Mexico weekly ledger., 1899-01-12

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Until Judge William s HOLMAN be-
gan his Eixsssnth term thera was a sort
Of congressional superstition 10 the e.
fsos that nd man would aver serve over
30 years In the hocse. and a. be died
boz after entering upon hrs thirty-hrst
year Of service his career did not much
weaken that superstition. That how
eeyr. need not bother most congressman
eYen Il little Bit. for they will never
reach even the neighborhoodo f 90 years
here.
The vast majority Of them q repeat
with the spirit and the understanding
the mournfuI and famous lines Of q
great poet:
II 80 soon / an done for,
What was / begun fort
I heard the matter frequently dis
eussed when Mr.. O'Neal Of Pennsyl-
vania died during the Fifty-third con-
gress while serving his fifteenth term.
Amos J. Cummings once figured il
out that the average length Of congress.
sional life In the house is four years.
Ny own observation IL that every
congress Is made up Of about one third
new members.
Truly, most Representatives 'are Of
few days and full Of trouble"
New England has learned that Q
mans usefulness hero grows with his
experience. When this session Of bon
gress began, her ~ senators had served
as follows in the less numerous branch
Of the national LEGISLATURE" Names
two. Hale and Frye have each serve6
IS years; Chandler Of New Hampshire,
II years; GalIingsr. 8; Aldrich Of
Rhode Island. rs years, and Wetmore.
s; Plast Of Connecticut, 30 years and
his colleague, General Hawley. who
now has a contest for reelection. is
years; Hoar Of Massachusetts, 80 years,
and Lodge, 9; Proctor Of Vermont, who
came in after Edmunds' resignation,
has served 6 years, and Morrill, was
serving. as before stated. his ~thirty-sec-
ond year.
So long IS her senators discharge
their duties well New England does not
change them-even to promote more
brilliant men.
Maine,s Leading Citizen.
For example. James Gillespie Blaine
served in the house for years. while his
name was On every lip and while be
possessed ten times the fame Of both
the senator's from Maine. but the Pine
Tree State kept her two old senators in
their seats. and the probabilities are
that the Piumed knight would never
have been translated to the senate had
not Senator Lot NJ. Morrill, concluded
that he wanted an Office in which he
could ave some money and resigned TO
be collector Of the port of Portland.
Take q more modern instance. Thorn
as Bracket Reed is the most famous
and brilliant man in the national lsgis-
lature. 1t is no disparagement to Sena-
tors Hale and Fry, who are men Of ca
pacity, to say that Mr.. Reed Is far and
away the most celebrated citizen of
Maine. He possesses a towering repnta-
tion. BE Is oonsidered to be Of presiden-
tiAl stature But nevertheless in Janu-
airy Hon. Eugene Hale Is to be re-elect-
ed to the senate by a practically unani-
nous vote, while Mr.. Reed, the levia-
than among Republicans, Is to remain
In the house. Il may be argued that the
reason Is that be prefers to remain there
to be speaker, but having been speaker
three times he has reaped all the honors
which that position affords, and while
not old to hurt he Is no longer young,
and It would appear that he would nat
uTally prefer the repose Of the senate.
A Marvellous Voice.
One Of the great New York dailies
has been asking members Of congress,
senator's etc, to express their views oE
what Of 1892 That's an immense
question. A man might guess at many
things-I did-the Nicaragua canal and
such like. After delivering n speech an
orator frequently lies awake Of q night
thinking Of what he might have said''
which next to might have been" are
the saddest words Of tongue or pen.
Well, after | got to bed / began think
ing Of what l had predicted as happen
ing in 1899. Ali seemed misty, IN.
shapen, uncertain. vaporish. Then I
thought what I Knight have said" and
! 1t Is this:
Judge William Jefferson Pollard Of
st. Louis will be the next reading clerk
Of the Missouri house Of Representatives,
and since Adam first opened his mouth
in the garden Of Eden, set his tongue
a-going and named the members Of the
first menagerie ever seen on earth no
such voice as Pollard's has been heard
among men. Il lie weird, wonderful,
witching. Il is powerful as the basso
profundo. penetrating as Gabriel's sill
yer trumpet and sweet as Al Eolian
harp. As a Missourian, ineffably proud
Of the imperial commonwealth from
which l hail, 1 am happy to know that
no other state in the Union will have
suoh a jewel Of q reading clerk. Will
liam Jefferson is the nonpareil. Think
Of that scene on the banks Of the Mis-
souri, when this Democratic son of
thunder reads the glowing words Of
Governor Lou v. Stephens, Democrat
par excellence, to the Democratic legis-
lasure Of the greatest Democratic state
in the Union-a state wherein for 81
years the Democrats have run things
with a high hand and have SO far ignor-
ed Republican usage as to pay of twenty
odd millions Of dollars of debt incurred
by Republicans and at the same time
cut down the rate Of taxation more than
one-halfi That is the dulcet story Will
liam jefferson Pollard's musical, melo-
diouE Democratic, silvery, penetrating
voice will tell as reading clerk in Janu-
airy, 1899, to "all the nations Of the
earth and the rest Of mankind, " as Gem
, eral Zachary Taylor remarked in his
first and only message to the American
congress. I envy William jefferson his
happy position. May he live long and
may the power OF voice increase as his
years grow more numerousi
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