The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-14
THE MAN WHO KNOWS.

THE MAN WHO KNOWS.
When the house bill for the forma-
ton Of a commission to be composed of
ten members Of congress and nine lay
men, 'to collate information and to con-
slider and recommend legislation to
meet the problems presented by labor,
agriculture and capital" came up, Sem
ator Joseph Hawley addressed the SEN
ate in opposition to it. He was OPP
posed to all these schemes for Sub
letting legislation" because it lis prac-
tically abolishing congress- Senator
Cullom interrupted him to remark that
it was not intended that the commits
sion should legislate, but only ''in-
quire into and report facts to con-
gress." Senator Hawley replies that
1.-The important part of legislation is
getting a knowledge of facts to build
a law upon" Mr. Cullom said: 1--WE
have not been able to get the facts"
The incident illustrates the division
into which our legislators fall, with the
larger number on the side with the
senator from Illinois. On the one side
are the few men who realize that all
legislation is built well only when it is
based upon not only the facts of the
present but those of the past. To
these legislation is laborious study ar
duous. unremitting. Such are always
students, never impresstonists. They
do not wait for their facts to be
brought to them, but go out and hunt
and find them. They come to their work
with minds stored with facts CLEANED
by hard study. They are always the
leaders, simply because they know
things. Out Of their resources of facts
they draw material for meeting present
emergencies. They do not sit idly wait
ing for others to gather facts for them.
They must know that they are facts
by their own examination Of original
sources. They cannot take the word Of
others. Such are statesmen.
On the other hand are the Culloms.
They have no stomach for the labor of
absorbed with other matters, the hold
ing of their own places or the getting
of place for others. Sometimes, as
with Conkiing. they have a power of
generalizing facts gathered by others;
but usually they regard abstruse topics.
to which most men feel bound to give
hard thought and prolonged investiga-
ton, as simple matters to be mas
tered by skimming over their sur
face, like Logan, who felt cornpe-
tent to discuss the financial question
because he had devoted two whole
weeks to considering it, They are
smatterers in statecraft, however mas
terful they may be in partycraft. They
are impressionists, guided by their i'm
pulses and not by the deep convictions
that come from wide knowledge of
facts. Among them one finds all that
class Of statesmen who deride the idea
that there are natural laws of sociology
and economics as the notion Of doctrin-
aires, and who believe that there is the
puissance of omniscience in a fat of
congress
1t is everywhere and in all times the
men who know and act upon the knowI-
edge that,a the senator from Connect
cut said, lit is the important part of the
business of legislation to get a knowl-
edge of the facts upon which to build
laws" Then, given the ability to
marshal the facts, to extract from
them their relation to the matter in
hand, to draw the correct conclusions
from them, and we have the statesman.
Such was each Of the Pitts, such was
Sam Randall was for years the admit
ted leader Of the house on all matters
relating to revenue and expenditure.
because he had made himself master
of the facts. He asked for no commits
sion to cOllate them and present them
ready made to his hand, but he gave
his days and nights to hunting them.
mastering them, so they were always
under his tongue. And so everywhere.
in trade, in commerce, the arts and
sciences, 1t is the man who knows for
whom all are looking and waiting, and
who, when he comes, finds place and
work waiting for him. The world is too
full of Culloms waiting for some one
to tell them what to know.