Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-04-03
ORATORY IN THE SENATE
RESENTMENT OF ITS USE TO MERE
LY INFLUENCE PUBLIC MEASURES.
Eject of Senator Pettus' Speech Las,
Week in RidicuIinE
Fair Words

Every incident Of unusual interest that
comes before the United States Senate car
ries with it a lesson Of some kind and so it
is with the spontaneous burst of ridcule
and humor that came from the venerable
and solemn senator from Alabama last
week. In holding up oratory to ridicule in
the Senate Mr.. Pettus merely put in form
and expressed sentiment that is we'll
known to every one acquainted with the So
called upper house of Congress. This senti-
ment is one Of thorough opposition to the
use OF fair words strung together in pleas
Ing cadences to please the ear and to infiu-
ence opinion on public measures. The SEN
ate has always to a greater or less extent
resented such efforts unless the orator has
underlying everything he says a basis OF
sound logic which could command attention
II entirely separated from his eloquence.
The Senate claims to be a reasoning body
and especially prides itself on the fact that
It Is not swayed by popular sentiment when
that sentiment is largely emotional. 1t was
this feeling, shared in practically by every
senator, that caused Mr.. Pettus' sarcasm
aimed against "oratory' to strike a respon-
siVe chord In the heart of every one on the
hoor who listened to him, and made his
quaint humor doubly effective.
Mr.. Depew's Caution.
When Senator Depew was elected to the
seat he now occupies in the Senate, his
hIo"li dS perhaps the IrSt orator
of the country called forth a good deal of
speculation and quiet comment on the part
of those with whom he was to be asso-
ciated at the Capitol. Senators wondered
whether Mr. Depew would display his rare
powers of oratory and attempt to use 1t to
enhance his prestige in the Senate. 1t was
not the spirit of jealousy that prompted
them in this feeling. 1t was not altogether
the fact that he was a new senator The
Senate has always felt that new senator
should look on for a time before aspiring
to leadership, or before becoming conspicu-
Gus on the floor in any way But that did
not cause the members to look upon him
questionably. They merely resented the
idea that they might possibly be the VIC
tins of attempts to influence them by ora
tory which, within itself, they regarded as
out Of place in deliberation body But
Mr.. Depew Is a diplomat even more than an
orator. He scented the senatorial atmos-
phere, and he took warning. Whatever he
has said has been said simply and without
display of fine language, which he has re-
served for audiences outside the Senate
chamber. When he contemplated speaking
on the occasion of memorial service in
the Senate, he hestated doing So and
talked with some of his senatorial friends
about it. They told him, of course he
should speak, and he did so. And this is
the one occasion when eloquence may give
itself full vent in the Senate. Obituary re-
marks may be embellished with words from
sllvery tongues, and no one will take Of
tense. They are for sentiment. thinks the
senate, and to sentiment they should be
confined.
Effect of Mr.. Pettus' Speech
So it was that Mr.. Pettus did not an
nounce a new idea when he rebelled against
tory in the Senate. He merely declared
in quaint humor what everyone felt, and
what everyone in the Senate regarded as
the natural thing that should prevail there
If there was ever a day in the time of
the fathers when eloquence. as elo-
quence, was force in the Senate, that day
Is not now. But it is said that the elo-
quence OF leaders in past generations that
has come down in history was merely an
ornament to logic and did not claim honor
1or itself alone. The Senate will take it
only on rare occasions and in small doses