The Washington times., 1912-11-25

49, - .s>s-
four years In isss, and resigned his
seat Q year later to become the Dem.
oeraue candidate for Congress In his
He was elected to the Fiftisth Con.
gress in 1sSe, and served on the Conn
mittees on Foreign Affairs and Inter.
state Commerce. He was reelected for
the two following terms, and declined
reelection for q fourth. He was elect.
Cd attorney general Of MARYLAND IN 10oo
and served until 1Soe.
Part In Naval Fisht.
His great opportunity to distinguish
himself came In the controversy be.
tween Admiral winfield Scott schiey
and Admiral Sampson over the rightful
distribution Of the glories Of the vic.
tory Of the naval battle Of Santiago.
Senator Rayner was employed - coun.
sci for Admiral schiey In the naval
court Of inquiry which Investigated his
conduct In the battle. He made Q bril-.
liant showing for his client and some
celebre made him Internationally "a.
nous. ..''T - -
He was elected to. the. United states
Senate In 1906, succeeding Louis q.
McComas. and was reelected almost
without opposition last year.
Reputation Az Orator.
Senator Rayner achieved Q reputa-
ton when he was In the House a. =
brilliant orator. Since he had been
In the Senate he had been IRE.
quently heard In set speeches and In
debates and always acquitted himself
With credit. He was = master of Eng
fish and had f,ne kift Of sarcasm and
invective. He was great student OF
the Constitution. and In an article pub
lished In well-known weekly recently
Il was. represented with considerable
Tense Of the Constitution on. the floor
Of the Senate or anywhere else at the
many 's rsspscts S 70 the " extension ten on' Of FED.
eral authority. and on this account and
for others he frequently attacked Col.
onel Roosevelt and those Of his school
senator a"ii k.yn.r'. death vii, c.u.. Va.
cancies on the Democratic side Of many
important Senate committees. He was
chairman Of tbs Committee on Indian
Depradations. and q member OF tho
ana I"Ser. Eapsndisurss * & s'i in shs Ss pspsrs.
Geological Survey. industriai' Exposi.
tons. Judiciary. and transportation.
routes to the Seoboard.
Had Able Legal Mind.
The committees in whose work he
most keenly delighted were Judiciary
and Foreign Relations. Senator Rayner
was. with reason. known a. one Of the
finest lawyers IN the Senate. and In
yers in the Judiciary Committee on hair
splitting points Of constitutional law he
was ct his best. He was we'll informed
on foreign relations. and took deep In
terest in internationa! questions. He
as we'll as the law Of this country. One
OF his strong points was his remarkable
memory for citations from court de-
cisions and law authorities.
Had Senator Rsyner lived he would
Inanships in the Senate after March I.
Moreover. he would undoubtedly have
been a power In the new Democratic
regime. He was strongly inclined to be
because * his % prosressiVe S I've tend ssndencie:. .
chine chin of 81 Maryisnd. oi which Arthur a Pus
German. senior. used to DO the head.
and of which Senator John Walter
Senator Rayner was independent in
spirit. and was a believer in good gov
ernment rather than in the corrupt gov
ernment OF the machine. That he would
have been a strong upholder Of the
Believed In Low Tariff.
Senator Rayner was low tariff man.
He was not in alliance with those Sen
ates Denpcrats Who arc kpovn q. pro-
tection Democrats and who promise to
make trouble when the attempt 10 made
next spring to effect large reductions
in schedules. Senator RAyner In the
tariff debates in the Sixty.first and
Sixty-second Congresses stood for low
duties.
One Of the most earnest speeches Sen.
ator Rayner hsd made in the Senate In
recent months was In favor Of. abrogat.
ing the Russian treaty growing out OF
Russla's refusal to extend protection to
this country. He was thoroughly
aroused on this matter and presented his
views In strong fashion to the Senate.