davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06

1888, although he was abroad and be-
Heved to be in failing health. strong
body of his friends were among the
delegates at Chicago and had much to
do with the nomination of MI. Harrison.
There Is no doubt that Mr.. Blaine's DAYS
were already numbered when he assumed
the. portfolio Of state in Mr.. Harrison
cabinet; but only physically was the
change noticeable. All the old READINGS 5
aggressiveness. ouickness to seize the
point and turn it against the enemy,
werelmanifest in all his official and un-
official acrs. But his tagging physical
energies did not last until the end of
that administration. In the Minneapolis
convention of 1892, his name was pre-
scented and he received many votes, al
though even then it was suspected that
his days were numbered.
Mr. Blaine was not a native of Maine,
and his body lies buried at Washington; ;
but his fame is and always will be asso-
ciated with this state.
Turning from the past to the present,
we find Names influence in no wise de-
creased at the National Capital. Indeed,
1t seems that it must be very near its
zenith. Senator Frye is President of the
Senate, Mr.. Hale has an influential posi-
ton in the Senate, Mr.. Reed is Speaker
of the House, Mr.. Dingley is chairman
Of the great committee on Ways and
Means, Mr.. Bcutelle, as chairman of the
committee on naval affairs, has most
potential influence in all that concerns
the building and maintaining of the
navy, and Mr.. Milliken, in his committee
on Public Buildings and Grounds, has
much to do with the ornamentation of
Washington and other cities where gov
eminent business centres. No other
state in the Union holds such vantage
grounds of influence
Id service in Congress Mr.. Hale is the
senior of the Maine delegation. He was
elected to the Forty-frst Congress as a
member of the House, He was then
thlrty-tour years of age. He had been
born in the town Of Turner, had atten ded
college for time at Waterville. but had
LETT the academic course for the bar early
enough to be enabled to begin the prac-
tice OF law at the age of 20years. Estab-
fishing himself In the law in Hancock
county, he was county attorney for nine
successive terms. In 1867 and 1868 he
was member of the Maine Legisla-
tuFe; and at the end of this service was
elected a member of the National House
of Representative in the 4lst CONGRESS.
Nj. Hale served in the House until the
Greenback wave swept over Maine. He
was one of the sufferers in that inuuda-
ton, but very fortunately was chosen to
represent Ellsworth in the legislature of
1880. This was the famous Count-out
year, and Mr.. Hale's long experience in
legislative assemblies was of the utmost
advantage to his party and the cause of
good government. He, with the late
Stephen j. Young, of Brunswick, bore
the brunt of the fight in the House and
prevented the successful organization of
The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06
GREAT MEN OF Maine.


the Republican party, becoming one its
greatest leaders. Except short term as
Liucoln's Secretary of the Treasury, Mr..
Fessenden remained in the Senate until
his death in 1859. Mr.. Fessenden was an
ideal Senator in the most glorious DAYS
of the United States Senate. His refusal
to vote for the impeachment of President
johnson was an act of the highest politi-
cal and moral courage. 1t aroused a
storm of abuse and detraction: but is
now generally admitted to have been as
wise as it was brave. Lot M. Morrill,,
like Mr.. Hamlin was first a Democrat.
He was never member of the popular
branch of Congress; his earlier career
being occupied with service in the State
Legislature and his three terms as Gov
ernor. Like Mr.. Hamlin he Joined the
Republican party, and succeeded Mr.
the latter was elected Vice President.
For sixteen years thereafter, with brief
interruptions, Mr.. Morrill, served in the
Senate. He resigned in 1876 to accept
the position of Secretary of the Treasury
in President Hayes's cabinet. After re-
firing from that position, he became Col
leotor of the Port of Portland.
James G. Blaine was the junior of the
four men of the older school; and the
senior of the class now representing the
State. He occupied an intermediate
place; and shone alone with dazzling
brilliancy. He came to Maine from
Pennsylvania, as the war was coming
on, and from 1859 to 1862 was member
of the Maine legislature, serving as
Speaker for the terms of 1861 and 1862.
There was never a period of the history
of the state when such grave problems
confronted its Legislature as during those
feur years of Mr.. Blaine's service. In
the patriotic efforts of the legislators he
was the brilliant leader; and won an
early and lasting fame. He was pro-
NOTED to Congress, and in December,
1868. took his seat in the National House.
At that time he was thirty-three years of
age. From that day, until he died thirty
years after, he occupied in the minds
and hearts of large and powerful por-
ton Of his countrymen the first place.
He served nearly twelve years in the
House Of Representatives, and was for
three terms its Speaker. He had closed
this brilliant career in the National
House as early as 1876. Thenceforth his
sphere was the Senate and the Cabinet.
The assassination of Garfield terminated
his first term as Secretary of State
but did not by any means terminate
his public career. Mr.. Blaine had been
a powerful competitor for the Republi-
can nomination for the Presidency as
early as 1875. In 1884 his strength had
become SO great that even President Ar
thurs excellent record in Office, could
not seriously oppose it. Mr.. Blaine's
fortunes were never so high, his friends
never SO confident and devoted as in the
fateful national election of 1884. The
defeat by a margin narrow, and always
doubted by many of his friends, brought
great sorrow to his personal and party
associates. But Mr.. Blaines influence
suh continued the most potential single
power in the Republican party; and in
The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06

