The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-10-06

e@~e AtotAA " ASBs
presiding officer, opens his mouth, and then
tor two, threc, five or seven hours, just -
he happens to feel, the words Aow forth,
not In waves, not In gusts as the wind
blows, but IN a steady, flowing stream-and
al this without apparently the slightest ef-
fort, physical or mental. on the part OF Mr..
Morgan. One Of his speeches makes q man
think he Is a wonderfully made automaton
--half human, half mAchine-and that In
the physical act Of rising from his chair he
turns on q faucet, and nature does the rest.
Mr.. Morgan does not gesture; he uses
always tho same tone, he does not find 1t ne
cessary to move his body or twist his neck or
to make any other visible cxertion, but the
words, and the phrases, and the sentences
come streaming forth hour after hour. The
most remarkable thing about 1t Is that
they arc for the most pnrt perfect phrases
and sentences, and that tho severest critic
and stickler for pure language might re-
view these speeches when they are In type
and find few words that he would care to
change. MI. Morgan Is certainly a phe-
nomenon, and II to this amazing flow Of
idens, well clothed in the garb of fine words
as they are, he could only add some enthu-
Henry Ward Beecher was 80 great q mas
tar, Mr.. Morgan would be invincible.
Senator Villas of wisconsin does not lack
in these particulars. MI. Villas Is a very
earnest man. He never speaks for the mere
sake Of talking. When he addresses the
senate, II 10 with . purpose In view, and he
speaks always with strong feeling, and it
may be added with q stronger voice. Mr..
Villas does not actually roar, but he comes
very near 1t. This springs from his earnest
ness, and 1t Is natural with him, not an
~affectation. He goes perhaps to the other
extreme and mars his efforts by too great
an intensity. You know 1t is the common
theory nowadays, whether right or wrong,
that too much intensity defeats the object
In view. The man who wishes to convince
in these prosaic times must keep himself
we'll in hand and not permit his earnestness
or enthusiasm to carry him away.
The explanation Of this Is, ! suppose, that
the true art of oratory lies in attaining and
maintaining perfect sympathy between
speaker and listener. The orator who does
not display enough enthusiasm to warm
and stir his hearers fails Of his object. So
does the orator who displays more enthusi-
asm and earnestness than the audience is
able to feel. It is a short step in the one
direction from sympathy to WEAKNESS, and
In the other from sympathy to ridicule. II
Mr.. Morgan and MI. Villas were to go off in
q corner of the cloakroom some day where
no one could see them and swap qualities
as they might swap jackknives, Mr.. Nor
gan thereby acquiring a little more enthu-
siasm and MI. Villas a little less, 1t would
be a capital trade for them both and for all
Of us.
Mr.. Voorhees,, now very conspicuous be-
fore the public eye as the leader Of the re-
naNl fOrcaa IN tho SONATA ID and for ynQnv
years has been a noted orator. Mr.. Voor-
bees appears to have been born again. Ten
or 20 years ago few men in the country had
a broader reputation than he as a public
speaker, whether in congress or on the
stump. During the past five or six years
1.-THE Tall Sycamore of the Wabash, - as Mr..
Voorhees, has been called as long as I can
remember, has appeared to fall into a
rusty, well nigh useless way. He has not
even taken the trouble to bestir himself, or
to use those magnificent powers of speech
with which nature endowed him, in main
tanning his own reputation or in helping
the cause of his party. Ill health may
have had something to do with this, but
now happily that period of inaction seems
to have passed.
Mr.. Voorhees, is once more at the front,
seemingly as strong and as full of fire, and
occasionally of venom and inyective, as he
ever was. He is an ugly customer to tackle
in controversy, and few men have dared to
attack him on the foor of the senate Ex-
Senator Ingalls, is about the only man who
has ever bearded VOORHEES, in his den with
anything like success. Voorhees, is natu.
rally an orator. He never uses notes or
manuscript and would probably make a
miserable failure Of it if he were to attempt
the employment of these very common aids
to oratory. He is a sledRc hammer, AND
when he gets to going he does not care
much where he hits.
When it comes to controversy, Senator
Teller of Colorado is a tiger. No man In
tho senate is more feared in debate than he.
Mr.. Teller is always loaded and on u hair
trigger. The slightest provocation touches
him off, and when he goes off in repartee,
in ridicule or in logic it is well for his enc.
mics to bent n hasty retreat. He is quick,
sarcastic, penetrating and absolutely fear
less. Inclined very much now toward indie
pcndentism in politics, devoted more to the
cause Of silver than to the fortunes Of any
political party, he is as ready to turn upon
his colleagues on the Republican side Of
the chamber as upon the Democrats across
the aisle.
Senator Palmer Of Illinois is another re.
markable old man. He is somewhat like
Mr.. Morgan in that he is able TO talk on