The Portland daily press., 1891-06-29
MR. REED IN PARIS.
A French Reporters Interview with
the Speaker OF tho Last House
Of Representatives..

Of Representatives.
The following is translation OF the Paris
Flgaro's account OF its reporters interview
with Mr.. Reed. A very small amount Of
imagination Is sufficient to make 1t very
agreeable reading. The Figaro, strangely
enough, represents the clerical aristocracy.
and at the same time, the gayest and least
puritanical In Partisan society. II Is the
organ Of the church, of the old nobility OF
the Faubourg st. Gsrmaln and OF the Boule-
yard. Its columns are always bright and in
the highest degree amusing. but to put IL
very mildly. frivolous.
Bring the reporter Of such a newspaper
In contact with Mr.. Reed. who the scribe
Is about as capable Of comprehendlng as a
suave, polite, bowling and gesticulating mon
key is Of appreciatIng Mont Blanc. and we
have the following result. The reporter.
whose range Of mental vision Is bounded by
the Boulevard, does the best he can to con-
ceive the existence OF something noteworthy
in country more or less exotic and to "size
up" the phenomenon before him. He Is GER
tainly magnanimous. but falls into curious
errors, as the following shows;
AN AMERICAN GUEST.
Paris numbers among Its guests at this
moment great parsonage who. though no
prince In a country more or less foreign, oc-
cupies nevertheless an elevated public sta
tion in his native land. / refer to Mr..
Thomas Reed, Speaker Of the House of Rep
resentatives In the United States.
1t was he who presided over the American
Congress at the time Of the election Of Pres
ident Harrison. whose term OF office expires
In few months.
Mr.. Reeds journey Is entirely Of private
nature. He has been travelling In Italy for
month and came to Paris fortnight ago.
He intends to remain here still several
days.
called upon him yesterday In the elegant
ground-floor apartment which he occupies
at "a. rue de Turin.
Instantaneous photo gr apis being at this
time much in vogue. here are my impress
ions Of the appearance Of the presiding ofac-
or Of the Great Republics Congress: tall,
stout, vigorous, broad-shouldered, with an
open, frank, agreeable face, adorned by a
mustache cared for in the American fash
ion, that Is to say, wholly neglected. HeIs
perhaps over 5Oyears old, but his appearance
does not indicate it.
Clad in a grey cut-away, buttoned from
top to bottom, he recelvee me with that in
formal politeness which is the distinguish.
log characteristic Of Americans OF all class
es.
Mr.. Reed expresses himself quite fuently
in French. with just enough English accent
to make his conversation original and ex
tremely piqualnt.
"fhis is your first visit to France, MFR.
Speaker"
II was here once already 10 years ago, but
my stay being short only visited the prin-
clpal objects OF public interest. According
ly was not able to visit your Chamber OF
Deputies which was not then in session."
"But you have made up for 1t this time?"
ION, yes. l had the pleasure Of being
present at session last Friday, accompa-
MED by Mr. Doumerc, secretery, OF the
chamber. A few days before, / had visited
Mr.. Floquet, with whom had long and
very cordial conversation In spite OF the in
disposition from which he was suffering"
And your impressions OF the session."
ut seemed TO me that matters were con-
Quoted in a very dgnlhed manner. There Is
this difference between your proceedings
and those Of the American Congress: we ad-
dress the house from our places on the floor
instead Of from tribune. 1t appears to me,
too. that In your Chamber Of Deputies the
interruptions are very frequent. In AmerI-
ca a speaker Is rarely interrupted In the
course Of his remarks, except In times Of
great excitement-at the close Of a session,
for instance. regretted very much that
was not present when Mr.. Baudin put his
question to the Minister Of the Interior. /
had been assured that the Interpolation
would not take place that day."
"Have you made the acquaintance Of some
OF the members2"
Certainly. recall with special pleasure
my conversation with DIR. Clemenceau. He
speaks English with perfect accuracy"
Passing to other subjects, questioned MIR.
Reed about American matters and especially
about le bill MaeKeenley (sie) which has
had a somewhat unfavorable effect on our
national industry.
do not believe" said he, that le blu du
senatear MacKeenley was voted in a spirit
of hostility to European states. That Is an
error. We simply wished to protect our ma
tional Industry whose advance had hither-
to been checked by European competition.
We had no other purpose than to lend
helping hand to our working people who are
numerous and welI-equlpped enough to suf-
fee to themselves. Is this not the very
same spirit that animates the discussion OF
your tariff at the present moment?"
Such were the principal points Of our con-
versation.
For Is years past Mr.. Reed has been Rep
resentatlve in Congress from Maine, The cap.
ital Of Which Is Portland. and which is sItua-
ted 10 the extreme northeast OF the Union.
How" said /, on quitting him. could
you make journey during legislative pc
rlOd?"
ut is very simple. Congress Is in ordIna-
ry session only from the month Of December
to May. Extra sessions are called by the
President only in case Of impending war. and
accordingly are very infrequent.