Omaha daily bee., 1915-01-04
RICHMOND HOLDS
OWN WITH FIELD
FOR SPEAKERSHIP
Douglas County Representative at
Lincoln Contending Against All
Candidates in Race.
OTHERS ARE NOT COMBINING
All Aspirants on the Scene, but
Fight Has Not Reached the
Stage of Finality.
JACKSON AND FRIES TALKED OF
Howard County Democrat Mentioned
as Having Strong Backing.
SENATE FIGHT IS DIGNIFTED
Caucus of Members VIII he Held
Monday Night, when Decision
win he Reached as to
the winner.
JACKSON AND FRIES TALKED OF
Howard County Democrat Mentioned
as Having Strong Backing.
SENATE FIGHT IS DIGNIFIED
CFrom a staff Correspondentl

(From a staff Correspondent
TiNCOLN Jan. 3. - (Special) There
has been very little change I'm the speak
ership fight. The candidates for the offices
are all on the ground and IT is still the
field against Richmond, with a possible
change in sentiment toward George
Jackson. However, the change is small
and unless the field unites upon some
one who can pull the combined vote of
ali the other candidates It still looks like
RichTaond.
Some of the candidates themselves IL
they cannot land, are liable to go to
Richmond as a second choice. and for
that reason there is not much chance
of get-to-gether against the Omaha
statesman, unless some new man is
sprung, who will not only draw most
Of the votes of the field. but perhaps
draw a few from Richmond. The Rich
mond line is a sturdy one and it may
rot be possible for the allies to reach
the trenches and scatter the forces with
any chance of victory for themselves.
Fries May BE Surprise.
There is some Norton talk, but it has
not reached a stage where it is strong
enough to stand alone. The most for
Inidable dark complexioned animal. which
has appeared so far is the candidacy of
Soren Fries, the Howard county gentle
man. 1t is said that the corporation
influence is behind an effort to put Fries
into the fight at the proper time 1t is
also rumored that the Sink k-Benton COM
bnation is back of the scheme to- put
Fries across, but so far the scheme is
in it's incipiency with Trumble Of Sher-
man. acting as chief OF staff and envoy
extraordinary.
Few Combinations Yet.
The fight so far has not developed
any very strong combinations, but that
may come before midnight tonight. There
are rumors OF tie-ups, most of them so
improbable that they do not get very
far. One Is Jackson and Potts for
speaker and chief clerk. Another Is
Davis and Gone for chief clerk and
first assistant. Still another says Fries
for speaker and Cone for chief clerk.
But these are only rumors and have not
reached far. The two leading candidates
for speaker and chief clerk, Richmond
for speaker and McKissick for clerk, do
not seem to have entered into any COM
bine with anybody and they are still
standing on their own foundation and
making the fight so far without any
tie-ups with other candidates.
In the Senate.
There is no change either In the sem
ate fight. il the condition can be called
q fight. Senator Oils seems to still stand
well with the members. who have ar
rived. Senator Kohl came in late last
night from Wayne, but says he IS maxi
ms no fight for the presidency of the
senate. Senator Grace had not arrived
at o'clock this afternoon and so II
Is probable that the scrap for position
ia the dignified end .; the legislature
will not reach an undignified state.
Howard and NeEIey Arrive.
John I. Negley of Omaha was the only
member of the Douglas county delega-
tion, who had put in an appearance to-
day at noon, except Jerry Howard, who
has been here since Monday. Mr.. Neg
ley is at the Lincoln, where most of the
democratic members are holding forth,
although the Lindell appears to be the
mecca, where most of them congregate
after getting their bearings. This Is prob
ably due to the fact that the Linoell Is
republican headquarters and the members
see the need of the right kind of instruc-
ton to start them out on right lines OF
legislation,
legislative Program.
A meeting has been called tomorrow at
$3.50 in the afternoon to discuss the pro-
gram of running the legislature laid
down by the legislative committee. APP
pointed at the last session. The matter
is being much discussed and most of the
members are for the simplified new
method. which calls for less work and
fewer expert assistants.