Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-02
SOME FACTS ron MR. BRYAN.
MotIves IN Fisbt for Revision
Of House Rites.

Brooklyn Eagle lind. demD.
As for Fitzgerald. he is a BROOKLYN
democrat. 1t IL now recalled that Pat Nc
! Carren, the Brooklyn boss, came to Wash
ington last. winter and remained there Two
weeks and held some conferences with
Speaker Cannon. II Is believed the deal 10y
which Fitzgerald was to rush to the saliva
ton OF Cannonism was arranged then
The
This will not he denied by senator Nc
Carren. Nor Is 1t likely that the speaker
will discuss the matter. Perhaps both
would like to have It supposed that they
could foresee an Instruction long before
there were any Insurgents in sight, or out
OF sight, for that matter. though neither
would make the mistake OF claiming on his
own account that he could do anything Of
the kind, each being much too sensible
for that, Presuming the Commoner to
have a preference for the truth, a few facts
may be OF service to IT. They will be
all the more serviceable because of their
freedom from embroidery.
The special session was called for the
purpose of bringing about a revision OF the
tariff. tn minority. led by Clark, entered
into an alliance, offensive and defensive.
with a resentful wing OF the majority. and
with an exceedingly formidable program.
Success seemed to be insured. Had It
been won. legislation would have been at
the mercy of the insurgents, aided and
sbetted by their democratic allies.
Probably the m knows what
would have been incidental to this. with
out a doubt II Is aware Of the fact that
two Missourians. De Armand and Clark,
were to be selected as members Of the
on rules, while Ollie James Of
Kentucky was to go on the committee of
ways and means. And, OF course, the Com
moner was aware of the fact that New
York. Illinois. Indiana and other common
wealths which contribute largely to the
democratic representation in congress were
to be entirely ignored. Except as TO Ne
braska, the south was to grab everything.
The exception is significant. 1t reveals
the hand Of Mr.. Bryan. II shows that he
was part and parcel of the combination
which came near winning. And, had it been
victorious, what? 1t is almost impossible
to think of the consequences without a
shudder. There will be enough talk about
the tariff as II is, also more than sufficient
confusion. The business of the country is
holding its soul in anything but patience.
If the insurgents were now in the saddle.
backed by Clark and his followers, Buried
would not have to revisit the
glimpses of the moon TO tell what would
ensue. Chaos would describe II.
Fortunately, the grab game miscarried.
For the good of all concerned. except the
coalitionists, they clutched at everything in
sight. Mr.. Bryan excluded the interests OF
the country from his calculations alto
gether. He omitted them from the deal,
or the dicker, by virtue OF which the
minority was TO be used as a cstspaw to
pull chestnuts from the fire for the insur-
gents and TO find preferred places for five
southerners and one Nebraskan. This II
not embroidery. 1t Is fact.
Something else was dismissed from Mr..
Bryan's calculations. In any event, Can
non would have been elected speaker. And
long before the session had produced any
thing but talk the inevitable would have
come to pass. The. president of the United
States has much patronage TO dispose Of.
Even insurgents are human beings. If Mr..
Bryan will couple these two he
will know what would have happened to
the minority. One by one the insurgents
would have been taken into camp to the
qualification of what Mr.. Bryan is pleased