The Leon reporter., 1902-07-17
AN UNUSUAL EULO6Y.

Cannon, of Illinois, at the memorial SER
mings, held in the hall of the house at
Washington:
"rhe life in this house is a strenuous
life. The contests are sharp and decis.
i've. The house has to assist, and in the
main originate, legislation that makes
for the good or for the bad of $4,000 600
people. Sometimes we laugh about it.
Sometimes we say that representatives
have easy times, that anybody can be
representative, as he can il he is chosen
by a constituency. Easy berth! But,
gentlemen know, think the country
knows, and | know that Amos j. Cum.
mings realized the fact that it takes all
of the industry, all Of the culture, all of
the devotion of an honest man and a
patriot to perform the duties in this
house.
"He came in 1887, if | recollect Alright
in the Fittieth congress, and served con-
tinuously to the end. God gave him
manly courage. He was Intellectually
honest. A great many people can be
honest in that they will not steal, ac
cept bribes or give bribes-thatis is grand
when temptation comes. But in his
whole makeup he was. honest as
we'll as courageous. In my service with
him | never heard word uttered by
him or witnessed an action that made
me say that he was striking or desired
to strike below the belt. He would give
good, hard knocks, but there was no
treachery in his makeup. His COM
munications were yea, yea, and nay,
nay. And l am glad to say after some
length of service in this house, that this
is the rule and not the exception.
"He was here, he is absent. The mas
ter said on one occasion 'let the dead
bury the dead If l understand what
that means, it is that when the life is
gone IN generation of less than forty
years-born, living, dying, less than
forty years upon the average-there is
a no time for the past except as we may
% benefit by it in walking the present and
o prophesying as to the future. Nothing
'. short of infinite power can call him back
10 That infinite power has never been ex-
e ercised from the beginning, and never
a will be. The human animal moves un-
If der fixed law. as all matter moves under
10 fixed law.
e "This man, moving and ambitious
at man, achieved bis place-printer, jour
" nalist, soldier, and all comprehended in
n, the word man. A hundred years from
ID now-yes, fifty years from now-as mer
r., pass back in the lobby and see the por.
I'd traits of ex. x.speakers and point out on.
of after another, and say, Where did h,
come from?' as we do of some of tn
portraits now; in fifty years and no MAJ
can mention the names of members G
this congress. Then someone may say
% 'Why did he strive to perform the duty?
" Because we are part and parcel Of peo
le pile that have evoluted, worked out thei
" own salvation, each generation achiey
y ing an advance, and the next genera
" tion holding that advance and going
~ days march farther on.
~ 81 think Mr.. Cummings, from conver
sations with him, but more PARTICULAR,
y. from his actions, realized what l hav'
spoken Of He had pride that he be
longed to that race and made his con
to tribution to the general good, and wa
mt content, as l think we all are after hav
ur ing thus contributed, to depart in reac
ur feeling While we would be swalloWe,
he and Will be swallowed up by the grea
ur majority and our individuality is forgot
er. ten, yet we have conMibuted ou
le. respective mites to the advancement
en- and achievements Of that race to whic
we we belong.
"But what Of the other side IF th
are rlyer' Revelation and faith tell us ths
er. Me need not go there alone, for we enio
for the universal desire that it is to b
nd found in each human unit from the bt
US ginning of the race to the present tim
eek Of the life beyond this life. The unive
the sal protest against extinction is tt
eep strongest kind Of evidence that our II
ing spective individualities are not to (
wn wiped out. And without repeating ii
words or recollecting the poet, som
where in my reading here or there,
tho recollect some poem entitled Nigh
rim and the central thought, beautifully e,
,;es pressed, was that as the sun disappea
sir behind the horizon the stars and IL
md glories of the heavens appear; and y
al nave Tue ialen snao al!ef h1e sha
ba, cease the individuality remains and tb
glories of space appear, and that q
no hope and believe that somewhere in tt
great beyond, under universal law, as
has been from the beginning, we sha
. each one continue to achieve the plae