Omaha daily bee., 1907-03-03

Tor, sprinaer. Henderson. Blount and Nc
Miilin forms continuous record; that Of
all the others was broken. In some cases
with several hiatuses between terms.
The three high record tenures, those OF
Ketcham. Cannon and Holman. are not
continuous. There were two breaks in Mr..
Ketcham's house career. three in that Of
Mt. Holman, one In Mr.. Cannons.
Renominated by his party, the latter was
defeated In 1890 by Samuel T. Busey. demo-
erat, by the narrow plurality Of 5s2 That
was the year Of the great populist upris-
Ing. There was one break each in the
o'Eeill and Harmer tenures.
Longest in Continuous Service.
For continuous house service the record
holder h the late william D. Kelley Of
Pennsylvania, twenty-nine years without "A
break. General Binghams twenty-elght
years tenure has been unbroken, and II he
lives to serve through the next congress he
will beat the Kelley record by a year.
Six Of these long tenure members were
speakers Of the house, Macon. Taylor.
Banks Randall, Thomas b, Reed and Can
| non. Three only, Messrs, Macon, Ran
\ dolph and Johnson, also saw service in tho
| senate Johnson was also vice president,
4 Twenty-three of the thirty -four are dead.
| Nine Of the living are Still members OF the
house and seven of them are reelected to
the Sixtieth congress. Messrs. GrosyenoT
and Wadsworth retire next week.
None Of the great magnetic leaders who
| filled the public eye in the last century
appears IN the list of long tenures. Yet
/ Jackson, Calhoun, Webster, Douglas Jen
Davis, Blaine. Garfield and Mckinley all
began their political careers In the national
house Of representatives.
Henry clay n Record Maker.
Henry CIay's congressional career was
perhaps the most singular OF all, though
not an extended one. He was first elected
1 TO the United States senate to fill va.
cancy before he had reached the constitu'
tional age of 80 prescribed for a senator
He was but g. the youngest man svel
elected to the senate.
-Four years later he was elected to thu
house and was Immediately chosen as IN
speaker, the only case on record Of rep
resentative being made speaker in his hrs
term. But Clay was a record breaker II
nearly all the walks of political life.
His house tenure was no more than ter
years and with two hiatuses, but as reg
ularly as he appeared in the house he wa
at once chosen it's speaker. with the result
that he was speaker during the entir
period of his membership, record with
out parallel
He was chosen senator four several times
ana was defeated for the presidency twice
HIS power in his own party was marvellous
: It's rank and file had no political opinion
, until they were voiced by Henry Clay.
Few people remember that Jackson wa
. Judge, a congressman, senator, a sue
eesaful general and president eight yeari
Many of the new generation conceive tina
, DE was an uneultivated granger of dom
: ineering' temperament. whose success, wa
|. tho result Il buck. Not so. He was a Law
: yer with a clear and penetrating intellect
q man Of decision and Of much personal nae
9 netism. ,
9 jefferson Davis served in the feeders
: house only part Of a term, resigning In 1B
4 to take a hand in the Mexican war. II
q was elected 10 the United States senat
q three different times, and was secretary
4 war In the Fierce administration. After Il
= war was over he steadily declined to r.
: enter the national political field.
AIexander stephens Career.
= On the other hand, Alexander II. Stephen
: vice president Of the Confectionery almo
d Immediately entered the field of feder
d politics after the south had laid down &
q arms He was promptly elected senate
4 from Georgia, in 1895, but was refused, az
% mission at Washington, In Bla he wa
. elected TO the house and added seven yea
y TO his sixteen years house record prior
% the war. 81
A noteworthy feature Of these long tel
Y ures 10 the large number of Pennsylvania
y among them, Seven Of the thirty-four a
y from that state. Five Of the seven repr
% sented Philadelphia city districts, and
y length Of tenure they stand right up me-
" the top.
Re That city already holds the record for u
T. broken tenure in the person OF Kelley
above stated, with the strong probabili
of a now high record In that Of bingham
still sitting William Findley was an Iris
u man who first located in Philadelphia, b
30 afterward settled in Westmoreland count
" John DalzelL the long time Pittsburg mel
IS Der. was born IN New York city,
E. The great average age OF these thirt
four representatives is proof that few
n none OF them entered the house as youth
st The youngest one to do so was John
s. Taylor Of New York, one Of the speaker
X who was under ~ when FIRST elected,
nS ----~~----~-