The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-06-13
CURRENT COMMENT,
REPUBLICAN NUMBER ONE,
New York Sun.)

NANSW 4OEk Cuu.1
The adjournment of Congress today
or tomorrow will release Mr. Reed of
Maine for q time from engagements
which he has steadily regarded as more
important than the promotion of his own
political fortunes. The nominee of the
| convention at ST. Louis will owe to the
Speaker Of the Republican House of Rep
resentatives in the Fifty fourth Congress
debt of gratitude which cannot be ex-
pressed in Arabic numerals or measured
with yard stick. The Republican party
itself will be under obligations to Mr..
Reed for service of the first magnitude,
not the less conspicuous because it has
been rendered ungrudg ingly as matter
of course, and in spirit of loyal, stall
wart, generous self sacrifice which has
no recent parallel.
When Congress met in D ecember Mr.,
was also the choice of his party for an
Office Of extreme difficulty, that of
Speaker of the House at session preced-
ing President ial election, and manager
OF an unwieldy and eager majority elect
ed in tidal wave year. In the preceding
House the Democrats had numbered 217
and the Republicans 121. When he took
the Speakers chair and brought down
his gavel upon the desk, Mr.. Reed faced
a House in which there were 24S Repub-
licans and only 104 Democrats. So huge
| was the majority for whose acts Mr..
| Reed became in certain sense RESPONSE
| BILE, that one-half OF the Republican Rep
| resentatives might have remained away
from Washington from the beginning of
the session until its end, and yet have
| left safely working margin of votes
| over the entire Democratic strangth.
| That, indeed, would have rendered the
Speakers task parativsly easy. AS
1t was, all OF the restraints and incen-
tlves to cautious and concarted action
that go naturally with narrow majority
were absent They had to be supplied
| instead by the brains and will power of
| single individual. This great majority
| IN party suddenly returned to power,
with an unusually large proportion of
new mem bers, including not a few
I young colts OF wild asses, all with di-
vergent interests and keen appetite for
spells, with heterogeneous ideas as to
| party policy and an unconquerable in
| clination to air those ideas at the present
| session-such was the partisan body
| which Speaker Reed was called upon to
master and control, and to steer through
| this countless perils of a session immedt-
ately preceding Presidential election.
What wonder that the Hon. Thomas
| Braokett Reed has hardly had time since
the first OF December to remeinb Der that
| he was candidate for the Republican
| nomination in June! With characteris-
tic self-abnegutlon and fidelity to trust,
he has devoted his immense energy to
the performance of his duty the record
of the session already shows; and the
value of his services will become even
more apparent when the Presidential
canvass begins in earnest II mistakes
have Eeen prevented, if Scylla has been
avoided without running into Charybdis,
if sch1sm and s'uption have not &C.
preaching contest, if the dangerous
quantity of dynamite there has been IN
the Republican House for the past six
months is still unexploded and available
for use against the Dem Ocratic party this
summer and autumn, if the Republican
cause has been safe guarded SO far as the
Republican Congress is concerned the
the whole Republican organization can
thank the Hon. Thomas Brackett Reed
of Maine.
True, his own private candidacy for
the nomination for President has
suffered while he was looking out for
the interests of all the other candidates,
but the Speaker does not seem to caro-
much for That.
Very likely, he will fail to get the NOM
ination himself this year, but he has
made possible, If not certain, the election
of another Republican. This is Mr..
Reed sachievement for 1896. He is prob
ably content with it, Incidentally, he
| has become the most conspicuous person
age in his party, no matter who shall be
PrnSidppt l1ri ho
when Mr.. K. B. Hayes of Ohio lived in
the Executive Mansion, James q. Blaine
Of Maine was not the less on that &C.
count the foremost Republican.
THEIR REAL OPINION.
New York Sum-,
The extent to which the Mckinley men
are unanimously crazy to have Tom
Reed nominated for Vice President is
| conclusive proof that in their bottom
most judgment Reed Is the man who
ought to be nominated for President.
A DESERVED TRIBUTE.
(From the Springfield Republican
1t was merited tribute paid to Speak
CT Reed in the House yesterday Whom
he held that office before 10 Democrat
proposed q resolution of commendation
and no Democrat voted for such q resolu-
ton when i5 was presented by the Re
publicans, thereby breaking the obser
vance honored with only ono exception
for a century. Now n Democrat presents
the res olution and DemocratsAead in the
applause and the voting, testifying all
to the ability, efficiency and strict i'm
partlality with which he has discharged
the arduous and responsible duties of his
Office
That was more than perfunotory tes-
timnnial Mr. Reeds cOuSe has hean one