The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 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.

BY ARTHUR w. DUNN.
Washington.-Both parties are care
fully figuring up how they are going
to control the next senate and the
next house. And 1t is a year when 1t
is more difficult to guess what will
happen in politics than at any time
within the past 80 years. One rea-
son is the absence of interest by the
people. No one can tell how much Of
a faslng-off there is going to be in 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 that
there would be as many of one party
remaining away from the polls as In
the other, but this may happen in
streaks; or II may be that the people
In one congressional district are par
Iticularly 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. 1t
Us the same old story about general
apathy which is often heard just be-
fore IN 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
hve members In place Of Democrats,
They claim to have three seats surely
secure and 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 1t is not possible for the Republi-
cans to make q 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 $1,000, 900, 900 for the support
of the war, passed the house unani-
mously. It Is a fact, however, that II
there had been a demand for a roll
call the bill could not have passed I'M
til hurry-up order was sent to get
a quorum. Many times during the
consideration IF this bill there were
not more than 80 members present
and It Is doubtful whether there were
more than so 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
bill II all of the membership Of the
house had been present. This only
goes to show that the house is abso-
lutely unanimous for carrying on the
war to successful conclusion.
The senator or representative who
opposes what a department wants in
the matter Of Legislation, and particu-
larry 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 senator's and representatives
Not long ago western senator OPP
posed number Of appropriations that
were regarded as extravagant. 1t was
not long until he began to hear from
home that he was making himself I'M
popular by fighting certain appropria-
lions which we're demanded by the de-
partment interested. and part Of which
would be expended In his state. The
federal government has quite a long
anu III GtCcC AhutANAn lAACAG 10 A4o
partisan politics. The particular sena-
tor who IL referred to here happened
to be O Democrat.
From time to time there Is q little
discussion by public men and In vari-
GUS 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 sufficient
desire on the part of immigrants to be
come Americanized. Probably a great
many Of these Immigrants entertained