Bisbee daily review., 1906-10-23

On June IS, 1906. the New York Times. one of the leading republican papers of the United States. had the following to say of Mark Smith:
 When, last Thursday, Mark Smith stung Speaker Cannon into taking the floor ir his own defense he accom- plished something that no representa- tive has ever been able to do.
 Mark Smith is not representative; he is a voteless delegate, admitted to the floor in handcuffs. If Arizona ever becomes a state in his lifetime. he will be a senator: at present he oc- cupies the most insignificant place al lotted to anybody in the two branches of congress. For a delegate to make himself heard. to achieve high and respected position among his more for tunate colleagues, is vel nigh impos- sibIe.
 Mark Smith, however, has accom- plished it by sheer force of character and ability, and if his territory ever becomes a state in the union of the national councils with one senator whose position at the capitol is already made and her voice will outweigh that of some eastern state-New York, for instance.
 When Cannon took the floor he was wild with rage, and his face was red 10 the top of his bald head. He had intended to fay Smith, but as he be- gan speaking he got cooler, and re alized the fatal mistake he would make in doing so, and his speech tapered of into a simple defense of himself.
 Smith had got under his skin" as no previous critic had ever done. The savage personal attack of Shackleford i,, hn laac hn Sharp Williams criticisms had anger ed him, but had not provoked him into taking the floor The reason for Smiths success was the extraordinar- fly artistic nature of the trimming which the delegate gave. It is in this line of attack that Smith exeels, and there is no one in congress who can match him in it.
 Whereas Shackleford and Williams had attacked the speaker directly. Smith never mentioneu him. He did not allude to the house machine, to MT. Cannon nor to any one else. Read ing through his speech no one unin- formed about the progress of the state hood bi.. would see anything in it more than a vague criticism of per sons unknown. Yet the whole thing was whitening denunciation of the speaker That is why it was artistic.
 Sentence That Ro''sed Cannon.
 This is the sentence that lashed the speaker to u2goveIDabt= fury and made hin, -esve .se char:
 There IS flaw ill Arizona that if tf,is morning and had a good story for the International-America
 one legislator trades with another or legislation before that body he is guilty of a high misdemeanor, and if the governor shall attempt in that be- nighted land to influence legislation by promises to veto or the withhold ing of veto, he goes to the penitentiary under the laws of that land"
 That was all Not reference to Cannon in 1t. apparently so. and he did not aliude to Cannon in the pre- ceding part of the speech. Yet not one of his hearers had the slightest doubt about the point, which was that if Cannon had done in Arizona what he had done in Washington he would have gone to the penitentiary-
 This ability of Smiths at artistic flaying has been demonstrated often enough, and was demonstrated once before at this session, when the state hood bill was damned through the house. Tawney of Minnesota had been out Cl luc Ahsut Aot been in conference with Smith, and had assured the friends of Arizona of his undying friendship. The speaker applied the party lash to him, and TaNey was forced into camp. But it was not enough for the remorseless speaker that Tawney should vote against them, too. So Tawney had to get I'D and deliver the best apology he could for his course, and in doing so he again repeated his protestations of friendship for Arizona.
 Used the Bible on Tawney.
 Then Mark Smith obtained the floor. He walked down the aisle till he could look directly in the face of the con- science stricken Tawney, and said in a voice shaking with emotion:
 And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother@ and Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.
 But Amasa took no heed of the sword that was in Joab's hand, so he smote him herewith in the fifth rib and shed out his bowels to the scound."
 Tawney spread his fingers over his face so that the frantically applauding house might net see his expressions: but the deep red that dyed his face crept up to his forehead and only dis appeared at the roots of his hair.
 A delegate in congress cannot vote or make a speech except when mat ters come up which affect his own ter ritory There have been many dele gates who have lived their lives and disappeared without leaving any rec ord because of their lack of oppor- tunity. Mark Smith is an exception.
 He has shown great skill in his man. agement of the fight for Arizona. He has been back of many of the moves made by more distinguished states men. His heart is wrapped up in the cause of Arizona, and he eats, dreams and sleeps Arizona.
 He is not an impressive looking man,