Cannon people are trading upon II
extensively. They believe that for the
present they need nothing more than the
Presidents silence to .get away with It.
summary OF the criticisms Of the
Speaker by Mr.. Fowler and Mr.. Cam
mons reply will he found elsevhere in
The StnF.