Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-21
PUZZLE TO LEADERS
Hard to Predict Result of War;
ner-LeWis Contest.
KNIVES OUT ON BOTH SIDES
Campaign in Sixth Maryland Dis
trict Has Hardly Opened.
COMPLETELY IN SITUATION
Republican Candidate Will Devote a
Week to Canvassing Allegany
County.
KNIVES OUT ON BOTH SIDES
COMPLETELY IN SITUATION
rial From Staff Correspondent.

| yond venturing the suggestion that the
| contest between David j. Lewis of AL
| legany county and B. III. Warner, jr.,
of Montgomery, for election to Congress
| from the sixth district of Maryland, in
| succession to George H. Pearre, will
| probably be close, it is difficult, if not
| impossible, to make a sane and impartial
| prediction. There SO many condi-
| tions to be reckoned with, so many ele-
| ments of uncertainty; such lack of inter-
est in some quarters and SO much per-
| sonal bitterness in others, that both re-
publican and democratic leaders here in
| Allegany county confess themselves all
| up. in the air.
a political prediction is a dangerous
| thing to fool with, even under the most
| favorable circumstances. With things as
| they are here. and. 1 am told. all over
the rest of the district, guessing be-
comes more difficult than ever.
These conditions naturally didn't come
about of themselves. There are excel
| lent reasons and the details are interest
| ing. But let's have the general situation
| first.
| Although election day is only two weeks
! in the future. the campaign, so far as
| this county is concerned, has hardly be-
gun. Lewis has been gum-shoeing
around a bit. performing the accepted
soft-pedal work of a minority candidate
| and declining the kind offers of Muir
ray Vandiver the democratic state chair
man, who is on the job in Baltimore, to
| ship imported stump talent into the dis
trict to whoop things up.
NO. thanks" he says. THE fewer
meetings and rallies l have the better 1t
| will be for me-.
| Thereby, the sages say, Mr.. Lewis
proved himself a canny citizen. He has
| no objection to light vote at the polls.
/ 1<,x,~
more on that basis than will he. So.
| wherever he isn't forced into activity by
his republican opponent, Lewis is doing
| his campaigning in his own cute way, but
| keeping pretty quiet about 1t.
Warmers Promised Canvass.
Warner, who isn't any too we'll known
in this end of the district. has promised
Charles II. Holman, who is managing
| his campaign in Allegany to spend a
week or SO up here getting acquainted
with folks. He is expected in a day or
so and then the fight may warm up a
| bit. But up to date there hasn't been
so much a flash of red fire up here,
| not a blare of music, not a single OratOri-
cal appeal to voters and patriots and not
| even a suspicion of dollar of campaign
| money.
| Old timers in Cumberland and other
stable towns in the county say 1t has
| been many long year since things were
so quiet only couple of weeks before
election day. General apathy is sitting
on the lid and the campaign yawns and
| stretches and seems unable to stir. But
while this is entirely true of surface
! conditions, there is a tremendous I'M
dercurrent of feeling among the rank
and file of both parties. There will I'M
doubleday be an unusually large stay-at-
| home vote. The fact that this is an off
year will not account for all of it. either,
| for f.
| ly from the handicap of not being par
ticularly popular with their own re-
spective parties. Neither seems able
| to arouse enthusiasm.
| Preparing to Knife the Candidates.
Both have enemies. There are many
men of both parties in Cumberland, and.
| for that matter all through Allegany
county, who solemnly insist they intend
| to be regular at the polls and yet who
| spend most of their spare time sharpen
| ing their knives. 1t is the impossibility
of estimating the stay-at-home vote or
of figuring the number of partisans who
| will knife their respective tickets that
makes 1T so much a matter of pure con-
lecture as to the result.
| Two years ago when Lewis ran against
Representative Pearre the latter won out
by only 500. But he had to contend with
a great deal. In addition to his many
|
| National Liquor Dealers Association by
| his vote for the Littlefield bill in COM
mittee, and that streng organization,
| with the Brewers and the National Man
| ufacturers' Association, poured a lot of
| money into the district against him. An
other big factor that did a great deal to
reduce the Pearre majority was the i'm
| pending judicial election in 1909. There
was an impression that Pearre intend
| ed to become candidate for chief judge
of the fourth judicial circuit of Mary
| land in that year, and an effort was
| made to eliminate him as possible fac
| tor in that contest.
Handicap on Both Candidates.
| Lewis this year will not have the back
| ing and money, to which l have referred,
that was his when he ran against Pearre
before. But this apparent disadvantage
is more than made up by the fact that
neither has Warner Pearre's acquaint-
ance in the district, his intimate knowl-
edge of it, his popularity and his per-
sonal strength And, more than all else,
| Warner is handicapped by the bitter
| enmity that exists between him and
| Pearre and between Warner, senior, and
| ex-senator Wellington, who has mate
rial following. But the personal equa-
| ton that enters so much into this con-
gressioaal fight, particularly in this
county of Allegany, is worth story by
itself and is not to be confused with
|
also will have their effect upon the re-
suit.
Allcgany County the Pivot.
Up here in this end of the district
! good deal of attention has been paid to
| the claim. carefully nursed by the demo-
| Gratis, that Warner is not a bona fide
resident of Montgomery county. This is
| hurting lot and it is to combat this
proposition, get acquainted with the voters
| and efface the pad impression that has
| been made, that the republican candi-
| date has decided to devote at least a
week of the brief lime remaining before
| election to Allegany county. His man
| ayers figure that this is the pivotal
point of his campaign and that he is
| likely to stand or fall on the result in this
| county. II he wins out here, where there
| is bitterness and rancor and an under
| current silent, but strong. of antagOnism
| TO him and to his candidacy and where
| powerful republican influences are all
| but openly being used against him. then
his managers figure, he is safe Ru, n
| this county, which Is normally repubU
| can by a big majority-Pearre having
| carried 1t by 2,G00 in one of his cam
paigns-goes for Lewis, as it did a counla
| of years ago. then it is figured that Texis
will come pretty close to winning out.
Warmers Nomination.
There is no question that the manner
of Warmers nomination is also hurting