Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-03-03
ROOSEVELT WILL ACCEPT
CHANGES IN RATE BILL.
CONTINUED from Page ~
actual results the bill might be in
worse hands

ASAiieIi hSu W YOUR correspondent III SILL
liar vein, previous to the episode that
placed him at the front. and it is the
unanimous opinion of the newspaper
correspondents in Washington-and
they usually get a statesman sized UP
for about what he is worth and what
he ts-that Tillman is a square man.
That Tillman is not a Chesterfield
or an Allison in dealing with men and
measures he will himself admit, freely.
He may be described as ardia1nond In
the rough; blunt, hot headed, painfully
direct and suggestive in his remarks,
! but at the same time witty, keen and
| fair. There is no man in the senate,
who will so quickly make the "amende
honorable" as Tillman. If he has made
charge or insinuation that is proved
to be untrue, instead Of trying to hedge
or squeeze out of some sort of an
opening, he will simply declare point
blank that he was wrong and express
his regrets.
The Senate's Enigma.
Senator Tillman is the enigma In
the senate. The members of that body
never know exactly how to take the
South Carolinian; nobody knows how
or when he will break out with some
resolution or demand for investigation
or embarrassing inquiry. He Is, as
one senator remarked, absolutely I'M
manageable" and the senate does not
know exactly how to deal with him.
He seems to be man of moods. At
times he is warm hearted, good tenn
pered and playful At other times he
is ugly, bitter, yindictive and a verita-
BILE bull in a china shop. But under
meath 1t all, Tillman is square, honest
and warm hearted. He will flare up
and explode one minute and the next
minute it is all over and he Is rubbing
heads with the senator who felt the
force of the blast.
One thing Is certain. Tillman is the
greatest drawing card in congress. Let
it be known that he will participate in
the proceedings and there Is a rush to
the senate. An illustration Of this was
furnished this week when he formal
ly reported the railroad rate bill. An
nouncement that he would report the
bill was made in the press and the
senate galleries were damned and
packed and the corridors were lined
with people all the afternoon, trying
to squeeze in. AS a matter of fact,
there was nothing doing and no good
reason to believe there would be any
sensational developments. The re-
porting Of committee bill is the
tamest sort of legislative procedure,
and there was nothing in the situation
to forecast that in merely reporting
the bill Tillman would indulge in any
pyrotechnics, and he did not. But
the mere fact that Tillman would rise
in his place was sufficient to start the
people Of the senate. They were there
| by the thousand and hundreds did not
| get into the galleries. Even after Till
man had presented the bill and the
senate had taken up other matters, the
crowd still fingered and the people
lined up In the corridors, and struggled
to get in. And they hung around un.
til 8 o'clock in the afternoon. when
the senate chamber was deserted, al.
most and Senator Dick droned away
on the manuscript of his statehood
speech. When Tillman ten days hence
makes his explanatory report on the
bill the galleries will be swamped
again.
Is Of Humble Percentage.
Senator Tillman has been an inter
esting and conspicuous figure in pub
lie life ever since he was elected gov
ernor Of his state in 1890, and be-
came sponsor for the dispensary liquor
4 system now In vogue in South Caro-.
4 lima and which is declared failure
He comes of Scotch-Irish stock and
belonged to that element in the south
that prior to the rebellion was known
I oc xryIsf o,I,
there were three distinct classes: the
great folks composed of politicians
rich people, the aristocracy, planters
4 and governing class Then there was
the class which lived largely in the
] mountains or foothills, white farmers
on a small scale and largely unedu
Gated and without standing or voice
known as white trash" The colored
people formed the third class. The
4 poor whites really occupied position
less desirable than the negroes, in
fact the latter looked down upon the
poor whites and applied to them the
cognomen, poor white trash" The
/ negroes worked for the great white
/ folks" as the aristocracy were termed
and considered themselves a grade
higher than the poor whites, in fact
the negroes pushed the poor whites of
the sidewalk and the great folks
looked on and smiled approvingly.
1t is said that Senator Tiliman be
longed to the poor white class. The
4 civil war brought about different sit
uation. The poor whites were good
I, enough to bear arms and wear con
i federate uniform and fought well
After the war such Of them as sur
vived were of course received with
open arms by the whole people; the
great folks" were compelled to give
them consideration. From this time
on the poor whites began to get theil
j bearings and take notice In the
eighties movement got under way
! the poor whites undertook to assert
their rights, and BENJAMIN r. Till
man was at the front in this move
4 ment. In 1890 he was made the candi
date of his element for governor anc
swept the great folks" off the map