Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-30
ALL GENIAL GENTLEMEN.
Personal characteristics of tho Leading
Candidates for the Speakershdp-No
OF Them Have the Quslisies of Randall
or Oarlf9le. HoWavar

of the coming week will begin the last ana
| most exciting days of one of the most inter-
| esting contests for the Speakerslhp OF the
House Of Representatives chat has been W.T.
| messed for years. 1t is not as vital in any OF
| Its phases as that great contest Of December,
1883, when the tariff faction Of the Demo
cratic party went into death struggle with
the Southern free trade faction, and when
| Samuel j. Randall went down before the
opposing forces, headed by Carlisle. POSI-
bly, there was never another Speakersh1p
contest fought with such bitterness. The
free trade Democrats who had been so long
overruled by the iron will of Randall were
determined to give the death-blOw to that
enemy of their own household, and they
well succeeded, for from that hour the great
tariff Democrat was not the man Of indom-
liable will he had been before. He lost his
grip on himself. His ambition, which scared
as high as the Presidency, was gone. twas
evident he had reached the topmost pin
nacle Of his fame. and that nothing was left
for him but to play second fiddle to the big
oted little fellows from the backwoods and
1llimitable plains Of the far South and South
west. He felt that the time for him to die
had come. and when one comes to that con-
clusion he lives almost mechanically and
the body soon drops into listless condi-
tion in sympathy with the relaxation of the
mind.
The Need OF . Randall
Looking among the candidates for the
Speakership one is led to bemoan more than
ever the want of a Randall in the field. Car
Isle proved to be so able, fair and judicial i'll
his Office that even the warmest adherents
of Randall were almost resigned to the de-
feat of their ideal, though they could not in
dorse the lax and illogical views of the great
Kentuckian on the tariff.
But Carlisle, the Democrat of the House
who stood out conspicuously from his fell
lows, is eliminated from the possibilities of
the Speakership, and the contest is between
not oe genial gentlemen er % Tho 5 are the best
Bile mediocrity Of the House. Very agreeable
gentlemen to meet socially are all of the
candidates. Testv as any Of them may be
think more approachable and genial lot
could be found among the members than
the Democrats from whom Speaker will be
Springer and Wilson, who are necessarily Of
the North, Northy, have the warmth and
genial1ty OF their more Southern cousins,
and all Of them are lacking that reserve,
almost amounting to haughtiness, not to say
superciliousness, which has always been
found among the Northern and Eastern gen.
tlemen high in office. 1t is crystallized
into q proyerb that for free expression of
views and affability of demeanor one must
go to the West and South among the persons
in high Office.
Not Ready to Answer Questions.
Two more difficult characters than Ran
dali and Reed have been rarely known to
newspaper men. To the most respectful in
quiries they would often reply with evasive
sarcasm or gruf1y refuse to reply at all. Of
the gentlemen who are now before the pub
lie Mr.. Mills is probably the least skilled in
fine manners, but even he, when approached
personally and socially, never replies to a
respectful question with insult.
Yet Mills is very much the same type of
man as Randall. In aggressive qualities,
and in his persistence and tenacity of pur-
pose he resembles moro than any other of
the candidates the great Pennsylvania.
that characterized Randall. While he is
clad in a cleanly way his clothes always
look rather seedy even when new, and I
coat or pair Of trousers that was good fit.
This is possibly in Mills sectional peculi-
arity. Very few Of the Southern gentlemen
appear to give that heed to their dress that
especially Eastern. men who are in good pc
cuniary circumstances.
This same indifference to fine dressing is
found in McMillen and Crisp and Hatch
Wilson dresses after the fashion Of the
student or professor, neatly but not richly.
Springer gives great attention to his per-
suit of clothes as any of the other gentlemen |
does for two: and If anybody ever saw him |
in public life without his red buttonho1e |
bouquet have not met that body. But |
without disparaging the man, Springer IN
spires less respect than any of the others |
when he is on his feet or in the chair. He |
has q nervous, disjointed manner of speech |
that makes everybody else nervous. and has |
been so often on his feet that he has rather |
tired his audience, and has truly invited the !
half guying reception that is so frequently |
accorded him. This Is also to some extent |
the case with McMillen, whose best voice is |
doleful and monotonous, and to whom life is |
SO terribly serious that he never hears or
sees the humors that are constantly fitting |
the House, and which, if properly |
lend variety to the usually dull |
and counteract the pern1cious |
atmosphere of the place
Either Mills Crisp VIII Win
Up to this time, however. there is little
thought on the part of anyone not interested
that any other than Mills or Crisp will sit in
the chair during the next Congress. To
those who desire only quiet, fair. courteous
and dignifed presiding officer Crisp COM
mends himself before all others. He is uni
yersally liked regardless of principles and
that Is one of the reasons that he arouses
little enthusiasm among the more aggres-
sively partisan of his party. To this latter
class Mills is the highest ideal now in Con-
gress, and for this reason and for his fierce
party services on the floor in attacking the
the latter ruled the House with rod of
Iron and, Furthermore, because he repre-
sents more than any other leader the real
spirit of his party, the majority of the lead
ing, Woodworking Democrats of the House
and Of the country believe that he should be
elected.
And the Republicans are hardly less an1-
ious than the Democrats for his election.
but for different reason. They believe
that with him in the chair they will be able
to excite his hot temper, and thus put him
hear that ex-Speaker Reed is q supporter
Of Mills for the Speakership, and can read
ly believe that he would like to see his
most annoying opponent of the last Con-
,ress in a position where he will, to some
sxtent be at the mercy of the eDtlemen on
The floor. In fact, if our only desire were to
plenty of news" we should all lobby for
Mills. Yet there are those, and ex-Speaker
Carlisle is among them, who believe that
Mills will "fool' everybody in this respect
( he be placed in the chair; that he will be
he embodiment of dignity, the pink of
courtesy, very knight sans peur ct sans
eproche.
Claims of the Mills Crowd.
One hundred votes are claimed for Mills |
or Speaker this evening by friends of the
Texan, who are making a careful canvas
nd who are not giving out claims for eff
ect. This is within 1S of the number of
'otes required for nomination in the eau
us, and it is believed by well-informed per-
ons that this is not an extravaganza claim.
,risp claims H. but this includes a large
lumber of members who have declared they
Re not for Crisp at all. Unfortunately some J
me of Crisp's lieutenants gave out the Crisp t
ist a few days ago, and the absurdlty of his
laims was at once exposed.
Nearly all of the reports of to-day have f
een in Mills favor, beginning with the s
ews that the four Brooklyn Congressman
re all for him, continuing with news of un- U
xpected strength in the New England dele
alton of IA, and ending with the declara-
ion of Jason Brown, Of the Third Indiana b
istrict, that he is for Mills, and he believes d
hat ali of the Indiana Democrats will be \