Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-05-24

TultTSIllp VI lIlttl cirque tlioSS ou' vi
peculiar conditions that are now dy-
ing There will be leaders, but theil
leadership will be of different stripe
it is because of the passing of these
conditions that Aldrich and Hale are
belatedly following SpoOner, who read
the writing on the wall three years
ago.
1t is an epoch parliamentary his
tory that is dying, and one which
will be a favorite topic with political
historians in years to come, as it be-
comes more and more sharply differ
entiated from the conditions of those
years. It is an epoch that will be-
come stranger all the time, and may
end by becoming incredible to future
readers.
Aldrich has been loosely referred to
as the boss of the senate, but he was
not n boss in the sense in which Muir
ply rules Tammany hall or in which
Quay bossed the state of Pennsylva-
MIA. He was the head of the quintet
When the quintet began to disinte-
CRATE the political guessers promptly
busted themselves with each new dis
appearance from the ranks, in figur-
ing out who would be the successor
of the man who had gone-just rs
now they are specializing upon the
successor of Hale or Of Aldrich.
But the places of the men who van
ished never were filled. First went
Platt. who died in 1905. "Who will
fill his place in the Big Five?" asked
the political gOssips. and Lodge was
fixed on as the likeliest choice. But
Platt had no successor. Lodge has
been a leading figure in the senate,
and has been included in the cOnn-
ellis of the leaders. but he never be-
came one of the five bosses Of the
upper house.
The Big Five simply became a Big
Four.
Then Spooner. chilled and uncom-
Portable in the new atmosphere which
was spreading through the senate
chamber, left ii. Speculation became
rife as to his successor. But there
was no successor.
The Big Four became a Big Three.
In 1908 Allison died. and when
Aldrich and Hale were left alone i'm
the leadership their isolation empha-
sized the hOpeleSSneSS of ever recon-
Structing the conditions Of leadership
that had prevailed so many years.
Lodge was influential, so was Crane,
so were others. But the place they
filled was similar to that which Mark
Hanna filled at the beginning Of this
century: and Mark Hanna, important
and powerful as he was. never was
one of the dictators of legislation VINO
made up the Aldrich quintet.
Now Aldrich and Hale are going,
and going for much the same rea-
sons that impelled SpOoner to take
time by the fOrelock. They lin
gered after the signs of the times be-
came manifest; ne did not. Hale lin
gered until the sound of approaching
defeat was in his ears.
A quarter of century ago George
F. Edmunds of Vermont. now living
i'm retirement in Philadelphia, was
the leader of the Republican party in
the senate But his was a floor lea-
dcrShip. He was not n dictator OF
l., I'll hna ..
dreamed of applying to him the wood
boss" as it has been applied to Al
drich. AS prominent as he were such
men as Logan. Sherman, Ingalls,
Hawiley. Frye, Jones of Nevada. and
many others; but there was no
quintet which met in n committee
room, laid out n party policy and led
the senate to its fulfillment.
With the admission of new states
the senate grew more and more un-
wieldly 1t was no longer Il place
in which everybody could be his own
boss The old political boss The old
political methods. the methods which
rose to climax i'm the last years OF
the nineteenth century and which are
now confronting a new spirit, called
for the concentration of power IN
the hands of a few.
In the house the result was reached
by parliamentary revolution. by
the Reed reformation, perfected un-
der Henderson, Crisp. and Cannon, 8
little knot of men became rulers OF
Legislation.
Under this system the power went
,,.ith ntfi L, r,Sl IN I
and the majority places on the com
mitteeS on rules. 1t did not make
much difference who filled them
whether the men We're mediocre Oi
great. He who held the speakerShir
was the car. That system is now
memaCcd by the rebellion that the
new political conditions are creating
In the senate no parliamentary rev
olutiun was possible. but the power
centcrcd i'm fewer hands continually
until finally it reached those of the
five men who directed senate legiS
latiOn for so many years
1t differed from the house deSpot'
ism i'm that these five men roS" I,
their power by dint of ability. True
they did not hold certain chairman.
ships; but when. one after another
the five dwindled To four and three
and two. the chairmanships did mo-
make Caesars of the new men Wh'
fell heir To them.
These five men did actually ContrO
the Scnate'S legislation. They die
more than that. On many occasion:
they controlled the legislation Of con
grcSs They did even more than that
ON not few occasions they rose SUI
pcriOr To both the house and the
president. and We're i'm sober truth the
government of the United States.
Their zenith was when Mckinley
was president and Henderson speaker
of the house. Mckinley was no mal
To override a senate quintet. He sell
dom felt any desire to do 50. IIemdcr'
son was 4 commonplace speaker. anC
under him the house was Il mere too
of the senate.
Toward the close of Henderson:
regime discomfort growlrd in the
house. The lower chamber chaf"C