Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-19
CONTEST WAS FIERCE
Memorable Campaign for the
Speakership
IN THE 36TH CONGRESS
FIERCE oRAToRY. AND 1NFLAM-
MAToRY ELooUENcE.
Venerable Galusha A. Grow Only Sur
vivor-Political Retrospect Of
Old Washingtonian.
IN THE 96TH CONGRESS

When the next Congress assemblies the
ease with which Mr.. Cannon of Illinois will
be elected Speaker of the new House Of
Representatives will afford a striking con-
trast with some of the contests for the
speakership in former years. He will be
early placed in nomination after the clerk
has called the House to order; Immediately
elected. escorted to the chair in due and
ancient form, and the organization of the
body will promptly follow. That, at least.
is the present outlook
In fact, nowadays there is little no
excitement. though always a fair modicum
of interest in such elections. Now, and the
designation is not intended to be irreverent,
the proceeding rs a sort of cut-and- dried
affair and the public is generally prepared
for the result. .
1t was not always that way, and there is
one particular contest that takes a decided
place in the political history of this coun-
try. One need not be so very far advanced
In the scale of years as to be able to recall
the lurid scenes attending the struggle fol-
lowing an attempt to organize the House of
Representatives when the first session of
the Thirty-sixth Congress met December Z,
1859 The fun began almost as soon as the
clerk of the previous House. who was
bers to order. The balloting then began for
speaker. At least sixteen members re-
ceived votes. only four however, getting
them In sufficient quantity to call the bal
lots cast for them numerically respectable.
All the numerous parties of the day were
represented in the voting. There were
wings, democrats know nothings," or as
the members of that party called them
selves. Americans. and republicans. The
three leaders. when the vote was an
nounced, were found to be Messrs. Thomas
III. Bocock of Virginia, John Sherman of
Ohio and Galusha A. Grow of Pennsyl-
yania, who, as all know, returned from
the keystone state as a representative at
large in the last Congress and but for the
fact that he declined reelection would be
in the next. He alone of all the leading
contestants in that memorable speakership
campaign survives.
Fun and Fury Reigned.
Well. there was no election and fun and
fury Immediately took possession of the
House. The members on both sides were
ripe for it. The John Brown invasion of
Virginia, followed by his execution at
Charlestown. and the publication of a book
under the title of 1.-The Pending Crisis"
the author of which was Hinton r. Helper
were two prolific subjects for the acrmo-
NOUS debates which were interspersed at
various times during the somewhat long
intervals in the votings for speaker.
The hall resolved itself into something
nearly approaching a beer garden and.
between the inflamed orators, 1t was a war,
at least verbally a war to the knife and
the knife to the hilt. The speakership
seemed to be forgotten and 1t was not until
two days after the first vote that thes sec
ond one was taken.
The galleries We're crowded every day by
excited onlookers. who occasionally mani
tested very openly their feelings in the con-
test. The clerk had no authority and the
members of the House ran things to suit
themselves. There were such men in the
fiery realms of the debates. or more proper
ly speaking harranges, as Clark of Mis-
souri,, Grow, Sherman of Ohio, Barksdale
of Missouri, Keitt of South Carolina. Craw-
ford of Georgia. Thomas b. Florence of
Pennsylvania and that grim old commoner.:
Thad Stevens also from the keystone state.
who was ever foremost in the trays and
who was never known to knuckle down.
Sometimes it was a merry war and there
was as much fine wit as fierce invective and
as usual the poor negro was IN the center
of the controversy.
Situation Became Ludicrous. q
Then the votes for speaker once in
while edged in with the usual result no
election Candidates increased and some
of the members hardly knew who they were
voting for The situation became. in a.
measure ludicrous and was made the butt
of many jokes. The writer remembers that
Williams. whose pleasing representations of
the Irish lad and the Yankee girl were en-
trancing the playgoers of the period. APP
peared at Ford's National Theater in a
series of their inimitable sketches. In one
of these Mrs. Williams sang q little dirty
called My Mary Ann" in which a lover
who was about to sail away deplores the
fact of having to leave his sweetheart. one
of the verses went:
"a lobster in a lobster pot.
blue fish wiggling on a hook,
May suffer some re, but t ms KNOW apT not what
Well this little song was such a popular
one that the good lady found 1t very diffi-
cult to get verses sufficient to reply to en-
cores, and she improvised not a few or
them.
One night during the days when this vot-
ing for speaker had dragged its length
along for nearly two months. the actress.
singing her lively verses, improv1sed In
response to an encore the following
up yonder at the Capitol
They're voting for a man.
But they haven't elected speaker yet,
And they won't till they vote for my Mary Ann
This, of course, brought down the house.
and everybody in town was singing 1t next
day. The theater had In its audience
heavy contingent of members of Congress
and public officials, and none enjoyed 1t
better than they.
But to return to our subject. AS all
things have had and must have an ending,
SO the campaign for speaker of the Thirty
sixth Congress had its wind up. Several
gentlemen who had been leaders among the
candidates had retired. notably Mr.. Sher-
man, who, after eight weeks of unwavering
support from his friends, in brief and pa
triotic speech. formally withdrew his name
as a candidate. This announcement was
followed by the fortieth ballot. In which
Mr. Pennington of New Jersey received the
highest vote, and on the forty-fourth bal
lot he was elected, amid no little excite
ment.
EYIEuT GOVERNOR SHOT.