The Portland daily press., 1894-09-06


[Corr. of the Washington Start
Larned. KAN, August rs, 1854. Ro-
mances are not intrequent in politics,
though there are great many people,
doubtless, who think that romances are
only woven around two people, one of
whom must always be a woman. III.
heroes of romances are usually young
and handsome, too; but Kansas has I'M
earthed one in which two naiddie-aged
men are the principal figures. and there
is no woman in the case,n though both
actors have served many terms III Con-
gress.
1t must have been about the time that
the century was making its first lap on
the second half that the horoscope of two
lives ran together in the little town of
Westbrook, Maine These two lives were
embodied in two young men destined to
become great in the councils of the
nation. One, the elder boy by at least
four years, was Edmund L. Morrill,. the
Republican nominee for governor of
Kansas, and the other was Thomas
Bracke't Reed of Maine. Mr.. Morrill,
was then about twenty years of age and
Mr.. Reed was eighteen. Mr.. Morrill, was
elected supervisor of schools ofstbe town
OF Westhrook and it came about that
Mr.. Reed, then a youth of eigh,een-and
rather an ungajnly one. if the truth
were told-wanted to teach theeschool
One of the very first duties of athe new
supervisor was to- examine Mr. Reed for
school, and the. youth passed the ordeal
with Donors. Mr.. Reed was not then
we'll off in this worlds goods and hoped
to help himself through college by teach
ing. He was strict dsciplinarian. and
the school was a hard one, testing his
powers to the limit. He tinally got into
trouble over enforo ement of his rules
ana 1t became necessary to investigator
him. The matter was put into the
hands of SUPERINTENDENT Morrill,, and he
acquitted MIR. Reed after fair and full
investigation of Che charges.
A MEETING IN CONGRESS.
Years rolled by, and the two men,
separated in early manhood met again in
the halls of the nations Capitol-Mr.
Morrill, as Congressman from Kansas,
and Mr.. Reed as Congressman from
Maine. The friendship of those early
years was renewed, and the ties between
the two men more strongly cenlented
than ever. In the Fifty irst( congress, when
Mr.. Reed entered The struggle for the
Speakership, Mr.. Morrill, was his warmest
supporter. In return Mr.. Reed gave to
the man who had twice helped him.a
step higher Oh the road to lame one Of
the best chairmanships in the gift of the
House-that of the committee on invalid
pensions. THIS was great chance for
Mr. Morrill,. He had been IA brave soldier
during the war of the rebellion and the
cause of the soldier was verv near to his
heart. He framed and Congress crys-i
talized into law the Invalid pension bill
Which today bears his name, aud which
has BROUGHT him ind, ing fame. Maj.
Morrill, was the close personal friend of
Speaker Reed, and stood by him III ali
tae stormy times of the Fifty first Con
gress, aiding him by his counsel, and
nv helping to stiffen the back oone of
weakliDgs. s9 .8
se RED TO HELP MORRILL,. .
Chapter third of the romance has just
opened. Congressman Morrill, declined
reelection to the Fifty-second Congress,
and returned to his home in Kansas to
enter business. He has often been urged
to stand for governor OF the State, but
has always dec med. A year ago he
dec dad to accept the nomination if ten
dered him, and in June he was made the
standard bearer of the State by the Re-
pu hleans. Kansas, as is we'll known,
is debatabie r0u d, and the biggest
batteries at the command of the candi-
dates will he hr< ught into play to help
tnem through the light. Maj. Morrill,
mas about the biggest in the United
States at the pre- e, time, and that is
ex-Speaker Reed a prospective President.
MIR. keed, true to the friend of his strug-
Cling youth, has consented to make a
mum Der OF speeches. M the State where
ever Maj. Morrill, thinks he can do the
most good. Mr.. Reed will receive ii
lew Republ cans who do not quite like
his ultra views on the silver question,
hut they admire the spleudld courage
of the man, who has stood SO nobly for
Ieffm in legis .ative methods in Con-
gress, and who, against long odds, forced
the men who had most reviled him to
adopt his own IDEAS and institute the
reform suggested by him.
THE COYOTES SINGING CLUB.
The Repu b!jcans feel that they have
good ticket this Year and AS there will
be no occasion to go around defending
the characters of any of their candidates
th can pay strict attention to the
issues OF the campaign, and make the
fight on the merits of the party, and an
exposition CT its qualifications forisu-
preme control OF tn State again. One
of the candidates bids fair to be as widely
famed fiddling Bob Taylor of Tennes-
see, who carried himself into CONGRESS.
and .hen into the governorship of his
State by means of his ability to tell a
good story and draw his bow over heart
strings as well as fiddle strings. The
nominee for Secretary of Stat on the
Republican ticket is BILLY" Edwards OF
Pawnee county. He Is known rs one
of the Pa wnees." the name of the
powerful tribe of Indians which once
dominated Kansas, and who made their
last stand, and went to death on point
of billy land half II dozen miles from
MIR. Edwards's present home, in the
southwestern part of the State. Mr.. Ed
wards is handsome, broad-shouldered
fellow, who WAS born and educated in
PENNSYLVANIA, and who came to Kansas
in the early seventies to broaden with
the country. He had just a dollar in
his pocket when ne landed in Pawnee
county, and the secobd day after his ar
nj la1 L.