The Washington times., 1911-08-13
CAUCUS SECRETS
OUT, SHOW SPLIT
IN DEMOCRACY
Ominous Signs of Trouble in
Ranks of House
Majority.
CONTINUED from First PaseN


quite, exhausted, Speaker Clark, who
had not heretofore participated in the
debate. offered a resolution approving
the cotton schedule, and then declaring
1t to be the policy of the party to enter
upon the revision of the steel, sugar,
and other schedules of the tariff.
Mr.. Sisson Immediately withdrew his
resolution, and announced that he WOULD
support the Speakers proposition. Mr..
Underwood objected, and said, in effect,
that the Clark resolution was in effect
the same thing as that offered by Mr.
Sisson; that the mere omission Of the
time limit did not essentially change
its character; but that it was objec-
tionable because 1t might be taken to
mean that the Ways and Means Com
mittee had not at all times intended to
bring In bills for the revision of every
schedule.
By this time the whole course of the
debate had turned upon the proposition
of when to revise-nOt what TO revise.
The problem of adjournment was up
permost in the heads of q majority, and
every proposition that sQuinted at get
ting away was hailed with delight,
At the same time Mr.. Underwood en-
phasized the pledge not to move an
adjournment until after submitting the
proposition to the caucus.
: When the vote was taken on the
Clark resolution tremendous chorus of
Noes sealed its fate. Mr.. Sisson de-
manded a roll call. but cries of No,
Mo- We don't want a record vote
on this" and the like. swept over the
assemblage, and not a sufficient num-
Der arose to procure the roll call.
Merely a Postponement.
In the minds of a large majority of
the members Of the caucus the action
taken was not in any sense a refusal to
proceed to revise the steel and sugar
schedules, bat merely a postponement
Of the whole question of whether or not
to GO farther than the cotton schedule
at this session until after the fate of the
wool and the free list bills should be
determined.
Had not Mr. Bryan seen fit to take up
the cudgels in behalf of the defeated
Clark resolutions, it is to be doubted
whether any echo of that caucus would
now be audible in the political world.
That Mr. Bryan had made a mistake
as to the temper and purpose of the
caucus in voting down the Clark reSolu-
tion prev ented the friends of the Ne
oraskan from making any fight at the
time, and, indeed. all of them were anx-
ious to have Mr.. Underwood vindicate
himself. But at the same time they
were not willing to have the country
accept as true the widespread statement
that they had repudlated the leadership
OF Bryan and had turned to follow in
the footsteps of Underwood.
Privately and earnestly, a great MANY
House Democrats resolved that they
would take the first opportunity to show
that they were followers OF Mr.. Under
wood insofar as he is progressive and
no farther.
The significant feature of the whole
thing is that the questions discussed in
the secret caucus that started all the
trouble are yet unsettled, that the
brought before a Democratic caucus,
and that the whole thing is yet to be
threshed out
AZ soon as that caucus meets some
one will hove to open the doors ami
let in the press.
Bryan for Open Caucus.
If the other caucus had not been Sc
cret there would have been no trouble.
Mr.. Bryan is preaching for an open
caucus and an open vote.
He has many and powerful friends in
the House even yet, and this question
is one that is certain to arise
Whether the two factions in the
House will line up on the question of
the secret caucus, or whether the di-
vision will be postponed until the win
ter session, when measures affecting
corporations will come up, cannot yet
be told.
But the division is there and 1t is
certain to manifest itself.
Wise men among the Democrats are
now counting noses to see whether the
biggest crowd will be under the Clark
banner, or behind the eagles of Under
wood
To be an anti-BTyan Democrat re-
QuireS rare amount of courage in
many sections of the land from whence
come Democratic members of Congress.
There has not been a time since 1896
that there have not been scores of DEM
ocratiC Representatives who would cuss
Bryan and Bryanism in the safe sane
tuary of the Capitol cloalIrooms, only to
forswear themselves and worship him
and his works on the stump at home.
There was many a man who yelled
VociferoUslY in the anonymous chorus
when Oscar Underwood called BRYAN a
liar, who would suffer his right arm to
be cut off before he would go on record
as against the things that Bryan STANDS
for. In politics, and in other forms Of
life self-preservation is the first law OF
nature.
1t would be foolish to accept the vote
on the Clark resolution In the secret
caucus, or the testimonial to Mr. Under
wood on the floor of the House, as the
real measure of strength between the
Democratic factions. The test is yet
to come.