The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-01-24
TWO LANDMARKS
OF The SENATE
MORGAN AND PETTus OF Ala
sAMA. REELECTED.

- ~ eIfSti1
The One Is SO Years Old and the 9th
er a5-Netther is Expected to Live
mi the End Of HIS Term. and i
Successor 70 the one Vino Dies.
First Has Been Already Elected ~
Morsan.s Hard Eight Against Rana.
ma canal-How Pettus Was Elect.
ed. \
WASHINGTON. Jan. 2ti-The ae-
ton Of the Alebama Legislature i'm re-
eleetins Senators Morgan and Pettus
continues In public service two OF the
most Interesting men IN public life
Senator Morgan Is elected to remain.
in the Senate until 1915. Mr.. Pettus
Is reelected 10 serve until 1915. Nelth-
er of these two. venerable men ex.
pect to live until the ends of the new
terms to which they We're elected. to-
day. Senator Morgan is So and Mr..
Pettus is over IS.
Mr.. Morgan is at present confined
to his home with illness. Senator Pet
tus is so deaf that he can hardly hear
himself tall, and a few days ago he
had the whole Senate in a turmoil be,
cause some amazing electrical ma
chine that he uses Il hear what is go,
ing on in the Senate became disar.
ranged and was. buzzing away in his
desk, where he had placed It when
the Senate adjourned.
The people of Alabama realize that
they cannot hope to keep these two
men in their service much longer, and
because the Legislature Of Alabama
meets only every four years they
lave already chosen the successor to
whichever one of these two venerable
gentlemen may pass away first. Last
summer the people OF Alabama held
a primary at which there were nearly
a dozen candidates for the shoes Of
either MIR. Morgan or Mr.. Pettus.
A Successor Ready.
1t was a gruesome thing. because
at that time Mr.. Morgan and Mr.: Pet
tus were both in as good health as
Ecould be expected of men of their
race. But they both understood that
they might die before the next legisla.
ture OF Alabama meets. and SO they
viewed the election Of their possible
successor with phtlosophic composure.
The lucky man was Representative
Bankhead. who by the vote Of that
days primary was lifted from the
depth of gloom to the height Of hap
piness. For Mr.. Bankhead, after hay.
represented his district in the House
of Representatives for nearly % years,
had been defeated for the renomina:
ton by Richmond Pearson Hobson, so
that Mr.. Bankhead, while a warm
friend Of both Messrs. Morgan and
Pett1s, feels a not unnatural interest
in the health of these gentlemen. for
whichever one of them dies first Mr..
Bankhead will succeed him in the
Senate.
Mr.. Morgan is a landmark in the
history of American Legislation. He
has been in the Senate since 1877.
Senator Whyte, of Maryland; Senator
Allison, of Iowa, and Senator Teller.
of Colorado, are the only men now in
the Senate who were with him ID that
body so long ago. Mr.. Morgan stands
before the American people as thu un.
linching champion of the Nicaraguan
canal and e undaunted opponent of
the Panama canal. In spite of the
fact that theN Panama canal is assur.
ed, Mr.. Morgan has continued his
fight against the canal until III health
removed him from the scene of nearly
half a century's activity. He is a mas.
ter Of English: he may speak hour af.
ter hour without notes, without a mo-
ment's preparation, apparently with.
out a moments previous thought.
But his English is a pleasure to stu,
dents OF u language; his sentences
are perfect: his words express the very
thought he wishes to convey; his per.
iods are without a flaw: his thoughts
follow consecntively. The addresses
OF Senator Morgan are like Addison's
essays, a sampie n a model for
writer's and speakers.
How Pettus Became Senator.
Mr.. Pettus, IN the contrary. makes
no pretense at oratory. A tall, gaunt,
cid man, he is a striking contrast to
the elegant and almost dainty figure
of his colleague. Mr.. Pettus tells
with pleasure hoy way back in the
days Of the forties. firing Of the pla:
cid and perhaps Improbable life in
Alabama, he mounted his horse and.
set out for California, with his Bible
in one pocket and the Constitution of
the United States in the other. He.
did not approve of California and
came home, but he has often told Sem
ator Perkins, of California, that the.
Golden State is indebted to him for.
its first library, for, knowing his Bi.
BILE and his Constitution by heart, he
left both those precious volumes there.