Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-01-14

He was elected to the House twice, sub
| sequently, but declined the speaker
ship, preferring to be on the floor
In 1873 Mr.. Dingley was elected Gov
ernor of Maine by about 10000 ma
| jority. In 1874 he was reelected by
over 1000. declining a third nomina-
ton in 1875. He was one of the dele
gates at large from Maine to the Re
publican national convention of 1876,
| and served on the committee on reso-
buttons and was one of the sub-commit-
tee of five who drafted the platform.
In 1881 Mr.. Dingley was nominated
by the Republicans of the Second
Congressional district of Maine to fill
the vacancy in Congress caused by the
resignation of William P. Frye.
When Mr.. Dingley was first elected
to Congress he received a majority of
5000 votes, nearly twice as much as
had ever been given to any candidate
in that district; he was elected to the
Fffty-fffth Congress by a majority or
almost $4,000 votes. When he entered
| Congress he was made a member OF
| the committee on banking and cur
rency, serving there eight years. At
| the beginning of his Congressional
career the country was disturbed on
the question of the extension of char
ters of the national bank association.
He Immediately identified himself with
a bill for the extension of the charters
of the banks, and in the face of much
opposition helped fight the bill through.
The opposition to the resumption of
| specie payments had not been dissi-
| pated, and Mr.. Dingley had no small
| part in befriending the government in
| its policy.
| But it is difficult to name any i'm
| portant legislation in Congress of the
last fifteen years with which he was
not identified. His first speech in Con-
gress was made April %, 1882, on
Protection to American Shipping"
| While he has been active in financial
matters he was thoroughly informed
on shipping, having come from a State
with large shipping interests. 1t was
| through his influence that a select
| committee on ship owners and ship
| interests was created in the House. He
was at the head of the minority of
| that committee, whose successor has
| been the present useful committee on
merchant marine and fisheries.
In the Forty-eighth, Forty-ninth and
| Fiftieth Congresses there was a great
deal Of agitation in favor of subsidiz-
| ing American ships to carry the mails.
Mr.. Dingley was a hearty champion OF
| this, and framed the bill which finally
| became law, paying to American ships
Of certain register and speed a compen-
sation for Transporting American
mails. IN the Fifty-first Congress he
was given membership by Speaker
| Reed, whose right arm he has been in
recent years, on the ways and means
committee. When the political wheel
| turned in the Fifty-second Congress
and the Democrats succeeded to power,
| Speaker Crisp felt that he must name
Mr.. Reed to the committee on Ways
and means. Mr.. Dingley was accord
ingly transferred to the minority OF
| the committee on appropriations. He
made himself a very valuable man
there, serving in the position for four
years and displaying a knowledge OF
appropriations hardly surpassed by
any OF the older members. President
Mckinley always had a strong friend
ship for Mr.. Dingley since they served
together in the House.
Mr.. Dingley's father was a trader,
not particularly well to do, and the boy
bent himself to work at an early age.
His steadiness of purpose came from
his old Puritan stock, but his intellec-
tual ability came from his mother, a
woman educated far beyond her sta
! ton or the average of cultivation in
those days. She was a school teacher
and brought all the discipline and
knowledge OF her mind to bear upon
the training of her son, and he found
her influence one Of the greatest fac
tors in his success.
So It was quite natural, when. In 1876.
he found an opportunity to secure the
ownership of the Lewiston Journal. then
weekly paper. and he seized IL at once
and forthwith began TO build up busi-
ness that has been wonderfully success
full My paper" he would say with
pride, has a larger circulation than any
| other paper in the State Of Maine.
would rather write for It than do any
other kind OF work"
He addea a daily edition in lssi
When W9rn. p. Frye wa selevatasi 10 the
Senate. Mr. Dingley was sent to Congress
That was IN 1851. Immediately the y0ung
statesman found that the seed which he
had been sowing for 20 many years was
in conEenial soil. All that he mad gather
ed OF tariff knowledge. financial facts ard
theories and OF systems OF government
had prepared him for forging at-once into
Congressional circles
For the ordinary rnanipulations Of poll
tics. Nr. Dingiey had no lse whatever. He
paid no attention to primaries or dele