The times., 1898-11-12
A Duel of Titans.

The antagonism between Reed and
Hanna will probably be the cause of
merry little war when Congress opens.
Two persons more fitted to antagonize
one another could hardly be discovered
Hanna is in his element in any enter
prise of commercial nature, and while
such enterprises can, to a certain ex-
tent, be carried on under the dome of
the Capitol, they cannot be openly pros
ecuted, and so Senator Hanna's par
ticular talent is hidden in a napkin.
When he undertakes to talk he is lost,
and he never learned to make an epi-
gram His idea of an epigram is the
figure on greenback. Reed, on the
contrary, can produce wittlcisms as fast
as he can talk. and some of these re-
marks have been uttered at the expense
of Senator Hanna. Nearly every point
in the career of the Ohio boss might
be used as a peg on which to hang
bon mot. There is little in Reeds char
acter or behavior which Senator Hanna
can utilize in that way, even If he could
manage the job. The President will not
help him, nor are any of his friends
qualified to take part in wordy tour
nament in behalf of him. Reed is likely
to have the field of witty sayings all to
himself.
1t is one OF Senator Hanna's failings
that, although he cannot talk with any
effectiveness, he seems 10 think that he
can. Either that or an irresistible sense
of injury leads him to try to express
himself in words now and then, and
he has never opened his mouth that he
did not conclude the performance with
both feet in it. All through the prepa-
rations for war, six and eight months
ago, when, if he had kept quiet, some
of his plans might have matured. he
came out at intervals with some per-
fectly absurd sentiment or other, just
to assure the nation that he was on
deck and doing all he could His friends
would vainly attempt to explain that
Senator Hanna was not responsible for
any of the unpleasant things laid at
his door, and that he was calm and
serene and unmoved by the wicked as
pensions of his enemies and that he had
nothing to do with the Administration
citizen in the land. Then Senator Han
ma, smarting under the gibes of para
graphers and the opinions expressed by
cartoonists, would come out with the
information that there would be no
war, or with some furious denial of
something or other, sounding anything
but calm and serene 1t was Mr.. Han
mas one great mistake-he could not
keep still.
This same failing, in another form, is
Speaker Reeds. But, whereas Senator
Hanna cannot talk effectively If he
tries, Thomas 3. Reed talks only too
effectively. Most of his enemies have
been made by some merciless sarcasm.
or some cutting remark which hit
particularly tender spot in their feel
ings. OF course, he has been overbear-
ing and dictatorial in his ways, but
he might have been all that and still
kept friends in the House if he had
preserved a Jove-like solemnity. Most
men rather enjoy being ordered about.
But nobody enjoys being made ridicu-
lous. When ones Olympian Jove makes
fun of his subjects, then one feels it
a duty to kick him off his throne. And
that, is what is likely to happen to
Reed He will have more fun out of
the duel than Senator Hanna, however,
even if he gets the worst of it, for he
can make Hanna ridiculous even from
the furthermost corner in the House. 1t
is a pity that the Ohio boss is not in
the House and compelled to catch the
Speakers eye when he wants to say
anything, and to face his merry
smile when, deposed, Thomas B. Reed
becomes the leader of the minority.
Then. indeed, there would be amuse-
ment