Daily Kennebec journal., 1911-02-01
Senatorial Contests Of the
Present, Some Of History.
Delaware the Real Mother Of
Variety and Holds Record.
Aevada's Democratic Legislature
Re-sIscis Republican Senator.

Washington. D. c., Jan. 31-(Spe-
ciaD.-The new crop of United States
senators has been pretty well devel-
oped at some 80 state capitol5 during
the last ten days. With a few notable
exceptions, the roster of the Senate
after March can now be made up
and there are several more men, Re-
publicans and Democrats, who become
Of national interest in governmental
affairs.
There has resulted number of dead
locks, however, and 1t may be weeks
before the last Of them has been
broken. Delaware probably has been
the home of more senatorial deadlocks
than any other state in the Union, in
spite of its diminutive size. For a
number of years, about a decade ago,
Delaware had but one and some Of
the time no senators in Congress be-
cause of deadlocks in the legislature.
The recent deadlock, however, was Of
brief duration and Senator Henry
Algernon du Point of Winterthur has
teen reelected.
The three tenacious senatorial dead
locks appear to be in the legislatures
of New York. Montana and Iowa. The
New York legislature, whether Demo-
cratic or Republican, has generally
acted expeditiously in such matters but
this year there has been a departure,
because of the bolt of upstate Demo-
| Gratis against a. Tammany Hall cau-
Gus nominee. A deadlock in Mon
tana's legislature, on the other hand,
is the usual thing. There has been
| much wrangling and much tying into
hard knots in the Montana legislature
over senatorial selections. ever since
that state was admitted into the Union
during the administration of Benja-
min Harrison. The election of one
republican senator and later of one
Democratic senator from Montana was
made the subjects of contest before
! the Senate. Squally proceedings gen.
orally attend the balloting and there
is great difficulty in getting the legis-
lators to agree upon any party ,candi-
date. There are holters galore among
the partsans of that state and the
record OF The legislature has not been
free from eruption and other undue
| influences.
A senatorial deadlock in Iowa, on
the other hand, Is very exceptional
and it is due In the present instance
TO the warfare between the insurgent
and the regular factions. Lafayette
Young, the Des Moines editor and
orator. who came down to Washington
rs the successor of the late Senator
Dolliver on gubernatorial appoint
ment is a regular and the insurgents
are bound to defeat him If they can.
Orderly procedure in legislatures for
the election of United States senator's
has become very general. States that
are proud of their good names before
the rest of the country, whether gov
erned by Republicans or Democrats.
are everse to these senatorial wrangles.
They create a bad impression with the
outside public. In a measure they i'm
pair the prestige of senator. partic-
ularly If the factions carry the war;
fare to the point of instituting con
tests at Washington. In recent years
rantankerous ruction in senatorial
elections have been confined largely
to the newer states of the west
Nevertheless it Is not many years age
that the late Senator Matthew Stan
ley Quay. of Pennsylvania. sought to
take the oath of Office for another
term from Pennsylvania on a certifi-
II was granted after the Pennsylvania
Senate had been deadlocked fo,'
months. Charles Sumner first came
to the Senate from Massa chusetts af-
ter a high old quarrel in the Bay
State legislature, although there was
no cloud upon his title when he pre-
sented himself in the Senate. That.
however. was more than half century
ago.
/ Legislatures in several of the new
i Western states. created during the
Harrison administration, had terrific
! factional fights that were carried to
Washington. This was not altogether
a misfortune. because out of a group
of contests about that time, some mat
ters governing the election of senators
We're finally defined and determined.
| One of these was that when legis-
lature has been confronted with a
senatorial vacancy and for any cause
has failed to I'LL it, the governor Of the
| Continued on Page Two.)