The Portland daily press., 1899-04-20


which led up tn 10, and which induced
the minority of the House 70 take what
We believe was the quite unprecedented
course of refusing TO concur In adormai
vote of thanks 10 the Speaker.
But for these very reasons The Times
10 all the frcer 10 express its opinion that
the retirement Of such . man rs Mr.
Heed from National politics would be q
National loss, and that there must De
something wrong In political conditions
which make the private practise OF the
law more attractive TO such man than
the public life for which he Is so distinct
ly lifted. In spite either Of his partisan
ship. which is undoubtedly of a very
rooted kind, or Of any individual mis-
remains true that Mr.. keed Is n public
man In sense in which very few mem
bers OF either house can be said to be so
IL 10 not only that after q very active and
stirring political career 1.-THE smell of fire
has not come nigh his garments" That
ought to be matter of course, but 1t has
not been so, even with all his predecessors
in the Speakers chair. 1t is also. and
more couspicuously, that Mr.. Reed is
really "a man Of light and leading" a
man to whom, when any question arises,
as many questions have arisen In this
country OF late which has not yet been
made party question, the country at
large looks with real interest and expeota-
ton for enlightenment How few such
men there are.in our present public life,
compared with the number OF such men
there were in our public life half a cen.
fury ago, we need not pause to point nut.
But that Mr. Reed Is one of them there 10
no denying. lie Is one Of the few public
man to whose speeches upon an important
and bipartisan public question an honest
and Intelligent citizen can turn with
some security that he win not be called
upon to eat husks.
That MIR. Reed has never gone officially
any higher may be mob dy's fault but his
own. public man who would rather
have fun than be PRESIDENT" can scarce
ly complain that he has not got both.
And, next to the Presidency. MIR. Reed
has gone as far as an aspiring politician
can GO He Is so clearly the leader of his
party in the House that the notion OF an
opposition to ham for the Speakership in
a Republican House would be ludicrous.
He has been speaker several times. and he
may justly boast that none Of his pre-
deoessors, of either party, has ever, WELD
ed 1t as be has ever:wielded 1t,
1t is great position. And the fact that
the holder of il chooses to abdicate 1t, or
is willing TO entertain proposition to
abdicate it. for private law practice, Is
full of discouragement. The Speaker OF
the House Of Representatives gets $40. 600
u year. That Is not splendid, as legal In
comes 60. but, even as legal incomes go.
IL 10 highly respectable. That the man
who receives It should be willing to give
1t up for better chance in private busi-
ness is politically and socially sympto-
matte. IL indicates that, TO an experienced
observer. ths difference In dignity is not
worth the difference in income. The
Speaker of the House of Commons Is
really a much less important person than
the Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives. Though q partisan to the extent
of being an elected member, he Is sup
posed to drop his partisanship when he
becomes speaker. The American Speaker,
on the other hand, Is the official leader of
his party. The British Speaker gets $685.,
900 year and, on his retirement IA Peer
age and pension. The American un-
o .1ciai "ieader'' gets what Mr.. Moss is
vainiy endeavoring To. ascertain from Mr..
Croker. There is something out of joint
in our politics when a man like Speaker
Reed is even considering proposition to
retire from public life in order to practice
law.