The Portland daily press., 1899-04-22
THE SPEAKERS RETIRkNEsT.
Boston Herald.

ary moment. He is as worthy Of the title
''the great Commonsr'' as any man of
this generation. Coming from one of the
smallest and most extreme states from
tho corner OF the nation he has won his
way TO recognised influences and power in
Congrsss such as no man had attained
before him. Not Henry Clay nor James
g. Blaine equalled Mr.. Reed In the sway
be held as speaker OF the national House
Of Representatives. be literally made
his own place there. He was man of
native power which would have heen felt
under the old conditions, but MI. Reed
esta bIished new ones that put the Speaker
above anything that had been before at
taiued in his office. II needed such man
as he to have the courage to attempt to
estn blisb oue-Inan authority to the extent
to which he carried It. and there is no
doubt IL less self-assertion than he showed
would have been equal to the accom-
pIishment of his purpose to control.
Everything yielded to the foroe of his
will. His own party submitted to 1t,
and the other party was impotsnt in its
efforts at resistance. He held In the
Speakers chair position which, in his
own language, wac second to but one in
the government, and had no equal aside
from this. He might have added with
truth that IL was owing solely to himself
that It had become so. No other man
In Congress would have been equal TO
raising 1t to that altitude.
Such an achievement would under
some governments, have easily brought
MIR. keed to that distinction at the head
of the government which he desired ana
sought. He failed to attain it in this gov
Unment for the same reasons that the
gre ,test men in other parties had tailed
before him. The nation has not selected
its obviously greatest statesman for the
presidency since the early day OF T. g
century jackson had the force OF MIR.
Reed. but Is not at all to be olassed with
him in other respects and the people
builded better than they knew when they
selected Abraham Lincoln MIR. Reed
was not without popular qualities, but
tn ~ were not sufficient to compete with
the skill In politics that was brought to
bear In the interest OF his rival In the
year 1895. 1t was fated that he should
continue In the House of Representatives,
where all his triumphs In public lie had
been won. 1t is remarkable fact that
he should have remained there so long.
There Ia scarcely another state In the
Union than Maine where man of his
distinction would not have been trans
ferred to the Senate, but we are inclined
to think on the whole that 1t was fortu-
nate for Mr.. Reeds fame that he re-
mained in the House. lie created the
speakership there as the office 1t became
in his hands, and he leaves It as his
monument. IL is doubtful IL it can De
what 1t was with him in any other hands.
A significant feature of his withdrawal
is dwelt upon by the Washington cores
pondent OF The Herald in his letter OF
yesterday. 1t is that he had become un-
satisfactory in his office to the admins
tration, and, presumably, to many, II not
the most, of his party. Yet we find in
turb him directly. Here Is another trib-
ute to Mr.. Reed. There would have been
short work made with an ordinary speak
er in suoh q condition of affairs. The
word would have gone out that he must
either conform or relinquish his place.
No one ventured to require the first of
these from him, though party unity APP
peared to point IL out as necessity; ;
neither had any one the courage to at
t mpt the other. This was not that MIR.
Heed had b9en at pains TO create per-
sonal following in the Republican party.
de seems to have disdained doing this.
Such power us he held, and had held In
all his career, did not come from what is
known as political management. He had
sent out no appeals for personal support
in the country; he was content to let his
work speak for him. 1t did speak TO an
extent that it secured him respect and
deferenos In the highest as well as all
other quarters. The administration con-
sented TO accept him in "a place where it
preferred another, because he had been
great Speaker. The party which had
ftcalF by Mr. Rae1 in
some schemes which it wanted TO carry
out paid the same homage. He had dem
onstrated a power in the speakership
which deted party exigencies TO Interfere
with it. He held the place through the
exercise of the same qualities under which
he had made iG what 1t was.
This would have been IL rare tribute to
a public man in any era Of our govern
ment. 1t was never more SO than 1t
as under the peculiar condition that
American politics had attained. The
Republican party Is not like the Demo-
cratic party it is to be remembered. The
Democrats, since the war OF the Rebellion
have been SO much in natural minority
that thsy have constantly been compelled
to concessions and to shifts to obtain IA
hope of success The Republican party
has been strong and self-contident, Its
normal condition has been established
power, and under this it has felt at
liberty to deal with recreant fnemb bers
very much as it deemed fit. Mr.. Resd
had established for himself reputation
that defled such treatment. IL he left the
position of Speaker, it was onoeded that
the only metnod to attain this was to
manodvre him out of it, and that could
only be done with his own consent. 1t
is suspected that something of this kind
has been done now, but nobody questions
that MIR. Rect retires from the office en-
tirely according to his own volition.
As we have before remarked. his last
action in the speak ership has been his
hest. Setting aside whether 1t is desira-
BILE that such power as he has shall be
ted in single hands, there is no
doubt that he made good use OF it in his
final service in the Speakers chair. As
no man who Is to succeed him there is
likely to equal him in ability. it may be
that his retirement will induce modi-
citation of the rules which he practically
made and under which he has acVed. If
this shall prove to be the case, 1T will
mark him more than ever an unique fig
ure In the office
SPEA AKER REEDS RETIREMENT.