Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-07-26
AMONG THE SENATOR'S
WALTER WELLMAN'S LETTER FROM
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.
Mr.. Cockrcll. Of Missouri. the Watchdog
of the scnatc--sensscr Butler and ms
ssniie-scnstor rlumb Good Fighter.
SENATOR FarWell end Blair.

of the scnatc--Senssor Butler and MS
smiie-scnstor rlamb Good Fighter.
Senators Far~sn and Bisir.
Especial oorrcspcndenccl
WASHINGTON, July 2i.--In the senate
we find some interesting superlatives and
contrasts. Senator Cockrell. Of Missouri,
Is tho greatest nagger in the body. He
does love TO quibble over terms and def
nitions and details. Once Cockrell gets
after a brother senator look out for q
war Of words lasting whole afternoon.
The Missourian is rs alert ~ q cat for
opportunities to display his peculiar
abilities. Hc has already become known
~ the watchdog Of the senate. When
an appropriation bill cos,es up he makes
thorough study Of IL, and it is perfect
bill indeed In which Mr.. Cockrell can
not find something TO criticise. He has
q way of making things exceedingly un.
comfortable for the senator who may be
In charge Of the bill. and who is, there
fore, looked to for explanations One of
Senator Cockrell's peculiarities is that
he does not care whom he attacks. be
his victim Republican OF one of his
fellow Democrats it is all the same to
him.
The tall, thin, sharp faced, shrill
voiced senator from Missouri is the flu
est example in congress Of the genuine
old fashioned dcontroversialist. He would
rather have word war any day than
sit down to feast. Hc is a good fighter,
too, for he never fails to give fair play.
He always yields for question, and
never permits himself to take any ad-
vantage Of his opponents. He will be
stopped right in the midst Of n sentence
TO answer question which is designed
10 puzzle him, and if the question be-
comes an argument he does not object,
but waits patiently for the end Then
he resumes as if nothing had happened.
II is said about the senate chamber that
If Cockrcll makes speech and no ono
interrupts him he is disappointed. Like
the true controversialist that he is. an
absence of questions and close fighting
renders him positively unhappy.
Senator Cockrell is also the most ex-
citable man in the senate. He is the Joe
Cannon of the north end of the Capitol.
His gestures are studies in gymnastics.
His sharp voice scars and scars and exs
hibits marvellous degrees of shEillness III
the effort to reach emphasis. Like Can
non he has habit Of shaking his fingers
nearly off, and of approaching us near TO
self decapitation as is prudent. In de-
bate he is flint from whom fire can
always be struck, but in committee
room he is said to be one of the mildest
and most pleasant of men. This shows
courage, for q man who will fight like
tiger in the publicity of the chamber,
where the shorthand man is putting his
words in the record of congress, where
the public eye is upon him and where q
score of veteran debatcrs and shrewd old
lawyers are waiting for chance to take
his hide off, must have courage of no
common quality. Many senators are
totally different from Cockrcll in this.
They are mild hammered or silent in the
senate chamber, where the risks are
great, but in the seclusion of the COM
mittee rooms they become quarrelsome,
severe, sarcastic and controversial What
they do and say there rarely reaches the
public ear, and there is less danger of
being caught up and jacketed by ono
of the veterans.
There is no doubt Of Senator Cock
| rells courage. Ho comes from family
noted for its courage and its recklessness.
One of the senator's brothers was dare
devil cavalryman in the Confederate
service, q man who was fond of mount
ing his horse and taking his life in his
hands. Another brother started wrong
as n youth, and became one of the des-
| perate men of Texas. He was Just such
q fighter with guns as his senatorial
brother is with words. Jack Cockrell
killed about dozen men who fell under
his displeasure or reused his ugly temper
before fate overlook him. For a year or
two it was his boast that the sheriff or
marshal did not live who could take
him, but tall, awkward Yankee ten
derfoot who drifted into Texas and be.
came marshal of one of the frontier
towns undertook the job. Coclrcll
whipped out his gun and opened fire
and in "a few minutes was riddled with
bullets.
There is one senator whom Cockrcll
fears. Senator Butler and Senator Cock
rell, though now good friends, will prob
ably fight duel some day. They sit
side by side. Whenever Cockrell gets
up to make a speech, which is us often
as he can gain recognition of the presid
ing officer, Butler turns his chair around
looks Cockrell straight in the eye and
smiles, Occasionally hc laughs outright
and his laughter always comes at tn,
moment in which Cockrell is most seri
Gus and earnest. When Cockrell walks
up and down behind his desk, shaking
his fists and rolling up his sleeves nov
and then as if he We're going to fgh
fisticuffs rather than with phrases, But
ler's glee knows no bounds. To goot
natured and popular Senator Butler
speech by Cockrell is comedy 1t is ar
amusing spectacle which he never misse
if he is anywhere about the Capitol
Not only does he smile to himself, but h,
is SO much amused that he wants {,
share his delight with others, and b,
turning to Vest, to Gorhan, to Voorhee
and even to sober old Reagan, the Soutl
Carolinian often manages to get up
wave of smiles and filters at the expens
of the passionate and energetic orato
from st. Louis. Some day or other, tn
observing ones are predicting, Cockrel
will lose his temper, turn on his smilin,
tormenter and make a scene that will q
down to posterity in the annals of th
senate.
Senator Plumb is another good fight
VI. He is one of the few frank, blum
men who carry their frankness an,
bluntness into the senate chamber
Plumb is pretty good politician, bu
he never learned the art of assembling
He believes in saying what he thinks