The Springdale news., 1913-01-17
BROUGHT FACTIONS TOGETHER IN ORGANIZATION OF THE LEGISLATURE.

Little Rock. Jan. 13.-The bien- nial assault upon the Kirby Digest Is now being made. The 39th ses- sion of the Arkansas General As sembly opened at noon Monday, and by the will of the people must com plete its business and adjourn in sixty days. And there is work a plenty to be done, one of the great est tasks being the election of a United States Senator to succeed the late Jeff Davis. And thereby hangs many a tale.
 The organization of both houses Was in better shape al the conEen- ing Monday than it had been for many years previously. By Wednes- day of the preceding week the =eo- horts of the various candidates be- gan their alignment, and by Friday night the Speakership and the Presidency were settled, and the two bodies We're ready 10 enter up on the task of selecting the minor officers from among the horde of applicants
 The fine Italian hand Of the Lo- noke statesman Kas seen through out the preliminaries, not openly espousing the cause of any, but shredwly directing through the med ium of his friends. and from the first he seemed to have tbe s5taa- ton well in hand
 The first to be settled was the Presidency of the Senate. There were three candidates Tor the place. 4. c. Martin of Faulkner. l. Raney of Independence, and N k. oldham of Eonoke-It vas known bg all that Senator Oldham, k1ns- man of Gov Robinson. was his can dtdate But tie vote was pretty well divided up among the three, with Raney probably having more pledges than either of the others Then Martin, realizing that he could not win, withdrew, and his supporters went in body into the Oldham camp, giving him a strong lead over the Independence county man, who was forced to admit his defeat This was looked upon by all as a Robinson victory. and many predictions were made that it would have no small bearing upon the election of a Cnited States Senator.
 Should Gov Robinson go to the Senate-and his friends insist there is no chance of his losing Senator Oldham will be acting gov ernor from March 1 for the sixty days that would elapse before the holding of the special election for governor In this connection t is interesting to note that Gov Rob inson is related 10 the late Gov. James F Eagle, to whom Senator Oldham is also related by marriage and Lonoke county will therefore have the unique distinction of sup plying three governors for the state from one of it's distinguished fami- lies.
 Speakership to Judge Hardage
 This being disposed of, attention was then given to the Speakership of the House. In this there were also three candidates, Judge Jo Hardage of Clark. Hon Carroll Armstrong of Conway, and s A Miller Of Jefferson MT Armstrong was years ago chairman of the State Democratic Committee, and a prominent factor in Arkansas poli- tics. He was the choice of Gov Robinson for the place.
 But Judge Hardage, of Arkadel- phia, who was member of the the Donaghey administration, had a better organization among the mem bers. and could count at least for ty loyal supporters A combination of the Armstrong-Mil forces would have defeated Hardage. but they refused to combine. Hardage was the second choice among enough of the representatives supporting Armstrong and Miller to prevent any coalition, and it was seen very early in the game that the Clark county statesman was in control
 Breaks began early Friday, and the withdrawal during the afternoon of Armstrong and Miller. and the Hooking of their support to Hard age settled the contest to the sat isfaetion of all. A love-feast was held Friday night in Miller's head quarters at the Marion Hotel. and Judge Hardage was declared the unanimous nominee of the caucus for Speaker. Judge Hardage thank