The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-25

NbuN VI tbNh INV NDtuhNts A'VaA 't'"'
that he Is entitled TO reappointment. having
been born In his district. ,
As a presiding officer. Speaker Henderson II
q success. a fact that will be readily admitted
even by his critics, and. OF course. he has a few;
Ho has u commanding presence. line voice anu
ready tongue. lie has been long enough u
mem her Of tho House to know the rules thor
oughly, IN what is more important, he Il con-
%yersant with the. precodents, ana with the rul,
ings OF hts predecessors, He y patient aud
good natured and can sit down" on IA member
without causing a row. The Democrats like
him IN the chair as much as they dld when ne
was leader on the floor, and tho only time ms
fairness has beer, challenged was the othernhy
when eX.lender Bailey got excited and some
what obstreprrou, over a trivial. matter. ! ne
Speaker was plainly annoyed and In pain Eng.
lish told rho angry Texan that y he would keep
cool his rights would bc respected. Oh course.
this was supplementary aud plainly %nndigni.
ned language for a Speaker Of the House Oh
Representatives to use. but II was nj east CHAR
ncteristic. Bailey r%etortrd In, equally unpar.
Iamentary and somewhat childish manner
that he was as cool as the Speaker. and the IN.
Cidont closed
view Of public affairs and is sincerely DESTROYS
81 keeping governmental expenses within the
lowest possible figure. consistent with faith.
iui and efficient service and the exeIcise, Of a
t. freely sought aud he keeps a steady. intellt.
CERT hand upon the conduct OF business In the
House, He is n loyal party. man. and 1t was in
Cnce that the le,ectlop or Republicans on the
Puerto Rlcan Tariff bill was no larger.
Col Henderson has q full appreciation OF the
sentatives AMI IL keenly jealous OF ANYTHING
that tends to lower or detract from It, ne does
not think It proper for the House TO dignity any
event by adjournment save the death OF one ol
ia own members. When Gen. Lawton's funeral
occurred here last month a suggestion was
made that the House should adjourn to permit
enlargement from the Speaker, Similarly.
when Gen. SKATER was In Washington. Gen
Wheeler. then a member OF the House. asked
Speaker Reed TO consent TO a recess during
which Shaiter was to be presented to the mem.
beers Speaker Reed said: Wheeler. the House
Uf Representatives Is a good dealer bigger than
Speaker Henderson, is quite i~nsistent upon
the observance oiordcr in tho hall, and per.
sistrnt refusal to obey the rules Of the House
fills him with indignation.
Mr.. Talbert Of south Carolina. while the House
was considering the order rom the COMMITTED
on Eule:. to abolish Friday night pension SEES
pressed q hore that n contest for Talbert's
scat IN the Hity-seventh Congress might be
instituted so that he LMahonD could vote I,
noisy. immediately broke out in response. pay
INK, no heed to the gavel until the Speaker
with fire in his eye; let loose that thunderous
voice Of his: The gentleman from Soutl
Ca'olina Is out OF, order and tn, Sergeant-at.
Arms will take charge. Of him. II Ia does no,
obey the chair" And Talbert was stills he
knew Innt tTt IlIllI nhl Dtth TtucIPu.
\ few days ago. whom former Congressman
John i. Wise OF Virginia was on the floor OF
the House during the pending OF his brothers
contest for IA, Z seS Il, ne & p pc was ns Wei risbt m ihsrs Dy ~
the rules plainly forbid the presence OF an ex'
member on the floor II he is Interested in any
pending claim or legislation Mr.; Wise -
SPEAKER, hut Mr. Henderson did not hesitate
1t beng admitted that John $. Wise was the
attorney Of record in his brothers case, the
N,..b.r VpN ~ II nrlaral fhn SaFUnanf-lf
ArmstO remove him from the floor. an order
that was at once carried out. but only nomi-
naiy. Tor. without waiting, for the official as
s%istancc. Mr.. Wise hurriedly left by way OF the
barber shop.
So also when Representative Joy OF St. Louis
cndeavorlng recently to, pass a resolution.
be asked IN advance for recognition. Promptly
Col. Henderson SAID that a member had nc
right TO refer to what had been said by the
Speaker under such circumstances and re-
cumhture Of the overeager member.
