The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-04-06
IT'S INTERESTING!
Mayor House of Capital Staff
Sends Out a STARTER.
Capper-fOr-SenatOr "FeeIer" Is
sued to Kansas Voters.
FORESHADOWS CHIEFS DESIRE
To Succeed the Democrat Now
in Senate.
"StiIl Diffident and Shy, but
Likes to Shake Hands,"
CHIEFS DESIRE

Mayor ]. E. House of the editorial
staff of the Topeka Capital this week
sends out to various Kansas state
dailies an extremely Interesting and
naively important political announce
ment, which apparently is designed to
be --feeler'' and in any event is i'm
portant. Mr.. House says over his own
signature the following which appear
ed last evening in the Atchison Globe
and other dailies:
Governor Capper will be renomi-
mated without opposition. So will
Lieutenant Governor Morgan, Score
tary of State J. T. Botkin and Attorney
General Brewster. Except in the Sec
ond and Sixth districts, the selection
of a candidate for congress on the Re
publican ticket is formality. The
names of the various Republican can
didateS in the six districts are as de-
finitely known now as they will be the
week after the primary. And in the
Sixth and Second. the contests are not
such as to involve the party as a
whole in any factional alignment. The
Republicans must wait until 1918 for
another big row and the senatorial
campaign will furnish it
Expects to Try for 1t.
"Chas. F. Scott already has announc-
ed his candidacy for the Republican
nomination 1t has been known for
months that he would be a candidate.
1t is practically certain that D. r.
Anthony will run, and nobody doubts
that Governor Capper expects to try
for the gonfalon, or whatever it is.
So far as is known, the governor
hasn't mentioned the senatorship to
a living SOUL but the external evidence
all tends to indicate that he expects
to get in, and the seventh sense with
which every keen politician is en-
dowed confirms the external evidence.
Governors '.Metamorphosis.'
The metamorphosis which the gov
ernor has undergone is one of the in
teresting developments of Kansas
politics. Ten years ago he was a very
quiet, modest person upon whom the
jewels of diffidence and shyness sat
with much grace. Indiscriminate
handsha king was an ordeal to him, a
public speech was his most painful
experience. The governor still is mod
est. and quiet, diffident and shy. But
he has become one of the most expert
of handshakers and public appear
ances on the rostrum are where he
really lives and has his being In
other words, he likes the political
game 1t has become his chief in
with which. and leisure in which 20
play it, nobody believes he has any
intention of giving up his faEorite in
door and outdoor sport at the end of
his second term as governor.
The Governor and the Former Senator.
friends, who scented if they did not
actually trail the trend of his ambi-
ton, believed at the time it was made,
that his appointment of Joseph L.
Bristow to place on the public utili-
ties commission was bad politics from
the standpoint of the gubernatorial
ambition They figured that Bristow
would be a candidate for senator to
succeed Thompson They also figured
that as chairman of the utilities board
he would be able to keep himself in
the public eye and store up much val
liable publicity for himself 1t was
feared that he might thus overshadow
his boss and, at the least, divide his
legitimate following. That particular
gig on the future hasn't worked out
Bristow has done himself no good
politically on the utilities commission.
In fact, he has receded to his ebb tide
in politics. The political dopesters all
believe he is through. And while
he may continue to entertain the am
bition to get back to Washington, no.
body now believes he is going to cut
deeply into anybody's strength in the
campaign in 1918.
Has a Triangular Look.
At this distance the senatorial fight
looks like triangular contest Scott
and Anthony are from the same camp
Their friends are mutual. Both were
regulars in the period of internecine
STRIFE on paper II looks as though
Capper. if he decides to run, would
have the call on the vote OF the Pro-
gressive faction and the better chance
to win But the paper prospect does
not work out when analysed.
THE governor is not as strong polit-
ically as he was in 1914 His has been
the common lot of governors. He has
made a lot of enemies and few par
ticularly enthusiastic friends. If he
runs for the senate he will get moth
ing from those now in control of the
Republican organization. Their sup
port of him was always negative It
is very lukewarm now Their fight
will not be so much to nominate either
Scott or Anthony as it will to prevent
the governor from being nominated
Political combinations now in force
and those made during the next
eighteen months will have much to do
with the result of the senatorial con-
test. These observations are, OF course,
purely suppositions- The only GER