Warren sheaf., 1903-11-19

men on the Democratic side of the
House who are greater orators than
Mr.. Williams; there are many Dem
ocretlc congressman, perhaps. who
are more polished than the new
leader but there are tew who can
measure up to him in ready debate,
alertness in siezing upon points of
vantage, and perhaps none on the
Democratic side is his peer in the
hurly burly of debate. The House
OF Representatives is no longer the
place for the men who can deliver
speeches measured by the hours.
On the floor such man is practical
~ useless. The man who can make
an effective five-minute speech is
the man that counts in the south
wing OF the Capitol. During these
hve-minute speeches, blows are
dealt to parties and party chieftans;
during these the death knells of
many an aspiring patriot is sound
ed; and during these the trumpets
OF many new hero are blared-he-
roes because they have been able to
say something really good in five
minutes, the time usually allotted to
the debaters. With these condi-
tions prevailing it is easily under
stood why so much Importance is
attached to the floor leader. It is
also readily appreciated why it is
less important for a district to send
man who can deliver long and Or
nate speeches but much more i'm
portant for district to send man
to congress who can work, and who
will work all the time for the inter-
ests of the district as we'll as the
country generally. The Office of
congressman is no longer an orna-
mental office. It is pre- -eminently
an office where work of the hardest
kind is demanded and where it
must be done in order for the in
cumbent of this high Office to be of
any service to his constituents at
home. A candidate may shrek
himself black in the face telling his
people what he will do if they elect
him to congress, but what he says
he viii do does not count. He does
no more than the ruling ring" per-
mits him to do. It is what he shows
himself able and willing to do that
enables him to do anything atall, for
just in the same proportion that a
new member evinces a disposition
and willingness to work will the
house organization give him work
to do. A new member of congress is
to that body of no more Importance
the first year, as rule, than a mes
senger boy in one of our large de-
partment stores. The old members
use him for the inferior places, and
of course, as in the case of a depart
ment store, if the new member
shows exceptional ability he will,
after few months, be allowed to
say something on the floor, and per-
haps be given an opportunity to do
some organization work of impor-
tance. The second year he may,
perhaps, be promoted to a better
committee than the one to which he
was originally assigned, provided
some one has died in the meantime,
and that his party is still in power.
This is the situation that con-
fronts our own Halvor Steenerson.
His usefulness to the ninth district
of Minnesota depends largely upon
his sobriety, industry and applica-
tion to details of routine affairs. OF
course, in this respect, his chances
for success are no different than the
chances of any other man that might
have been chosen. Mr.. Steener-
sons record as lawyer ought to
offer, in this respect, same sugges-
tions. I do not believe it will be
questioned by anyone that when
Halvor has made up his mind to do
something he has not failed to ac-
complish that determination through
failure in applying himself to details.
What the result will be now, of
course, only the future will reveal.
Mr.. Steenerson will no doubt 20
right ahead and make himself one of
the most useful members ever sent
to congress from our state.
Mr.. and Mrs. Steenerson arrived
| in tho citv q fow dave auO Tho