Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-06-09
PENRosE's NEW ACTIVITY
He 10 Interfering In state Legislative
Affairs More Vigorously Than for
Years-FoilowIna ouay's
Example az a Reformer
BY GEORGE NOx MCCAIN

/
| BY GEORGE NOX MCCAIN
| TNHE conspicuous political feature at Har-
L risburg, aside from the legislative ferment
attending the Philadelphia charter fight, has
been the return to active leadership OF Sena-
| tor Boies Penrose. 1t has been one OF the
leading topics Of conversation among the
older members of the regular organization.
The vigor of his frontal attack on the Ware
forces was not the least interesting phase
| Of IL.
1t has been a long while since the senator
manifested such a personal and active In
terest in legislative problems.
! OF somewhat phlegmatic temperament,
he has in the past exhibited a dsinclination
for the work of energetic leadership.
l. Since the introduction of the charter bill
this tendency, however, has been shed like
seal coat on a midsummer day.
Last week IL went to the extent of peeling
| his waistcoast and rolling up his sleeves.
This week Mr.. Winston and his colleagues
hope he will strip to the buff.
| CENAToR PENROsE did not introduce
~ any new elements Of strategy In his at
tack on the Ware influence.
The late Senator Quay might have been at
inc nelW SO 1Hr rs metnOu was CouSerucu.
The melee thus far has been conducted
upon we'll recognized lines.
Members of House and Senate were In
vited to his headquarters in the Penn Harris
Hotel. where he held continuous reception
and incidentally dropped few orders.
County leaders were wired to come to Ear.
risburg n
Previously several county leaders had been
summoned to Washington. Individually
they were instructed to get their representa-
tves and senators in line for the Philadel-
phia charter.
Up to the present. with the exception Of
two or three dents, the line has presented an
| unbroken front.
THERE is no doubt that Senator Pen
roses recent coup at Washington, where,
after weeks of skilful and tireless maneuver-
ings. he captured the coveted chairmanship
Of the finance committee of the Senate, has
made a deep impression on the state rank
and file.
Penrose today is a commanding figure IN
national politics the chairman Of one OF the
most powerful committees in the Senate;
and this feeling is not so much for the posi-
tion itself as admiration for the GOODNESS and
nerve he displayed throughout the contest.
His repeated assertions during the struggle
with the progressives that he would win, his
serene confidence in the outcome and his i'm
perturbability under the FIRE Of Senator
Borah have had pronounced effect among
the "regulars.'
He has strengthened himself with the inde-
pendents by his support of the Woodward
bill. even though the element of factional re-
venge may play its part.
The late Senator Quay on several occa-
sions outreformed reformers in his support
of their measures.
Senator Penrose, however, Is for the Re
publican organization in Pennsylvania, and
if he fights uncompromisingly for reform in
Philadelphia. it will be because he sees in it
something of decided benefit to himself or
his party.
0UAY'S reform movements sometimes had
W reflex action. five-line telegraphic
dispatch last week noted the death Of Will
liam D. Wallace. Few outside those in state
politics would recognize the name as that of
a late candidate for the Superior Court
bench.
Back in the late eighties. W. D. Wallace,
known to his friends as BILL" a tall, sandy
haired. affable young lawyer of thirty two,
was the Republican leader in Lawrence
county.
The election of members to the Fifty first
Congress was at hand. Quay was particu-
larly interested in the nomination and cleo
ton of Charles c. Townsend, manufac-
turer of Beaver county and a clean cut gen.
tleman.
But "Bin'' Wallace was making trouble
for him in Lawrence county with a candidate
who, If recall, was Oscar L. Jackson. a
gentleman past middle age and of peculiar
taste in dress.
Senator Quay wired me asking that I so
out and look into certain cases of political
bribery in Lawrence county. l went, and
discovered several instances where money
had been openly used I published all the
facts, and subsequently, believe. two of the
men implicated were given short Jail SEN
tences. Wallace, the party leader, who
Quay insisted was behind the transaction,
escaped the net but was embittered against
Quay for years.
The people of Lawrence resented Quay's
incursion into the realm of reform they had
sympathy for Wallace, and at the next re-
apportionment, when Lawrence county was
made separate judicial district, they
elected him judge.
Quays friend, Townsend, won the fight for
Congress. but served only one term.
Wallace was more or less active in politics
until the last election for Superior Court
judges retiring after his defeat. 1t is inti-
mated he never got over his failure to gain a
seat on the Superior Court bench.
Democracy That Falls to Function
The world, we understand, is now safe
for democracy. Ergo-let us now indulge in