The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1922-08-12


he was a unique member of the house
in that, during all of that time, ne
never let one of his speeches appear In
the Congressional Record. Since as
Stunning leadership and speaking Tor
the party he lets his speeches 90 IN.
The gentleman by his side is Finis j.
| Garrett of Tennessee. who acts as as
sistant minority leader. Mr.. Garrett
| is in his ninth term. He is keen
! cutter, and can roast the Republicans
and their measures In a more polished,
! clever and entertaining way than any
other member on his side of the house.
Only Lady Representative.
Yes, the lady on the floor is mem
her. That is Miss Alice NJ. Robertson
of Oklahoma, the only lady member
| and the second woman to be elected
| to congress- She was born In Okia-
homa 66 years ago. Her father was Il
missionary to the CherOkees MISS
Alice has been teacher, postmaster
| of first-class office at Muskogee, ana
| in recent years has conducted very
successfully the largest cafeteria In
! Oklahoma. She is not what some are
| pleased to term themselves, new
woman" She Is little Old-fashioned
| In way, for she stands by her con-
| victions and is not easily influenced
| by organizations outside of her state.
| She was never suffragist, and 1t may
| seem an irony Of fate that the only
| woman In congress did not favor votes
for women. Miss Alice is popular
| member. She accepts things as they
| are, asks no favors on account of her
i sex and has more good horse sense
| and Is less afraid to stand by her con-
victiOns than are most of her Fellow
members.
That old boy up In the press gallery
| is General Sherwood Of Ohio. He was
a member Of the Sixty-sixth congress,
but was retired by the landslide. Cen
| eral Sherwood was elected to congress
as Republican in 1872, the year IN
| Gle Joe Cannon first came in. Then
he came back in the Sixtieth congress
as a Democrat and served IA years.
The general is eighty-seven years of
age. When retired from congress he
took up newspaper work, his former
| profession. When asked the other day
| if he would run again, he said: mo,
| I can't afford It. I have got to work
now and lay up something for old age. >
| But late newspaper reports indicate
that he may have changed his mind.
Not the Place for Oratory.
Who are the orators Of the house?
Well, that is hard to say. You hear
many speeches in the house, but little
oratory. l know several gentlemen
| who are noted orators in their home
states whom l have never heard make
q speech In the house. Those who
have been used to swaying the multi
tude with their oratOry don't get very
| far with it in the house and soon be-
come disappointed in their audience.
| must say the house is not very
attentive listener. The members get
fed up on speeches. They don't care
for eloquence What they want are
! facts. Order is not very good. Mem
bers come in and 60 out; they talk
and read; they listen If something OF
interest is being said. but they are not
sitting there for entertainment and
flowery speeches do not draw large au-
diences here.
| A speaker Is often interrupted by
questions. Any member may rise at
any time and ask If the gentleman will
yield for a question. The gentleman
usually does yield, and he often gets
his set speech badly punctured and
comes out with fiat tire. Many mem
bers read their speeches. President
Wilson and President Harding, when
appearing before congress, have al
ways read their speeches, and Secre-
tary Hughes read his great speech at
the opening Of the Limitation Of arms
conference, so 1t Is not necessarily q
sign Of lack Of ability for a man to
read speech, as 1t Is often done to
guarantee accuracy. However, we
have plenty Of orators for all occa-
sions and can furnish the country
with a good supply for the campaign
Do the men in congress today rank
up to those Of the congresses Of years
ago? Well, yes; think SO. II you
name your ideals Of other days your
list covers hundred years. You are
endeavoring to compare this one con.
gress with fifty others. OF course,
do not care to back this congress
against the whole Of American history
The congress Is not made up Of ex
perts or highbrOws or bosses or super
men. We have no breed Of ruling men
In this country. 1t is made up Of q
pretty good average of the citizenship
1t represents-men who meet theil
folks back home on common ground
| orI 10 oo% <ouor ton bi0h ohoyo thou,