Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-06-05
Mr.. Reeds Successor.

Mr.. hee0 successor.
The decision of Congressman w H.
Moody of Massachusetts. not to enter
into a canvass for the Speakership of
the National House of Representatives,
and the determination ct himself and
large majority of his delegation to
support General David p. Henderson
of Iowa, will have a most important
bearing upon the outcome of this con-
test. Indeed, so rapidly have events
moved in the direction of the Iowa con-
gresham. during the past week. that
it would not be at all surprising if the
position finally comes to him without
opposition. No member of the Nation
al House of Representatives is better
qualified to succeed Mr. Reed in this
responsible office. General Henderson
is man whose noble qualities of head
and heart have endeared him to his
associates. No man in Congress is pos
sessed of warmer human sympathies
or enjoys a greater popularity. He is
known to all as a man of upright char
acter and rugged integrity. His voice
is strong and we'll modulated, and he
is an orator of exceptional strength and
grace. The warm friendships he has
formed among his fellow members
have not been limited by party lines,
and whenever he has had anything to
say upon public questions he has never
failed to command the close and re-
spectful attention of both sides of the
House. For many years the country
has recognized in him one of the
strongest leaders of the Republican
party in Congress, and a clear-headed
legislator with the absolute courage of
his convictions. If the great honor of
of the Speakership shall come to him,
as now seems probable, it will be a re-
ward of merit worthily bestowed.
General Henderson has been so long
before the country that the salient
points in his career are well-known to
his fellow citizens. He was born a Old
Deer in Scotland, March IA, 1910. His
parents came to this country, in 1916,
and after a three years residence in
Illinois, removed to Iowa where they
took up a farm. Sharing from early
years in their toll, young Henderson
grew to manhood amid conditions
that promoted those habits of indus
try which have characterized his whole
career. He was educated in the COM
mon schools and at the Upper Iowa
University. Following his graduation
from the latter institution, he studied
law with leading firm in Dubuque,
and was admitted to the bar in the fall
of 1866. Prior to this, however, he had
served with distinction in the Union
service. Enlisting as private, he was
promoted to a lieutenancy for gallant
service in the field and was holding
that commission when the loss of a leg
in battle necessitated his discharge
After serving a year as commissioner
of enrolment in the Third District of
his state, he returned to active ser
vice in the field as colonel of the Forty
sixth Iowa Infantry, with which he re-
manned until the close of the war. In
1865, he was appointed collector Of Inter-
nal Revenue for the Third Iowa District
holding the office until June 1869. when
he resigned and became a member of
the law firm Of Shiras, Van Duzee and
Henderson, at Dubuque. For two
years, he served as assistant United
States district attorney for the North
ern division of the district of Iowa. In
1882, he was elected to represent the
Dubuque district in the Forty-eighth
Congress, and has been regularly elect
ed to each succeeding Congress. His
record at the National Capital has been
in every way a creditable one. He has
been a member of a number of i'm
portant committees, serving during the
F'ifty-fifth Congress on the committee
on rules, and as chairman of the ju-
dietary committee. He is a master of
parliamentary law and if elected to the
Speakership, may be depended upon to
discharge its eXacting duties with abil-
ity and success r.