Evening star., 1902-02-20
MR.. BoUTELL's SPEECH.
Humorously Deals With Mr.. Wheeler's
.Truculent Sycophancy."

AAuSO4SAI 0JSOPAAASy.
The Wheeler speech was the text of sew
ersd oratorical efforts in the House yes
terday After Mr. Bromwell had read sew
eral verses In derision Mr.. Kern Of
Illinois a German and who announced
that he represented a large German con-
stituency. protested against the attempt to
make political capital out Of the recent
speech of Mr.. Wheeler which he charac-
terized as an '''insignifcant incident" He
followed his protest with an assault on the
majority for their failure to show SYM
pathy for the Beers struggling in South
Africa he said, for the liberties for which
our forefathers fought"
Mr. Bouten Gll) congratulated Mr.. Kern
upon his accession to the band of American
humorists in which Mr. Wheeler ranked so
high He then proceeded with delicate hu-
NOR to trace the origin Of what Mr..
phancy." First he read a letter written by
Thomas Jefferson in III. In which he au-
thorized the purchase OF a coat of arms for
him. and from another, written four years
later, in which he said that he would rather
be dependent upon Great Britain than any
other country or than none" Then he
passed down to the days Of Martin Van
Buren and told of the visit OF his son John
to the court of st. James. which earned
for him the sobriquet of prince john" by
which he was known afterward. Mr.. Bou-
tell said he felt sure that when the daugh-
ter of the President returned from the cor
onation Of Edward VII she would not be
known as princess Alice" Mr.. Boutell
then told the story Of the coronation of the
Car of Russia in 1896 and Of the appear
ance that occasion OF the democratic
American ambassador, Clifton r. Breckin-
| ridge of Arkansas. In full court costume.
knee breeches and. ALL Mr.. Breckenridge
was, he said. amid laughter, native Of
Lexington, Ky.
..He has been dead politically ever since,"
interjected Mr. Fitzgerald On. W.
Mr.. Boutell produced the cablegrams and
correspondence that passed between Mr..
Breckinridge and the State Department
relative to the costume the ambassador
should wear at the coronation.
Mr.. Sims (Tenn) interrupted to ask where
this correspondence had been obtained.
They are the originals from the State
Department" replied Mr.. Boutcll.
Gould not the diligence Of the State De-
partment be better employed In helping the
suffering Beers than in unearthing this cor
respondence?" inquired Mr.. Richardson, the
minority leader amid democratic applause.
Il leave that to the experts on 'truculent
sycophancy,'" replied Mr.. Boutell. who
of Hawaii in Washington and the honor
shown her by President Cleveland. He
read a graphic account of the dinner given
at the White House, where the queen oc-
cupied the seat of honor on the right of the
President
"Thus we see." he added. when he had
finished the reading. I'VE have traced the
origin of truculent sycophancy from the
day when the first democratic President
purchased bogus coat of arms to the en-
tertainment of queen at the White House
by the last democratic President" (Repub-
lican applause and laughter.)
Mr. Boutell caused great amusement by
then reading a published account of the
tour OF the United States by the Grand
Duke Alexis in 1871. dwelling upon the de-
tails of his visit to Kentucky. where he was
received Officially" and with great state.
With exceedingly good temper he concluded
by expressing the hope that what had oc-
| CURED in the House within the last week
would be accepted abroad simply as an
other evidence of "erratic and sporadic
form which American humor sometimes
took in the American House Of Representa-
tives"
Mr. Fleming (Ga) closed the incident
with few remarks. explaining wherein he
took issue with Mr.. Wheeler In what the
latter had said few days ago. Mr.. New
| lands (Nev), the last speaker Of the day.
gave his reasons for opposing the Hill bill
to authorize the redemption OF silver dol
lars in gold.
At the conclusion OF his remarks general
debate on the Indian appropriation bill
closed. Then at sos pm. the House ad-
journed. --se- go