The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-11
WASHINGTON IS
 AGAIN ACTIVE Proceedings of Congress Is Feature at Capital MAY DIsLoDGE LODGE
Representative Champ Clark Has Enough Votes Pledged to Make
 Him Speaker of the Next House
Fly RALPH NJ. wHIrEsDE

| Fly RALPH M. WHIIESiDE r Washington, December .-(Special.)- lWith the work of Congress under head fwsS Washington is now the centre of Epolitfcal and diplomatic activities again. But above all public interest centres on the proceedings of the House and Sem ate and the measures under considera- 1 tion there. ~ -e .v
 The House of Representatives is all
 ways interesting to the ea.visitor
 The House galleries have had their quota of visitors since the opening of I the present session, and Speaker Cannon l although "shorn of some of his power." is the person who attracts most <Lttention In this body of law makers The ever l present stogie plays its part with the gavel at the speakers desk. The speak CT wields the gavel with the same vigor
 as of yore and does not seem to fa1ter at the "humor" that over on the minor l ity side of the hall sits the "invincible
 Missourian' who is looking forward to 1 the, next session with the belief that he | will wield the mallet.
 T. Vice President Sherman, who presides
 over the Upper House. has not lost his
 winning smile because of the reverses
 in New York in the late election. He will continue to preside over the Senate
 no matter what the changes in the House l at the next session.
 Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massa-
 chusetts. who has been a conspicuous 1 figure in the Senate for so long, may be
 displaced by Richard Olney when the Legislature elects.
 l. It is asserted that Senator Lodge can l not be ret elected on account of the dis Satisfaction of certain republican mem l bers of the legislature. The progressive
 republicans insist that they and the dem | ocrats control the situation, and that
 Lodge will be defeated.
 Mir Olney's great career as Attorney
 General and Secretary of State in Pres
 dent Cleveland's cabinet made him one
 of the strong men of the country, while
 his life long residence in Massachusetts
 gives him strength in the legislature.
 Zealously guarded in the office of the
 Secretary of the United States Senate Is
 heavy bound volume, which is literally
 worth much more than its weight in
 gold. It may be said that, next to the
 original draft of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, the manuscripts of which this
 volume is composed are the most valu-
 able. in the eyes of the collector. of any
 in the custody of the government.
 The volume contains the original mes
 sages from the various Presidents to the
 Senate, from the time of George Wash
 ngton down to Grover Cleveland. An | inscription on the cover of t,le book ptG eSec
 executive files of the Senate during the first century of the existence of the
 United States of America, May l. 1885, l This treasured compilation was pre- pared under the direction of Anson c l McCook, who was then secretary of the Senate. A. remarkable circumstance | about the contents is that the writing for the most part is as clear and legible
 as when first inscribed. This is not the case with the original Declaration of In-
 dependence in the State department. few years ago the writing of the
 latter historic document began to fade
 and 1t was placed in glass case. kept | In an air tight safe and exposed only
 on rare ocasions.
 Representative Champ Clark of Mis- souri has the written pledges of ma jority of the democrats who were elected
 to the House in November to support his candidacy for the speakership. Not less 1 than 125 votes in the democratic caucus | will be cast for the present minority leader. This would be ten more than l necessary even though the democratic majority in the House should reach 69 As the official majority is expected to
 be about 63, MT. Clark has a still wider
 margin.
 | It is generally believed among demo- crats in Washington that Mir. Clark will
 have practically no opposition when the l caucus meets
 Just where the issue of Andrew Jack son's statpary Presence in Lafayette
 square would ens once the matter were
 taken up nqC Col gress, is matter of | doubt, and the al critics who condemn the location as appropriate and the
 rampant horse as piece of work not worthy of "Old Hickory are reluctant
 to engage in controversy.
 An importatnt element of opponents to l the monument declares that Lafayette l square, immediately in front of the l White House and in the center of the 1 citys beautifying and statuary scheme, | is the fitting place for George Washing 1 ton and none other. It is pointed out | that this idea of first place was carried l out in placing in the corners of the
 square the four foreign noblemen who were the associates of Washington. | But Andrew Jackson has developed an | important following in Congress hereto fore. and will unquestonably do SC again. Not only might it keep the former | President in his present strenuous po- sitlon. but the opening of the issue might l result in adding honors to his memory | by changing the name of the jark from Lafayette to Jackson, it Is feared. | Senator Hepburn. chairman Of the Sen ate committee of Manufacturing, is work ing upon one of the most important re- ports which will be made at the winter session of that body. This is the finding Of the committee on inquiry into the cold storage conditions of the country. Ex- tended hearings were given by the com mittee on manufactures before Congress adjourned, and still other hearings were given by Senator Hepburn in Chicago during the recess Practically all the tes- timony now in the report is being draft cd for presentation at the short ses- sion. The committees report will follow in general way the recommendations made to 1t by Dr. Harvey w. Wiley, chief of the Bureau of Chemistry. He made the first statement to the commit- tee at the original hearing, and his testi- mony served as basis for the investi- gation made following it.
 There is no uniform period for holding food products in cold storage. The Sem ate committee will propose some limita- tion on the time
 Whether or not the maximum period will be nine months for poultry. fish and meats, as suggested by pr. slAuIn 4..ey or whether twelve months, as urged by some of the cold storage people, has not