The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1902-05-22
An Estimate of Carmack.

Ihe nashville American publishes
letter from DR.. W. A. Croffut, of Wash
ington City, which purports to give
the Washington estimate of Senator
Carmack, DIR. Croffut is a literary
man, and competent to criticise a speech.
He says that he does not know what
educational advantages Senator Car
mack possessed, "but his speeches indi-
cate the polished culture of the scholar. "
Here is an extract from DIR. Croffut's
letter:
81 write to thapk you for the junior
senator your old friends have provided
for the state of Tennessee, and if the
city of Washington had any way of ex-
pressing its feelings to the state of
Tennessee know it would join in this
sentiment. Carmack is a brick. II it
were known that he would speak again
tomorrow lie would certainly draw to
the capitol larger audience than
could be attracted by any other man
except, perhaps, Senator Hoar. He
has taken the city by surprise, possess
ing astonishing wit, facility, brilliancy
in repartee, and a thorough command
Of his subject To this may be added
an audacity and ap instantaneous Sc
lection of the best word, that has char
acterized no senator since Ingalls,. An
of-hand partisan debate between Car
mack and ingalls, would be worth going
a thousand miles to hear. We had
heard of Carmack before he came to
the senate, of course, but he had not
impressed us as such a superb phrase
maker and epigrammatist. Inrepartee
he is quick as lightning. ] send you
his speech of Friday and Saturday on
the Philippine question. 1t is not too
much to say that it pitches the key
note of the democratic anthem of the
next year.
"What wolf ever had better right, ."
said he, 'to eat his mutton in peace
than we have to possess and and enjoy
the Philippine Islands? The idea that
you will teach them to govern them
selves by making them bear the burden
of foreign government is the widest,
the craziest, the most fantastic dream
that that ever fitted through lunatic's
brain. You might as we'll suppose that
horse can learn to think by bearing a
philosopher ON his back No people
ever learned self-government under a
tutor. He did not spare either the
president or his predecessor. The re-
sponsibility for every drop Of blood
that has been shed in the Philippine
Islands is with you, and it will remain
with you though you wash your crimi-
nal hands in the bowl of Pontius PLATE
forever. We will not hold them per
manently. We want to experiment
with them for only thousand years or
so. The president of the
United States is q large minded, broad
visioned man. He comprehends end
less cycles in the sweep of hls glance.
A thousand years in his sight are but
as yesterday when it is past, and TIE
duration Of geological epoch is like
$ waiting for a car. You can not modify
9 the character of an Oriental race by
forcibly examining them with your owl
Q ideas any more than you can change
9 the character of canivorous animal by
0 stufing him with grass" His skinnins
of Funston and his description of thu
: "little lynching bee of Senator Lodge
caused an uproarous laughter that ha
!. not been heard in the senate for som,
h years, and the squirming of Lodge tC
i get his head out of chancery was yer,
n amusing indeed-except to republicans
II There were Two republican senator
e present when he began his speech ant
4 thirty-One when he ended