The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1899-03-24
0RT0N OF ASSEMBLY.
A Darlington Man Who Works on
Bills Till Midnight.
f" BURNETT'So WEEKLY LETTER.

Hitch in Anti-Pass Crusade = Possible
Compromise on Harvey School Plan
Music for Insane.
Madison, March 21.-The man who
does the most talking on the floor of
the assembly is Judge P. A. Orion Oh
Darlington, thick-set lawmaker of 81,
with round, smooth, plump face and
run themselves out, but Judge Orion
has the brains to sustain his leader
ship, for Wheeler chairman of the judi
ciary. is a much younger lawyer; and
McGrath of Green Bay is not legal
trained; and Hall has too many I'M
popular irons in the fire, and Colonel
Rusk is too outspoken to dispute the
title with the Lafayette county man.
Judge Orion is e. fine type Of the ru-
raj magnate. Darlington's population
is $500. Had he gone to Milwaukee, in
stead of Darlington, with it's 400 peo-
pie, when the panic of 1857 threw him
out of engineering, for which he had
been educated at Madison university
in Hamilton, N. Y, he would today be
partner Of General Winkler or other
wise been at the top.
He lives in a great, big, comfortable
hip rooted house, on the main street,
his home since "a, two years after he
was married.
He is president of banks in Darling
ton and Benton, administers estates and
gives advice in fatherly way to young
women who want to get ahead in the
world and young men who want to be-
come great. The judge has a jolly,
kindly face, with suggestions of ripe
pippins in it and the children walk by
his side without fear, and when he
passes away he will have a funeral so
long that the rear carriages can't get
inside the cemetery gate.
A Lawmaking Leader at Work.
The judge IS a power on his feet. He
has dignity but tempered with quiet
humor. He is a hard worker on pend
ing legislation. This is something new
for us in Madison.
Ambitious congressman in Washing
ton burn midnight oil, but for an as
semblyman to work until the small
hours on his file of bills and pour over
Sanborn and Berryman's statutes as if
he were bringing case for trial, is al
most unprecedented.
The result is that he is prepared, and
1 do not know of man of recent years
who has so smashed bill after bill that
had the recommendation of committee
behind it, and whose passage seemed
inevitable.
The judges standpoint is that of a
lawyers, and this standpoint is not al
ways right He is an advocate, and
advocates are sometimes too much bent
on results. When the session opened
with a senatorial fight the judge in
dorsed the plan for a ballot on the
quiet. It was his first speech. He
pleaded the analogy of the Australian
ballot. He intimated that because the
voter is turned into a solitary booth
to decide on his ballot with no one but
the Almighty to know about it, that
therefore a lot Of Milwaukee assembly,
men should be allowed to come to Madi-
son and do the dark lantern act with
United States senatorship. Of course
the analogy was as porous as lime
stone.
Reporters Didn't Do Him.
Well the newspaper men said, Hes
cent as a yearling, but he has talked
to county seat juries for years. In
short, he's an advocate and wants the
decision his way-any way to get it,
But while Judge Orion in the furry
and neWness of the moment had ad-
vanced a contention that he would re-
ject in calmer moments. he began to
gain strength steadily. He has made
mistakes. He found himself wrong on
the child adoption bill, and manfully
got up and withdrew the bill. He is
restless on the subject of higher edu-
cation, and disposed to be suspicious
and provincial in spots, but he will ma
ture. He is certainly valuable legal
advisor to the whole body.
Judge Orion was a Democrat until
Garfield's time. He has been a candi-
date for congress and for circuit judge
and attorney general. He was born in
New York state, and as a boy from Il
to 10, lived in Beloit doing some study
ing there. Major Bundy and Horace
White were fellow students. He later
took a full engineering course at Ham,
ilton, but coming back to Wisconsin,
the panic had stopped railroading and
he studied law with the father CT Mayor
Rose of Milwaukee. The judges part
ner, Osborn, has served in the assem-
bly, and the latter's sister is Mrs Orion.
This lady is well-known as a charming
hostess and leader in women's club
work, and a daughter, Miss Susie, does
the parents proud, having graduated
at Rockford and about finishing her
third year in medical studies in Chi
cago. The son, Robert, is in the OAR
lingtOn bank.
Taxing His Ow N Insurance Company.
These straws Of culture show that
Judge Orion has no dark designs on the
university. He wants the annual ap-
preparation of $2eS,000 made specific. the
amount named. instead of the present
percentage plan.
An innovation dearer to him, how
ever, is the forcing the life insurance
companies to pay larger taxes. His
Hill will raise the tax on the North
western Mutual from $34, 900 to $215, ZOO
annually. The amusing part is that he
is insured in the company for $4,000
himself and has been it's agent Tin per-
son or through his bank since 1872 and
is writing policies every month As