The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-10-25
RoosEvELr,s TRIBUTE TO REED.
The Great Service Mr.. Reed Did in Making
the House a Legis1ating Body and FRO
tecting Free Coinage of Silver

Republican club in Boston Wednesday
night the Hon. Theodore Roosevelt paid
the following tribute to the Mr. heed
Gentlemen, when the next House OF
| REPRESENTATIVES, gathers, and when the
sneaker is elected, the Election will mean
not only a wonderful triumph for Repub-
leans throughout the nation, but in a
particular manner triumph for the
Rennblicans of New England. Cap
plause) r, pto++
Reed (cheers) was MADE speaker Oh 0ne
rational House of Representatives AT
that time we saw the House on the verge
Of being reduced to absolutely an impo-
font debating society. | am not speak
ING figtlratively. The art Of @ filibuster-
inc" had been carried to point OF per-
| fection, which rendered it possible for
any man gifted with leathern lungs and
stout constitution and microscopic SC |oc, al
brain capacity to stop the wheels OF legls-
lation outright.
| FilibuStering was not weapon an
ployed by the men who respected them
selves (they were all driven to it now and
thsn by the force of circumstances) it
was primarily the weapon of the people
| who bad no respect and no regard Tor our
constitutional and governmental tradi-
tions At this stage of affairs Mr.. Reed
came in and was made speaker. he had
but narrow MAJORITY. No man. no
matter how clearly he saw the need OF
the hour, who had not possessed the iron
temper that is given to but few, but
which, when allied with dlslnterested
loyalty to the needs of the nation, makes
the most valuable OF all combinations,
could have changed those rules. Mr..
Reed, backed heartily by the Republican
majority, put through certain rules. be-
cause of which he was denounced AS a
tyrant, czar, a gorilla, maybe. CLaugh-
| ter.
Now, what were those rules which he
put through, looking back at them nowS
| One rule was that a man who was run
ming up and down the aisle yelling that
| he was absent should be counted as pres
emit. daughter and appIause.) That was
one of the pieces of tyranny under which
the nation then groaned Another bit OF
| tyranny was that whom man, the ques-
| ton being on the passage of certain
bill, got up and talked for IS or 20 hours
about the procession of the equinoxes or
something of that kind, and after all
possible liberty of debate had been grant
ed him, should be required either to
speak to the subject or sit down. 1t was
| the kind of ruling that would be accepl-
ed as automatic III any town meeting.
They said he strangled debate. Why,
the Congressional Record Of the 51st
Congress contains all the speeches that
were made then, and that 'strangled by
debate'' occupies series OF volumes con-
siderably larger than the Encyclodaedla
Britannica There were something like
1000 more pages of the sstrangled debate"
of the 51st Congress than in the record
of any other Congress that had ever sat.
Well, he did his duty the Republican
party did it's duty, and at the next cleo
| ton we received full proof that the voice
| ir, xOf oIx fha voia of
the law.
| In the meanwhile the supreme court
had decided in favor of one of Speaker
Reeds rulings Back came the Demo-
cratic majority. They did not have any
settled policy of their own excepting that
of opposition, and the first thing they did
was to conscientiously undo all the Reed
rules.
1 The Republican minority was so small
| that it did not make much difference.
| They came back to the next Congress
with a smaller majority, and then
happened what / suppose is the most
dramatic triumph that ever has been
| won by party leader in parliamentary
body. Mr.. Reed was the leader of the
position. the leader of the Republican
minority. He had been thrown out OF
the speakersnip, partly on the issue that
his rulings were wrong.
Finlly, under the old rules which they
had introduced, they came to an absolute
and complete halt They could not get
a law passed; they could not get any
thing done, and they reintroduced the
very rules, for the putting into practice
of which they had so bitterly denounced
Mr.. Reed. ((Applause.)
/ And following that came the one tri-
umph needed to make the triumph COM
plete. The people returned Republican
/ Congress to power, Congress that was
Republican by larger majority than any
| that we have yet seen in the 40 years of
the party's life. (Applause.) And when
Reed takes the speakers chair, in Decem.
such as has hardly befallen a single
| statesman in all the century of oul
national life (Applause.)
/ And there is another point concerning
| which New Enlgand can afford to fee
satisfaction. The great New England
representative, Mr.. Reed, does not have
to be explaining his position. We hear a
good many demands, sometimes justifia-
Bile, that certain men shall explain their
position. Take Mr.. Carlisle, for in
stance. do not wonder that very great
interest is felt when MIR. Carlisle comes
here and states his position upon finance,
for Mr. Carlisle has occupied good
many different positions on finance.
Laughter. And it is a matter Of great
1 Interest 10 kAOW WllbI6 u6 SU6tlltS lOW
Mr.. Reed mas been tried in the furnace
and on every single occasion, not only his
speech, but his vote, has been right.
/ (App,ause.)
And again, when the silver craze was
nearly at it's height, and the free silver
bill was before Congress, you will remem
Der how closely the parties were divided,
and how, one day, they got within one
of majority, how, one day. they got
the vote even. and it all depended upoI
lust one man whether the free silver bill
passed Congress or not. 1t depended or
Tom Reed. There was just one mar
who stood between this country's credit
and the shock which would have come
to it if the two houses had passed free
silver bill. Tom Reed stood there, and
for three days by the exercise of his COM
manding personal influence, by his ap
peals to the loyalty of his party frisnds
by his absolute traightforwardnes O.
purpose, and by the indomitable resolu
ton with which he stood for what he
knew to be right he kept that bill bacl
until the friends Of sound finance were
able to rally the only vote they needed
(Applause.)
That was the deed of New England
man and of New England Republican
and all Republicans have right, ant