Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-11-23
CAPITAL CHAT,
The Seasons Demand for
Congressional Orators.
The Maine Delegation and the Thanks
giving Recess.
Bill to RepeaI Permanently the Dutv
Bill to Repeal Permanently the Duty
on New Brunswick Coal.

The search for available orators, which
prevails about the Capitol at peculiar
seasons is now in full rage. This is the
time OF year when numerous organic
atlns are holding annual meetings.
lney like to have an attractive orator
from congress to address them around
the banquet board. There are always
eight or ten men in both branches of
congress who are experts in that line.
IT they would lend themselves to efforts
or their character they would be busy
for weeks at stretch speaking on such
occasions.
The MayfoWer Societies are about to
mold their meetings soon and they are
looking for orators, chiefly from New
England. Col. Thomas S. Hopkins. of
this city and of Mount Vernon, Me-.
VINO mas long been president of the
MaylloWer Society in the District of
Columbia, was at the Capitol today try
ing to enlist some Congressional elo-
quence. The difficulty just now is that
most of the House members are pre-
pairing to journey home for Thanksgiv
ing, since the business of the House. for
which Congress was called together in
| extra session has been disposed of
Those who have their families settled
here prefer to remain during the two
weeks, but they are comparatively few.
Representative Littlefeld was invited
| by Col. Hopkins to address the Nav
flowers here but he is going home late
in the week and does not expect to re-
| turn till the regular session of Congress
begins
AS a rule most of the Congressional
1 t0rC VI
ing audiences on a variety of topics of
current interest, are quickly picked off
by the lecture bureaus. Therefore it is
that Senator Dolliver Of Iowa, one of
the most pleasing speakers in public
lie is now rarely heard, except on the
stump and at great public gatherings.
unless it is in the lecture hall or at
Chautauqua meetings. The same is
true OF Representative Charlie Lands
OF Indiana, and a good many others
! that might be named. AS a rule these
orators, who set into Congress. are
poor men. In most of the Compression
al districts of the country politics is an
expensive luxury and therefore these
men with the gift of eloauence and
something of a national reputation are
glad to make little money on the side
Jul u THEIR Talents.
Maine people will recall that the late
| Speaker Reed, who was a poor man till
ne went to New York to practice law.
used to sell his ideas on public cues
| tons to the magazines and other per-
| !odicals, from which he derived a small
but pretty steady revenue. Undoubt-
| eddy Speaker Reed was aided in that
enterprise by the fact that, as Speaker.
he never participated in debates on the
| Hoof. That has come to be almost an
| inviolable custom now in the House of
Representatives. although years ago
Speakers sometimes surrendered the
gaVel to express their views to their col
leagues and TO the country.
! Probably no man has sat in the
! Speakers chair for many years to
whom this custom will be more of a
hardship than to Speaker Cannon. For
more than a decade he has been one of
| the most frequent of House debaters.
He enjoys the hurly burly of wordy
| encounter, carries himself with the
| steadiness that comes from long expe-
| rience and absolute command of him
| self. The chairman of appropriations
must of necessity be a pretty fair de-
| batter, for under the present system, he
must be something of a watchdog and
| therefore be always ready to spring to
| his feet with Il speech of warning or
| Of criticism. Much of this work used to
be done by the opposition party. Until
| he went out of the House to become
governor of Missouri, Hon. A. M.
| Dockery was a great opposition watch
| dog, but there was no one on the Dem
ocratic side big enough to take his
place and Mr.. Cannon himself assumed
| the duties and performed them up to
the time he was elected Speaker.
| The Maine delegation here will APP
parently be very lean during the
| Thanksgiving period. Mr.. Lttlefield,
as already told, is going back to Rock
| land. Ex-Gov Powers has already
gone to Brookline, Mass, to join his
| family Probably neither of these Maine
members will return to Washington be-
fore the regular session begins. Both
| the Maine senators are expected to re-
main here most of the time. Unless the
Senate passes the reciprocity bill before
| Thanksgiving which was hoped at one
time, but now scenes remote, the Sen
ate will be in session for several days
after that date.
| Ex-Gov. Burleigh and Representative
Allen will also remain heer much of
| the TINT if not all of the time, till the
regular session begins. Gov Burleigh
/ has lot of business to attend to. Then
| the mail from his constituents, which
| is heavy during the winter time, is
now coming here regularly. He makes
it rule to keep right up-to-date with
| the correspondence from his district,
wherever it is possible. Generally this
| takes up more or less time every day
and can now be attended to better from
I Washington than from Augusta. He
| voted Thursday for the Cuban recip-
rocity bill, which he has steadily sup
ported from the first, it being an adj
! ninistration measure calculated to
bring extensive benefits to this coun-
try. Gov. Burleigh was for similar
legislation in the House two years ago,
when big detection in Republican
! ranks defeated it for while and made
1 Continued on page 81