Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-07-06
WIT AND WISDOM IN CONGRESS:
Texas Congressman Was speHbindsr
At Home. But Got Stage Fright a
Idea of Addressing this House. 4

4
name of Reese De Graffenreid who
had been acclaimed North and South
as one of the most brilliant mep the
| country had produced in a generation.
He possessed a personality that wes
| more than attractive. His hair aud
| his mustache were raven black and
| he was a man of powerful physique
charming and versatile companion
and all-round good fellow. =.
He had won his spurs by defeating
| in the primary election no less a vet
eran than the celebrated Buck. XIII
gore, who, with William Morrison OF
| Illinois, was looked upon as the
| watchdog of the Treasury" Kilgore
had been in Congress for Is years and,
no one dreamed that he would be de-
| feated u
De Graffenreid started life ass
brakeman on the Texas and Pacific
Railroad and during his leisure hours
| studied law and ultimately obtained
his sheepskin. His first case was
that of a widow whose husband had
been killed in a railroad wreck. The
man had also been a soldier. in. the
Federal army, and Reese put forth his
best efforts to win the suit and obtain
| a pension for the widow. He apr
| pealed to Kilgore to aid in securing
the pension. Kilgore's popularity
| rested largely on his ability to block
| legislation pensioning Northern SOL
diers and in the eyes of his old Conr
federate comrades this vas a virtue
and he refused De Graffenreids rev
quest. .qse, $500 - sSs4tiSe
De Graffenreid. although a. Southern
| err. had little respect for the prejueices
of his neighbors. When election time
rolled around he announced himself as
| a candidate for Congress, stating that
kilgore was unfit to represent the edis-
trict, and cited the case of the widow
| to prove it. He canvassed the dig
trict condemning sectional hatred. APP
pealed to the broader spirit OF the
people. made some remarkable speech-
| es. and defeated Kilgore by over 5000
vots.
He would sweep an audience with
his forensic homespun eloquence and
carry away the laurels of debate from
all opponents. although he was far
from being scholar and paid little
attention to his language or appear
ance. He was a magnetic man whose
convictions and earnestness impressed
every one with whom he came in con-
tact -
His successful campaign against XIII
| gore had aroused and frightened some
| of the older politicians of the state,
and it was confidently asserted that he
| would carve out a career In Congress
| eoequal with that OF Sam Houston.
Reagan. Roger @. Mills. and other emf
nent Texas statesmen.
| After the battleship Maine was
blown up in the harbor of Havana and
| Congress was about to appropriate
| s50,O00,000 for President McKinleyEto
| use as an emergency fund. De .Graffen-
| ried jumped to his feet and made "a
speech covering only one page of the
Congressional Record. and IL is CON-
sidered today one of the greatest
patriotic epics in American history =
In 1897 Champ Clark and Marriott
Brosius of Pennsylvania had an anus
ing tilt over the much vexed money
question" Silver Dick" Bland and
Clark on the Democratic delegation
from Missouri were radical sixteen to-
| one champions, while Brosius and the
Pennsylvania delegation were equally
solicitous for sound money and the
| gold standard"
| Brosius was a natural born actor an
| admirer and student of Shakespeare
His congressional speeches were stud
led orations. dramatically accurate,
| filled with instructive quotations that
were often misapplied to the question
under consideration. His knowledge
OF political economy had Its limitations
and was overshadowed by his thespian
tendencies. But talk he would, when
ever he had an opportunity He had
finished labored effort on a subject
with which he was not familiar.
Clark knew more about Holy Writ
and economic equation than Grosius
knew of Sha seksepare and. posing" at
| titudes. He poked some good-nat-
| ured fun at the gentleman from Penn
sylvania, stating the gentleman had
missed his calling and should have re-
manned in the profession, barnstorm-
ing the country and amusing the sau-
diences that frequented the one night
stands"
why. Mr.. Speaker" he exclaimed,
| have listened to many able speech
es from the other side of the House on
this question, but nothing to equal
the one | have tust heard The gem
tleman's performance reminds me Of
lonely goose lost from its flock. uuack-
ing to attract attention and finally set
| ting upon the surface of the sea, uri-
| conscious of the depths beneath it" 4
Senator Jones of Nevada was noted
| among his intimate friends for his
| philosophical mind and keen analysis
OF human nature. When any incident
during the debates in the Senate at
tracted his attention he could not re-
| strain his tendency to make some
verbal observation that was appro-
! pirate and well pointed. Senator
| Culiom in the spring of 1895 was de-
| livering a smooth and learned speech
on the money question" which was
not exactly in accord with the finan-
cial philosophy of the Nevada states
man. He realized that Senator Gull
lam wished to straddle the question OF
the free and unlimited coinage OF
silver at the ratio of sixteen to one."
and would ultimately give his support
to international bimetallism" or the
gold standard" outright. The speech
was an able one, and characteristic OF