tency, power and adro1tness OF the great
interests that center there.
When the Fitty-frst Congress adj
journed the Democratic members re-
fused TO join Ia the customary vote OF
thanks. 1t was by no means an UMPIRE.
cedented refusal; but it was sufficient:
unusual to he
VERY MARKED EXPRESSION
of Democratic disapproval. The Demo
cratic leaders little dreamed that in less
than four years they would be COM
PEELED, in party misery and humiliation,
to reverse in effect this judgment.
The scene when Mr.. Reed made his
farewell address to the Fifty-frst Cong
ress was memorable. The long strife of
the two sessions was written on the
faces of the sullen and defeated Democ-
racy, and on the triumphant countenances
of the united Republicans. 1t was to the
Republicans that Mr.. Reed turned, per-
haps involuntarily, perhaps Intention
ally as he uttered these closing words:
eff our deeds do not praise us, our words
cannot. Confident as l am of the verdict
of time on what we have done, am etill
more confident that the highest COM
mendation will be given US in the future,
not for what measures we have passed,
valuable as they are, but because we
have taken so long stride in the direc.
ton of responsible government. Having
demonstrated to the people that those
who have been elected to do their will
can do it. henceforth excuses will not be
taken for performance, and government
by the people will be stronger in the
land, ats5s
This prophecy, uttered in the general
gloom of an
UNPRECEDENTED NATIONAL De
FEAT,
was fulfilled in the 53rd Congress, when.
with nearly 100 majority in the House in
1894, the Democrats were for weeks at a
time unable to transact business for want
of quorum, while 100 more than a quo
rum sat silent in their seats, and at last
beaten, discounted and discredited. after
Speaker Crisp had spent whole dav on
the floor urging his colleagues to stand
by his rule for the fining Of absentaesM
1910 or 10 days." Mr.. Reed termed IL
and not to re-estabiish Reeds rules. he
was beaten two to one in his own marty.
and by vote of ZIP to 47 it was decided
TO count quorum when o quorum was
present cut refused to respond ON the
roii,cah. That night the ex@Speaker at
tended the theatre, in Washington. and
the performance had to be suspended
while the audience cheerea and eheered
airy combat.
IN the Fifty-third Congress Mr.. Reed
MADE his second great tariff speech. 1t
was during the debate on the Wilson bill,
thaS unfortunate legislation that no ono
The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06

last. His place is in the front line of the
fight, and no one ever saw him any
where else. He was born in Damaris-
Gotta in 1899, and educated i'll Brunswick
schools and Yarmouth Academy. Fol-
lowing his father, Mr.. Boutelle became a
ship-master, and was abroad when the
war began. He arrived home from his
voyage in the spring of 1862, and at once
volunteered. He was appointed an acting
master in the navy, and served in the
North and South Atlantic and West Gulf
Squadrons. He participated in the
blockade of Charleston and Wilmington,
the Pocotaligo expedition, and the cap
ture of St. Johns bluff and the occupa-
ton of Jacksonville, Fla. While an
officer on the Sassocus he was promoted
to lieutenancy for gallant conduct in
the battle with the rebel iron-clad Abe
marie. Afterwards he commanded tie
Nyanza; and in this vessel participated
The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06

