Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-07-06
GRAND OLD MAN
OF The SENATE
William Pinkney Whyte, Cor.
mans Successor, May Be
Truly Called Such.
SERVED WITH NOTABLES
aais "reminiscences Of Earlier Servioe'
in the Upper Chamber Bring Back
the Names of Men Who Today
Are But a Memory.

Washington sDex<Al: William Pink.
ney Whyte was sworn In the other day
for his third term of service as senator
from Maryland. Not a man now in the
senate vas there when he was first
made a member of that body. in 1869,
and only one is living. That sole sur
vivor is Edmunds, of Vermont, who
is now living in retirement in Philadel-
phia. II saw him the other day." said
Senate Whyte. who in reminiscent
mood was recalling old times. and
found him well and enjoying his quiet
Me-"
No other man has had a senatorial
career covering so long a time as that
of Senator Wayte. He Is truly the
grand old man of the senate. When he
was appointed to the vacancy left a
fortnight & by the death of Senator
German, 1t was as utterly unexpected
as when, in 1859, he was named to fill
the left by the retirement of
the great Reverdy Johnson. He was
then a man of As years. On the day he
was sworn in for the third time, thirty
seven years later, he would not have
been guessed at a day over 60. Straight,
alert, bright-eyed, with firm step, every
sense as acute as 1t was a generation
ago, and with a big professional prac-
tice at Baltimore clamoring for his at
lSIll1OIl, IS loOh Ia oLN ehtiu SS'N
the business where he had laid 1t down.
Served With Notabies.
Senator Whyto's "reminiscences of his
earlier service in the upper chamber
bring back the names of men who to-
day are but a memory, and yet who
then were the leaders Of the ena
There was Fessenden. Of Maine. one
of the best debaters / have ever
KNOWN" Senator Whyte declared. oil
liver P. Morton was in the full glow OF
his powers, the republican leader or
the senate. John Sherman had recently
come to the senate after making HIM
self one of the leaders of the house.
On financial matters he was one OF the
greatest authorities I have ever known,
and one of the greatest the country has
known.
Summer? Yes, he was still in the
senate when I entered it. To know
him we'll was TO admire him for his
wonderful education and information,
and for his mastery of English. His
evolutionary powers when he e a
speech were beyond description. l have
never known or heard of another who
could make the reading Of a speech so
effective. All his important utterances
were read. Yet he read them with the
art Of a Shakespearean dramatist, for
he was an actor as well as a states
man.
And there was Conkling, lately from
the house, a great orator, who had
beer one of the foremost men in the
lower branch. His temperament was
naturally ~repellant. but If he CHANGED
TO like you it vas possible to get very
close to him. Not many people did 1t,
however. Once i saw a man lay his
HAND rather roughly on C~onkling's
back. n he showed temper In a mo-
ment. When the offender turned away
Conkling remarked by way of explana-
ton:
81 have great respect for the sane
tity of the person.
There were few democrats In the sem
ate in those days. The southern states
had not yet been reconstructed back
into the union, and Senator Whyte
represented in addition to Mary
land. The people in the unrepre-
sented states would send petitions to
sitting senators to TAX up for them
matters OF state concern, and by this
process OF petition Senator Whyte rep
resented Virginia and Georgia, and
frequently Louisiana and other states
in the upper chamber. Those states
have never lost their interest In him,
and the fact of his services for them
a been recalled many times since
his second re-entrance to the senate.
Hendricks Is Recalled.
~ "a "a IiNhb ID SlIllIfA III
one of the Indiana seats when Senator
Whyte first came to tine senate and
Carroll Davis, a war democrat, repre-
sented Kentucky. Charles Buckalew,
democrat, was the colleague OF the
great Simon Cameron. founder of the
keystone political dynasty which has
survived even till this date, albeit
through some remarkable vicissitudes.
Buckalew was a very able man, who
had been fairly tossed into a senatorial
seat In a state that then as now was
normally overwhelmingly republican.
1t was a political earthquake that did
II, just such as they have recently had
In hat state. Buckalew Is described
by Senator Whyte as one OF the ablest
men of his time, and one who has been
poorly appreciated. Senator Whyte
served with both the elder and the
younger Cameron, and his estimate
agrees with that Of most people who
knew the two, that the father was by
far the stronger and ADLER man.
In his first term of service Senator
Whyte was a member of the senate
only two years. He returned to 1t by
election in 1875, n remained a full
six-year term. Meantime Allison had
come in from the house, OF which he
was a member when Whyte first en-
.ered the senate. Thus In the matter
Of the term covered by his e
sional service Senator Allison sur
passes eve the great old man OF Mary
land. He has been a senator longer
.han n other mar ever was, and his
service has been continuous. Aside
from Allison, Teller and Morgan are
the only senators now In the chamber
who were there when Senator Whyte
entered the body for the second time.
Senator Whyte was first married in
1916. and again in 1892. His second
wife died Eve years after their mar
rage.