Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-01-21
tcnpyright. 1900. .by Amos ]. Cum

4
Washington. Jan. 21.-The oratorical
birds in both houses have been plum
ing themselves preparatory to flight.
Some are on the wing and are already
darkly limned upon the crimson sky
of politics. Beveridge, OF Indiana, and
Chauncey Depew are among them. a
few great herons hold themselves in
reserve, awaiting propitious winds and
favorable skies. Oratorical birds ,Gl-
ways attract attention-some by the
brilliancy of their plumage: others by
the rapidity Of their flight. ~ few
without plumage ascend the heavens
in spiral circles, and disappear in a
hazy atmosphere. There is an infinite
variety of birds among them. The
common curlew associates with the
roseate spoonful; the bittern scars
above the ibis, and the plover cmulates
the wagtail.
The first scene In the Congressional
drama produced a few rare ornithologi-
cal specimens. 1t was the scene where
the financial problem disappears.
Their cycles were true and their gyra-
tons wonderful, but some of them
lacked experience as well as plumage.
| Liz sLNlS VI Lille COlloCIlOn WAS
Jonathan p. Dolliver, of lows. He has
a colleague, Robert c. Cousins, whose
eloQucnce may hereafter adorn the
pages of our school books. Cousins
! tribute to the dead OF the Maine was
| printed in nearly every newspaper in
the country. It touched the heart of
every American, and attracted atten-
ton In foreign lands. The orator.
however, took q different course when
he nrraigned Ambassador Bayard in
scathing words. In terrific sentences
he indicted him for lack of patriotism
in toadylng to the English nobility by
vilifying his own countrymen.
! Cousins. however. is an oratorical
| bird that enjoys the cool shades of
| Congressional life. and rarely INDUCES
in flight toward the burning sun. He
scars once or twice in n session, and
then nestles to rest, standing on one
foot, with his head under his wing.
Dolliver wings his flight with more
freedom. His pinions are strong and
| serviceable. Ills ideas are electric. his
poise magnificent, and his oratory pris-
matte. When James G.. Blaine heard
! him speak for the first time, he pre-
| dicted for Dollivcr brilliant future
| Certain it Is that there are no men in
| the House OF Representatives who COM
mand more attention than this tall
ented orator from Iowa. Indeed. Iowa
seems to have taken the place formerly
occupied by Maine.
Within two years the veterans of the
Maine delegation have Disappeared
Thomas b. Reed has retired to private
life, and is coming money in the prac-
| tice of law Nelson Dingley and Seth
1 t aaiAiken= are dead. and Charles 4. Bou-
telle was the only member of the old
delegation left at the beginning of this
Congress. David b. Henderson, of
Dubuque. succeeded Reed as Speaker.
David carries himself grandly. being
more conservative and less lordly than
his predecessor. Urbane and modest in
dcmeanor, he begins where Reed would
lose. Difficulty skulks away from him,
and danger covers under his eye He
seems to laugh in the ugly face of
trouble.
William r. Hepburn. Jonathan P.
Dollivcr, Robert G.. Cousins, and John
A. Il. Hull are n Legislative 1uartette
from Iowa fully as able and powerful
as the quartette from Maine at the be-
ginning of the Fifty-fft Congress.
Hepburn certainly has no superior in
debate To hear him is the plenitude
of intellectual enjoyment. Dolliver and
Cousins are not outranked in oratorical
power, and Hull can put through n
difficult appropriation bill with less ex-
ctement and irritation than any other
member on the floor. The parlia-
mentary power has thus been unex-
!pectely shifted from the East to the
West, and the political power threatens
to follow 1t. Iowa is in the van and is
haunting its liawkeye banner in pride.
shaping the work of the nation for the
new century. Massachusetts. New
York, Virginia, Georgia, Texas and
other States are trailing in the rear,
awaiting further developments
With Its prestige in the House de-
molished. Maine still maintains her no.
sition in the Senate. William p. FRYE
is its presiding officer and Eugene Hale
chairman OF the Committee on Naval
Affairs. Hale is also William B. ALL
sons lieutenant In the Commute on An
proprations. These Senators probably
have more power and influence on the
legislation OF the country than those
from any other State In the Union
| Frye is Il statesman par excellence
| His ability. experience, and oratory
/! are universally recognized. Nor Is
Hale a whit behind him. Frye never
made a more magnificent speech than
| when he seconded the nomination of
| Blaine in Chicago in 1880 Mr.. JOY. of
| the name of Mr.. Blaine. He had COM
mitted his speech to memory. but be-
came confused in the extraordinary
| enthusiasm aroused by the mention of
the name OF the man OF men and began
| to falter. HIS words almost ceased to
flow. His memory was at fault. He