Smyrna times., 1906-08-01
Found a Proposed Steal.

|
Found Proposed Steal.
| One of the unwritten laws of the
United States senate is that a new
member must sit on a back seat. look
duly impressed and say nothing. There
are but few of the senatorial kids"
VINO have the courage to run amuck
of this law. La Toilette is one of the
| few. Placed on one of the Indian COM
mittees, a body in which ordinarily.
there is nothing doing he discovered a
| proposed steal of several millions-some
say over a billiOn-that the railroads
were attempting to perpetrate in the
rental of coal lands This was going
through without opposition when La
| Toilette began asking questions The
| promoters of the job became fright
ened and changed the bill. Still La
! Toilette asked questions and showed a
disposition to fight. Score point No.
for the new senator from Wisconsin.
AT later date La Toilette decided
to make some remarks on the rate bill.
! Those remarks extended over three
days. They constituted. so it is said.
the most exhaustive and best Informed
| speech on the railroad issue ever heard
in the American congress Yet few
senators heard them. The highest, or
| lowest, legislative body in the land was
engaged in the dignified occupation of
"hazing' a new member Whether it
was because of the fact that he want
| ed to be a senator instead of a wall
! flower and wanted to be it right away.
| or whether it was because he held no.
| tlons unfriendly to the corporations.
the Republicans absentpd themselves
| almost to man. Referring to this
| fact, La Toilette said that those who
were temporarily absent the people
would cause to be absent permanently.
AT this the galleries applauded so Wig
orously that the customary threat to
clear them was made. Applause is
strictly forbidden in the senate. 1t
| seems an unnecessary restriction, as
there is so little done there that any
body wants to applaud that it hardly
| seems the body would be unduly dis
turbed even if the people were allowed
to cheer to their fill. But tradition and
| dignity must be preserved. even though
there is little else left to preserve. This
is on the same principle that people
! must keep up appearances who have
! nothing besides or those wear brilliant
clothes who have no other sort of bril-
! liancy.
La Toilette did not mind the sena-
| torial haZing except that it was an I'M
/ n Da Mt ri, T.f
may be that lie is bigger than the whole
bunch of them and that history will
write him down a giant among nvg-
mics. He is just one Of the kind of
men who immOrtalZe themselves. He
can afford small annOyances for the
| greater glory that awaits him as the
servant of the common people-"God's
| patient poor" as he himself calls them.
Deals With Folks Where They Live.
AS speaker the Wisconsin senator is
really an orator. He is not much of a
twister of the eagles tail and all that
sort of thing but he gets an audience
going some and keeps it on the move.
For one thing, he deals with folks
where they live. If he is talking on
the subject Of freight rates to an audi
ence of farmers, instead of making
classical illusions and quoting poetry
he asks them what they pay for ship
ping hogs and corn and shows them by
figures how much less they ought to
! pay. That makes the farmer do LITTLE
hard thinking. and when you start a
man thinking there is hope of him.
La Toilette is a little chap with n
big stock of energy. l do not remem-
Der the exact statistics on his altitude
and avoirdupOis and do not know as
they much matter This article is not a
foot rule and weighing machine. any
way. Suffice it to say that however
much there is of him he is all there and
Is constantly on the job. He has a
business face and an eye that sees
things. His mouth, though firm. is
mobile and attractive. The most not
able thing about him is pompadour
that sticks straight up like a dogs
bristles when he is going into fight.
Altogether Robert Marion La Toilette
is a better man than his traducers.
Most people are. The average traducer
generally hates himself, for cause. and
gets even by taking it out on other peo-
pie.
La Toilette fights for the people, and
they will fight for him. He is
"comer," and if you are measuring the
future don't leave him out, for he won't
stay there even if you do
In the coming battle for the people's
rights keep your eye ON the La Toilette
pompadour and you will know exactly
where the thickest of the fight is rag
ing. j.. A. EDGERToN