The Olympia Senate Fight: Ankeny vs. Wilson, with a Seattle Lawyer as Spoiler

OLYMPIA, Jan. 19.—Many of the bills and several members remain in both houses, having adjourned until Monday. All of the senatorial candidates did not leave, however. Together with their lieutenants, they remain in the field to see that every line of attack is prepared for the contest on Monday evening, an engagement which may prove fatal to the chances of many of the opposing forces, or which, on the other hand, may possibly be merely a preliminary to the great contest that will come off next Tuesday.

The Ankeny and Wilson forces, preponderating so largely in numbers, naturally attract the most attention to the final outcome, but both express the utmost confidence. No one considers seriously the chances of Allen, McBride, Jones or the other two avowed candidates. Not a single well-posted man in Olympia can be found today who has an idea that any one of the four candidates can be elected. It is a square fight between Ankeny and Wilson.

That Ankeny is far in the lead is conceded by all except the extreme friends of Wilson. Even a large number of Wilson's managers admit that Ankeny has by far the better of it, but claim that Allen's candidacy has impaired Ankeny's strength without weakening Wilson's, and that if Ankeny is not elected on the first ballot his followers will go to Wilson, and that the Spokane congressman will be elected with a rush. They maintain that Allen's work here in the hotel latter two weeks has had a disintegrating influence on the Ankeny forces without affecting Wilson's, and their main belief in the possibility of election lies in the hope that Allen has weakened Ankeny to such an extent that he cannot be elected on the first ballot, and that then Wilson will have carried the caucus before any one realizes he has done it.

Many of Allen's sincere friends here deprecate his attitude in this matter. He allowed the belief to become prevalent throughout the entire state that he was not a candidate for the Senate, and yet at the last moment he appears at Olympia and begins his candidacy. For the past six months Ankeny and Wilson have been openly and arduously working, while Allen remained almost silent. He is now attempting to reap the harvest which he has not sown, and his course is being strongly commented on account of its extreme unfairness.

During the past week the sentiment favorable to Ankeny has been growing. This sentiment is based upon personal contact with the man. His quiet, self-possessed, even-tempered manner and sturdy common sense have created an exceedingly favorable impression. The Tacoma Ledger, which is the organ of the Wilsonites, and the Wilsonites themselves, have during all this campaign rung the cry that this was a campaign of 'brains and education,' of culture, as opposed to Ankeny's being possessed of the brain, even though the quality is like some corporations, limited. But the impression created by this deliberate political boast has been rapidly dissipated during the past week, and now many of the voters who were prejudiced against him openly state that their candidates could only see Mr. Ankeny as they themselves see him—he would unquestionably be stronger with the public than ever at the heyday of his popularity.