Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-12

was not long before ne was reCOSnlHeu
as a 'watch-dog of the treasury tie
speedily climbed to high position ON
the committee on appropriations OF
which he was so long chairman and
where he won well merted reputation
at a "watCh-dOg of the treasury He
was a candidate for speaker in 1889
against Thomas b. Reed and William
Mckinley and again In 1899 against
David b. Henderson. In 1903 his ambl-
ton was realized and he took the chair
to preside over the house where he had
so long served.
In the stormy days of the Fiftv-hrst
congress when Speaker Reed was reVo-
lutionizing the character of the house,
Mr., Cannon was the chief floor leader
and whip of the party in the consid-
GRAFTON of every question but the tariff,
where Mr.. Mckinley led. In one OF tho
hot debates on the question of the
power of the speaker to count
quorum and compel the attendance
of members, Mr.. Cannon replied to a
remark Of Mr.. McAdoo of New Jer-
sey in language described at the time
as unprintable. The incident was the
cause of a bitter personal quarrel be-
tween Cannon and "Billy' Mason of
Chicago that day, and led to attacks
upon Cannon In all the opposition
press of the country, notably the New
York Sun. Cannon was renominated
for congress the very next day after
the incident occurred and the matter
was made an issue in his district. He
was defeated that year, 1890, as were
most Of the Republican leaders and all
but eighty-elght Of the Republican
representatives. in the house. Whether
he owed his defeat to the campaign
waged upon that incident or whether
It was the result of the general DEM
ocratic landslide is a controverted
question. At any rate he was returned
to congress in 1892 another Democratic
year, and has been coming back ever
since. No public man In the history of
the country has been subjected to
more severe attack by the press than
was Uncle Joe" Cannon in 1890. He
was even then "Uncle Joe," Gnd that
was twenty years ago.
In that familiar name one finds a key
to his character and to his power. He
is one of the plain people, loVabe old
man whom his friends adore. Any
body would call him uncle" Now,
there isn't man alive who would dare
to address tho senator from Maine as
Uncle Gene" 1t would be tantamount
to contempt OF the supreme court,
treason and all high crimes and mis-
demcanors. Mr.. Hale is I'm the senate
chief conservator OF the traditions of
the party. Yet their methods are as
different as are the two houses or the
two men.
Mr.. Cannon never encouraged the
senatorial ambition. He never looked
upon transfer from the house to the
senate as a promotion. Perhaps one OF
the most remarkable features OF his
long service IS that he always has been
Jealous OF the rights of the house as
opposed to the encroachments OF the
senate. 1t Is true that Mr.. Cannons
conception of the scope of the rights
of the house" differs radically from
that entertained by many persons, but
It is none the less true that the speaker
of the house guards faithfully what he
deems his special trust.
Mr.. Cannon is product Of the gold
en- age of the Republican party, one OF
the half dozen men still in public life
who entered politics as supporters of
Lincoln In his first campaign. But the
attitude Of the Cannon mind is not so
much that OF the Lincoln era as of
that epoch of fierce party strife which
began with the end of reconstruction
and ended only with the eclipse of the
Democratic party during the last
Cleveland administration. In those
days 1t meant something to be n party
man, and it was disgraceful to be Il
turncoat. 1t was the days of straight
tickets, no scratching and absolute
boss rule. The "independent voter"
had not appeared to disturb politicians,
and the "uplift" and its schemes and
plans were unheard of. Mr.. Cannon IS
true to the traditions of his party, and
he has little patience with new-fangled
notions, unless they will serve TO ad-
vance party interests, Then he is as
ready to take up a new idea as any
body could be.
The one thing he does know how
to do is to fight lie knows how to
deal heavy bl~ws, he knows how to
take them. In 1891 Mr.. Theodore Roose-
welt said: I'VE cannot escape from the
fact that It was no credit to the Re-
publican party of the house that Mr..
Cannon of Illinois should be one OF
its leaders" Yet II was not long un-
til Mr.. Cannon returned to the leader
ship as n victor. One of the leaders
of the house, Henry Sherman Boutell,
has said of the speakers HE has no
cant or hypocrisy. He never poses. He
never deceives." And even his bitter
est enemies must admit that there Is
never any difficulty in finding out Just
where "Uncle Joe" stands. He is again
the center of a political fight, and the
country may be sure that he will not
run away from II.
TOmorrow-The American Congresst
XXI: The Leaders of the Senate.