The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1911-03-25
FACING A CRISIS
PARTY is DIVIDED IN BOTH
HOUSE AND SENATE.
Absence of Team Work-Lack Of
Harmonious Accord With the
President.

President.
Washington, March 17.-Divided
in both house and senate and lacking
unity of action between congress and
the executive.
. This is the remarkable and un-
precedented condition in which the
republican party will find itself upon
the assembling of the sixty-second
congress in extraordinary session,
two weeks from next Tuesday.
In that crippled situation, the ad-
ministration is to attempt to put
through important tariff legislation
and to account to public opinion for
the war maneuvers.
On the eve Of assembling Of what
may prove to be one Of the most i'm
portant sessions Of congress in de-
cade the president and his cabinet
are scattered, the old-time leaders OF
the party in congress are, some Of
them, out of power and those re-
naming are at odds with each other
and with their party associates.
Confronting the republicans is a
comparatively compact democratic
organization, controlling the lower
branch of congress and one many is-
sues dominating the upper house
through the progressive republicans.
And the next presidential campaign
will be In the making a year from
this spring. Old-timers say that the
republican party has not faced a
more critical situation since it's Or
ganization.
Practically Democratic.
But a moments reflection Is re-
auired to appreciate the position of
the republicans in congress. In the
house the democrats have a majority
Of Al. In the senate the republicans
will have g nominal majority Of six,
and it is nominal in every sense, tol
it includes radically progressive re-
publicans, who have not hesitated
in the past to vote with the demo-
Gratis.
To all intents and purposes the
sixty-second congress in practically
democratic. BY the same token, the
president of the United States, while
a republican, is not regarded by many
of his party associates as strictly
partisan. There is no balm in Gilead
for the old-time party man.
GAS to 1912, we are standing be-
fore an open grave" said one Of the
old-line leaders today. He was
Seeing things with vengeance,
but he was viewing them with the
eyes Of 80 years of experience.
Lack Of Accord With President.
The republicans in congress feel
keenly the lack of harmonious ac-
cord with the president. TEAM
work" they declare to be essential to.
party success, and there Is not the
remotest indication Of it.
1t has been told before how the
republicans in congress felt the pres
ident's ignoring them in the presen-
tation of the Canadian reciprocity
agreement. With the sole exception
of Mr.. Mccall of Massachusetts, the
republicans in the house obtained
their information Of the progress or
those negotiations from the daily
press, and the senate, except Mr..
Lodge, did the same.
In this pending Mexican incident
the republicans of prominence, who
will be supposed to defend the ad-
ministration against the certain AT
tacks of the opposition, have yet, 1t
Is said, to be taken into the conf
dence of the executive.
And they cannot find out, they
complain, from the members Of the
cabinet, either, for, with the excep-
tion of Attorney General Wickersham
and Secretary Dickinson, the cabinet
does not seem to know much about
the Mexican incident. And these two
have been out of town most Of the
time since the movement began.