The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-09-17
CANNON IS HERE TO-DAY.

breadth of the land as Uncle Joe," the
representative of the Eighteenth IL
linois congressional district in the ma
tional house of representatives and
holding the high and influential office
of speaker of that body, "czar" of it,
If you please, is in Topeka today, the
guest of the Republicans Of the city
and its vicinity. He will deliver an
address at the auditorium tonight, and
that there will be a banner crowd out
to hear him discuss the issues of the
presidential campaign there can be no
doubt. For, Mr.. Cannon is one of the
foremost men in public life in this
country during the present time and
his appearance here writes another
important page in the already 1umin-
Gus political history of the capital city
Of Kansas.
Although Mr.. Cannon is merely a
candidate for reelection to congress
from an Illinois district, his position
as presiding officer Of the house of
representatives, investing in his hands
as has been often said OF the place
more real power in the administration
Of the affairs of the government than
is enjoyed by the president of the ma
ton, makes him one of the real issues
Of the present national campaign. This
is true because he will be reelected,
without doubt, to the place of ruler
of the house of representatives in the
event of his return to congress and of
it's continued control by the Republi-
cans.
'Unc1e joe is one of the sturdy war
horses of Republicanism. He is we'll
along in years, but is apparently as
virile and vigorous as he was years
and years ago when he first entered
public life. During his long congress
sionaI career he has ever exhibited an
integrity of purpose. rare courage
to fight for what he has believed to be
right, that has marked him out as a
man among men. And naturally, es-
pecially during his term of speaker
ship over the lower house of the last
three congresses, he has made a va
riety of enemies within and without
his party, chiefly without, many of
whom may be styled as bitter" But
the enemies he has made are only an
other evidence of the strength of the
man. A man who reaches the highest
pinnacles of success, particularly in
public life, is bound to have enemies.
He would not be strong man nor
would he achieve unusual success
without making them. A willy-nilly
sort of an individual who is lacking in
courage to fight tenaciously for the
things and principles he thinks are
right for fear Of offending and making
an enemy of someone may enjoy a
certain amount of a certain kind of
popularity for a time but he never
makes much of a success of politics,
or anything else for that matter.
But many persons have Joined the
ranks of Uncle Joe's" enemies with
out good and sufficient reasons and
through misapprehensions of things.
AS has been pointed out in these col
umns before he has been blamed times
without number for many of the sins
of omission of congress for which he
was in no way responsible. When
members of congress have wished to
dodge responsibility for advancing va
rious measures they have used Speak
er Cannon as a cloak under which to
hide and placed the burdens of the
shortcomings of congress on his
shoulders. 1t is only within the last
few days that some rather remarkable
evidence to show that this is so has
come to light. What is known as the
"anti-jug bill" failed to receive con-
sideration in congress. The blame
was promptly placed on the should
ers Of Uncle joe" The members of
the Methodist church became so
wrought up over this that they passed
resolutions condemning Uncle joe
in no uncertain terms. They have even
gone so far as to announce that they
are going to descend on the Eighteenth
congressional district of Illinois and
see to it that Uncle Joe" is defeated
for reelection to congress. And now
along comes Congressman Littlefeld.
of Maine, the father of the bill, with
the declaration that "Cncle Joe" was
in no way any more responsible for
the death of this measure than the
mythical Akoond of Swat could have
been.
Numerous other instances could be
cited to show that many of the other
enemies of Mr.. Cannon are laboring
under similar decisions They are
holding him responsible for many
things of which he is entirely innocent.
But Mr.. Cannon needs no defenders.
He has shown himself to be quite ca
pable of taking care of himself and he
is slaughtering his enemies right and
left with the speeches he has made
during the past ten days of active
campaigning.
There's no doubt that he has made
mistakes during his long career in
congress. He would not be human if
he had not and he is intensely human.
But these mistakes have been made
honestly and that is to his credit. He
is dubbed the GEAR of the house of
representatives, but the power that he
uses in that position has been placed