The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-11
AS TO sPEAKERsHIP.

Meantime, with the brawlers about the seats of the mighty it Is. On with the race for the gavel that is soon to fall from the unnerved hand of Henderson.
 Today in Statuary Hall, one who by fn- stinct and tradition reverences high ofice, though he cannot always reverence the officer, stood long in the presence of the statue of the first Speaker of the House. little old Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania This statue represents the first Speaker garbed as popinjay of the French Di- rectory period with his hand upon his sword and a smile of the beatitudes upon his womanish face. "new-mown like stubblefied." as Hotspur said of King Henry's courier who had come to claim stuff this first Speaker was made of and then one remembered he was Pennsyi- vania Dutch, not Iowa Scotch. Provi- dence has given this land through the Dutch and the Scotch some of the noblest of the Americans; but from Muhlenberg to Henderson is a far cry for a very small fox's tail. The Dutch gave us Roosevelt and the Scotch Mckinley. and so gave nobly. Between the first Speaker and the last | is long time, rising to great heights, in | our time to Blaine. Randall and Carlisle, and in our time falling to Colfax. Keller and Henderson. No great Speaker is now possible or will be possible for years to come. But whether the line will remain | at the dead level, in the person or MT. 1 Joe" Cannon of Illinois. or rise in the | | present race 1t Is not possible to tell | Already in the race, besides MT. Cannon | are MT Joseph Babcock of Wisconsin, MT Serene E.. Payne and MT. James Sherman | of New York, MT. Dalzell of Pennsylvania (the Scotch pronounce 1t Dal and he calls | 1t Dal-zelD, and MT. Charles Littlefield oi | Maine. Either MT. Babcock or MT. Lit
 tlefield would be a Speaker not so very others. they are, as the French might say | Impossible"
 | Oddly enough to be ludicrous some per
 sons of prominence have presumed t
 of MT. Cannon. -fFhere ought to De [
 horse-laugh here). And local newspape
 which tries to be the White House organ
 and fails, seriously informs us that thu
 ship contest. In MT. Roosevelts voca
 bulary there is no such word as can't
 and, to tell truth, he is not in love witl
 the word without the apostrophe.
 MT. Joe" Cannon stands for nearly
 everything in Government that the Presi
 dent doesn't stand for. Joey C., sir
 Joey c. is sly, devilish sly" but he ain
 got the stuff, so he needn't come" He ii
 an arch-Dingleyite. first of all and so thu | President has no use for him. The sam'
 is true of the Messrs. Sherman, Pawn
 and Dalzell. None of them is to the Pres
 ident's liking.
 l What a splendid prize in public life ii
 the Speakership! From the Mother o
 Parliaments, at St. Stephens's. to tn
 baby at Tokio, there Is not in all tn
 range of the worlds parliamentary gov
 ernments any distinction comparable il
 exalted power and far-reaching greatnes
 to our Speakership Our Speaker ma,
 defeat the will of the people. defy tn | Executive and fiout the Senate, and re | main all the while under the supreme pro
 tection~of the constitution and the courts
 In some respects the power of this of flee transcends the majestic greatness O
 the Presidency itself. Like the suprem | Court 1t is above the very source of 1t 1 origin.
 Mightiest office in the direct governmen
 of man-the Speakership of our House o | Representatives!