The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-05-01
STORIES TOLD IN DEBATE.
THE ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES OF
tue FiF7Y.SECOND CONGRESS.

Tue FfF7Y.SECOND CONGRES6
Three stories Already Told in the Senate
Congressman Cumminss slfsiaa the sto
. rios Told In the House-TariR Stories
Eieciion stories, and All sorts OF storie
John Allen on HIS Native Heath-Par
son Kinpoy's Story-Coi. G'Fcrrnl or v,r
g,nin Distinguishes Himself Highly.
WASHINGTON. April 90 rarely tell storie
whom addressing the House," said Benton Nc
Millin. on Thursday. Il really. an afraid t.
do SO. You can score point when on tn
stump with u good story. You catch your au
dience and keep them in good humor. Blu
tho House Ia critical. 1t wants facts. plainl!
stated. and 1t seems to be suspicious when
story is told. There may be no ground 70
tho suspicion. but tho impression Is there.
etory must be very short and very pat. and Ii
line with tho plain facts to be really effective.
Those who have tho reputation OF being tn
best story tellers reserve this Accomplishment
when speaking In Congress. Senators Vest
Blackburn. and Vance arc probably the great
ost trio Of story tellers In the Senate John
Jones and Senator Wolcott arc hardly viii
behind them. Each gentleman can keep al
nftcr-dinner table In o roar. Yet they arc ex
tromcly reserved whom addressing the Senate
Vance may 10 humorous and create laughter
but he rarely illustrates his speeches with
stories. Tho same may be said OF Blackburn
Vest. Jones. and Wolcott. The Senate is u sraid
body II reposes In an atmosphere OF solemn.
lty. At times 1t reminds q spectator OF the
Quaker meeting where q boy appeared In the
main aisle with pieco ri pic upon tho palm
Of his hand. In shrill voice no shouted:
Who epeaks first gets this pic"
"Young man." said venerable occupant Of
ono Of the pcws. this Is the House OF God"
"The pie is yours" the boy replied
The Same pious spirit seems to pervade the
Senate Chamber. II any laughter is heard It
usually comes from tho galleries. The boy
with the pie has not yet appeared. but when
you look at the faces of Allen. Hansbrough.
Dubois. and other young recruits from tho
wild West. you are almost sure that he will
appear and that at an unex pected moment
There arc magnificent story tellers In the
House who never use this ornate power in
their speeches. David b. Culberson Of Texas
10 one You might rs well look for fash Of
lightning in clear sky as expect a story from
his lips whilc addressing the House. Speaker
Crisp Is an excellent story-teller. and 80 is
Tom Reed. but neithor ventures upon the sea
OF fiction when addressing the House. There
are some exceptions John Allen OF Mississippi
and Asher G. Caruth OF Kentucky never hesi-
tate to use anecdotes Whenever they think it
necessary. And their stories are always good
and apropos.
When 1t hears good thing it explodes with
merriment 1t is frequently taken by surprise.
At times some Isolate old member who has
served with dignity for years jumps the fence
with an anecdote aud takes the House by
storm. Such instances are. however. rare
One occurred near the close OF the Noyes-
Rockwell debate.
Those who live far away may fancy that
anecdotes are used every day In speeches on
the floor. Such is not tho fact You hear
on IN average one week. and OF those that
are told not ono In ton Is original. A dozen
stories are told in tho House In debate to one
In the Senate Indeed. the only stories told in
the upper House this session OF Congress
wore told by John NJ. Palmer. Joseph
r. Hawley. and John W. Daniel The H.
linols Senator told his while the Senate was
discussing the Paddock Pure Food bill. He
said that tho power conferred upon tho Score
tary OF Agriculture by the bill was indefinite.
He dreaded it because he did not know it's ex-
tent. When he read o statute as q citizen he
could comprehend the duties which the stat
ute imposed upon him. but when the power Of
lawmaking. under the guise Of rules and reg
ulations. was delegated to department off,
Ger. he could not toll what the law was. To
illustrate 1t he told this story:
while was exercising some military au-
sh1rtY In Kentucky during ths Late t. war , l re-
che 5ustass ~ Ss ssas
He wrote mo to inquire as to his rights under
certain circumstances. l replied that could
iurist OF SO much distinction. He answered
ne BY saving that i 1t was question OF the
W 81 90
the viii Of the General Commanding. It
realized the force of the rebuke. The
Judge di q, not by any means intend to pay me
Gen. Hawley told his story on April II. while
the Senate was considering the bill for the
election OF Senators by the people. The de-
bate took o wide range The Greeley cam.
paign came into play. and Gen. Palmer was
twitted by colleague for leaving tho Repub-
nean party at that time. He made magnia-
cent personal explanation: after which Gen.
Hawley said that they were getting pretty well
acquainted with the Senator from Illinois He
enjoyed it as far as it had gone. but he did
not think that what occurred twenty years
ago was extraordinarily important Just n w.
He called attention to the example Of Gen.
Jack Logan" who was very intense Demo-
crat before the war. but turned Republican.
He was sorry that the Democrats had not
given him more hearty credit for his Jackson
fan patriotism. He told the following story:
Logan went into a campaign somo years
afterwRrd. with extraordinary vigor Of person
slity and eloquence. One day. while upon the
stump. he was questioned as to his change Of
politics, and was asked whether no had not
said this or said that in reference to some OK
treMe Democratic doctrine years before.
Logan stared at hts Questioner and replied
Yes. you are right was as big fool then
Tho galleries laughed. and all the Senators
on the floor who had known Gen. Logan smiled.
Senator John W. Daniels told q good sup
positittous story on Tuesday last, He is q
great silver man. and the story was told to H.
lustrate his argument Ho said:
"Two gentlemen tho other day started from
more. One carried in bag thousand gold
lars. Midway. between here and Baltimore the
train got OF tho track. The wheels OF the car
passed over the silver bag and muti!ated and
crushed info q shnpeleSs mass tho silver dol
lara The wheels Of another car went over the
other hing and mutilnted and crushed into
shapeless mass the gold dollars. Then the
train took IRE. and the fire swept over the bull
Ncv Law I'm ka wracE Tho mo