Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1886-01-29
THE BIG REPUBLICAN, FouR.
Edmunds, Hoar, sherman and Eyarts in
Debate.

Wash. Cor. Boston Herald
The four men who are now the most
conspicuous men in the United States
senate. Three of them occupy that posi-
| ton by virtue of distinguished service.
Messrs. Edmunds, Sherman and IToar
nave won their regulations by their abll-
lty and usefulness rs legislators The
fourth senators, Mr.. Evarts, brings n
fame with him. What he shall achieve
as Il senator is yet to be tested. John
Sherman has grown old He is thin of
flesh, the lines on his face are deeper. and
there seems to he certain contraction of
his features, which gives them the effect
of being huddled together. His voice is
| somewhat harsh, but reasonably clear.
His manner is that of an earnest LAWYER
presenting case. 1t lacks the cODness
of either Mr. Hoar or Mr. Edmunds. He
gesticulates freely and not gracefully.
Mr.. Edmunds's speech is as clear and dis
tinct rs are his mental operation He
is more earnest in manner than is Mr.
Hoar, but ciearness and precision of state
ment are his predominating qualities. He
gives thought to the points at issue, and
they could hardly be more concsely or
effectively stated. Mr. Edmunds is un-
questionably the great DICTATOR of the Sen
ate. He is not rhetorcali. His words
were better chosen in this discussion than
they are wont to be in his speeches.
Every one recognizes his power; but he
has bad habit of disregarding the best
effect of language in arranging his SEN
fences. He is apt to be overparenthetical
| to indulge i'll diversions which are
awkward, and to require more eff.
fort than is necessary i'll Glowing
him. Perhaps this is more apparent in the
reported speech than in listening to his
argument for found no such difficulty in
the present case. am told that he never
looks at anything he has said between the
time it goes into the hands of the reporter
and that III which it appears in print. He
is watched closely by his fellow senators,
and they respond readily to Il kind of dry
humor which is his. When he said for
instance i'll the debate on Thursday, that
he was not much of politician, every
body laughed, and, taken in connection
with his manner, 1t was really humorous
Edmunds strikes one as Il man who never
can be nervous. sherman, | should say
in debate almost always is. He met Nj
Edmunds's points in just that excited
frame of mind which one exhibits who is
intensely striving to establish a PROPOSE
ton. The last time he sought the floor
Mr.. tVarts rose, and it was given him in
preference. All We're alert to hear Mr.
Evarts. Tie main characteristic of his
speech, which was brief, was the manner
IN which 1t IabOred with the subject He
did not strike me Hs feeling at
ease on the floor of the Senate. He
struggled to give his views utterance in
his own peculiar dlction, and there was Il
puzzled expression ON the faces of his
auditors to know what he was driving at
one of the senators asked me later if | I'M
derstOod him, and confessed himself at
fault in this matter of comprehension. lie
probably did not mean quite that but he
did mean, think, that he had only sue
ceeded in getting the drift of Mr.. Evarts's
remarks. Mr.. Evarts may find, by and
ny, some great question that will inspire
him out of his maunersm. Debates thai
involve nice legal points, or subtle con
slderdtiUns of the Interpretation of cOnst-
tutionai law, ike this and the presidential
succession bill, are TOO much for him. He
succumDa 10 his style of speech in their
treatment. lie is as yet making no repu-
tatiOn III the Senate. He has the uispOsi-
ton to engage III its debates but ms style
Is foreign To the atmos phere OF that body.
AS Il specimen of the power of gyrltiOn in
the use of words, it is curious in its eccen-
tricity. Men point to him as something
of a marvel in the capacity to construct
long and involved sentences with I'M
accustomed phrases. But this does not 90
for much in debate. Mr.. Evarts will never
assert an Importance in the Senate
in this way. His associates in the Repub-
lican party are beginning to look rather
pltylngly on him as politician. The
Democrats do not follow the lead of any
man in the Senate now, though Butler of
south Carolina appears to be well thought
of among them. Their prominent repre-
sentatives in that body are OF the Skin
lnishing class, like Vance and Vest and
Beck. The new senator from Delaware,
Mr.. Gray, made Il favorable impression in
his argument on the currency. He Is Il
fine looking man, about as handsome us
Ransom OF North Carolina Blackburn
of Kentucky looks as ii he were much
pleased with his promotion from the
House. But the loss of Bayard and Gar
land and Lamar is greatly felt, and the
Republican preponderauce i'll both eX-
perlence and talent Is greater than it has
been in any year since those that imme-
dlately followed the war. Besides the
Republican quartet which | have made
principally the subject of this letter,
there are Morrill, and Iawley and
Frye and Allison and ingalls,, any
one of whom Is a match for the
best senator developed on the Demo
cratic side. Brown OF Georgia is II re
mdrkable man, and yet he does not, any
more than Morgan, assert the power in
the Senate to which his talents would
seem to entitle him. have referred to
Allison above, who, it Will be remember
ed, has been lately seen in Boston. He is
Senate but find HIM to be regarded us
one of the ablest politicians that have
been in Washington of late years There
is a feeling that no man has so many of
the qualities that 20 to the making of
successful president vote of the poll
tcans here would mark him as the fittest
man for the place. But Blaine, it is
thought, still has the machine, while
Logan has his boom, and Sherman an I'M
quenched ambition. What will grow out
of this, no man can as yet say. There is
little faith in Blaine's star, but much that
his influence Will succeed in naming the
man who is To be his successor as the Re
publican candidate. This view shuts out
Logan, and there is no personal sympathy
bet,xeen Blaine and sherman. The
shrewder ones are expecting Il new man.
TEMpLETON.
4 CHARMING FAMILY MIDDLE.