The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-12-02
HARRISBURG LETTER.

Il
Harrisburg, Nov. 26.-Prepara-
tions are going forward for the as
sembling of the Legislature in jan
uary, and the chambers occupied by
the House and Senate are being
cleaned so as to present a tidy ap-
pearance. Hon. w. E. Crow of
Fayette county will undoubtedly
be elected President pro TEN, of the
Senate and Herman Kephart will be
made Chief Clerk. So far there has
arisen no opposition to John F. Cox
as Speaker of the House, his SER
vices in that capacity at the last
session being satisfactory in gener
al. Hon. Thomas Garvin, of Della
ware county, will be made Chief
Clerk, and Charles Johnson, of Mont
gomery county, Resident Clerk.
With the machinery of both
branches in such experienced hands,
little time need be lost in getting
down to work.
One of the first things before the
Legislature will be the election of a
United States Senator to succeed
Hon. Henry w. Oliver. While he
does not at present seem to have the
united support of the Republican
party, Senator Oliver will undoubt-
edly be reelected, as it will be i'm
possible to crystalline the opposition
on any strong candidate against
him. The western end of the state
will thus have a goodly share of the
larger offices. Beside the Governor
elect, Mr.. Tener, there will be a U.
S. Senator, President pro TEN. of the
| Senate, Speaker of the House, Audi
tor General, and Secretary of the
| Commonwealth.
Governor Tener has not indicated
as to his choice of Cabinet, but he
will retain Secretary McAfee beyond
doubt, as his chief adviser. Mr..
| McAfee thinks and does a whole
| lot, though he talks but little. DR..
| Samuel G. Dixon will be asked to
stay at the head of the Health De-
partment. The salary of this office,
which is $4,000 a year, offers no
inducement whatever to Dr. Dixon,
| for he is comfortably we'll off. He
is moreover well at the top in his
profession and has built up a De-
partment, from the beginning, which
is the envy of many other states in
the Union. He has a great faculty
| for details and keeps thoroughly in
! touch with the vast ramifications of
the largest department on the Hill.
Governor Tener will have the nam
ing of an Attorney General to sue
ceed Mr.. Todd, and this office will
| probably go to a Westerner. There
are also Factory Inspector, Commis-
sioner of Banking, Adjutant Gener-
al, Secretary of Agriculture, Superin-
tendent of State Police, State Libra
rian, Head of the Department of
Mines, superintendent of Public
| Grounds and Buildings, and a lot of
others, with their deputies, and
clerks, several hundreds. These are
wondering what the new Governor
will do, and how he feels on the
question of retention. 1t is inevit-
able that there should be some
changes, but nobody wants to be dis
turbed. Probably not many Berry
supporters will be kept in office and
loyalty to the administration will be
one of the requirements of retention.
This is absolutely right and fair, for
no one should wish or ask to be re-
tanned in Office under an administra-
tion with which he is not thorough
ly in sympathy and to which he can
not give hearty and earnest sup
port
The Keystone party is preparing
for a longer stay in politics than
usual, by parties of this nature. The
year 1911 offers no particular diff
ficulties to that course, as there will
be a number of county offices worth
going after, and the Keystoners de,
veloped considerable strength in
some counties. Will it show the
necessary cohesion to carry 1t ovel
the period when there is no excit
ing campaign? Can 1t survive with
out patronage of any kind? WheI
1912 comes around, with a Presiden
tial campaign, will it continue to dC
business at the old stand? At frs
glance 1t would seem as though the
bulk of its strength, made up from
temporary desertion Of the old par
ties by Republicans and Democrats
for a particular reason, will vot,
! with the old parties in National con
fiicts, unless, (and this is not verl
likely to happen) an OBJECTIONABLE
candidate should be nominated 70
President. Much can happen in
year, but there seems no probabilit,
OF a Keystone party in 1912.
The States fiscal year, whicl
closes on November 80, will show al
income of about twenty-nine mil
: lions, with expenses falling consid
: erably below this. Unless a perio
of hard times should strike us, ther
seems no reason for thinking it vii
go below this figure for some time
, N. K. HAUSE.