The Penn's Grove record., 1911-01-06

some change in the figures now an
nounced. may gain five. But Texas
and Oklahoma, in proportion to their
former standing, gained vastly more
than that, while all the Pacific
states have gained to such extent tnat
they will be almost dominant In the
politics Of the country.
Tho New ApportIonment.
1t has always been customary to put
through the new apportionment at tne
short session, and 1t probably Will Dc
done this time, although there are Ger
tain mutterings on the part OF the
members of the states that Will lose
representatives that may delay &C
ton. That might result In an extra
session, but probably will not, as the
sentiment here Is almost universally
against such a session. Following re-
apportionment the state legislatures
have to redistrict their states. This
will have a certain bearing on the
nominating conventions of the TWO
great parties, because 1t Is the rece-
dent, although not the law, that the
delegations to both the Republican
and Democratic parties should consist
Of twice the number Of the members
Of congress from each state. In the
Democratic party. or for that matter
in the Republican party. with the
enormous increase In the population
of New York and Illinois, that would
add tremendously to the influence OF
those two states. On the other hand
New England, which has always been
very influential in the Republican con-
vention, may find itself somewhat OBJ
secured. The great west, that is to say,
the west which might fairly be COM
pretended as the territory beyond the
Missouri river line, will gain materi-
ally. The aspiring politician looking
for the highest place will have to turn
his face westward In seeking a nomi-
nation, though opinion is general that
in looking for electoral votes the Dem
ocratic candidate at any rate must
look toward the east.
All Blame Roosevelt.
If the opening days Of the last
session Of this Republican con-
gress furnish any indication Of
what 1t may yet do, it will be a
period of much cry and little wool"
And in using that hackneyed quota
ton l have no purpose of referring to
President Taft's hopeless effort to get
the wool tariff reduced. 1t is evident,
however, that it is to be a distinctly
political session. Everybody is talk
ing politics, nobody talking legisla-
ton. OF course that is to some ex'
tent natural when the actual leg1sla-
ton is a matter of committees and the
body of the house merely registers
J the DEGREES handed down from the
committee rooms, in the last few
weeks of the session. So the talk
about the hotel Hobbies hangs much
upon personal politics. Just now 1t
centees very much upon two erst-
while great popular idols-Roosevelt
and Bryan.
After some exper ence, which per
haps my readers will recall, 1 must
admit that Bryan was not very
popular in congress after his 1900
campaign, but the PRESENT feeling Of
thoroughly representative men in the
senate and house concerning Roose-
welt is a revelation and an amazement
to me. Not having seen Senator
Lodge l cannot speak Of his views, but
Of practically every other Republican
in either house Of congress. it is
quite safe to say that he ascribes the
recent disaster to his party mainly to
Roosevelt intemperance of speech in
the very midst of the campaign.
Congressman Denounce Roosevelt.
Politicians are apt to be tickle, and
out of that characteristic springs the
fact that while many of the prominent
newspapers Of the country are still
Loyalty supporting Roosevelt in all
that he says OF does, there is hardly
one man left in congress to do him
reverence. The standpatters who
were defeated denounce him as the
prime cause of their overthrow. The
insurgents with equal wrath declare
that he brought disaster upon their
movement because of his Incorporate
utterances, particularly in those states
in which they expected great gains.
Recently I was talking with two
Republicans who represent the ex-
treme wings of the Republican party.
Said one, an Indiana insurgent and a
devotee of Beveridge, eff Roosevelt
had kept out of our state we would
have saved two OF three congressman
and perhaps pulled Beveridge through,
though the latter would have been
unlikely"
Said the other, who is a thorough
s~tandpatter from California, "Roose-
welt did not come into my district or
state, but he beat me just the same by
his influence. He beat a lot Of tried
and true fellows and we will not
readily forget It,"
Bryan In Similar Position.
Possibly this outline of Republican
sentiment in the rooms of the Capitol
with reference to Roosevelt may seem
to some readers to SAVIOR of personal
partisanship. But %curiously enough
Democratic sentiment here concern
ing Bryan Is expressed in practically
the same phrases. I have already said
that since 1900 Mr.. Bryan has not
been strong with the politicians in
congress. He has had his unfaltering
friends there, though they were very
much in the minority, and he did get
from practically every state with a
solid delegation. in congress its votes
in the 1908 convention. But today the
longtime leader Of the Democratic
party is shorn Of his congressional
following precisely as Roosevelt has
been.
And the two leaders seem to have
suffered these reverses for much the
same reason-namely, a too personal
autocracy and an unwilfingness to
concede anything to the party as a
whole. Bryan fought for an issue in