New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-04-23
Mr.. REED IN CONGRESS
EM1LLINs ACCOUNT OF HOW THE CON-
MITTEE ON RULES ACTED.

a COMMENT on THE BRECKENRIDGE oRAroKr--
Mr. REEDS VERSION OF HIS WAR RECORD
washington. April ~ (speciaD.-In the List
Congress- the Committee Rules OF the House
of Representatives first took the commanding
pcxition which ir has since maintained In regard
10 the consideration and disposition of legis-
lative business Speaker Reed was chairman. and
the other members were Messrs. Mckinley and
Cannon Republicans and Blount and McMillin.
Democrats. The first meeting OF the committee
10 prescribe q special order of business was a
somewhat stormy one. Paramount" Blount,
who has no more sense Of humor than craven
Image. took matters very seriously. and. 1t Is
said actually tried a flibuster. OF course, he
came to grief but thereafter he had no oppor-
tunity to make the attempt. What did happen
was described by MI McMiliin. now Governor
Of Tennessee 10 Tribune correspondent. about
a. follows:
Reed and Mckinley and Cannon or two of
them. OF which the Speaker was always one or
more, would get together and decide a question.
Then the Speaker would send for and say:
Well Mac. Joe and Mckinley and have de-
cided to perpetrate the following outrage. of
which we all desire you to have due notice.
whereupon he would read and give me a copy of
whatever special order had been adopted by the
majority of the committee. He did the same
with Biount. believe. and he never tried to catch
us mapping; but can assure you that the Com
Ynittee Rules was never debating society
in which Blount and took part after the first
explosion. No SIR
w c. p Breckenridge, OF Kentucky, brought
80 Congress the reputation of a "silver-tongucd
orator" which. In his own estimation and that
OF his friends, he added to I'm the House Of Rep
resentatives. Now, Mr.. Reed does not hold In
high regard what might be called the tricks OF
oratory, being himself o man who speaks plainly
and TO the point without effectiveness of lam
euage or gesture or careful attention to modula-
ton and Colonel Breckenridge is exactly the
reverse. He could not speak five minutes, even
on any ordinary subject, without falling into a
funcreal tone hard to describe or characterize
until Mr.. Reed did The Colonel was holding
forth one day and his voice had fallen into Its
usual mournful cadence when Mr.. Reed saun-
tered into the members lobby and halted near
turned to a Texas Representative with whom nc
had long been chummy. and asked. in drawi-
ing but solemn tone: Judge. were you &C
went the rounds and everybody saw the point
and enjoyed t. but it had no effect on Colonci
Breckinridge's mode OF oratory.
When Mr. Reed was a candidate for Speaker
In the List Congress three of his competitors
United States Senator, and General Henderson,
OF Iowa, all Of whom had served in the Union
Army Toward the last the contest became
rather warm and the friends of one OF these
candidates raised an objection against Mr.. Reed
on the ground that he had no Soldier record
in his favor When this was called to his at
tention the Maine candidate. who had already
figured out a clear majority of the republican
81 caucus chuckled ard said: why. they don
know me or my record. You Just say 10 them
that / kept grocery on gunooat down IN
youisjana in the war time" As matter OF
, fact. he had seen honorable service as an as
sistant paymaster in the Navy.
Some one pretended not long ago TO have dls-
covered a resemblance between Secretary Alger
and Congressman Lacey, of Iowa. 1t was
brought to the attention OF the Speaker "nile
Lacey was making speech on the floor OK the
House upon p bin with which the Speaker was
not In sympathy AS soon as Lacey had hnisheu
Reed strolled over TO where the Iowa CONGRESS
man was sitting. and drawled OUT: bc0tner
Lacey, they tell me you look IKE Agcr' therc
Is faint resemblance. admit; but IL you cule
TO Increase y. why don't You get yourseit whi'e-
washed
AS is we'll known. the ex-Speaker is rapio-
no other word will express it-"anti-imperlai-
list" To those willing to listen he would dis-
course last winter by the hour almost. HIS con-
tempt for the Filipinos on such occasions
always summed UP In the expression !e'o"