The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1903-12-02
The Lexington Dispatch.
Wednesday, December 2, 1903.
Babes o$ The House.
From Washington Post Nov. 18Th, 100

8fom washington TOSI NOV. 1o.u, Aooo.
4 mong the bald heads and gsiz
lied boards of the House of Repre-
sentativss there are q few blooming
youths who seem almost as much out
Of place as would the little bluets of
early spring among the withered
grasses of December. They are tie
1Babes of Congress-" Every Con-
gress has it's babes, but the kinder
garten class of the Fiftyeighth Con-
gress is unusually large. There are
as least five men in the House who
are either under thirty years Of age
or have just turned their thirtiesh
year.
Since Gsorgis, many years ago,
sent Alexander 81. Stevens to Con-
gress at the age of twenty-seven, and
possibly before that time, down to
the present day, at least one member
Of each House has had fastened upon
him the old story of being mistaken
for a page and of running errands for
cider members, too modest to reveal
The fact that be himself was one Of
the lawmakers of the nation.
Though a member whose face is
gailtless of beard may have to n
dure the quips of his older ASSOCIATES,
If he have in him stuff of the right
sort he will neither fail to win respect
nor to render valuable service to his
district, a district that sends q very
young man to represent it in the
Congress is fortunate in more respects
than one. These youths invariably
are ambitious; they have energy and
health, and capacity for work. And
it is az true of Congressman as CANT
nes, that it is ''hard for an old dog
to learn new tricks" 4 young mem
Der will "get onto the ropes" about
twice as quick as a member twice his
years.
The possibilities of achieving dis
tinction as a statesman are far greater
m q man who comes to Congress in
the years of his early manhood than
in one to whom preferment is denied
antil beyond the middle period of his
life. The cases in which a man has
started on the road to greatness late
In life are 80 rare as to be conspicu-
Gus.
And so among the five 'babes" of
the present House it is not impossible
there is q future President, while all
may be Senators, or governors of the
Cabinet. The man who has life be-
fore him is much more to be envied
than the man who has left the most
Of his life behind.
Asbury Francis Lever, who repre-
sents the Seventh South Carolins
district, is the youngest man the
State ever sent to the House of Rep.
resentatives. he is four months older
than Sheppard, of Texas, and like
Sheppard, this is his second term in
Congress. He was elected to fill the
snexpired term of Representative J.
William Stokes, and was here as a
member during both sessions of the
Fifty-seventh Congress.
Prior to his coming to Washington
"a q member of Congress, Lever had
spent seven years here as secretary
of DR.. Stokes, his predecessor, and
he was graduated from Georgetown
University. He had been admitted
10 the practice of law, and in 1900 he
was elected to the State Legislature,
resigning that place to enter the race
for Congress.
The Democrats of South Carolina
nominate by the primary system,
and Lever had four men in the race
against him. The campaign Was u
of the most notable in the history of
tbs State, the candidates meeting re.
pestedly in joint debate. The
primary law requires & m nifty to
nominate, and as no candidate had
q msjority at the first primary, it was
necessary to hold another, all the can