The Detroit times., 1910-03-26
OLMsTEO FAVORED
FORCANNON' SPLACE
He Has Surest District and May
Direct Affairs of House If Uncle
Joe" Steps Down.
BY w. s. COUCH.

WASHINGTON, March 2i.-Thc
regular Republicans OF the house are
looking about for new leaders. Can
non is politically dead. Speculation
rs to the new Cannon is divided be-
tween Olmsted of Pennsylvania and
Smith of Iowa, with Tawney OF Min
nesota as a poor third.
Dalzell is so disagreeable person
ally and so obnoxious on the floor
that he will have little support Ser
emo Payne, most decent OF the old
lot, is regarded as a has-been
Olmsted has the surest district and
so is the most obscure, from the pub
lie standpoint, Of the regular leaders.
The country will hear good deal
about Olmsted, however, in the next
few years, no matter whether he Is
speaker, leader of minority, or
merely the head Of a stand-pat fac
ton of eastern Republicans.
Marlin Edgar Olmsted Is a good
deal Of mystery right here In Wash
ington. He seems to have few n any
close friends. He does not reveal his
age In the congressional directory. but
he must be about so. His appear.
ance is forbidding. Grizzled, curly
hair, .bushy grizzled eyebrows bent
over narrow eyes In perpetual
scowl, grizzled mustach that
somehow contrives to give his face
the aspect of a perpetual sneer, and a
rasping, drawing voice combine to
conceal the fact that he is pleasant
chap, courteous and obliging. He is
we'll built and well groomed.
Olmsted is one of the regulars
against whom the insurgents hold
nothing except his standpatism. They
respect him and feel that he plays
fair. The fury that Cannon and his
crowd have reused against themselves
Is due In large part to their insolence
and their trickery, their sharp politi-
cal and parliamentary practice.
The Pennsylvania has stood fast
by Cannon and the rules. He fought
hard and he fought in able fashion.
But Olmsted, beaten over the rules,
he wanted TO accept the verdict and
to give the new system a fair and
honest trial. So Tawney and the rest
left Olmsted off Of the new rules COM
mittee. Olmsted Is high tariff man
and determined partisan.
Olmsted Is student and a hard
worker. He Is a ready and forceful
speaker, but no orator. He takes the
floor only when he has something to
say. In a body famous for its mean.
ingless chatter Olmsted stands out as
an exception. He has had a good
deal OF experience with the gavel,
having been chosen to preside over
many sessions. He has made friends
In the chair, where he governs the
debate In cold-blooded, impartial
fashion.
II Is as a master OF congressional
business that Olmsted has made his
way to the front in the house. To
dig into the legislative work of con-
gress. to study bills referred to your
committee until you can make an In
telligent report on them, TO keep
abreast OF the floor proceedings. all
this Is n drudgery which a large ma
jority Of members dodge. This work
promises no limelight, offers no
chance for oratory and hardly ever
gets into the papers. Somebody has
to do II, though, and the men who are
willing eventually rise to real infiu.
encc In such fashion Senator Burton
OF Ohio won his political advance.
ment Olmsted has pulled and tug
god in this harness and finally mount
ed the hill with his load. He has ar
rived. II will be some time. though,
before the country fully realizes this
arrival.
0imsted. a native of Pennsylvania,
Is LEANED and successful lawyer,
and he has been in politics all his life.