The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

A the final vote was to be taken. Almost everybody supposed that the democrats had finished their stay, and even Senator Edmunds of Vermont, then a tower or argumentative strength, at the concur sion of his own speech was Of that opln- ion, and viewed the opposition to the Dill as really hopeless. Turning to Hoar' ne exclaimed in indignant challenge:
 Now pass your bill.
 A republican senator remarked that there was no reason why It should not pass.
 Suddenly on the democratic side arose the tall figure of Senator Gray, and ad- vancing down the aisle, with index nnger pointed at the presiding officer, he ex- claimed in thunder tones:
 MT. President, there are many reasons why this Dill should not pass Some of them have been stated; some of them have not been stated. l propose to state a few of them now
 The stating of those few reasons con sumed no less than three days. The re- publican majority which had been sum- moned to the chamber to vote disap- peared once more into the cloakrooms. But it returned as Gray's argument ad- vanced and. with Senator Hoar, re- mained to listen. The veteran was, in fact, drawn into 8 debate with his junior from Delaware in which he distinctly got the worst of it.
 This speech of Gray enabled Senator German to gain time to remarshal his forces; Senators Quay and Jones joined the opposition to the bill and it was for ever put aside in the taking up of the silver bill.
 Senator Gray was one of the strongest pillars of tho Cleveland administration. during which he had succeeded MT. Bay ard upon the latter entering the cablnet He was foremost among those who sec onded Mir Cleveland in his determined efforts to better the finances of the coun- try. He supported the President in his somewhat Quixotfc endeavor to restore the status quo in Hawaii after the royal government had been overturned and semi-filibuster republic had been set up in it's stead.
 Senator Gray opposed MT. Bryan's sil- yer issue. but he never turned traitor to his party. The so-called gold democrats, who bolted the candidacy of Bryan Tn 1896 and met in convention at Indianapolis, offered to Gray their nomination for the presidency but he refused.
 When war with Spain first seriously threatened this country, Senator Gray stood firmly beside President Mckinley in his efforts to avert it. When Mckinley. therefore. was choosing in 1898 his com mission for the conclusion of peace at Paris, being determined that it should represent the best thought of the whole people, he very naturally turned to one believed by both parties to possess judi cial astuteness in the highest degree. He believed that Senator Gray had a more profound and accurate knowledge of the controversy between the United States and Spain than any other public man. Senator Gray was the first whom he se- lected to serve on the commission. He undertook the task reluctantly. because he favored giving the Fipinos their inde- pendence and so stated his position before the commission
 Nevertheless, finding that the cesson of the Philippines was inevitable, as the peace commission was constituted un- willing that the latter should present to the world the spectacle of divided coun- sells and fearful that this might lead to continuance of the war, she signed the treaty. These motives he afterwards frankly stated.
 The next very conspicuous part that Judge Gray played was in the settlement | by arbitration of the great "anthracite | coal strike of 1902. He was chosen by | President Roosevelt as the leading mem- | Der of what has come to be known as | the Anthracite Arbitration commission, | and governed it's proceedings. His ru- | ings were acquiesced in by both sides |
 
 prodgious, arising not only from the com | plex nature of the questions at issue but | from the conflicting elements in the com mission. It has been observed by a very | eminent lawyer. opposed to him in poli- l tics, that no other man in the country | probably could have brought them to a | common agreement.
 Judge Gray is a strict constructionist | of the constitution of the United States, l but also believes in the elasticity within | certain limits of it's delegated powers. He | delivered at the last annual meeting of l the Pennsylvania Bar association an ad- l dress on "The New Federalism" which ] fully set forth his views on state and ! federal rights. One paragraph may be re- | garded as an eptome of his general posi- | tion:
 "A constitution which has enabled us | to occupy this high place in the family | of nations and has clothed our govern | ment with every national attribute | necessary for the assertion of our self 1 respect at home and abroad, needs no | amendment in the direction of increased | powers that would destroy the balance | between them and those reserved by the | states. On the contrary, 1t Is satisfactory | to assume that the limitations on power, | so characteristic of our form of govern | ment, are applicable to the treatymaking | powers well as to others, and that, | as treaty may be repealed by the | legislative branch, so it may be re- | viewed by the judicial branch, if con trary to the express provisions of the l