The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-06-17
CURRENT COMMENT.
SPEAKER REED.
philadelphia Bulletin. J

In force of character, in intellectual
strength and in the higher qualities Of
leadership, Reed has stood, as he stands
today, foremost in his party. There
is not a shadow on his
personal character; he has gone tn rough
twenty yenrs of fierce contention in the
House of Representatives with unchal-
lenged probity; he has been the author
OF great parliamentary reform which
even his opponents hive adopted, and to
his tremendous force of will may pc as
cribed the passage of oil the vital Re-
publican legislation when the party was
last in power 1t is not too much to say
that among thoughtful Republicans who
have studied closely the characteristics
OF party leaders there is none whose men,
tai resources have commanded SO much
admiration and, ut times, astonishment
as those of Speaker Reed
1t is, indeed this marked ability and
superiority. together with independence
OF character and contempt for the
petty things of politics that have served
most to diminish his chances as a candi-
date for the Presidency. The American
people have generally hesitarea to put
the power OF the executive office in the
hands of strong men with that peculiar
faculty of domination and mastery pos
sessed by Reed; and he has done nothing
to fiatter away this latent distrust by the
tricks of the demagogue. The result has
been that the managing politicians as a
rule have held aloof from him while the
people have turned to Mckinley largely
because of his simple and perhaps more
alniable traits of character and because
OF belief on thoir part That he is ''clos-
er'to them than the big, self-willed and
towering man from Maine could ev or be-.
REED AND THE VICE PRESI DEMO
(Chicago Journal.
In bis interview predicting the nomi-
nation Of Mckinley Joseph Manley Mr..
Reeds manager, said:
MIR. Reed S name will be presented to
the convention, and he will be voted for,
and am authorized to say that under
ne conditions or circumstances can he OF
will he accept the nomination for vice
president, if it should be rendered to
him.
Mr.. Reed has never wanted the. nomi-
nation for vice president, and there has
never been any sincerity in the PROPOSE
ton that 1t should go to him. That
proposition came from Mckinley sources,
and it was difficult to say, in the first
place, whether it was intended us an in
suit or piece of remarkable political
strategy. 1t was us preposterous as would
have been the proposition to nominate
Hayes. No matter how respectable Mi.
McKinley's talents may be, it was absurd
to suppose that a man SO pre-eminent for
leadership as Mr.. Reed would trail along
as the tail to his kite. Harrison took the
same stand in 1888 that Reed now takes,
although he was then far from being
such a big figure in national politics.
The position is perfectly logical, natural,
and reasonable, and Mr.. Reed would
have lost many friends and admirers if
he had yielded to the clamor OF the Nc
Kinleyites.
THE HON. REDFIELD PROCTOR.
New York Sum-
The Hon. Redfield Proctor, with his
frost-chiselled and monumental grin,
''Elysian beauty, melancholy grace,' and
with his pensive soft hat waving gently
like cypress over his granite brows.
may be found in all the st. Louis hotels
or letting the Convention hall rest trust
ingly upon his shoulder. There are few
wiser or more convincing figures, but
what does theVermont Solomon continue
to smile at? At his lasting and magnifi-
cent loyalty to the Hon. Thomas Braok-
cit ReedP AT the enthusiasticgm
Of the Hon. Redfeld Proctor as a candi-