The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1918-12-31
DEMOCRATIC PARTY
STRIFE IS NOW SEEN
THE NORA HERN WING BEGINS
TALKING A BOUT Wrestling
CONTROL. + FROM SOUTH.
PLAN SAID TO BE FAVON~'W
in ADMINISTRATION CMA'lE

However, the SouthernerS Are in
Majority and Will Be on Guard to
Protect Interests-Old Heads Will
Continue to Control.
MACON, Ga. = The Telegraph
prints from its Washington CORE
spondent the folloying highly inter
esting article on the national political
situation, from the democratic stand
point, present and prospective:
When Representative Carter Glass,
of Virginia, became secretary of the
treasury his retirement from the
house of representatives automatical-
ly advanced Michael F. Phelan, of
Massachusetts,, to the Craftsmanship
of the powerful committee on bank
ing and currency. Since the demo-
cratic party came into power in the
house in 1911 this is the first i'm
portant committee Craftsmanship
which has gone to a northern demo-
crat, with the exception of the chair
manship of the appropriations COM
mittee, which was held for several
years by Fitzgerald, of New York.
However, Fitzgerald retired from
congress two years ago, and now
Phelan is the only northern democrat
Boosting a craftsmanship of a COM
mittee of consequence in the house.
That southern democrats should
hold all of the commanding places in
the house in this congress, as it has
in the past two congresses, is the per-
fectly natural outcome of the rule of
seniority which governs the organiza-
ton of committees in both branches
of congress. The southern democrats
stepped into the craftsmanship posts
merely because of their long period
of service in the house, the majority
of southern districts not making
changes in their representation so
long as the congressman faithfully
performs his duties.
Keeping the fact of their long serv-
ice in the background, the republi-
cans have their cry of "The South Is
in the Saddle" and it was this par
tisan playing up of sectionalism
which won many votes for the re-
publicans in the north in the Novem-
Der election. 1t now appears that
the success of this republican trick
has so warped the minds of some of
the leading democrats north of the
Mason and Dixon line that they are
beginning to talk about material
changes in their party organization
in the next house when the republi-
cans take control of things. 1t is their
theory that this will aid in removing
the charge that the democratic party
is local or sectional party, looking
for its existence almost entirely to
the solid south. They profess to be-
lieve this would aid in the election of
democratic president in 1920.
View of an Observer.
That this inter-party strife is not
a mere imagining on my part, let me
quote from the Washington Stars po-
litical writer, who is independent and
one of the keenest observers in the
national capital He wrote the other
day,
Democrats at the capitol have
been interested in the current reports
Of an agitation said to be under way
in the northern wing of the demo-
cratic party to wrest the leadership
of the party and the dictation of pol
lCles in the next congress from the
clement now controlling it.
"The democrats will be in the mi
nority, but they will still "have
hopes" for a comeback in 1920, and
in forward-looking to this possibility
the suggestion for change of con-
troll has been mooted.
ut is said that the idea was put
forward most insistently by some
men in the national management of
the party, and that it was favorably
received in high administration cir
cles.
"Of the 1913 democrats in the next
house only IS will hail from states
outside the solid south, and that num-
Der will be an aggregation of rela-
lively small units. Ten states in the
west will send only one democrat
each; Illinois, only FIVE; Ohio, eight;
leaving Tammany in New York and
the Organization" in Boston and
New Jersey to supply the remainder.
These individual democrats from
the west, standing out like lone pipes
on the mesa of politics against a
oazing background of republicanism,
present a picture of loneliness, how
ever picturesque in the landscape Of
national politics Minnesota, Colora-
90, Kansas, Montana. Nevada, Arizo-
ha-one each. Further east, one in