The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-04-03

I'm Route to Washington He Takes Day
Oh to Visit the EsgIe-Something About
the Bright Hustler From the Land of
the Fair God and his Success in Lie
The skinner OF Hoke smith Tells About
the Trials and TribuIations of Dele
gate In Congress How Bills are
Passed
Hon Dennis T. Flynn the first favor
lite son in the hearts of the people of
Oklahoma was in the city yesterday
He was on his way 10 Washington and
he stopped off TO spend the day with
the Eagle as he himself said.
The atmosphere of a printing office
and sanctum is rather congenial to Mr..
Flynn as he was at one time an editor
and printer himself In the early days
of Barber county ne published the Her
aid and was not only an able editor
but a first class manager.
Mr.. Flynn, while having a marked
eastern appearance from being in con-
gress four years, is still a strictly west
ern man, and in his natural, genial man
ners has not changed bit.
The success of Mr.. Flynn has a cause.
When traced to its source It is found
to be absolute honesty; high sense of
honor and a blunt, plain meaning way
of saying things that leaves no doubt
as to where he can be found. Coupled
with that are the rustling, hustling
qualities which he necessarily had to
adopt when he became an orphan very
early in life.
What seemed to be his misfortune
then was his good fortune IN after life.
He may have been a greater man had he
more favorable opportunities and then
again he may not be. II his parents
lived it would not have become necessa-
ry for him to follow the course of the
setting sun and the star of empire until
he found the opportunities that made
him what he is. At any rate circum-
stances, sad as they were, gave Okla
homa one of the brightest little Irish
men in America and public servant
whose name will occupy bright page
in its pioneer history.
Mr.. Flynn was 81 years of age when
he was elected TO congress and at 30 the
delegate representa- tiveS of nearly half
a million people are thOwing their hats
in the air and shouting with all their
might for him. Governors and judges
tip their hats to him, gray bearded sires
bend their dignity of age and shout for
him, the young are glad to be numbered
among his adherents and mothers chris
ten their baby boys by his name. That
is a record that Dennis Flynn is proud
of at 80 and if his nature does not
change radically with his years his fame
and name win be correspondingly
greater and more honored at sixty.
The man who can see that honesty
is the best policy is man of brains;
the man who perSuadeS himself al 81
that he knows practically nothing is
genius; the man who discovers that he
wants friends and is powerless with
out them is an intellectual giant. This
is Dennis Flynn. When he first went
to congress and saw big men standing
around him on every side he went to
them and said: Gentlemen, l know
nothing; l came here to represent
struggling young territory; I want 70
serve the interests of my people honest
" and eardnestly." They all knew that
the Irish boy from the west was all
right. they patted him on the back and
said sail in young man, we are with
you" If Dennis had gone to Washing
ton like a coxcomb and knew all about
craftsmanship the moment he took his
seat he would have made failure of
it. He would probably have been sat
down upon at the start, his ambition
crushed and his usefulness crippled.
Those who best know the inside history
of his career at Washington best APP
perciate the ability and the adapta-
Dility of Dennis Flynn as a delegate
from Oklahoma.
A delegate is not like a congressman.
He has no vote. A man without vote
in congress is like man without a
sword in battle. The odds are against
him. Dennis Flynn while without
vote can do a great deal of aggressive
fighting and a great deal of energetic
defending.
AS an Illustration OF the hard and dif-
ficult work of a delegate something
should be known of the methods of leg
islation and especially the legislating
that falls TO the lot of a territorial del
egate. Take for instance a bill pending
for the opening of a reserva tiOn to set
Element. The first thing delegate has
TO do is to draw his bill. That done he
introduces it and it goes to the printer.
From that moment on he must watch
it as carefully as mother would baby.
From there it goes to the committee
on public lands and there he must fol-
low it and get some good fellow to take
care of it for him. If he succeeds the
bill in two weeks. may go to the secre-
tary of the interior, from there 10 the
chief clerk from him to the public land
commissioner and from him down bu-
reau after bureau until it reaches a
clerk who, perhaps, would not be COM
petent TO hold a position as bookkeeper
IN meat market. It remains all the
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