Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1914-05-22
Controversy Lost Job.

The Washington correspondent of tn
Baltimore Sun, under date of May 18th
says:
Marylands patronage controversy has a
last spread to the Commissioners of tn,
Districtof Columbia, just as it has been be
lieved it ultimately would do.
The first clash between the forces o
Senator John Walter Smith and Senate
Blair Lee over District job has come t.
light following the appointment of JohT
II. Sherman, superintendent of weights
measures and markets.
Mr.. Sherman, who is a native of Vir
ginia. but who was recommended for thi:
office by the Department of Agriculture
after the Marylanders had tried in vain tC
interest the Commissioners in their can
didates. succeeds the late Col. W. C. Haskell
The appointment has just been announced
AS soon as Colonel Haskell died, accord
ing to the story which is being told in
official circles to-day. friends of both Sena-
tor Smith and Senator Lee set about cap
turing the place. 1t pays $4,000 yeaI
and the man who holds the office has to
do with hundreds of truckers and others
who have business in the various markets
of Washington.
Most of these truckers, milkmen and
vegetable vendors, by the way. come from
Montgomery county. the home of Senator
Lee, and the most stubborn battle ground
of the Lee and anti-Lee forces in the whole
State. To have man friendly to either
faction was recognized by the leaders as
being desirable.
Accordingly the friends of Senator John
Walter Smith, acting with the advice and
cordial sympathy of the Senator himself,
put forward Preston B. Ray, of Montgom-
cry county, staunch supporter of the
organization in the State.
Senator Smith is chairman of the Dis
trict Committee of the Senate and is COM
monty called the Mayor of Washington. "
As such he has great influence with the
Commissioners Of the District. He is the
AhNoN iotShh ohi6iC idNtOl
of Congress in so far as District of Column
bia appropriations are concerned. and it is
not a pleasant thing. therefore. foe the
Commissioners to turn the Marylander
down in small matters of patronage.
No sooner was Mr.. Ray placed in the
running as an aspirant for the District
Office than the friends of Senator Blair
Lee became busy. They realized the ad-
vantage of having Lee man on this par
ticular job
1t is not officially announced. but it is
generally understood that Andrew J. Cum
mings, Delegate in the Maryland Legisla-
ture from Montgomery county and Lee
man. was put forward for the considera-
ton of the Commissioners. Mr.. Cummings
had been suggested as possible member
of the District Excise and as qualified for
a number of other District offices, but for
some reason or other was not appointed
With each of these forces fighting for
the favor Of the three District Commits
siOners, these officials were hard pressed.
They did not want to offend Senator Smith.
That would obviously have been bad policy
and at the same time they did not want
to give offense to Senator Lee.
The junior Senator has strong affiliations
in Washington. He has much property
here. practices law in this city and is
friendly with all the bigger banking and
business factors of the capital. In fact,
he has, from the day of his election, been
regarded with proprietary interest by the
people of Washington and has been looked
upon as the Senator from the District Of
Columbia"
1t was not, therefore, an agreeable thing
for the Commissioners to turn down Sena
tor Lee. and they were in a dilemma.
They were not bound by any official obli-
CATION to recognize Maryland at all. or
any other State. for that matter. Neither
did they feel called upon to show favoritsm
to either of the Democratic factions of the
State.
After figuring it all out the Commission
ers decided to leave Maryland entirely out
of it. They conferred with the Bureau of
Markets of the Department of Agriculture
and asked for a scientific man for the place.
Such man was produced. That he was
a native of Virginia was merely an acct
dent. That States claim had no weight
in the matter whatever.
II there had been no controversy between
the two Maryland Senators over the Office
the State would have undoubtedly landed
it. The Commissioners would probably
have welcomed an opportunity to show
their esteem for the Maryland statesmen,
but they hesitated to be friendly to one
at the expense of the other.