The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1910-10-26

age, he was elected to congress by
the republicans of the Tenth district
of Iowa, and reelected five times. In
1900 he was appointed senator OF
The United States to succeed the late
Hon. J. H. Gear. In 1902 he was
elected senator, and at the expiration
of the term in 1907 was reelected for
the term closing in 1913.
In his early days he was pre-
cociouS and known as the boy Or
ator." Boy orators are frequently con-
tent with their laurels won early, and
the laurels fade so as to be indis-
tinguishable before their wearer dis
appears. But this man was pro-
digious worker. Hard work frequent
ly destroys oratory. DR.. John p. Dur
bin, after he had for a few years at
tended closely to administrative af-
fairs, lost much Of his magnetism, and
when he was still in his prime as an
administrator, competent critic re-
marked that he had declined because
he made no new accessions to his
cepertory of orations and sermons"
Senator Dolliver thus spoke of this
period. He said: 81 was only eighteen
years of age, and the voice of the
people yelling up in the streets as
they gathered in front of my relatives
law office, both whites and blacks, and
called for me, made me feel like one
of the ancient liberators of Rome. y
Is Happily the harangue has
largely passed from my mind"
He was asked this question: do
you write your speeches and then
commit them to memory"
He answered: "Of course, when de-
batting in congress, ones remarks are
necessarily impromptu; elsewhere,
however, my speeches are written OUT
and committed to memory-written
out in the agony of toll, and under
the heat and flare of early morning
gas jets. If l have any abil-
ity as a public speaker, l inherited
it from my father, who, while not
theologian in the exact sense, was the
most remarkable exhorter l ever
heard"
At all times Senator Dolliver used
language that the people could easily
and his arguments ap-
pealed to common sense, and in those
periods of his addresses which re-
quired accurate statement, and, there
fore, might be dull when they fell upon
many ears, were so fabricated with his
wit and also humor-for he had both
that they found an entrance which
united speaker and hearer to each
other. These experiences and quail
ties also gave him great facility in
He could not only lead
a crowd into his way of thinking, but
in private draw man after man into
the stream of thought, feeling and pur
pose in which he himself was swim
ming.
All the days of his life, and in many
periods most of the nights, he worked
to the neglect of physical exercise.
When the Dingley tariff was before
the House the leaders of that time
placed Representative Dolliver in the
place of chief orator. He was like
Paul when the people called him Mer-
GURUS because he was the chief
speaker 1t was agreed that he was
a powerful factor in securing the
adoption of the Dingley tariff. In an
earlier period, when he was speaking
in behalf of William Mckinley as
president, he was interrupted by the
question, "Who is William McKinley?"
AS quick as lightning he answered:
"The advance guard Of prosperity"
which carried the whole concourse
with him.
When he attacked the Payne-Ald-
rich tariff, he showed such mastery
of detail as to astonish all who heard
him. All parties agree that he was
the principal figure in eloquence, YER
satility, accuracy and argument on
that side of the question, and that in
debate there was no equal to him on
the opposition. When in that contro-
versy he was charged with being on
the other side when he was in the
House of Representatives, his invari-
able reply was that he was young in
1897"
His honesty and earnestness greatly
helped him. con no occasion in the
senate did he refuse to show his col
ors." Concerning the attitude which
caused him to be named an "insur-
gent" by his opponents in his own
party, nothing here would be pertin-
ent, except to say that he was fully
able to support himself against at
tack.
Relations to the N. e. Church.