New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-01-30
eTIRsr.CAss rIGHTINC MEN

y fhN Y AsANN ANii f.'''
rHr LII or THOMAS RRAcErrr REID ny
sh s6s ~. Housh'o1 lu-.r Con-H.
sR cHAWBERLAIN.s srEEcHtS t-..,t ~
Rish' Hor Aresr cHahu't-'f N
,oumcs sc qr atHi $685.
I.ogsh'or N~a Company
"A frst-class lighting man is the
phrase which springs irs,I1c.vc.T 20
mind AZ the very thought or TON
Reed. and its appropriatcnce IS con
Armcd by pcrueal Of his biography
There will be those who w;ll wish tina;
he might have had al arrsist o. an
other kind. gifted with imagination
With something OF Reeds own mordani
humor. and with an eve 20 the sensa-
t;onaI and spectacular Such a writer
would certainly have found In Reed s
career abundant material upon |nlcn 20
exercise his gifts; and there are stlii
enough hero worsh ippirC friends OF the
Maine statesman 90 applaud such
work a the fitting treatment OF 'ae
theme.
From that judgment. however. we
should differ IL was Tar better max
Reeds life should be written ov sef--
ous.rninded. discreet and scholarly man
q letters; better for his fame and for
posterity's appreciation Of hum. The
facts OF his career soberly set forth as
record and not as drama are m them
selves sufficiently striking. Their ap-
real to the imagination IS irreslstiole'
and IL is infinitely 70 be preferred that
the reader. rather than the author
shall Weld 20 that appeal and cultivate
that gift i IS not uniting. either,
that the work should have been writ
ION bv Massachusetts man. for the
very reason that between Reed and that
state there was sometimes a certain
rood -humorcd antaeonism. the memory
Of which absolves the biography Of a..
suspicion Of partially for 'isvorte
SON"
Reed was not sn infant prodigy. but
he was a notably thoughtful and intel
lectusl child and youth; IL was not
strange that he carly rose 20 dlstlnc-
ton. He was opposed on the ground
o, his youth when he was first put 1or-
ward for Congress; but in the very
first year OF his first term he was IN
trusted with the highly important task
Of conducting the investigation into the
disputed Presidential election Of 1870.
His examination of witnesses was mas
terly. and naturally led 20 his continu-
ance In the same field when The Irlb-
une had disclosed the purport OF the
scandalous Cipher Dispatches and
Congress in turn directed thereto its
inoulsitorial attention. Il would
schrcelv he 200 much 70 say tast this
wa. the foundation Of Reeds fame.
Fsrlv i'm MS career the question OF
, parliamentary quorum engaged his
attention. and ne vigorously upheld
the old notion that the quorum must
consist OF members actually voting.
later. when he became Speaker, he
fatty reversed that rule in his famous
order 70 the Clerk 10 count as present
all who we're visible in the hall,
whether voting or not. That was the
nost sensational and revolutionary
ruling ever made by a Speaker Of the
House OF Representatives. and u and
i.s maker we're denounced and railed
against with bitterness .unprece-
dented IN Congress sional annals. Yet
Of course Reed was absolutely right
as tho Supreme Court decided and as
his foes and denunciators confessed
when, few years later, they adopted
his ruling as their own. Nr. Mccall
relates. on the authority of Senator
Elihu Root. that Reed stahed mis- po-
htical fortunes entirely upon that
ruling, being determined, 4 he was
defeated in 81, 20 retire forthwith
from public life.
His final retirement was due. Mr..
Mccall reminds Us, 20 his lneXorable
dissent from the eXpsnsIonist policy
Of the Mckinley administration, and
particularly from the acquisition Of
the Philippines lie was, Of course,
opposed to the Spanish war, ss every
rational man was until 10 could no
longer be avoided But then he was
opposed 70 the logical and inevitable
consequences Of the war. or. rather,
10 our assumption OF the unsought
responsibilities which had been thrust
upon Us I'm that wC must consider
that ne erred. though ' would not be
strange for any one 20 make that
error who cherished the extraordinary
dclusions which Nh Mccall here sets
forth with seriousness as historic
facts. Thus We arc told that the
Maine was sent to Havana doubtless
FOR some friendly purpose Is II pos
sible that Mr.. Mccall or any one else
IL in the slightest uncertainty rs 20
the purpose and the circumstances OF
that tragic visit Again, the anncxa-
ton Of Hawaii is spoken of as a "war
measure" 10 was something which
had been matter Of cons Iteration and
negotiation since the days OF Marcy
and long before the war with Spain
Was thought Of the Mckinley admin
istratiou and the Republican party
we're fully committed to II.
More extraordinary still are some
statements concerning the Philippines.
"They were situated IN the hemisphere
in whose affairs IL was our traditional
policy not 90 interfere Yet We had
intcrfered somewhat strcnuously and