The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-20
SENATOR'S KICK ON WILSON'S ATTITUDE TOWARD PATRONAGE O'Gorman, Maritime and Reed Have Been Offended
 by Appointments M'ADOO STIRS UP
 IRE OF SENATORS. Senate Has Accordingly Refused Flatly to Confirm Wilson's Appoint ment for District Attorney in
 Western New York

Washington, December I9-(Spe-
 cial)-Flat refusal by the Senate to
 confirm President Wilson's nomlnes for
 United States district attorney for
 western New York has led on the one
 hand to wild assertions that the ma
 jority members in the senior chamber
 are in revolt againht the White House
 and on the other to claims that 1t is
 @ tempest in teapot and not an in-
 dication of insurrection. The truth
 probably lies between the two ex- tremes.
 In the final analysis, however, 1t
 may be said that the friction has been
 generated by the President permitting
 Secretary McAdoo of the treasury to
 guide the administrators political
 course not only in this case. but in sew
 eral similar instances. also. Moreover,
 while Postmaster General Burleson Is
 conceded to be, and is accepted ns the
 political manager of the administra-
 tion. Secretary McAdoo has been en- croaching on his grounds and appro-
 priating some of his prerogatives.
 And in every case in which McAdoo
 has stuck his finger In the pie. trou-
 ble has resulted. Besides the direct
 slap at Senator O'Gorman given in the
 nomination of John L. Ryan for district attorney, stinging blow has been
 to Senator Maritime in the selection of
 8 collector of the port at Camden, N. J.,
 an uppercut to Senator Blair Lee in
 the prospective nomination for col
 lector of the port at Baltimore, and
 dig in the shortribs to Senator Reed
 in the choice of United States mar
 shal for western Missouri. There are
 numerous minor cases likewise.
 Loyal Administration Men But the cases in which O'Gorman and Lee and Maritime are involved are made doub1y serious through the fact that
 all three have been loyal administra- ton men. True, OGorman voted against the free tolls' repeal and Mar tine once left the reservation for min ute, but on the whole, they have stood by the President, and in their home states Lee and Maritime are regarded as representatives of the Wilson ele- ments In opposition to the "organiza- ton" or ring" clioues. Thus. the ig- noring of Maritime and Lee Is regarded in their states as direct and unquall- fled slaps at the Wilson element, rather than at the two senators as individ- uals, and the result will reach widely | into those commonwealths, instead of being confined to the capitol or the Sem ate office building in Washington. Personally, Lee and Maritime, and probably O'Gorman, would take the blows without bitter retaliation, even with equanimity, but the elements which they represent in their respec- tive states will not be so complai- sant.
 Reed Is apt to take the slight per- sonally also, and Reed is not the man to turn the other cheek to the smiter. He can make trouble and 1t now looks as though he were determined to do so. And if there is one word which the administration would like to strik c from the dictionary it is that very word trouble"
 May Endanger Measures Beyond all this, possible trouble these senators will come at time when one or two of the administration meas | ures are teetering on the ragged edge | of defeat. Tho ship purchase bill is so threatened in the House that the White House proposes first to pass il l through the Senate and send it to the l junior chamber with that much pres | tige but now 1t looks as though II
 might fail first in the Senate. For in- | stance. 1t is understood that Senator l Bankhead and other good democrats and administration men are opposed to l the measure, so gratuitous affronts to 1 men like O'Gorman, Lee and Maritime 1 come at an inopportune moment. l Clouds much bigger than a mans hand also have arisen in the House