Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-05-03
TIE VICE PRESIDENCY.
Office Generally Considered as
Unimportant.
FEW SENATOR'S WOULD ACCEPT 1T.

Men of Presidential Caliber Feel the
Position Beneath Their Stntion-St.
Louis Exposition-Joke on Farmer
Tongue.
WASH SGToN, April 2S.-[Spccial. J..
1t is evident that statesmen generally
consider that the vice presidential of"
flee is a decidedly small one. On the
occasion when culogies were pronounc-
cd in the senate on the late Vice Pres
ident Hobart several of the senate or
ators took occasion to laud the position
very highly and to point out that the
person filling it was one of the two
persons for whom all the people had an
opportunity to cast their votes. Sew
cral speakers, too. talked about the
vice presidency being second only to
that of the president, and others de
plored the fact that Of late years it
had been considered of little account
The fact is the vice presidential office
is not important A man may make it
of more than that Of an ordinary pre-
siding officer OF the senate. but 1t sell
dom becomes anything of Il feature in
public life. The vice president has a
vote only when the senate is a tie,
which is Il thing that happens very
rarely. He has no power to influence
legislation, and usually he does not
assume n position to make him an
availability as a presidential candidate.
Men who think they are of a calibcr
for president feel that the office OF
vice president is beneath their station.
Few senators would like to leave the
senate for the vice presidency. An ex-
ample of this feeling regarding the
vice presidency was the reception of
the Dolliver boom in Iowa. Hundreds
of letters came pouring in upon Dolli-
yer, the tenor of them being "the vice
presidency shall not be pushed off upon
Iowa. Other statements were to this
effect: I'VE want you to represent Iowa
in the house. where you will be credit
to us, and not be shelved in the vice
presidential chair" Yet, in view of
the fact that the vice president is like
, ly to become president, it would GER
tainly seem that man chosen for the
second place should be of the presi-
dental size.
Exposition of 1903.
The men who are behind the propo-
sition to secure the $1,000, 900 appro-
priation for the Louisiana purchase ex-
position in 1903 at st Louis have not
given up hope of having something
done. although the programme of bust
ness in both L9Nses does not include
consideration ofshat measure These
men say they have a sufficient number
OF votes to carry the bill through, but
they are having some difficulty in Sc
curing the assent Of the speaker for
its consideration. Such a bill may be
quite severely criticised on account of
the appropriation it carries; besides.
there are in some sections objections of
expenditures for expositions further
than a provision for government ex-
hibit
Laugh on Farmer Tongue.
The laugh is on Representative
Tongue of Oregon. In the middle of
the past winter Washington saw some
very severe weather, when the temper
ature went way below freezing and
every living plant was apparently dead.
There was one exception, however.
On the expansive plaza on the west
front of the capitol was a bright green
lawn which was not affected by the
most rigid weather. During the past
summer this lawn had been ruined and
was worked over and resecded during
the fall, and in the early winter new
growth had sprung up all over the soil.
Mr.. Tongue observed this lawn on sew
eral occasions and was struck by the
hardness of the grass and. thinking it
would be good thing to send 10 some
of his Oregon friends, who have cold
winters, wrote to the secretary of ag-
riculture asking what variety of seed
had been sown on that lawn and if it
would be possible to secure packages
for distribution. A reply was long in
forthcoming. while the secretary made
his investigation apparently, but when
it came it was short and simple. The
seed sown on the capitol lawn" said
he, was nothing in the world but com
mon rye sown to protect the new grass
sprouts. Anu tlOSt WHO nave kuONH
Mr.. Tongue and regarded him as rep
rcsentative of farming interests have
been enjoying a good laugh at his eX-
pensc.
Good Natural Instincts.
Senator Jones of Arkansas says that
natural instincts in the human race
are sometimes better than education.
my experience while in the army
said he. demonstrated this fact to Il
considerable degree. | have always
had great respect for an intelligent
man who has not had the advantages
of education. Although l did not hold
a commission in the civil war, l was
sometimes sent out in command Of
portions of my company on dangerous
and hazardous undertakings. Occa-
sionally we got into some very tight
places, and | always found that the
man that | could rely upon in such
cases was a soldier who could neither
read nor write. He was an intelligent
man of the woods, and his Judgment
in regard to what would happen under
certain contingencies and his knowl-
edge of localities and the many hun
dreds of things that are not told in
any books were wonderful. always re-
lied more upon him than myself, and he
Cat La a n