Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1893-10-07
WAR OF THE POLITICIANS
Sitter Partisan Debate Over tn,
Elections Bill,
Happiest Man in Congress..Speaker crisI
Says Tom Reed Has Beeoms a No.
nomaniac--An Earnest Warrior
For the Silver Cause.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 80. - Especial -
Not for many years have we had such a bit
ter partisan debate in the house. Next wees
promises 10 see the founts of vitriol opened
wider. and no one would be surprised /,
members were to come to blows before ths
election bill is finally disposed of. The feel
ing is running high, though not In all case,
as high as the reader who peruses ever,
day the account Of the speeches would
naturally think. With many Statesmen
this election law controversy is merely 5
convenient opportunity for making them
selves solid, as the saying is, with their con
stituents. In the north the supporters q
Republican congressman like nothing bet
ter than the waving of the bloody shirt
while in the south it ia equally popular &c
pirate of the terrible outrages committed
by deputy marshals and supervisors. Not
a few OF the members who have made
speeches on one or other side of this debate
and who worked themselves, so far as ap
pearances went, into n state of intense pas.
sion and virtuous indignation, do not care q
snap one way or the other how the matte,
comes out. AS a matter of fact, there Is
some foundation for the suspicion that toa
large extent this uproar about the federal
election laws is on both sides a sort of pol
~fticians' war-an easy method for the pro-
S~essional statesmen to use in firing the
hearts of their followers and securing re.
nomination and reelection.
Why Tom Reed Is Happy.
Without any sort of doubt the happiest
man in congress today is Thomas B. Reed.
Mr.. Reed is all smiles and grunts OF salts
faction. He thinks he is being vindicated
by the course of events. II will be remem.
bered that when be became speaker Reed
~astonished the country with his innovation
in the management Of the house. The
manner in which he gave the majority alb.
solute power to rule earned him the hatred
OF his political opponents and the ndmira-
ton of his party friends. 1t also brought
him the nickname The Car" an appella-
tion which Mr.. Reed has never ceased TO
delight in. In the present congress Speak.
er Crisp has gone into the car business a
little on his own account. He has found o
way to cut off d,bate and facilitate bust
ness which seems quite as effective as the
method which Reed adopted. Over in the
senate there is "A great deal of discussion as
w NApNu'Ns VI u iiNf iOAs HdtSlIOllt anu ~
seems there as if something OF a radical
nature must be done il the senate is to
avoid confessing itself absolutely impotent
and n miserable flzzle. Therefore Mr.. Reed
assumes, with or without warrant, that
he has been justified at both ends of the
capitol under Democratic management.
And as he was also indicated by the de.
cision of the supreme court In the test
case brought 10 determine the legality Of
his rulings, the gentleman from Maine il
naturally feeling very well.
Reeds Leadership Disputed.
And yet Mr.. Reed is not the absolute
leader Of the Republican side Of the house
that he once was. In fact, he is only nom
inally the leader. Mr.. Burrows of Michi-
gan aspires TO leadership, too, and u good
deal of rivalry exists between them. They
are saying some curious things about Reed.
A Republican member of the house tells
our correspondent that Reed is one of the
most eager presidential candidates Of the
Republican party. He really thinks he
stands a good chance. According TO this
same member, Reed has become a one idea
man. His hobby is his own vindication.
He thinks or ak of nothing else than the
correctness Of the position which he took
as speaker. As leader of his party in the
house, he bends everything in such way as
to give the most possible emphasis to the
service rendered by him as a pioneer in re.
form of legislative methods. While his
fellow Republicans are willing to admit
that he WAS a great man and .ha. ha was
right, they assume he has been sufficiently
indicated already and that it is not fair TO
use them as instrument for his further
gloriiication. These Republicans nave an
idea that they should cease looking back.
ward for Mr.. Reeds benefit, and turn to
and see what they can do for the present
and the future. q.
Crisp's Opinion of Reed.
Mr., Reed rarely takes the floor nowadays
lnless It is TO talk about the rules and 10
point out that he was right ia his manage
ment of affairs in the Fifty-first congress.
Speake2 Crisp always tries to treat him
with the utmost courtesy, but does not al
ways succeed. Speaker Crisp has a queer
idea about Reed: The man is crazy on
this one subject of his method of counting
a quorum and suppressing debate. He
cannot think of anything else. 1t is always
his mind. lie has become a monoma.
MAC. IL is n pity, too, for Reed is too big a
man to permit himself to he spoiled by rid
ing n hobby" Reed is still considered the
greatest debater in the house, though he
should stop harping on his rules.
Leader of the Silverites.
In the senate a remarkable figure has
come 10 the front during this session. 1t is
MIR. Teller Of Colorado. Senator Teller
came down to Washington last month
with the determination that the silver re-
peal bill should never pass. He made up
his mind 10 sit in his seat in the senate
cham Der every hour that TIE sessions were
continued, be they q hours per day or "a
hours. He had consecrated himself liter
ally to the cause Of silver and was deter
mined that If repeal passed it should DO
over his dead body. Mr.. Teller has kept
his word. Hour after hour and day after
day he sits there, alert to everything that
is going on, always ready for battle and
frequently taking the fioor to hurl defiance
al the opposition. Ii he leaves the cham
Der to get "A bit of luncheon, it is only for a
few moments, and with a trusty mar on
guard.
Teller is tall, wiry, black haired, Indian
like. He has the tenacity of a she cat, the
courage of a lion. But this terrible ordeal,
long continued nervous strain, is telling
upon him. His face looks thin and pinched.
is a dogged, YEAR. expression about
the mouth that is new. The tawny black
combed straight up from the tenn
plies, are turning gray. The battlet' tell
Ing on this warrior for the silver cause.
is no insincerity about him, no pos
ing for effect, no playing a part. His pas
his soul, are in this contest. He be-
lieves he is fighting for humanity. Proba-
bly, he would willingly and deliberately
himself into paralysis or even death
II he could thereby win his fight. There
are times during his speeches for silver and
In justification of his position when it Is
only with difficulty he is able to keep back
the tears. He is by long odds the most in.
teresting figure in this great struggle.