Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-05

sat in the House of Representatives
for ten years before he made speech
And there was never day In the ten
years that he could not have taken
the floor and adore ssed his colleagues
at length in the best of English and
with grace, power and common sense.
Action, however. has always been
the big principle of his life. No half
finished projects. like windowless fac
tories OF weed-grown fields, line the
road over which he has travelled.
What he begins he completes with
energy and stability Of purpose.
He completes it in some manner ana
then lights the fire and starts the
machinery to see how it works. While
other men We're filling the Congress
sional Record and the mails, postage
free. with their outgivings anent
nothing in particular. measured as 10
value, Carter Glass was studying the
currency question. He read scores or
books and thousands of pages of tes-
timony and special reports and OBJ
tanned an understanding of the meth
DDS of banking in foreign countries.
Some day. by the process OF senior
ity. he would be chairman of his COM
mittee. and he purposed to be ready
for the duty. All authorities said that
the currency system of the United
States was not only old-fashioned but
dangerous. at lacks elasticity" de-
clared fnanciers, bankers and bust
ness men. They meant that there was
no more money in the country when
there was great need of 1t than when
the need was usual or less.
To this subject. then, Carter Glass
gave his days and many of his nights
yUj1Snn a1prtpd
President in 1912. and before he took
the Office, Carter Glass. portfolio
under his arm. filed with papers, Wis
tied him in New Jersey, Returning
to Lynchburg, his home. Mr.. Glass,
having gained the approval of the
President elect, and soon himself to
be chairman of the committee on
banking and currency. began the
work of writing the bill that ulti-
mately became an act of Congress.
Now Mr.. Glass is not a banker; he
is an editor and a publisher But as
chairman of the committee that pre-
pared the measure he tried as he
said. ITO reconcile conflicting views.
to compose all friction from whatever
source arising. to embody in the bill
err the wisdom of the philosophers
and the rights of the people"
Months were spent on the labor.
At last. after long hearings. at which
dig bankers ana niue bankers, mef-
chants and farmers, credit men and
text book writer's testified, the bill
was ready to be discussed on the floor
of the House of Representatives.
Every bill in Congress has man.
ager or defe nder, who arises and says
This measure provides for so and
so" He must be prepared to answer
any inquiry that may be made by
friendly or hostile member. A bill
appropriating money. for example,
may contain thousand items. The
manager of the bill is required to
have knowledge of all the items. that
he may fully explain them, on re-
quest, to his colleagues.
1t was on September 10. 1919,
that Carter Glass took the floor in
the House of Representatives for the
purpose of analyzing and describing
the banking bill of which he was
the author. He was unused, he said,
to addressing Congress, and 30 he
asked that the continuity of my
speech be not interrupted as the
topic is technical" The speech that
followed would fill two solid pages of
this newspaper
X X
What Is called literature some
times lacks in power. 1t may be
beautiful. but may have no vigor.
Passion often is effeminate. Carter
Glass gives literary finish to all