The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1909-04-01
Cushman Is Humorous On
The Question 81 Free
Lumber.


When John Alien. y NIssssippl.
went SIT ~ Congress several years
ago SIS friends monrncd because they
believed shas me proceedings - the
House would heneeforth lack the
raven II humor &c has been re-
saraed generally II ne greatest VII
who ever ST N mat BODY. aud 4 IS
not Likely that ne wiz ever live down
the reputation. Then came y Adam
Isede, n Duluth who seemed % make
good IL huinorIst fof several years,
but last i'm his constituents retired
him for ! man q more sedate de-
neanof. Vow the mantl Of humor-
ist u The tfonse mas fallen indlspn ted
y upon me sloping shoulders 81 Rep
nesentatire Francis A cushman, 81
Tacesiia Wash. But cnshmau dltfers
lfadically from hi predecessors John
Allen could spin yarns b the yard.
but he could not make 1 speech With
substance to IT, Adam Reae told good
stories, but they an conveyed the I'M
PRECISION that they were narrated Ia
the House FOR the purpose 81 adyer-
Using for chautauapa lectures bun
cnshiuan's hearers are always IN
structed as wen as entertained 81 his
wit and wisdom. His hu1nor Il inter
woven with logic and argument He
uses 4 not only to bring forth 4
laugh. but 70 make his statements
more convincing.
cushman stands six feet.four, and
according to his own description OF
himself Is about as thick through
the loins as a rnacaroni. He comes
from Tacoma. which Is So far West
that when you get beyond 1t you are
in the East Cushman has been
water boy in railroad construction
camp, section hand: SOW puncher,
farmer, school teacher, lawyer, and Is
inow serving his sixth term In the
House and his first on the Ways and
Means committee. His speech on the
tariff Dill, although dealing speclfi-
cally with only one subject lumber
that In which his constituency is,most
vitality interested--ls regarded as per-
ilhaps the most brilliant Of any Of
the many which have been made
since the Payne measure has been
pending, AS cofner OF eplgrams Mr..
cushman has few equals. Here Is
one OF them which he made the key
note of his speech: 1T is the wage
scale and not the price list which is
the barometer OF American prosper
ity.
A feature of Mr.. cushman's re-
marks was his reply to the speech Of
Represe sentative xinkaid, OF Nebrasisa,
In favor OF free lumber. Years ago
Mr. cushman worked for fffty cents
a day on a railroad in town where
Judge Klnkaid. then a young lawyer,
lived. They have been friends for
Twenty-Five years. with the keenest
satire cushman tore to tatters the ar
gument Of Kdnkaid who, while pro.
claiming himself protectionist and
demanding protection on everything
which the farm produces, yet insisted
upon placing lumber. the product Of
cdshman's state. on the free list.
Tiinkaid had said that protection was
Intended to assist infant industries
and that numbering was no longer an
infant industry. Then item by item
cushman took up the products Of
Nebraska and showed the rates Of
protection on them from $40 head
on mules down TO 5 cents a pound ON
poultry. Are these infant indus
trtes?" exclaimed cushman. why.
people have been raising mules both
before and since the late Mr.. Balaam
rode through the streets Of Jerusalem
on his historic charger of that partic-
ular breed. and people have been
raising chickens both before and since
the cock crew after Peter had thrice
denied his Master. 1t thus appears
that these chief and highly protected
industries were old-indeed they were
venerable before the world ever heard
the music OF a band, saw or listened
to the hum Of shingle weaver
Here is a keen bit OF sarcasm In
which cushman INDUCED. He SAID
there had been some men who ap-
peared before the Ways and Means
committee and made statements to adj
vance selfish personal interests. There
were men who had become wealthy Ia
the lumber business in Michigan ana
Wisconsin: they made money legiti-
mateiy and he was not complaining.
When the timber supply began to run
short these enterprising fellows said /:
'.IJet US do this: Let us sneak across
into Canada and buy up large tracts
Of timber. Then let MS envelop our
selves in a pllilanthropic mantle of
national patriotism and parade in the
open. proclasming that the American
timber supply Is being threatened with
extinction. and the only way to save
1t is to have lumber placed on the
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