In maintaining the dignity Of the House and
the rights approaching 70 the exalted position
President pro tenn. OF the senate, Mr.. Frye. A,
The tirst state dime, OF The season a,
Of his position Of President pro TEN. Of
the senate. was delegated to escort Mrs
Mckinley TO the table. In his, view Of tn,
relative rank q the position Of the Speaker o!
pro tenn. OF the Senate, MIR, Henderson felt ,ha,
The. Speaker should have been chosen as Mrs
Mckinlev's escort. II Is explained that, per
sonally, he had no feeling on the, subject. bu,
was firmly convinced that he had no right e
waive any ~prerogative OF the position with
which the House hai hon9red him, The ONCE
view, carried with it none OF the rights ar.
preaching to that OF the Vice. President, ant
conferred upon the incumbent no ,additiona
distinction or priority outside OF the Senate
chamber. He was simply one Of their owr
number chosen 10y the Senate, IL the absence
Of the Vice. President, 10 preside over their de-
l,borations.
There were presidents for tho Speaker.
position. In Burton's Thirty Years View" he
described at length the characteristics O
Sneaker Mason OF Georgia, IN which aIpearel
ready to take the last place and the Lowest
seat anywhere: but in his Representative t
capacity h. wouii suffer no derogation OF 4
when speaker OF the House and a place behint
the Presidents sccretarirs had been assigned
to him in some ceremony. he dlsresarded, the
nrogramme' and, AZ the elect OF the elect q al
whom the national vote had elected Made
line Walton ,DahlRren's Etiquette oi Socia
Life in Washington quotes the followlnl
Of Massachusetts Speaker OF the House. o.
Representatives and later a senator from! tha'
state on being elected Speaker In lS47. ! con
suited with the Hon. John Quincy Adams. Their
a member OF the House. and the consequence
was that | felt bouni to call first only on the
PRESIDENT and the Vice President. believe
made an exception in favor Of Chief Justice
Tnney. but only as a matter Of grace There
cannot be any doubt that the President. Vice
President and Speaker Of the House of Repre-.
sentatlve- stand before Al Others as repre-.
sentatIves OF the eHecutiv We and legislative
branches, | remember how earnestly this
was enforced III on Us by Col. Burton, n greaI
sticklpr for etiquette anu who said to me on one
occasion You may be rs modest as you please
in REGARD to any matter personal to yourself
but YOU have no right 10 waive the priority O
your position and the dignity OF The House o
Representatives Fverybo ~ called upon nj
first. accordingly. except the President unL
Nlce-Presiient
l. is understood thar tho Speaker caused tt
b" communicated to The President a knowledge
Of the 'u't th1t h. believed an error had beer
made, but conccding that the President havins
conferred Uron President pro tenn. of the sen
ate Frye priority over the Speaker, he cOul no
Withdraw i: and The mater must rest With th'
tiOn having come from the after that he agreed
with the au t%hOrities quoted and considers the
office OF speaker ~ the House of Representa-
tives superior to that Of President pro. ten o.
the Senate, the Sneaker declines to accept To-
y~itatiors to entertainments whore. h. Is likely
to meet the President pro tenn. OF the Senate
and thus far no Embarrassment has arisen. Tht
leaders OF the House. with whom Sneaker Hen
der-on consulted regarding hi action In the
matter. warmly commend and approve tht
position he has assumed.
Personally speaker Henderson is a Jolly
good natured, rollicking sort OF man. who Is
the life OF stag dinners an / has n heart beneath
his vest that beats in SYMPATHY with his fel'
low men. His VEINS arr full OF red American
bloc and he rrcogn yes no distinctions OF rank
He Is hal fellow well met with everybody. and
this fact gave a wrong m pression NJ the start
To- those who were ignorant Of his trle char
meter. \ veteran official said the other day
thrt IN all his long lite n Washington he had
never Known a eesslon when the Capitol was
So fiee OF lobbyists. male and female. The con
d 'ions are not favorable 10 their business. and
this perhaps is the be-ttribu'e that can be PAID
10 David b. HenderSon's four months career a'
Sneaker Of the national House OF Representa-.