The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-05-07
CONGRESSIONAL ORATORY
Are Distinguishes for Proves in Debate

looks oddly out of place in that dignified
and chilly chamber.
Two young senators, Deliver and Car
mack. are least OF all affected by the SEN
ate chill DOlliver is man with rapid
delivery and fine choice Of words. which
cannot be detracted from even by his
rough voice Carmack. too. has re-
markable command of English. so much
so that his improlnptu retOrts to Interrupt
tiOns sound like the finished product of a
night spent in polishing a speech.
But when you quit the senate chamber.
travel through the big building and arrive
on the house side all is changed. AS you
open the gallery door a confused and rest
less hum greets your ears; on the floor
are men rushing to and fro and confer
ring with each other as if they had not
a minute to live, and somewhere in the
middle of the great hall man is making
s. speech to which nobody pavs the least
attention, though he is raising his voice
IN frantic attempt to overcome the roar
Thus the house presents it's own OBJ
stacleS to the orator different from the
senate 5. Yet there are men whose APP
pearance on the house floor instantly stills
the noise and brings swarms OF congress-
men crowding in through the doors from
the cloakrooms, eager to hear every word
"reminiscences of Hepburn.
One of these is Colonel Hepburn of
iowa, whom Democrats have called the
ttepuphc2E big gum and the Long Tom
of the Republican side" He is put for
ward on all occasions when the Republi-
cans need a strong speaker and is con-
Sldered the ablest debater they have. He
is a ruddy-faced. big-bodied old man
whose speeches are made up of an ire
SlSuDle guSh or common sense, combined
with flashes OF wit and sarcasm. Once a
rash Democrat interrupted Hepburn with
a learned argument designed TO cOnfute
ana oVerWhelm the veteran. Its weakness
was that ii did not have much to do with
the subject under discussion
Mr.. Chairman. retOrted HEPBURN
scOrnfully, that interruption reminds me
Of the old Wisconsin lawyer who did not
know any Latin and who was confronted
l = "a Hn hrz~T a6 1T.Cy
reams of it at him When he got up to
reply he said: Your honor, I. too, under
stand Latin; I have roamed with old Ro-
mulus, L have canted with old Canthar-
ides- / have ripped with old Euripides
and have sOcked with old Socrates, but
what in he'll has that to do with the stat
utes Of Wisconsin, "
The interrupter was squelched under a
howl of laughter, and it was long after
that before any one Interrupted Hepburn
Another of these men who command in
slant attention is General Grosvenor of
| Ohio. His SlaShing wit and peppery tenn
/ per make him an antagonist to be feared
gets interested in a debate the fur flies.
/ Once he met his match in the person of
Vandiver of Missouri, who, being inter
rupted by a question as to whom he meant
/ by his repeated references to the gen
/ tleman from Ohio" replied:
Being prohibited by the rules from re-
/ ferring to him by name, I viii designate
1 him as that gentleman from Ohio who
! looks like Santa Claus and talks like Sa-
| tan"
Williams and Cochran.
| Another is John Sharp Williams. about
/ the best debater in the house. He is not
] so effective the stump; he is at his
/ best in an argument The whole house
hangs on his words when the Democratic
! leader. quitting his seat, comes out in the
aisle and, pointing his whole hand in
stead of his finger at the Republican side.
darts some destructive bomb of argument
4 at them in that nasal and yet singularly
attractive voice of his
The skepticiSm and Cynicisn of the
house toward OTatOry makes such A tri-
Cmph as BOurke Cochran won in his To-
renSic battle with DaiZell a vastly greater
triumph than can be won anywhere else.
The Congressional Record gives no idea
OF the intensely dramatic nature of tina Z
scene when. in response to COckran's de-
mand that DalZeU should name the man
who accused Cochran to him. the whole
Democratic side bounded 10 its feet and
shouted, Name him. Name him at Dali
yell. while Cochran. striding down the
aisle and pointing his finger at DalzeII,
seemed to be riding a storm.