The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-02-06
He Says t'The Devil Owed De-
mocracy a Grudge,
And Paid 1t With a Secretary
of Agriculture"
DEALER OF CABBAGE.
Refers to Secretary MOrton's
Colossal Intellect"
Most Ringing Speech in the Sen
ate Since Tillman's.

washington, Feb e-The most
caustic utterances heard in the senate
since Mr.. Tillman's sensational speech
was that of Mr.. Vest arraigning Sec
rotary of Agriculture Morton yester
day. The general satire and ridicule
directed against the secretary, and the
illusions made to the president, made
the speech hardly less notable than
that which startled the senate. Mr..
Vest referred derisively to ''the
colossal intellect dealing with cab
bages.''
At one point the senator said: 1.-The
secretary of agriculture charges from
his Office, reminding us of what Cicero
says of Cataline's fight from the SEN
ate: 'Ab it excessit evasit erupit.'
Uaughter). When the secretary of
agriculture hears of a silver lunatic he
is like the warhorse in Job, his neck is
clothed with thunder. You might go
d. further and say, He saith among the
prophets, ha, ha; and he smelleuh the
battle afar off, the thunder of the
captains and the shouting.
Mr.. Vest severely criticised the
practice of furnishing costly flowers
from Government greenhouses for the
receptions at the Executive mansion,
and added: "Sir, 1 would rather give
twice the amount of this appropriation
to enable some poor man in distant
county of the West who is fighting the
hard battle of life; L would rather give
him something that wonld make his
cherries home comforta BILE and bring
light to his Preside. 1 would rather
put one flower in the sick room of a
noble working girl or matron than to
have it said that L had voted a hun
dred and odd thousand dollars for the
flowers and exOticS to go to the re-
ceptions and banquets of the officials
of this Government, where the chan
delier flashes it's light across the red
wine and the air is fragrant with per-
fume like the spicy breeze of Araby
the blessed
Mr.. Vest referred to the "bug1e
blasts" from the Secretary of Agricul-
ture as to the congressional extrava-
gance in distributing seeds.
The Democratic party has been
with emphasis, mot only as to its in
ternal discords, but also in the
fact that the devil has owed us a
Prudge and has paid it in secretary
of agriculture.
''The Secretary had" continued Mr..
Vest, put the Democratic party in
antagonism to the great agricultural
interests of the party, although that
party had always stood as the close
friends of agriculture.
The gigantic intellect of this Sec
rotary of agriculture has daily gone
outside of his legitimate duties and
why did it not discover some of the
really fragrant abuses?"
''This secretary" proceeded the SEN
Rtor, has assumed to run the entire
government. He has been practically
the secretary of the treasury, flooding
this country with reports and Damph-
lets denouncing the silver lunatics and
oil ha Ia oil 81 ,r1-,- 4
Mr.. Vest said the Senator from
South Carolina, (Tillmsn) had been
called a communist because he had
sounded a warning in the Senate. He
compared this with New York pub
1ication threatening revolution unless
Senators and Representatives yielded
TO the gold standard.
1.-The trouble is" said Mr.. Vest,
'sfhat the secretary of agriculture is a
monomaniac on the gold standard.
He sees only gold, gold, red gold, and
he thinks any man who does not see
as he sees is a lunatic.''
Mr.. Vest closed shortly after
o'clock with a remarkably sarcastic
and bitter peroration. He referred to
the useless seeds, which it was assert
ed the secretary had properly refused
to buy. but" added the Senator.
''there was one seed not mentioned.
at was" he proceeded, smiling
5naliciously. 1.-The aurefur feniculm
canes mortonae, or, in palmer words,
Morton's golden dogweed. This would
flourish while the secretary, swinging
his golden censor at the executive
mansion, shouted his holy, holy, art
thou, oh Grover, King of Kings and
Lord of Lords
MIR. Teller, Republican, Col, took
occasion during the debate to refer to
the success of the bond issue. Large
as the offerings were, they would have
been larger if the secretary of the
treasury had received bids at a fixed
price for the bonds. Clumsy and
awkward as this bond submission had
been, lacking the essential features of
a popular loan, yet it completely
answered those who had talked of the
necessity of looking to foreign syndi-
Gates to sustain our credit,
The debate on distributing the ap-
preparation bills ran through the en-
tire afternoon and was not concluded
when, at 4:30 o'clock, the senate went
into executive session, and at $50 ad-
journed.
No Choice in Kentucky.