The Washington herald., 1914-06-05
HISTORY BUILDERS.
Two Senators Who Showed One Poin.
of Resemblance.

OF Resemblance.
written Expressly for The Herald)
By DIR. Z. J. EDwARDs.
1T would not be possible to bring to-
gether under . single roof two men as
utterly unlike as were Senator George r.
Edmunds Of Vermont and Senator John
p. Morgan Of Alabama. They were for
some years colleagues in the Senate and
each had very high estimation Of the
intellectual ability OF the other" said the
late Senator Spencer OF Aiabama-who
was. I believe, the predecessor Of sena-
tor Morgan in the United States Senate
to me.
in what was in progress on the floor Of
the Senate" Senator Spencer continued.
II used to ind q good deal of entertain
ment in watching Edmunds. and then.
by way Of change. in studying Senator
Morgan. The two men. as citizens. were
as far apart as the north and south boun-
daries Of the United States. Edmunds'
home was at Burlington. VT, not more
than fifty miles from the Canadian boun-
dary. and Morgan's home was in Central
Alabama.
Il was told by one of the men who
was a member of the Senate at the time
Senator Edmunds took his seat that 1t
was almost impossible to believe that he
was no more than thirty-seven years Of
age. He was the oldest-iooking young
man who ever sat in that body. He never
-
he was when he entered the Senate. in
1867
''On the other hand. Senator Morgan
was one Of the youngest-looking elderly
men / ever saw. He was tall, stood very
erect, and stepped with vigor. His cheeks
were tinted with the fair, pink complex
ion which is usually lost soon after child
hood is ended. He wore a short-cropped
iron gray mustache. and his hair was
silvered. But neither his hair nor his
mustache gave hint of the venerable
years which Edmunds' hair inevitably
did.
II have seen Senator Edmunds sit.
was going to say by the hour. apparently
absent-minded. nothing TO indicate that
he was awake excepting the constant
twirling OF his thumbs. All of a sudden
he would rise to his feet and make some
remark which made 1t clear that he had
been closely listening to all that was be-
ing said in the Senate.
''On the other hand, ] never saw Sena-
tor Morgan in his seat when he was not
busily engaged either in writing or in
studying some document or intently lis
tening to some speech, often whirling his
chair around so that he could more close
ly eye the speaker. Furthermore. he al
ways spoke with a rapid, and yet entirely
distinct. utterance. He was one of the
fastest takers in the Senate.
"Edmunds, on the other hand. spoke
slowly and usually as though he were en-
gagged in conversation with the Vice Pres
ident. There was one feature Of the ca
reer OF each OF these men. however.
which I think was unprecedented in the
history Of the Senate. Neither of these
great Senators ever by work. by letter.
or by indirect deal, asked for support as
candidate for the United States Senate
or asked a member OF his legislature to
vote for him after he had been nominated
in caucus. Furthermore, ! think that
neither Of them ever made the rounds OF
the departments for the sake of obtaining
patronage.
Copyright. 1914. by Dr.. E J. Edw,rds All rights
reseTred-D
Tomorrow DR.. Edwards will tell of
Last Days OF Famous New York Poll
tician.'