The Monticellonian., 1918-11-15
CONGRESS CLAIMED
 BY BOTH PARTIES
CAMPAIGN MANAGERS TRYING TO
 FIGURE OUT VICTORY, BUT GUESSING IS DIFFICULT.
PEOPLE ARE TOO APATHETic
Passage of Deficiency Appropriation Bill Shows the House Is Unanimous for Carrying the War to a Success ful Conclusion.
By ARTHUR w. DUNN.


 Washington.-Bot parties are care fully figuring up how they are gong to control the next senate and me next house. And it is q year when u is more difficult to guess what Will happen in politics than at any time within the past 30 years. One req son is the absence of interest by the people. No one can tell how much or a falling-otf there is going to be i'll the vote in certain sections and certain communities. The stay-at-home vote may decide the election. Ordinarily when the two parties are so evenly balanced it might be assumed thai there would be as many of one party remaining away from the polls as in the other. but this may happen lh streaks; or it may be that the people in one congressional district are par tieularly interested in a candidate and will go to the polls to support him. The same thing may happen in regard to the election of senators. The lack of interest which the people have shown thus far in the elections has caused great deal of uncertainty. It is the same old story about general apathy which is often heard just be- fore an election.
 But this does not discourage the men who are in charge of the differ ent political campaigns from figuring up their gains and losses. To win the senate the Republicans must hold all the seats they have now and elect five members in place of Democrats. They claim to have three seats surely secure and a good chance to win in five or six other states. On the other hand the Democrats claim that the Republicans stand to lose some of their members now in the senate and say it is not possible for the Republi- cans to make a sufficient number of total gains to win the senate. The situation in regard to the house is still more uncertain, as the guesSwork Is entirely about various congressional districts which both parties claim they will carry. As usual, the claims of the party managers will be made right up to the time the voting begins
 Speaker Clark announced that the big deficiency appropriation bill, car. rying over $7,0O0, ,000,0 900 for the support of the war, passed the house unani- mously. It is a fact, however, that if there had been a demand for a roll call the bill could not have passed un- til hurry-up order was sent to get a quorum. Many times during the not more than 50 members present and it is doubtful whether there were more than 50 of the 435 members in the house when the bill passed unani. mOusly. Of course the same unani- nous vote would have been given the house had been present. This only goes to show that the house is abso- lutely unanimous for carrying on the war tD a successful conclusion.
 The senator or representative who opposes what a department wants in the matter of legislation, and particu- larly in the matter of appropriations, is likely to hear from home Many of the departments have agents in all the states and districts and these agents are generally informed by some one in the departments as to the atti- tude of senators and representatives. Not long ago western senator op- posed number of appropriations that were regarded as eXtravagant. It was not long until he began to hear from home that he was making himself un- popular by fighting certain appropria- tions which were demanded by the de- partment interested, and part of which would be expended in his state. The federal government has quite long arm, and in these matters there is no partisan politics. The particular sena- tor who is referred to here happened to be Democrat.
 From time to time there is a little discussion by public men and in vari ous publications concerning the problems that will come to the United States after the war. One which should receive attention, but is not likely to get very much owing to the pressure of other matters, is that which we denominate our melting pot" This melting pot has not been large enough to accommodate the great rush of people that have come to our shores in the years before the war. Perhaps there has not been a sufficient desire on the part of immigrants to be- come Amerieanized. Probably q great many of these immigrants entertained hopes that at some time they would leave this country and return to their old homes. At all events, the melting pot has not been altogether successful.
 No doubt the war will have great deal to do with Americanizing many foreigners. It is known that the for. eign element in the army was practi- cally uninformed regarding the war, its causes. or why the United States was interested in the contest. Many of the foreigners in this country are now in terested in the war simply as it affects
 Ancestry Tells.