Frye and Hale of Maine, Blackburn of
Kentucky, and Mills of Texas, who are
now in the Senate; Herbert of Alabama
and Carlisle of Kentucky, who are in the
Cabinet. Beside these were Frank His
cock New York and VIM. Mckinley. Jr..
of Ohio.
Such were
THE LEADING SPIRITS
in the House of 1877. The House was
Democratic, Samuel j. Randall was
Speaker, and the new member from
Maine received the recognition which a
minority new member usually receives.
He was made a member of the commit
tee on territories, although as he after
wards confessed he "would not have
known territory had he met one on
Pennsylvania avenue.''
Mr.. Reed did not aim to thrust himself
into prominence. He rather looked the
ground over carefully, made himself
familiar with the rules and parliament
airy practices Of the House, and awaited
the opportunities which were sure to
come to him. On April II, 1878, he made
the first and only speech Of leueth which
The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06
CANDIDATE FOR SPEAKER.

l.
1t was an honor which he did not seek;
and which came to him because of his
pre-eminent fitness. AS the Congresses
were Democratic the nominations were
purely honorary. But in 1899 the Fifty
first Congress was Republican, and Mr..
Reed became its Speaker.
MI. Reed has made very few set
speeches in the House. For the legisla-
tor who occupies the position of a leader
upon the floor, set speeches are not often
necessary except to show the consti-
tuents at home that their member is
busy. Rather is needed constant, un-
firing vigilance, with the ability to make
on occasion those brief. meaty, to-the-
point speeches which give to the House
impulses in the right direction at Just
the right time. Mr.. Reed never made
on the floor of the House speech for
the effect it would have on his constitu-
ency at home. From the William and
Mary speech to his election as Speaker,
be made only one other set speech, the
famous tariff address of 1885, Among
his shorter speeches were some gems OF
wit and thought; but generally they were
very brief, and upon passing phases of
legislation. On March 81, 1886, he spoke
on labor organization and arbitration
and his brief remarks express more, get
nearer to the heart of the difficulty. than
volumes of speeches such as m osr of the
longer ones delivered on that occasion.
zone of the greatest delusons in the
world,' said Mr.. Reed, sis the hope that
the evils in this world are to be cured by
legislation. | am happy in tho belief
that the solution of the great difficulties
of life and government are in better
hands even than that of this BODY, which
! respect very much.
more than hundred years ago Lord
Mansfield, great name in English iuris-
prudence, was at the head of the Enoiish
Judiciary at a time when England was
just beginning to be the great CONNER
cial nation of the world. Its laws. which
had grown up under the old feudal sys-
tenn were not adapted to the free transac-
ton of business such as the growth of
modern life demanded. That wise man.
when called upon to administer the laws
selected special juries of men conversani
with the customs of merchants to decide
the misunderstanding from the new laws
of trade, and the result was an expansion
of English law which made it fit that
England should become tho great COM
mercial nation of the world. That idea
OF following the proceedings of Great
The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06
ROBBED AND PLUNDERED

of one thousand million dollars every
year, during the very time when, over
$500 miles Of distance, cities have been
springing up like magic, richer in de-
cade than the old world cities have grown
in centuries, when 10000 miles Of rail-
roads have been built, which compass
the broad expanse of a continent,into a
week of time. When the commerce of
Its inland lakes has grown to rival the
commerce between the two worlds; when
from every land under the sun the emf
grants have been flocking to its happy
shores, drawn there by the peace and
prosperity which shine on all it's borders
and sweep from circumference to center
There are no eyes SO dull that cannot
see the ever rising glories of this Repub-
lie except those which are bandaged by
the prejudices ofllong ago."
Then he continued with statement of
the case of protection with succinct-
ness, breadth of comprehension and pro-
fundity of insight most admirable.
Perhaps the best arguments I can
make for protection" said he, sis to
state what 1t is and the principles on
which it is founded.
r. ~ an uoAiNoS MP SlodtcSb power from
his association with other men, his union
with his fellows. Whoever considers the
human being as creature alone, by him
self, isolated and separated, and tries to
comprehend mankind mechanically
adding these atoms together, has utterly
failed to comprehend the human race
and its tremendous mission.
Sixty millions even of such creatures
without association are only so many
beasts that perish. But sixty m illions of
men welded together by national brother
hood, each supporting, sustaining, and
buttressng the other, are the sure con
querors of those mighty powers of nature
which alone constitute the wealth of this
world. The great blunder of the Herr
professor of political economy is that he
treats human beings as if every man
were SO many foot pounds such and such
The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06
FAMOUS QUORUM RULING

