The Iola register., 1902-03-28
EDITORIAL coRRESpoNpENcE.

Dlu you ever hear of Theodore Il.
Burton, member of Congress from
Ohio? | confess / never did before |
came here. and to tell the truth never
consciously saw him until Monday of
this week; and yet for six days he has
been to all practical intents and pur-
poses the House of Representatives of
the Congress of the United States.
Upon his single word, and without an
opposing vote, the House has passed
bill appropriating sixty millions of
dollars out of the public treasury.
1t has been really wonderful ex-
hibition of leadership which Mr..
Burton has displayed before the House
during these past six days. On Mon
day, as chairman of the Committee on
Rivers and Harbors, he brought in
the appropriation bill and called it
up for consideration. Following the
usual custom he spoke for an hour in
explanation and defense of the bill,
but his speech was very far from being
q usual speech. 1t displayed a fund
OF information, breadth of view,
firmness of grasp, and a command of
details little less than marvellous, and
the language in which It was presented
was so clear and limpid that his mere
statement of a proposition carried
with 1T the conviction of demonstra-
tion. For an hour he had the floor to
himself, with practically no interup-
t1on; but after that, for a week, he
was the storm center about which re-
volved perfect tempest of questions,
appeals and protests. Let il be re-
membered that the rivers and har-
bors appropriation bill is docu-
ment of more than hundred pages;
that it contains literally thousands of
separate items; that il involves
interests in nearly every section of
the country-not only covering our
coast line on both sides OF the con-
tinent, but reaching ito every highway
and byway of interior water transpor-
tation-and some idea can be gained
OF brain imatter required to make
a man absolute master of every detail.
But Mr.. Burton proved himself to be
such master. iAmong all the thous-
and questions launched at him there
was not one to which he did not reply
with fullness of information which
would warrant the conclusion that he
had made that one subject a special
study. He seemed to know the exact
condition of every section of every
navigable stream on the continent,
and he could tell Off hand how much
money had been spent on any partic-
ular Improvement; whether it had re-
suited in any practical good: how
much would be needed to complete any
projected work, and why money should
be spent here and withheld there. For
six days he submitted to this bonn
bardment Of interrogation, and never
once did he betray irritation or i'm
patience, and never once did he answer
with levity or sarcasm. This ought to
go without saying, it is true, and yet
it is so far different from the conduct
of some other members when similarly
situated that it very much deserves to
be said And the House relied abso-
lutely on his word. Members repre-
senting special localities, and who
thought that sufficient appropriation
had not been made for their particular
interest, would offer an amendment,
and make a passionate appeal for
adoption. When the appeal was
ended, Mr.. Burton would get up, and
say quietly: 81 think the amendment
offered by the gentleman should not
prevail" " And then out of courtesy to
the gentleman, and not in the least be-
cause anything more was required by
the House, he would state with his
wonderful clearness of expression and
his ineXhaustible wealth of knowledge
why the amendment should not pre-
vail. And when the vote was taken it
never did prevail. On rare occasions.
"iASh U ihOiiOCl OhClIu an
perhaps to the phraseology of the bill,
or asked for the insertion of partic-
ular provision, to further guard the
expenditure of the money Mr. Burton
would say in his quiet way: 81 have
no objection to this amendment" And
when the vote was taken the House
also had 40 objection to the amend
ment. 1t is literally true, therefore,
as said in the beginning, that for six
days, Theodore e, Burton, member of
Congress from Ohio, has been the
House of Representatives because in
its implicit reliance upon his patriot
ism, his business sense, his thorough
study, his perfect fairness and his un-
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