Connecticut western news., 1902-06-12

Ject pTeClpildteS lue llNelleSl uSuaAe and produces the most gorgeous rheto- ric. For example. in the Fifty-sixth congress the apportionment bill, which ought to have been largely a matter of mathematics, engendered much heat and led to much lurid oratory. In speaking of the difficulties and aggra- vations growing out of the large mem bership of the house and the vast pro portions of the hall the late Hon. Mar riott Brosius of Pennsylvania grew classical. sarcastic, vehement, Biblical and poetical all at once. as follows:
 Ut has been on rare occasions a very cave of Eolus with every wind let oose-deliberation impossible, profita- ble discussion out of the question, legis- latlve business at a standstill, waiting for the storm to blow over. In these seasons of tumult the wisest head. the firuest hand and the stoutest heart available In our time have been un- equal 10 the task of maintaining tho conditions necessary to the transaction of business. Without some restriction upon the tendency In increase, the house will continue to grow until con fusion worse confounded will bring the nation to shame and invite the 'lingual curse of Babel to put an end to the stupendous folly of attempting to legis- late in a mass meeting.
 Few members of the house can be heard with distinctness in all parts of the chamber without an exertion of the vocal organs which destroys every quality of voice which makes speaking or hearing agreeable and corrupts ev- cry excellence in oratory. If it were morals and principles of the people as much as 1t has depraved the taste and corrupted style in public speaking, I should cry out with Daniel Webster. God save the republicp Much of what passes for debate Is only an exchange of vociferations across the chamber. An unduly loud voice Is as disagreeable to most people as 1t was to the sensi- tive Cowper, who wrote:
 ''vociferated logic kills me quite;
 noisy man Is always in the right
 twirl my thumbs, fall back into my chair,
 Fix on the wainscot a distressiul stare,
 And when think his blunders all out
 Reply discreetly, To be surei no doubt British House of Commons.
 But the late Mir. Brosius' description of our house of representatives., above quoted, is quite fiattering when com pared with his description of the Brit ish house of commons, which runs in this wise:
 Members who receive no salary and have other business easily yield to the solicitations of interest or pleasure and remain away. When lured by the ex- pectation of a scene or brought in by the whips when the division bell cannot reach them, they swell the crowd. but they bring little of the ele- ment of deliberation and less acquaint- ance with the bearings of the legisla- ton on hand, but much subserviency to the leaders-many elements of the mob-and ready passions to be played on by the fiery orators who marshal the contending hosts, and the result Is precisely what could be foreseen-ex. cited members shake their fists in the speakers face, disorderly calls produce an uproar which an Englishman lik-
 
 members usually grave shouting with boylsh abandonment or In a frenzy of desperation struggling to lift their voices above the tumult of noises com parable to those of ZOO just before feeding time,' the eloquence of honor able members seeming like a real rep resentation of the Morse telegraphic alphabet, the alternate dot represent ing the utterances of one side and the alternate dash the groans of the oppo- sition and the whole tumultuous as- sembly 'bedlam' more than a deliberate body of Christian statesmen"
 A Mixed Metaphor.
 MT. Littlefeld of Maine fought the Hopkins apportionment bill in the Eff ty-sixth congress, which reduced the representation of the Pine Tree State from four to three. with the ferocity of she bear defending her cubs. He fell afoul of Mir. Hopkins repeatedly and once referred to him In the follow ing mixed metaphor: "The distinguish ed chairman of this committee MT. Hopkinsl Is simply diluted extract of the aurora borealis which clings, like the shirt of Nessus, to the state of Illinois whether she will or mo-" That was not only badly mixed metaphor, but palpable hit below the belt, being direct reference to the fiery red color of Mir. Hopkins hair.
 Truth to tell, in that debate both Littlefield and Hopkins threw the amenities to the winds and went after each other without gloves. At one point Hopkins interrupted Littlefield, whereupon the latter exclaimed, This is not a police court" Hopkins re- torted. Well, then, the gentleman Is not at home" Littlefield roared, "You would be at home on the frontier be- fore a trial justice in the purlieus of civilization conducting your methods of discussion"
 Only Playing Possum.
 Hon. William L. Stark of Nebraska that the Democratic party is dead. Au contraire, he dissents therefrom toto celo. To illustrate his view of that theory he told this anecdote recently In l a speech in the house:
 "A boy asked his teachers permis- sion to absent himself from school to attend another boys funeral Permis- sion was readily granted, and Johnny departed. But as the teacher was on her way home late that afternoon she met her absent scholar.
 "'And Johnny asked the teacher, did you attend your friends funeralT
 "'No. marm.' replied Johnny. I went to the house, but the boy wasn't dead. We had high old time wrestling until he throwed me fiat f my back. F you ! think he's dead, you just tackle him; that's all.'"
 "on His Honor"
 do not know whether Mir. Fitzger- aid of Boston has read Robert Burns much, but in the debate on the naval appropriation bill in the last congress he acted on the poets advice