The Portland daily press., 1892-04-16
SOME JovlAL STATESMEN.
Men of Brains and Humor Who Have
Caused the World to Laupb.

Men of Brains and Humor Who Have
Caused the World to Laugh.
Every once in awhile the dreary but
necessary routine of legislation is cleo
trified or convulsed by the genius or wit
of some hitherto unknown lawmaker.
''Single Speech Hamiltons fame filed
England because of the only grafton he
ever delivered in parliament,
When Tenn Corwin in the imaginary
role of Mexican welcomed the Yam
KEGS with bloody hands to hospitable
graves" he was much talked about, and
Proctor Knott, although distinguished
as a congressman and governor of Ken
lucky, is best known to the American
people as the man who delivered speech
on the subject of Duluth, ''the Zenith
City of the Unsalted Seas
Ben Buffers ''shoofiy' retort to Cox
and his defense of the back pay bill are
well remembered, and now comes an
English nobleman's son to join the list
of those who have furnished the world
with food for laughter. His, courtesy
title is Lord Elcho. He is the son of the
Earl of Wemyss. He sits in the house
OF commons, and he talked humorously
the other day regarding the bill to pro-
vide for the payment of members. .sSev-
eral times says the Pail Mall Budget,
she had to wait for full minute until
the house recovered from its laughter"
Here is the closing part of his address:
was struck the other day with the admira-
Bile foresight and prudence of a new member
hnnSa IA hOrN Ia o1,auf Nr,{1
Wexford. who stipulated that his stipend
should be paid quarterly in advance. hope
we shall receive the same pleasant and accept
able form of payment. I should also like to
ask whether we are to be rewarded independ-
entity OF the qualities of our services or whether
the legislator must prove himself worthy of his
hire, and if so, by what test his merits are to
be measured. Is it TO be by the number of d.
visions he has attended? In that case our par
Hamentary life will be one slow progress
through the division lobby. Or is it to be by
the length and number of our speeches? In
that case, sir, your task will be a most in
v1dlous one, and we who are desirous of MAX
ing speeches and earning our salaries shall
look upon the mover of the closure in the light
OF highway robber who gags us before he
robs US of our hard earned pay.
There is another argument in favor of the
motion. The first lord of the treasury is COM
planning of the arrears of public business, and
would recommend him to put the vote for
the salaries of members as the last vote of sup-
ply. I think it will be found that honorable
mena4ers will be considerably less anxious to
reduce other peoples salaries if thereby they
are delaying the voting of their own. Now.
sir, what am trying to make out is that in
giving this motion we should not deal with it
in a niggardly and half hearted spirit Let us
be generous to ourselves as well as Just to
other people. have listened with great in
terest to the list of salaries read out by the
honorable member. He read out that one
country gave 9lOO year; not a cheer answered
him. He read out the name of another
country which gave $500 a year; hardly a
cheer greeted him. But when he said that
America gave g., 900 the honorable member
for Wick, sitting below him, gave hearty
cheer.
A member who seeks parliamentary election
has to make many sacrifices. He sacrifices his
time, his money and he often sacrifices his
health; and peadaps it may be said as being
true of some of them, they often sacrifice their
dearest principles and most cherished conyic-
hons 1t seems to me therefore that they are
justly entitled to some pecuniary compensa-
tion for the sacrifices they make-some whole
some antidote for those boluses which they are
reluctantly compelled to swallow by their con-
stituents. I sincerely hope that we shall pre-
sent the demand Of the members in form
which will enable those honorable members
who have struggled to obtain seat, who have
won the battle and grasped the prize, to look
forward in their declining years hopefully for
themselves and their families to a future which
should be removed from all danger Of want or
indigence or necessity, and to be made COM
fortably off. The honorable member will ac
quit me Of having met his motion in a grudg-
ing or niggardly spirit. can only express my
profound regret that, having spoken as have
done, am compelled to vote against the pro-
posal Of the honorable member