The age-herald., 1897-12-12
VETERANS OF' CONGRESS
Twenty-Two Members Served
 Twelve Years.
BEAR BRUNT OF BUSINESS
They Are the Old War Horses to Whom the House Looks for Leadership ard Guidance
 Oldest is "A and the Youngest 46.
Special to The Age-Henald.


 Washington, Dec 11.-Note the veteran congressmen as they enter the house of representatives. Only twenty-two of the 356 have served over awelve years. There are three from Maine, three from Illinois, three from Pennsylvania, two from New York, two from Mississippi, two from Missouri, two from Tennessee, one from Vermont, one from Iowa, one from Arkansas, one from Texas, and one from Alabama See these veterans file down the main aisle. and branch off to their seats. The greatest of the twenty two, in intellect as we'll as physlque, mounts the dais and seize's the gavel; nine of the others drop into seats in the democratic section, and aweIlve settle z down in the republican ranks. They are the men upon whom the brunt of the business in the house falls. Teen are members of committees controlling ap- propriations and five are on ths ways and means. Three are members of the comnlDbtee on rules, which prac4 4caliy controls the legislation of the house. The average age of the twentytwo veterans is fifty-eight years.
 The youngest is Thomas c. McRae, of Arkansas who is forty-six, and the old ea- Galusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania, now seventy-four years old. McRae en- tered has served continuously; Grow took his seat forty-six years ago as the successor of David Wilmot. He served six con- secutive terms, and was speaker during the Thirty-sevenuh congress. After thir- ry years absence, he reappeared Tn the house. and has been twice re-elercbed. His plurality at the last congressional election was 297,446, and his majority 269,7 ,778, figures unprecedented in AmeId- can politics. By unanimous consent, he was allowed to select his own seat in the house, and it may be interesting to know that he chose one far removed from the scene of his encounter with Lawrence M Keith in ante-bellum days
 MT Grow is not a member of eitter the committee on ways and msans or on ap- propria tions. He is, however, chair man of the committee on education, committee which, by the way, brings very little, if any, business before the house. The old statesman employs his time in writing to his constituents and in addressing the house periodically. He has no difficulty in securing time for de- bate. as the members treat him with ex- treme courtesy. His speeches glow with an old-tine fervor that recalls the stir ring days of the Wagon Boy of The West"
 Singular to say, Nathaniel P. Banks, who preceded MT Grow as speaker of the house forty years ago, was h.s pre- decessor in re-entering congress. AS Banks retired to political obscurity
  house. MT. Reed was speaker when Banks was member, and he has served one term as speaker since the reappear- ance of Mir Grow, yet he never saw if to call either of the ex-speakers to the chair. Right here it is worthy of re- mark that the portrait of MT. Grow, now hanging in the speakers lobby, repre- sents him as he is today, and not as he was nearly forty years ago, when he presided over the deliberations of the house. Near by Is the picture of Banks. black-haired, eagle-eyed, and as straight as a ramrod, the personification of the speaker of the house in the days of James Buchanan.
 Among the veterans is Gen. Alfred c. Harmer, of Philadelphia, ahe father of the house, and chairman of the commit ltee on library. He has been member over twenty-six years, and leaving out the Forty-fourth congress, his term of service has been unbroken. For ssven- teen years he was a member of the com mittee on naval affairs He is said to have been dropped from Ellts committee because he actively supported Mckinley for speaker in preference to Reed in the caucus preceding the Fifty-frst con gress. However this may be, it is cer- tain that he is influential in adminfStra- ton circles today-possibly more infiu- en:ial than the speaker sworn in by him, as father of the housa, on March 15. Harmer is no orator, and devotes himself to the interests of his constituents gardless of national fame. A genial disposition has endeared him to all lh's associates. some of whom have spsnt many a pleasanI summer day in fishing with him at Brigantine Beach, near Att 1anttc City.
 Here is veteran seated near the main aisle, who has never sought place on either of the two leading committees. yet his name is familiar in bo h hem sphere-. His face is almost as Semitic in cast as that of Gov. Dingley. of Maine, but he is more firmly knit and has voice that would attract attention fn a midnight gale. For more shan twenty-four years has he trodden the floor of the house. al- though defeated in the campaign of 1894. This veteran is Richard P. Bland. Charles A. Dana once said that Bland was the only member of the house who had reached tine level of staitesmanship since the reconstruc ion period. The Bland dollar was some thing tangible and accepta bie to the people. Bland remains on the committee cm ccirage, w-fghts and measures, where he has been a fixture for the last twerlty years. At ithe head of the minority hare, however, he is utterly powerless. The gold msn outnumber him and his hands arg tight 1y bound. But no man can muZZle him. The speaker has repeatedly and va'nly essayed the job. Bland is experienced in parliamentary law, and has the rules, of the house at his fingers ends. He bides his time, and when the opportune moment arrives, emfts roar that startles the house and sends the loung- CTS in the lobbies scurrying for the gal leries. He handles the sltua ioll without gloves. Powerful in invective, precise dn statement, blumt, and vigorous in lan- guage, and leonine in voice and manner, the very atmosphere of the house seems raqdfied after one of his efforts. Twice was he heard in the extra session. Then he disappeared and was selen no more. It was said that he was not in sympa- thy with the lacloadadsical fiappings of ghe youthful wing of the democracy.
 Away off here in what Is known as the Cherokee Strip sits a veteran, with thick fron-gray hair, flashing gray eyes. broad chested, and voice even more sonorous than that of Bland Born in Scotland, every fiber of his body is American This veteran is Gen. David B. Henderson chairman of the commir- tee on judiciary and one of the five members of The committee on rules. For sixteen years he has represented the Dubuque district of Iowa. He Is also