The age-herald., 1898-03-13

mas committed a wise act. For twenty
 four years MT. Mills has been in con-
 gress and from start to finish he has been
 a man practically without a political prin-
 ciple. He has been upon all sides, of all l questions. MT. Mills was first elected to
 congress in 1874. Went in on what was
 then known as the great tidal wave"
 which swept the country from ocean to
 ocean and from the lakes to the gulf. It
 was the first democratic congress that
 had been elected since 1858. Mills was g.
 good soldier He was never a colonel in
 the army. but instead, lieutenant colonel.
 In February 1885, about month before
 MT. Cleveland was inaugurated the first
 time MT. Mills. with great force, in the
 house of representatives rose above the | surface and denounced MT. Cleveland in | the most vigorous terms because of the newly elected presidents position on l finance. MT. Mills at that time the
 rankest of rank free coinage advocates. | Mir. Mills served in congress from 1874, without ever having been known beyond | his own state, or the house of representa-
 tves, and the committee rooms at the | capitol. In the Fiftieth congress, by mere
 accident, he made chairman of the ways and means committee. MT Morrison 1 had been chairman of the committee since | 1874, with the exception of the time of the | Keller congress- In 1886, MT. Morrison | was defeated. The next on the com | mittee of the democrats was Abram s. | Hewitt, of New York. In the same year | MT. Hewitt was elected mayor of New
 York City, and thereupon resigned from | congress- Mr. Mills was next in line. That
 is how he happened to be made chairman | of the committee on ways and means. In almost every congress preceding, there
 was some kind of tariff bill presented
 by MT. Morrison. The Morrison horizontal
 bill is well known to almost every person l who has kept in touch with current politi-
 cal history. At no time during the debates
 upon this particular bill or any of MT. Nor l rison's tariff bills was the voice of Roger l O. Mills heard. He was a complete | and emphatic nonenity. When Mir. Mills | was made chairman of the ways and means committee he became the owner of the | greatest swelled head of any man who | was ever engaged in public life. MT. | Mills was boylike in his pride of position. | It not infrequent for MT Mills to re- l mark, "I am now the leader of the ma | jority and I entitled to more respect | than any other man on the floor.' His egotism knew bounds. He came into | fame the author of the Mills tariff bill, l but Mills contributed very little toward it. l President Cleveland on the assembling of | congress in 1887, delivered to that body his l famous tariff message. Upon the lines laid l down in the message was the Mills tariff | bill constructed. The president was prac- | tically the author of the bill though Mir.
 Mills got the reputation of being because of his position as chairman of the ways 1 and means committee and as such reported | the same to the house. This was MT. Mills l first lesson in tariff reform. For more | than twelve years previously he sat in congress and at no time would he have | recognized a tariff measure had he seen | it coming up the street with a brass band 1 in front and wearing red Indian klankets. l Mills as chairman of the ways and means | committee was conspicuous failure. He was man entirely devoid of common de- l cency and polteness. He had temper 1 that he could not control. He offended I every member of the committee and in- I suited every man who appeared before it. l As dictator he has had no equal, not l even in the person of Thomas B. Reed. | The reputation he gained as chairman
 
 l for the speakership after Speaker Carlisle l had been promoted to the senate. Mills | had actually grown to believe that he was 1 the head and front of the democratic par | ty in the United States He seemed
 thoroughly impressed with. the belief that his supposed authorship of the Mills bill entitled him to everything that he might 1 desire within the gift of the democratic party. In the opinion of Mr. Mills every l member of congress who declined to vote l for him for speaker was thief, a scoun- 1 drel and a man who determined to de- stroy the government and it's institutions. l Mills made g. personal matter of every l thing. It was a good thing for this gov ernment, and especially for the democratic party, when MT. Mills was defeated for the l speakership. His conduct after his defeat
 was more like that of child He pouted | like a baby. Would not play any more. | Would gather up his doll-rags and go l home. MT. Mills was defeated fairly and l squarely. MT. Crisp, the successful op- l ponent would not appoint him to the l chairmanship of the ways and means com | mittee In this respect Mr. Crisp violated precedent. It has always been the cus- l tom that the defeated candidate for speak l CT. who was second in choice, should be l appointed chairman of the ways and means committee
 l Mr. Crisp could not do this, because after l his defeat Mr. Mills had denounced and I abused the newly elected speaker; there- l fore he could not make him his chief lieu 1 tenant upon the floor of the house. which 1 he would have been chairman of the l ways and means committee. MT. Mills de- l ciined to accept any committee appoint I ment. He would serve on no committee. l He was mad. He pouted. Just like a child. l Cried when he was defeated. Heaped per l sonal abuse upon every man who had not l voted for him. Claimed that the demo- cratic party in not electing him speaker was destroying the government In the l name of God, what had Roger Q. Mills l ever done for the democratic party to en-