has attracted most attention; but the
daily performance of duty by the Speaker
of that Congress, while less spectacular
than the scenes of the ruling, was as res
markable an illustration of his capacities
for craftsmanship. The Speakership Of
the House is an office of great power.
With no other officer of the government
is such large discretion lodged. In Or
der that a body of such large member.
ship may transact business at all it is
necessary to clothe the Speaker with great
end even arbitrary powers But with
these powers comes corresponding
responsibility. The Speaker must stand
between the government and the de-
mands of members whose political
futures may depend upon satisfying some
extravagant demands of their constitu-
ents.' The member naturally excuses
himself to his constituents by laying it
all at the door of the Speaker. 1t is not
difficult, therefore, to see that the Speak
er Of the House must be not only a man
of great frmness and courage, but also
of high purpose and perfect rectitude.
weak or corrupt man in the Speakers
chair becomes national calamity.
How well Mr.. Reed filled the high ann
difficult position can only be appreciated
by those who know the House of Repre-
sentatives and understand the persis-
The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06

Oh wn1cn mas nc paralle1 upon the face OF
the earth. It is the great problem, not
only of today. but of all times"
Mr.. Reed then went on to discuss arbi-
tration. showing why it could not be
made compulsory, and favoring volun-
tary arbitration, not as the panacea for
the i'll, but as a step which might contri-
butte something towards the ultimate
solution of the problem.
On May 10, 1883, he made the first of
his two great tariff speeches. The Mills
tariff bill was then under discussion.
The country was prosperous under the
long operation of Republican policy,
which tie Democracy had not yet been
able to overthrow. Having shown the
absurdity of Democratic denunciations
of the tariff then existing, and the fur
Their absuIdity of their plan to merely
abate, not abolish the alleged stipend
GUS scheme of plumber Mr.. Reed said:
"Why do men with such beliefs, SO
plain, and SO distinct, hesitate to do their
duty? 1t is because every wind that
blows, every sight that strikes their eyes,
every sound that resounds in their ears,
shows the folly of their theories, the
absurdity of their logic. What use is it
to tell the people of this empire that they
have been
The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06
THEIR FULL POWERS ?

Right here is precisely the dividing line.
The let alone school say leave individual
man to his own devices. The protection
list school say let us stimulate combined
and aggregated man to united endeavor.
What made men work before govern
ments? Was 1t an intellectual belief that
work was good for the muscles? Not
the least in the world. 1t was hunger
and desire. Hunger has ceased to play
the greater part, but desire will never
pass away.
I'm the ever-growing desire of man.
Kind for new worlds of comfort and lux
The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06

between redoubtable champions. Mr..
Reed threw himself heartily into the
fight for Morrill,, and the defeat of his
leader was probably the keenest poll
teal disappointment which he ever gex-
perienced. @s naa
Mr.. Reed was reelected to the Maine
House in 1869, and sent to the State SEN
ate in 1870. While still member of the
Senate he was elected gra
The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06

