Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-01-18
Volcanic BIOU-Up in
Legislature Is Near
Continued from Page One

Legislature Is Near
Continued from Page One
mond and raised as fine a family o.
chilren as could be found north OF th'
Allegheny river.
All the boys we're natural politicians
for they had the Irish love OF fight
1t has filtered through the blood down
to this day and generation.
Henry s. Oliver, courteous and demo
cratic, and universally known as
Harry, was a candidate for the United
States Senate Thirty five years ago, O
prize which his brother, George t
| Oliver, captured n quarter Of century
| later.
Thus il comes that the leaders OF
these two scrapping factions represent
old families of western Pennsylvania.
| The divers have had the money In the
last few campaigns, but Leslie had the
| delegates. Now the former has both the
money and the delegates and Leslie has
the minority group in the legislative
| delegation.
Leslie Losing Strength
To be exact. George s. Oliver, who
Is president Of the corporation pub
fishers of the Pittsburgh Gazette
Times and the Evening Chronicle Tele
graph, has fourteen of the twenty -four
representatives from Allegheny signed
up and delivered. Senator Leslie has
the remaining ten.
In the past Leslie has had the credit
of standing close to Senator Penrose.
up +. V. BabcoCk, wealthy lumbcrman
and amateur in politics. and elected him
mayor Of Pittsburgh. In addition he
carried the City Commission, or Coun-
Gil. with him.
The Oliver newspapers have consist
emily fought Leslie and Babcock be
cause they resented what they termed
the surrender of a high class business
man to the bandishments of an objec-
tionable political combination. Mean
ing, of course, Senator Leslie and his
friends.
There is a consensus Of opinion among
politicians from the West, when they
speak in confidence. that Mayor Bah j..
pyre. That virtually he has numbered
his political days. and all on account
Of Leslie. The fight of the last two
weeks is over certain committee chair
manships and an assistant clerk. There
Is no salary attached to any of these
jobs save one. that OF assistant clerk
to the House. held by J. L. Brackney
which pays S1750 during the session,
and $175 month between sessions.
The Chairmanships carry with them
honor and the opportunity to serve
friends. And that means everything in
politics.
Leaders Swing the Power
To the unsophisticated citizen the
speaker of the House is supposed to
name the standing committees and ap-
point the chairman. He is presumably
assisted in this arduous duty by a slate
committee.
It's all a fiction and political flubdub
The powers behind the throne, the state
leaders, name the committee Chairmcn
and the members as wei.
II 1t were not 30 why this continuous
chatter about Senator Grow, state
chairman Senator Penrose. Governor
Sproul and Auditor General Lewis hav-
ing so much to say in connection with
the various chairmanships and the
petty job of assistant clerk to the House
held by John +. Brackney.
The factional leaders and the state
leaders have appealed to Penrose. With
the wisdom of the serpent he declined
to arbitratc. He passed the buck
straight back to Senator Crow, state
chairman, as official arbitrator Of the
Republican organization.
The dramatic struggle OF the last
forty eight hours Is to get the elusive
buck permanently lodged in some par
ticular place.
New Coalition Looms
No matter what decision is made,
however. there Is going to be bad blood
Ordinarily Senator Crow has been re-
garded as friend Of the divers. IL he
decides in their favor there is well.
grounded suspicion that Leslie will
q ign his forces with the Cunningham
Brown Ware Philadelphia combination.
The lines will then be sharply
drawn. The logic of the situation would
X. Grundy and the Manufacturers As.
sociaton to this junta. But President
Grundv is as canny a politician as ever
came down the old Bethlehem pike. and
he is not declaring himself at this writ
ing.
Senator Penrose is credited with hav-
ing suggested that all old chairmen be
permitted to retain their committees
this season. If this suggestion applies
to the assistant clcrkship. Brackney will
hold his old job Last session Brackncy
was n Leslie man. MS session nc Is
an Oliver man. Now you catch the rea-
son of the bitterness of the fight over
this particular place holder.
Eyre Causing Trouble
1t looks as though PcnrOsc had meas
ured up the situation with an india rub
Der rule.
In the Senate there is an equally SAN
culinary fight over the craftsmanship of
the appropriations committee. Senator
A. +. Daix, of Philadelphia, who was
chairman last session, is, it is said,
spotted to succeed himself.
Objections to his rcappointment have
been filed by Senator 7. Larry Eyre, of
Chester county. Most everybody imag-
ined that Senator Eyre was lukewarm
and Indifferent. but tonight there is
denial of this, not only by his friends
but in Senator Eyre's words and actions.
All of which is additional verihcation
of the fact that the big bubble of har-
mony will presently break.
LlvINGSTONS SEEK DIVORCE