Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-12-09

with interest because of the frequent
and regular predictions that he is
about to be showed under. His victo-
ry this year over Mr.. Reese is regard
ed as especially indicative of his pop
ularity and ability.
ter what politicians may think of Mr..
Eenderson's political acts there is no
doubt but that he still retains his
his great personal popularity in the
house. When he took the speakers
place at the opening of congress Mon
day he was met with storm of APP
pause from the members and the gal
lie! les. A local paper recently pub
llshed an article by Savoyard, the
famous correspondent and political
writer, headed 1.-THE Passing of David
Henderson The article begins by
telling the story of the young Russian
officer who struck the fancy of
Empress Catherine H. She show
cred gifts upon him and pro-
NOTED him to wealth and fame.
but one night at a royal ball she asked
him to dance with her. He obeyed the
orGer, but as they whirled through the
waltz the empress thought that she
detected faint shadow of disgust on
his face as his eyes rested on her evil
dontly robust charms, now too mature,
IA form voluptuous rather than grace
full, shoulder no longer white, skin
no longer smooth. The empress
ceased the dance suddenly and ten
minutes later the young officer, favor
lite of the court, camp and field, was
under arrest and on his way to Sibe-
ria. David B. Henderson" says the
article set out for Siberia without the
formality of orders. He was a-romp-
Ing with the fair mistress Iowa and
got himself Disguised because he
thought he detected something or
other that was heterodox from an
economical standpoint. To a politi-
clan private life in this country is
the same as Siberia in Russia. or a
little more so, and when public opin-
ion-just about as jealous and just
woman of darkest Europe-says Get
you to Siberia! there is nothing for
the man to do but set out
Caricature of Henderson.
Speaker Henderson is central fig
ure. He has done something re-
garded as sensational and must.
as public character, stand
The New York Herald devotes page
once a week to caricatures of public
men and Mr. Henderson was the prin
cipal character this week Descrip
tive of an exaggerated picture the car
icaturist in part says: I'D. B. Hender
son, speaker of the house of represen
tatives, gutter in chief of the G. 0. P
Followed but did not succeed Thomas
B. Reed as hammer weilder to con-
gress. Finding the Scotch climate not
suited for the realization of his politi
cal ambitions, he moved in 1886 to
Illinois. with the idea of growing up
with the country, but Illinois grew SO
rapidly that he found it impossible to
keep up, and in 1S49 settled in Iowa
as likely to be more conservative to
its expansiveness. Educated in the
public schools and at the age OF ten
was able to spell such words as tar
| if. Reciprocity and arbitration
| without hesitation. Entered the army
and fought brayely through the war
Since that time has occupied many
offices Of Importance. most of which
he has resigned from time to time
thereby earning the reputation of be.
ing the most resigned politician of his
age. Elected to congress in 1882 and
has served there ever since becoming
speaker in 1899 In 1902 he declined
to stand for denomination. much to
the embarrassment of the democratic
party, which had hoped to make his
campaign interesting by asking ques-
tons about tariff reform, reciprocity
with Cuba and other details of repnb
| lican policy which others might
answer more readily than he. His
! future days will be devoted to liters
ture, and among his most probable
works will be: 'Gavelling Through
Congress- My Way VS. Ioway. The
Complete Speaker and volume O
poems on Resignation, or Sixty Ways
of Getting Out; Done in Verse BY d
1 B. H. 1t is a curious coincidence thai
! the initials are the same as those Of
! David Bennett Hill, but here the paral
4 lei ceases"
Mr.. Henderson's friends think tina
these articles all represent eastern
! prejudice and the fact remains thai
1 the. speaker does not seem to have los
any of his host OF friends, though it i.
true that his political life is regarded
as closed.
No Radical Legislation.
The first few days of congress have
only more firmly entrenched certain
close political observers that any
radical action on tariff revision
or even trust legislation is
] very doubtful this session. The Pres.
ident is urging trust legislation OF
some sort as much as his position
will allow, but there is much opposi
ton among congressman and senator's
! This opposition means much discus.
sion and with only a three months
session ahead it looks as though nc
conclusion would be reached. Then
there is. a very evident reluctance tc
do anything that would endanger the
hnexamplod prosperity of the coun
| try. Those opposed to trust legisla,
ton and tariff revision give this as
their main reason. There is no doubt
but what many bills for both tariff ano
trust legislation will be offered in both