other building IN Inls country UnaG Sir
Christopher Wren ever built; there is no
other institution in which Jefferson was
educated, and certainly there ID none
other around which the shades of Milton
and Sir Harry Vane and Cromwell clus-
ter at this late date. But all these mat
ters are immaterial; they are the orna-
mental fringing; they are not the real
solid facts of this case"
The young man from Maine then pro-
ceeded to give the
"REAL SOLID FACTSa
and largely through these facts the ap-
preparation was defeated.
The speech incidentally gave the
speaker reputation and standing as
an orator in the House.
In this Congress also there came to
Mr.. Reed an opportunity to distinguish
himself in another direction. The
troubles over the election of President
Hayes caused the appointment of select
committee to investigate alleged frauds
in Louisiana and Florida. Mr.. Reed was
a member of this committee. The COM
mittee took evidence both in the North
and the South; and while in New Y ork
the Democratic nominee for the Presid-
ency, Samuel J. Tilden, was examined.
In the conduct of this examination Mr..
Reed forced the reluctant witness to dis
closures of the greatest Importance.
Tilden was much offended at the man
ner in which his secrets had been laid
bare by the shrewd and logical member
from Maine; and it has always been be-
lieved that an effort was made in the
next Congressional election to make Mr.
Reed pay dearly for it.
In the Forty-sixth Congress, Mr..
Reeds abilities were recognized by a
position on the judiciary committee. a
committee almost uniformly conspicuous
in all Congresses for the exceptional
abilities and high attachments of its
members. In $780,. when a Republican
House came in with the election of Gar
field,
MR.. REED WAS HONORED
with respectable support in the Re-
publican caucus which nominated
Speaker Keller. When the committees
were appointed he became chairman OF
the judiciary.
He now began to take lis place as q
iOouOls nlN SiN0 SGIS pIOlilS0 VI tudL
great influence which was to reward his
twenty years of service in the House.
MI. Reeds abilities as leader are not
so much due to talent in that direction
as to genius, if that word may be al
lowed in speaking of an activity wherein
sound sense and cool Judgment are so
necessary and important. The mighty
will which r3ralv has bowed even tn
temporary defeat, the humor and origin
atty which have always entertained and
pleased quichness to conceive and
execute that in the field of war would
be called Napoleonic. the delicate, intui-
tive understanding of the moods of a
great legislative assembly, and the I'M
erring understanding of the opponents
weak point, are striking characteristics
of Mr.. Reed IS leadership that have caused
men sometimes to overlook the solid
foundation of good sense and Judgment
The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06
ATTORNEY GENERAL

ate in 1870. While still a member of the
Senate he was elected 9ra
Il ATTORNEY GENERAL s4.le
of the state. He had then just passed
his thirtieth year, and was the youngest
Attorney General Maine had ever had
Retiring from the Attorney General
ship in 1873, Mr.. Reed became City
Solicitor of Portland. In the duties of
this Office and in the general practice of
the law he occupied himself until 1875.
That year he entered the canvass for
the nomination for Congress for this dis
trict, and secured the prize after one of
the stormiest of District conventions.
| 1t was the Forty-fifth Congress in
which MI. Reed
BEGAN HIS CAREER
as a national legislator OF the two hun
dred and ninety members who answered
the roll call of the House when that BODY
met in special session on October Is,
1877, few are remembered today, and
still fewer are in public life. The Maine
delegation, besides Mr.. Reed. included
VIM. P. Frye, Eugene Hale, Lleweilyn
Powers and Stephen D. Lindsey. The
| last is dead; all the others are in active
| public life. This is record of political
longevity not equalled in the delegation
of any other state represented on that
roll call. A few of the men who were in
that House and have not since gone to
the Senate, were after long exile from
| political life, brought back on the tide
which bore in the Fiftv-fourth Congress-
Such rare exceptions are Lorenzo Dan
ford, of Ohio, fernando D. Money, of
Mississippi, and B. F. Marsh, of Illinois.
Only two besides Mr.. Reed have re-
manned continuously in the House since
that day,-D. b. Culberson, of Texas.
and Alfred G. Harmer, of Pennsylvania
Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois, has been
absent one term. With these exceptions
the men who composed that House have
with the exception of the very few now
in the Senate, passed from the political
stage, many from the stage of life. Most
of the latter whose names are now re-
membered were survivors of the war
times: Banks and Butler of Massacbm-
setts: 'sSunset'' Cox and Fernando Wood
of New York; Samuel J. Randall and
William D. Kelley of Pennsylvania: Rob-
ert B. Vance of North Carolina: Aley-
ander Fl. Stephens of Georgia: and lanes
A. Garfield of Ohio. There was still am.
other little group of men prominent vet
in other departments of the government
The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06

Inc speech on the William and Mary
College had shown the new member's
broad understanding of the general
principles of human action, and had re-
vealed his fund of humor and power OF
concise yet comprehensive statement.
Now in the 47th Congress his powers of
leadership began to be recognized In
1885 and 1887 the Republicans of the
House made him their
The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06
cHAs. A. BouTELLE.

a fraction OF morse power. All the soul
of man he leaves out.
How shall you get out of the people
of nation