Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-06-28
Speaker Carlisle.

II With the exception Of Judge Thur
man, Mr.. Carlisle is by far the ablest
Democrat who has appeared in Cpn-
gress for generation. In some re-
3 spects he is better equipped for the task
of legislation than the distinguished
Ohioan, for he knows more thoroughly
4 the art. of government. At present
there is no man in either House of Com
i gress who can compare with Mr.. Car
i Isle as dehater of econOmicq questions.
j and only Mr.. Sherman who has g.,
i accurate knowledge of interpretations
i of the Treasury. In addition, he Is the
most accomplished parliamentary saw-
Il yer who has sat in the Speakers chair
/ certainly since Mr.. Polk's term. Other
i Speakers have been adroit manipula-
tors of the rules, but Mr.. Carlisle has
administered the principles of law
which lie at the foundation of all rules
that govern modern parliamentary
bodies. Besides all this, he is con-
stitutional lawyer of large attainments,
and 1T was by speech made In the
House during the political session Of
1879 on the use of troops at the polls
that he first attracted the attention of
the country.
i The Speaker is a quiet, calm, intel
lectual man. He is never excited ex.
i cept by his own thinking. Sometimes
! the even tenor of his speech will be
| broken for a moment, and there will be
/ a more brilliant light in the clear eye
and a slight flush of the usually pale
| from an impulse given by the mind Of
the speaker. With scarcely an excep-
tion. every speech that Mr.. Carlisle has
made in Congress has been an argu-
ment from its opening to Its close.
/ Once, indeed, in reply to q personal
assault which shocked both sides of
I the House, he said, "I have not made
political speech, or at least not q par
tisan speech, on the floor of this House
during all my service here. have
| given my earnest attention to what I
honestly believed to be really the high
est interests of the general public.
And this led the imp1lsive Mr.. Frye,
| then Representative, to say. amid the
applause of Republicans and Democrats
alike: "The gentleman from Kentucky
is recognized on this side as the jewel
of the Democratic party in this House,
Mr.. Carlisle began his public life
when he was twenty-four years old. In
1859 he was elected a member of the
Kentucky House of Representatives,
where he served for two years. He
was instructed in the common schools,
.. in which he was afterward for short
time teacher. He studied law with
Ex-Governor J. w. Stevenson. and was
admitted to the bar in 1858. From the
first his success was great, and not
withstanding the demands that were
made upon him by public affairs he
very soon came to be recognized as one
of the leaders OF the bar of Kentucky
and of Cincinnati, which is directly
across the Ohio River from CovingtOn,
the city in which Mr.. Carlisle has liv-
ed since he entered upon the active
duties of his profession. During the
war he was out of politics, refusing to
act as Presidential Elector in 1854;
but in 1866 he was chosen q State Sem
ator. and has been in public life almost
continuously ever since. The highest
State Office that he has held was the
Lieutenant-Governorship. AS Lieu
tenant-Governor he presided over the
Senate.a acquired the training which
has stood him in good stead in his
present office. He came to the front
In the Forty-sixth Congress in speech
on the political rider which the Demo<
Gratis attempted to attach to an appro-
priation bill. The rider forbade the use
of troops at the polls, and because it
was in it, Mr.. Hayes vetoed the bill.
His speech in support Of the Democratic
position made Mr.. Carlisle the chief
resentative, and during the long extra
session, which, is now known in the
annals of Congress as the political ses-
sion, he and Judge Thurman guided
their party in all that it undertook. It
was the speech on the army bill, also.
which made Mr.. Carlisle the chief or
ator of Tammany Hall meeting which
was held in this city during the event
full summer of 1879. After that Mr..
Carlisle was factor in national poll
tics.
When the House went into control
o: the Republicans Mr.. Carlisle was
placed on the Ways and Means Conn
mittee, and he then began the work
which he is still doing. His first effort
was to secure a modification of the In
ternal revenue law, and his report on
this subject remains to-day the most
discussion of excise policy
that has been made by an American
public man. His speeches against the
tariff com mission, and the bill which
was the result of its labors, marked
Lin as the leader of the revenue re-
formers in Congress, SO that when the
Democrats resumed control of the pop
ular branch of Congress he was natur-
ally and properly made the Speaker.
Since his elevation to that office his
career has been too well known and is
too recent to require comment.
Mr.. Carlisle prominence is due not
Dnly to wonderfully clear and ac-
curate mind. but to great industry. He
works from morning until night. He
has very little recreation. Until very
recently, while he has been in WASH.
Ington, he has lived in pleasant rooms
IN an upper story of a hotel. He could
be found there at his desk at all hours
before and after the adjournment of
Congress. His utterances have been
for complete mastery Of his
subject. He has studied and UNDER
stands the merits of nearly every item
n the tariff law. Now that he Is
Speaker, he makes it his business to
know every members capacity. Every
lay he reads through the COngression-
u Record, and ii new member is
he makes il point TO hear
him speak. He studies bis men SO
that he Is able to place them
On committees to the best advantage.
Whatever misses he makes are due to
conditions and circumsta nces that he
cannot control. Since he has been
he has studied members ms
carefully a. he used to study crockery,
,io-iron. steel blooms, and other inanf-
nate materials when he was helping
q make tariff bills. This is the reason
hat the present Ways and Means Com
nittee Is strong although IL contains
h, unusual large percentage Of new
.c ,,,.c With All his triumDhe he Ii