The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-27
ARENOTM MADE BY CAUCUS
MEN ARE BORN LEADERS, NOT GRE
ATED SUCH By THEIR PARTIES.
Members of Congress Are Quick to
Qualities of Real Leadership.

Amos ]. Cummings. in Washington Post.
The question of the leadership of the mi
nority in the Fifty-sixth Congress is being
probably not meet until the first Monday in
December, 1899. The caucus will select a
candidate for speaker, and not leader of
the minority. If the candidate for speaker
has the qualities for leadership, so much
the better. He will be universally recog-
nized as a leader, and will be obeyed with
out caucus or other formalities. If he has
not the qualities of leadership, the situation
will disclose a leader. OF course, he may
be hampered by the aspirations of the ex-
candidate for speaker, who may be favored
in many ways by the speaker elected by the
majority But. the rank and file-the SOL
diers who never shrink from the picket line
or finch in the bayonet charge-will follow
the real leader, regardless of who may wear
the starry collar.
Leaders are born-not made. They assert
themselves. and are not the creation of
others. Thomas B. Reed was the real Re-
publican leader on the floor long before he
was ever selected as a candidate for speak
er. His towering personality, his clear
head, his political effrontery, his prompt ac-
ton and his magnetic influence made him a
ledu6T To WiOul dlI HIS COltdSuSS uACOH-
sciously turned whenever a political crisis
was at hand. No one ever questioned his
judgment; all followed him. not only will
ingly but eagerly In the contests with
Speaker Carlisle on parliamentary ques-
tons. or on questions of policy, when a
vote was about to be taken, Reed would rise
and look around him, and in an instant ev-
cry member of his party would stand up or
sit down, at the wave of his hand. There
was no tagging; it was an animated ma
chine, perfect in all its parts, and never out
of order. The fact that Reed was a born
leader made him candidate for speaker.
Even in the speakers chair he is still the
leader of his party in the House. Major Nc
KinIey was his first lieutenant in the Fifty
first Congress. the same as Governor Ding
ley has been his lieutenant in the Fifty
fourth and Fifty-fifth congresses.
1t requires rare nerve and exquisite
finesse for the speaker to lead his party
while occupying the chair, but Mr. Reed has
shown himself capable of accomplishing it.
Those who have closely watched the pro-
ceedings of the House know how deftiy this
has been done when his lieutenants were
unwary and off their guard.
CRISP THE GREATEST DEMOCRAT.
The greatest Democratic leader in the
House for fifty years was Charles F. Crisp
VI dSOISld. TIC uSNClOPShs ohO was tlON
made. Had he not demonstrated his ca
pacity for leadership. the same as Thomas
b. Reed, he could not have been selected as
the Democratic candidate for speaker. The
whole power of the administration was ar
rayed against him. There were Cabinet Off
GERS in the Hobbies of the caucus working
against him. with the assent of the Presi-
dent yet his leadership of the minority in
the Fffty-frst Congress, where Thomas b.
Reed had inaugurated new system OF par
namentary rule, was magnificent that
nothing could overcome it when it became
a factor in the selection of a candidate for
speaker. After as bitter struggle as had
speaker of the House 1t was the develop
ment of his capacity as a leader that made
leader after his election speaker. So we
see that leaders may become candidates for
speaker; but candidates for speaker do not
necessarily become leaders.
No man can become a leader of the House
who Is not always ON the floor watching the
proceedings There are sometimes a dozen
committees in authorized session while the
House itself is in session. The members of
these committees are unable to attend many
of the sessions of the House They are abb
sent on committee work, and are always
called in when important votes are being
taken. They sacrifice themselves to their
duties in committee Among these are the
members of the committee on appropriations
on ways and means. on elections, on rivers
and harbors, or military affairs on naval
affairs. and others. These are the important
committees of the House. They are the
cooks who prepare the legislative BROTH
Their members appear in evidence only
when their work is before the House. They
frequently suffer In the estimation of their
own constituents because the Record gives
no surface indications of their presence in
the House
Such was the case of Representative Day
ton, of West Virginia. valued member of
the committee on naval affairs. He had
hard fight at the last election: The Con-
gressional Record was put in evidence
against him. Ii did not prove him to be an
ceedings Of the House. The inference was
that he absent from the session. and
not attending to his duties. The truth was
that he was one OF the most painstaking and
active members of the committee on naval
affairs, working harder and far more indus
foor narticipatine and answering n Their