The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1903-11-14

, sentatves, the greatest parliamentary
body on the surface of the earth. 1t
is an especial honor to present this
house this particular speaker.
II think the majority have selected
their best type and am satisfied the
minority will be given full measure
of fairness and impartiality from him.
(Applause.)
IL have the honor to present your
speaker, Joseph G. Cannon, of Illi.
nos." Continued applause on both
sides of the chamber)
Speaker Cannon pulled from the
pocket of his nice new coat single
typewriter sheet, changed the spec
taclcs he had been wearing for an.
other pair, which he fished out of an.
| other pocket--lc was always Dartic-
llar about his glasscs--;nd read in a
plain, mattcr-offact way, as if he had
been doing that sort of thing all his
life, this fittingly short and pointed in.
nugurnl address:
"Gentlcmcn. Members of the House:
! appreciate the honor YOU confer in
choosing me as the presiding officer Of
the house. After twcnty-eght years'
service In the house such an express
sion of your confidence touches me
profoundly. thank you In the per-
forlnnncc of the duties of office I bring
quit myself with courtesy, efficiency
and fairness. II orr it will be nm
error of the head. not of the heart
'FI'r contests on the floor touching
policies that abound in partisunship
Will he spirited ana earnest. THE mn.
lority determines. l am quite sure
that in the consideration of the peo-
Pies business. however sharp NAV be
our differences. we will not forget that
courtesy and demcnnor which should
always obtain between manly oppo-
ncnts who honestly differ
"ln the performance of the duties of
speaker bcspcak the kindly co-opera-
tion of each member of the house.
81 am ready to take the oath of
office"
MIR. Bingham pennsylvania), upon
whom falls the titular honor of "fa-
thcr OF the house." bestowed by rea-
son of his having seen the longest con-
tnuous service, in accordance with
custom, administered the oath to the
speaker. More applause, the demo-
Gratis doing their share right manfully.
Then the commoners of the people
were invited to step forward to the
area in front of the speakers rostrum
and swear to support the Constitution
of the United States and to defend it
against all its enemies. 1his is always
an interesting occasion. 1t serves to
bring the great galaxy of American
states into the limcligllt--and there is
such lot of them. 1t also gathers
the men of the house in Il sort of mo-
mcntary dress parade, as they stand
in scmi-circlcs of thirty or forty, with
their right hands uplifted, the states
being called in alphabetical order. In
the diplomatic gallery was tllrong Of
VISITORS including the French am
bassndor and many beautiful women,
ana they marveled at the long list of
American states and territories and
wondered If the end of it would never
be reached. They saw the real repre-
senthtives of the great republic of the
West. and many of the newcomers
among the diplomatic corps watched
with the keenest sort of interest the
Kaleidoscope array of typical Amer
leans OH the floor below What they
saw was semi-circle after semi-circle
of sOod-looking, solid-looking, earnest
looking men, the equals in general ap-
pearance of any legislative body on
earth, and without much doubt the su-
periOrs in character and intellect to
any other great representative parlia-
mentary body.
Almost at the outset of the career
of this new congress the minority had
a taste of what is in store for them. y
They were politely, but effectively -.,u u.