The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-12-15

| gals, however, was far more cynlc4
than Wolcott. and far less pleasing
socially. wolcott's seat may be filled
but his place never.
Another senator apparently mortal.
ly wounded Is Richard F.. Pettigrew,
of South Dakota. In more senses than
one he is just now the most interest
ing character in the north wing of the
capitol. He wears the senatorial toga
as though 1t was a Navajo blanket.
Nor is he ever overawed by the dig
nifty of the office. Ancient precedents
and customs never divert him from
the object sought. When he wants a
thing he takes the most direct way
to secure it, despite senatorial cour-
tesy and imaginary Legislative boun-
laries. Fortunately for England, Mr..
Pettigrew is not a member Of parlia-
ment. An unwritten constitution
would be to him a mere filament. He
abides by the written letter of the
law, and by nothing else. Intense in
his conviction, he abates not jot or
title of them. however great the
emergency. He has announced his
undying enmity to the ship subsidy.
the army and other bills said to be Of
vital Importance to the interests Of
the nation, and AYERS that he shall
| take advantage Of every opportunity
to defeat them They may be tAlke'l
to death and delayed in a hundred al
most lconceivable ways. With Will
liam v. Wen. cf Nebraska, and Mar
| ion a.. North Carolina, behind
| him. vs. threat is by no
| menN+
Alrv. .hc party leaders are
alarmed. They are threatening clo-
| ture. The Populists in the senate hold
| the same position as the Parnellites
held in the English parliament twenty
years ago. when cloture was applied
| there. 1t was easy enough to snap the
| legislative handouts upon their
| wrists at that time, but 1t will not be
so easy to repeat the operation in an
American legislative body. The pre-
siding officer of the senate has to
throw senatorial dignity to the winds
! and violate all precedents. before even
| a. start can be made. 1t will not do
| to accomplish it by q trick. The ne
| cessity would not Justify the means.
| The senator from South Dakota may
! drive the leaders to attempt cloture,
| but whether it would be acceptable
or not is a grave question. 1t works
| to the satisfaction Of the majority
| of the members Of the present house
| of representatives under the rules OF
| the Fifty-fourth congress, yet it is
| we'll to remember that what Is sauce
for the goose is not always sauce for
| the gander. Under cloture. with
Tom Reed in the chair. scenes in the
sante might be far more exciting than
exhi!arating. Although a General De
Wet in legislation, Mr.. Pettigrew is
hardly an expert in parliamentary
| warfare. But it should not be for
! gotten that the Populists in the sem
ate are as few, comparatively. as the
Beers in the Transvaal. Like De Wet.
however, the general from South Da-
kota is nerved by the desperation of
defeat. and there is no knowing what
he may accomplish, backed, as he is
by General Botha, in the personality
of William V. Allen, and by President
Steyn, alias Marion Butler.
BY Il singular coincidence both But
ler and Allen are in the list of killed
and wounded. Indeed, the Populists in
the senate have dwindled perceptibly
in number since the days Of hirsute
PETER Allen, Butler and Pettigrew are
the retiring rear guard. Allen is the
most conspicuous Of the three. He has
the physique and endurance Of q Her.
cules and the voice of his notable pro-
totype from Ohio. Fog Horn William"
He can talk longer but not quite so
fast as the late Henry U. Johnson, of
Indiana. He is credited with speaking
thirteen hours in succession without
eating. 1t was during the fight over
the repeal of the silver purchasing
clause. Whenever the senatorial vet
Grams evinced a retiring disposition he
raised the point of no quorum and they
We're routed out of the cloakrooms to
answer roll-call. while Allen had
breathing spell. They yawned and
stretched all night long, utterly imper-
vious to his melting eloquence. and
finally We're about to abandon them
selves to despair when Allen closed his
argument. A more picturesque figure
than the senator from Nebraska is
rarely seen. He has a strong American
face heart like an OK. and the vim
and energy of an old Corliss engine.
You can almost fancy that he spends
his winters in logging camps. There Is
a steadiness and breeziness about him
in discussion that reminds you of pine
forests and roaring creeks. And he
handles himself like woodchopper.
The chips fly right and left, and the
grave and reverend seigniors are kent
busy lodging them. If the people had
championed his cause as earnestly as
he has tried to champion theirs. Allen
might have remained in the senate for
life
Marion Butler is horse of an en-
tirely different color. He is of slender
construction, and smooth and wiry in
manner. He moves around the cham
ber so stealthily as to induce the sus-
picion that he wears moccasins. A
study of his face enhances the suspic-
ion. 1t is a copy Of the features of
Charley Curtis, of Topeka, a we'll
known member Of the house. recog-
nized as q chief by the Indians on the
Kaw reservation. The North Carolina
senator has all the peculiarities of a
Tuscarora chief. With thick black hair
and glittering eyes, he recalls the But
Ter who accompanied Brandt in his
Revolutionary raids. Yet he Is an en-
tirely different Butler. He can never
be the tool of tyranny, and is a per-
sistentl advocate Of the doctrines enun-
ciated by the Declaration of Independ-
ence. He came into the senate with
his colleague, Jeter C. Pritchard, near
ly six years ago, not long after the
irruption of the Goths and Vandals
from the new states created in the
northwest.
Under combination engineered by
Butler, then the editor iof the Clinton
Caucasian. a well-known weekly, the