Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-03-06

the fundamental duties Of . Representa-
tive in a republic and, resisting the
claims OF age and experience as well as
youthful friendship he voted as the good
sense and the best interests OF Skowhe-
gan demanded-against the measure.
| Mr.. Goodwin studied law for time
with Samuel J. Walton, a leader Of the
Somerset County bar. whose sturdy COM
mon sense carried him through a long
career at tho bar and the politics OF his
State, and still serves him in a green
Old age. After q years further study
Mr.. Goodwin graduated from the law
school Of Boston University In the class
OF $780, and soon after we were again as
ISOLATED. as we each held clerkshtps in
this House
1 IN 1890. Maine was represented In
! Washington by a distinguished group of
men. James G. Blaine. who. since the
retirement of Hannibal Hamlin. stood
at the head Of the old Maine Republican
dynasty, was Secretary OF State. sena-
tor Eugene Hale and Senator William
P. Frye were conspicuously able MEM
bers Of the Senate. Both Hale and Frye
shared Mr.. Blaine's interest in watching
the career of Mr.. Reed. Indeed, public
! opinion credited Mr.. Blaine with having
either written or inspired a muca-dis-
cussed article in the North American
! Review signed X. NJ. c., commenting I'M
favorably upon the famous quorum rul-
! ing Of Speaker Reed.
| Although there was no open break in
| the relations between Mr.. Blaine aRd
Mr.. Reed, yet Mr. Reed felt that if he
wished to enter the broader field OF
Maine politics it would be wise for him
to form connections with young men of
promise in the central part of the State.
Hon. Amos L. Allen, then secretary TO
the Speaker and later a Member of this
House, advised that the position Of par
| Humanitarian. then vacant, be given to
such a young man, and asked me II l
| could suggest anyone I was at that
time the Speakers clerk, practically an
assistant to the Secretary. I would have
| liked the position myself. but thinking
that a knowledge of the law was desir-
able and realizing Mr. Aliens good sense
| in selecting some one from the central
part Of the State, / did not consider my
self a candidate. l suggested, however.
taat MIR. Goodwin be considered, with
the result that the place was offered him
and he assumed its duties in February
| of 1890
Mr.. Reed was then 81 years old, in the
prime OF life, and at the height OF his
powers. He was a dominating figure In
a Congress where SECTIONAL and party
| animosty embittered debate to degree
not experienced in any succeeding Con-
gross. The demand of the Republican
| Party, that the suppression of the col
ored vote in the South must cease
| aroused the southern men to an oppo-
stion which recalled the stormy period
! Immediately following the Civil War
| The growing industrial spirit OF the
North demanded the enactment of a
tariff bill favorable to their interests.
and the bill reported by the Republicans
gave rise to a long and acrimonious de-
bate with the Members who favored
free trade or low tariff.
There were notable men on bot1 sides
Of the House. From the time the Re
publican Party came into power Maine
had maintained a delegation of strong
men in Congress. Hannibal Hamblin,
William Pitt Fessenden, and James G.
Blaine had served either III the Senate
or in the House In the Fifty-flrst Con-
gress the members of the delegation
were Thomas B. Reed, Speaker, Nelson
| Dingley Jr., Charles A. Boutelle. and
Seth l.. MilIken. All had been Members
Of the House for at least six years. and.
with the exception Of Mr.. Reed, who re-
| signed after % years OF service, they
remained in Congress as long as they
lived. Maine was not the only State
represented in this Congress by able
men. Georgia had in her delegation such
men as Charles F. Crisp and Henry q.
Turner; Texas had an able body of men,
among them Roger Q. Mills, David B.
Culberson, Joseph D. Sayers. and Sam
uel Lanham. In the Missouri delega-
ton was Alexander Ii. Dockery. g. prom
inent member of the present administra-
ton. Ex-Speaker Randall, Of Pennsyl-
vania, was still a Member of the House
although in failing health and serving
his last term. In the Alabama delega-
ton was Gen. Joseph Wheeler. of the
Confederate Army and later a hero OF
the Spanish War. William Mckinley led
the Ohio delegation, Of which Gen. Char
les II. Grosvenor and Theodore E. Bur-
ton were prominent Republican Mem
bers. James S. Sherman and Serene E.
Payne of New York. were among the
younger members of the House. Ma
thaniel P. Banks, who first served in
the Thirty-ninth Congress, in the stormy
period before the war; was again repre-
senting a Massachusetts district. He sell
dom spoke on the floor. / remember only
| one such occasion, when he arose to eu-
logic a friend and companion in the
stirring events of the past~Gen. Ere
mont Henry Cabot Lodge was an act
i've Member of the delegation. Other
conspicuous Republicans were David B..
Henderson. of Iowa. Joseph G, Cannon
of Illinois, and John Dalzell. of Pennsyl-
vania.
The debates Of the 51st Congress reflect
! ed a transition period in the thought OF
the Nation. Memories and traditions Of
| the Civil War dominated public senti-
ment The animosity aroused, especially
by the consideration of the so called
| force BILL sometimes affected even the
social life of Washington. Gen. Wheeler
of Alabama and Gen Grosvenor of Ohio,
did not hesitate to fight the war over
again in the acrimonious debate on the
| floor Happily. the Spanish War fur
nished an opportunity for both these ele-
ments to unite in common service to
! the country and put an end to such refer
ences to sectional differences in debate