The age-herald., 1898-03-20
Old "HOWdU' Martin
 Was a Texas Congressman
BY NED BRACE.

When he set his watch he was as liable as not to get the time from the cash register in the street car or from the dial in the house of representatives, which marked the hours for the consideration of measures according to the rules of the house. When the hands upon the dial pointed to o'clock perhaps 1t was only 12 and when they pointed to perhaps it was only 2.
 
 Maj Martin believed that John H. Rea- gan and Roger o. Mills were two of the great men in history. It was in this con- gross that the Mills bill became the great political issue. Maj. Martin took his seat in congress on the first Monday in Decem- Der, 1887. The next year was the presi- dential election between Harrison and Cleveland the first time Maj. Martin be- came an enthusiast upon thaeubject of the Mills bil He felt that he owed it to his constituents to raise his voice in no unnistakable tones in behalf of the pas sage of that measure. He believed that it was in a sense a Texas product and that it was necessary for all Texans in con- gress to rally to its support. Martin be- came the best advertised man in congress. He was the one man that all visitors de- sired to see. Col. Breckinridge was then in the zenith of his political fame, but he was not a marker to Maj. Martin in point of interest to the visiting multitudes. It was announced that Maj. Martin would make a speech on the Mills bill at one of the night sessions Almost every member of the house was in his seat and the gal leries were crowded to their fullest ca- pacity. and thousands in the lobby were unable to gain admission. The press gall lery was never more crowded than it was upon the occasion of Maj. Martins maiden effort. It was his first speech.
 He had the usual amount of vanity and felt possibly that he was not attracting any more interest than he was justly entitled to- It was about 9 o'clock before Maj. Mar tiIf~was recognized by the speaker. Two others had preceded him. Maj. Martin was third upon the list for that nights speech As Mr. Beech, of New York, sat down. Maj. Martin knew it was his turn next. All eyes were centered upon the tall Texan. He had made no change in his dress from that worn every day while there. It was a long Prince Albert coat, which had never been buttoned. He wore a broad expanse of shirt front, with the old-fash- toned black tie. His vest was low cut and only the bottom button did duty. His trousers were dark and he wore boots in- stead of shoes. The polisher seldom did duty on Maj. Martins footwear. Maj. Martin had prepared in his way some notes, or memoranda, from which he pro- posed to make his great speech upon the Mills tariff bill. It was apparent to all who saw him that more embarrassed man never rose to address an assemblage. His voice was husky and his hands trem- bled. He spoke for two hours and twenty minutes and g. more incoherent, inconsist- ent, rambling, frst-upon-one- subject-and- then-upon- n-another-speech was never deliv- cred in any legislative hall before. He would for two or three minutes talk about the tariff. and in the next two or three min- utes would abuse the black abolition party for its conduct prior to, and during the war He assailed the north, and praised the south. He spoke upon every subject almost except the one under consideration. He was more pitied than censured and no one felt his failure more than himself. The Texas delegation, after he had finished surrounded him and told him that if he allowed that speech to be printed in the ihcCOlQ II WOulu ueledI Qllm renOm1nd- tion. The late Buck Kilgore said to Maj. Martin that if he permitted the speech to be printed it would be disgrace to the state of Texas, and the man who made it could never expect to be returned to con- gress. Maj Martin was ignorant of what to do. He was advised by his colleagues to get some one to write speech for him, have 1t printed in the Record, send it to his constituents, and they would never know but that it was the speech he had made. The custom of withholding speeches flor revision" is as common as the mak- ing of speeches, though Maj. Martin did not know it.
 Maj. Martin said he had no idea whom to ask to write a speech for him. He was told by the Texas delegation that there were number of newspaper writers about the capitol who frequently wrote speeches for members of congress. The result was that Maj. Martin sent for MT. Jay F. Dur ham, now managing editor of The Age Herald, who was one of the ell-known correspondents at Washington. Martin knew Durham better than any other of the correspondents. Maj. Martin was very much cast down when MT. Durham ans wered his summons to come to his relief and write for him a tariff speech. He said that all he wanted was to have a good speech printed in the Record and then he was willing to retire from congress MT. Durham was well acquainted with Martin and his past political history. He made speech ,to fit the man, upon the same prin- ciple Q tailor would make suit of clothes Martin was, in fact, a farmer and the re- suit was it was speech from a farmers point of view, to fit the farmer as it were After the speech was printed in the Record Martins constituents were inclined to look upon him as the biggest man in the Texas delegation. Maj. Martin was renominated without opposition and as the Texas dele gation and the major himself often times said, it was Durham's speech that was in- strumental in giving him second nomina- ton. The speech became a campaign docu- ruent fl, fhe cornpaip1, If 1oS2 xuta1 IIarr;-