The age-herald., 1899-04-23
Have EldeaFed the Man From Maine to
 All the COnSreSSmen.
THE JUSTICE OF HIS DECISIONS
While Not Always Apparent Quickly Becomes Recognized = Both Foe and Friend Greatly Ad-
 mire Him.

1 tirement of Reed from congressional life
 to enter at New York the practice of law
 has been the chief topic of the week among
 Washngtonians who interest themselves in | public affairs. He gves up his residence in
 Maine, his seat in the house, the certainty
 of the speakership, the second highest gift
 in the public service, long his party
 might be in power; he ceases to participate
 in legislative proceedings, and turns his
 back upon increased distinction as the great
 and commanding figure of congress to be-
 come member of New York law firm
 and a private citizen of the Empire State.
 His retirement from the house and relin-
 punishment of Maine citizenship, however,
 does not mean necessarily the setting of his ] star as a political lum nary.
 The Maine statesman has been prompted
 in his conclusion probably first by financial
 considerations It is known that, despite
 his twenty-two years in congress, six of 1 which has been spent in the speakers l place, with its salary of $S,OOO per annum l Reed is today worth but little. He has
 not accumulated wealth according to his in- l tellectual value, and it probably is the con- 1 sciousness of this and the sense of his duty
 to his family to secure a greater income l that have moved him to practice law. Re d Free -Spender
 Reed is free spender of money. He
 enjoys the good things of life, and loves
 to move in the circle where they are com
 mon. He desires money for the pleasure | he can get out of it's expenditure, and he
 has been careful to make legitimately all 1 the money he could since coming to Wash l ington.
 Tn ;4 | to know that he has never been known 10 give an interview to newspaper men. By 1 this let it be understood that he has care- | fully refrained from expressing himself at 1 length upon any jublic question for news | paper publication Perhaps nine-tenths of the Washington newspaper men have at l tempted to get interviews from him. but he
 has invariably. declined to express himself l upon public matters. He has talked often | freely in private conversation with corre- 1 spondents but with the understanding that | what he said was not for publication. 1 Why should I,' he said on one occasion, l "dscuss in a newspaper interview public | questions, when, if my views upon these l questions are worth anything, can prepare l them in the form of articles and sell them to the magazines?"
 Explanation of His Reticence l In that is found the explanation of his | refusals to be interviewed and the appear 1 ance of his contributions to current litera- l ture. Reed will be sixty years old next De- | tober, and there can come no appreciable l financial benefit from continuing in the | house, and little can result that can all
 him in furthering any presidential ambition | that he may retain.
 In this connection it has been suggested | here, and not without much soundness, | that Reeds move to New York may yet 1 make him the candidate of his party for
 the presidency-if not next year. possibly | In 1904. Though Hanna. in 1S96 by skillful | work, took Vermont from Reed in the St. | Louis convention, it is safe to say that the | peoples choice in New England was Reed | and will be Reed whenever the Maine man | enters the lists As resident of New York 1 ms control of the powerful delegation from
 that state in a national convention will not
 be unlikely, and, with that strength and | the support of New England he would | stand most excellent chances of becoming l the nominee when the republicans conclude | to come again east for their candidate | something they have done but once since | the civil war, when in 1884 they put up | Blaine to be defeated by Grover Cleveland | Reeds move to New York, then may | make his financial and political fortunes | There is very general regret felt at Wash | ington now that Reed has concluded to | leave congress. This regret must be ex-
 perienced throughout the country by men, | irrespective of party, who have become | familiar with his greatness of brain It is | perhaps not putting it too strongly to say
 that the democrats. being in the minority | would rather have Reed preside over the
 house than any other republican
 Reeds Delightful Sarcasm
 It was a delight to observe his work as | presiding officer, and a benefit and pleasure l to hear his rulings and a positive delight to | listen to his exquisite sarcasm, wit and 1 humor, which he gave out at the expense of
 political friend and foe without any dis
 elimination He was very probably the su- | perior of any man in the house, and cer- | tainly the equal of any one who sat in the | senate of the Fifty-ffth congress.
 Since his course in the Fifty-first con-
 gross, when he made his extremely partisan
 record and also made himself thereby fa- | nous, Reed has not been objectionab.y par | tisan in his work as speaker. While he has | been always loyal party man. he has been | seldom radical in his rulings, and has made | rarely ruling which, after calm considera-
 tion, has not been pronounced sound by
 leaders, irrespective of parties.
 His great prominence began, as I have
 said, in the Fifty-first congress, when he | was made speaker, defeating after a spirit | ed contest MT Mckinley, Mir Henderson, | of Iowa, and MT. Cannon, of Illinois. The | republicans had a very scant majority in
 that ,rhouse, and after Reeds elevation to
 the speakership, they began a systematic | course of unseating democrats until their | majority was ample for all party purposes. | Disorders and exciting scenes occurred ire
 quently, the enraged democrats denouncing 1 and protesting against the course of the republicans. Reed, through 1t all, was inn | perturbable, and his rulings in many in- | stances were most arbitrary and the ex- | tremes of partisanship. He was called then | for the first time "Czar' Reed, soubriquet
 that has stuck to him.
 Rule of Counting Quorum
 It then he sprung upon the country l his famous rule of counting ouorum
 which came near precipitating a riot and
 made the democrats almost bite themselves
 in their frenzy and 7heplessness, but that very ruling, slightly modified, was adopted