The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-04-22
What
7 Think
Speak
WASHINGTON BUREAU,
THE AGE-HERALD !
Washington, ID. G., April 81

beginning of every new session of
Congress, there appears auto
biographical sketches of the members
of the Senate and the House,
A casual reader will wonder why
the government speaks of this man
at greater length and in more glow
ing terms than of that man. As a
matter of fact. the government does
not. Each member writes what he
pleases regarding himself
Some years ago, the newspapers
gave wide publicity to the fact that
the members were recommending
themselves highly" to the country
and their constituencies. This pub
LEFTY caused members to abandon the
custom of excessive praise, and
of life by eliminating from current
"literature" some of the best humor
of the day. This publicity had the
effect. further, of driving some mem
bers to the other extreme. Many Of
them today do not say enough. For
instance, representative John w.
Rainey of the Fourth district of Hi
nois, contents himself merely by
signing his name. He does not tell
whether he is democrat or re-
publican, and withholds information
relative to the date of his birth and
the place of his residence.
Madden Is Modest.
Representative Martin B. Madden
of Illinois. chairman of the commit
tee on appropriat the most pow
erful of all House committees, writes:
Martin b. Madden, republican, OF
Chicago, was elected to the Fifty
ninth and each succeeding Congress"
The late Representative James X
Mann, at one time republican leader.
wrote: James r. Mann, republican,
Of Chicago, was born in 1856; was
elected to the Fiftyfifth and each
succeeding Congress" Former Rep
resentative Joseph Quincy Cannon
Uncle" Joe, used eight lines in tell
ing his story, but most of the space
the long list of Congresses to which
he had been elected. and the fact that
in four Congresses, he was speaker
of the House.
Senator r II. Carraway Of Arkan-
sas, is exceedingly modest He writes;
1T. H. Caraway, democrat, Jones'
boro."
Alabama Members.
The Alabama members of Congress
as rule. are modest enough but
manage to tell the succinct stories of
their lives Representative George
Huddleston of the Birmingham DIS
trfct consumes just three lines. or
himself he writes: George Huddles-
ton, democrat, Of Birmingham, was
born in Wilson county, Tennessee IN
1863: studied law at Cumberland uni
versity: practiced in Birmingham.
Ala, from 1891 until 1912; served as
a private soldier in the Spanish war.
senator Underwood uses but seven
lines, and in view of the tact that ne
has served much longer than any
other member of the Alabama delega-
ton. perhaps he is the most modest
of all Representative Bankhead uses
only seven lines.
In the last directory, Representa-
tives McDuffie of the Mobile district.
and the late Representative Tyson OF
the Montgomery district, used only
nine lines: Representative oliver OF
the Sixth used L.; Representative
Steagan of the Third 10; Representa-
tive Almon of the Eighth, "a; Repre-
sentative Bowling of the tlith. ~,
former Representative Rainey OF the
Seventh, f6, and Representative JET
fers of the Fourth, %.
Helm Writes More.
Senator j. Thomas Helm required
more space than any other MEMBER li
of the delegation. lie wrote "a lines.
one Interesting feature regarding
sutobioeraphies of Alabama mem
hers is the fact that three OF them
refrained from declaring the year OF
their births. The three were the
Iate Mr.. Tyson, and Mr.. Oliver and
Mr.. StpdgdlI. Nj. vi - -
lor. and Mr.. Steasall widower' anu
iris fact has prompted Their cot
Leagues to allege that there was
"method in their madness.
In this fashion, Senator Under
wood writes of himself. oscar w.
ham. was born in Louisville, Jeffer-
son county, Ky, May ., lSoZ' was
educated at Rugby school, Louisville
Ky, and the University of virginia,
vas elected a member of the House
Of Representatives to the flltS1
elected a member of the chlteu
states Senate for term beginning
March A. 1915. and elected Iof
term beginning March 4, 1921.
Hcf,in's "Autobiosraphy."
More fully Senator Helm writes
his history as follows: James
! Thomas Helm, democrat, of Lafay-
cite. was born at Louisa, Randolph
county. Ala, April g. 1863; was edu-
Gated in the common schools OF ia :
dolph county, at the Southern UNI
yersitv. Greensboro. Ala, and at the
\. & NJ. college, Auburn, Ala; stud
/ led law at Lafayette, Ala, under
Judge ~ d. benson, and was ADM. :
ted to the bar January IL, 1929 :
when first elected to Congress ne
gave I'M the law practice. and since
trat date has devoted his time 10
the study of public questions; was
married to Minnie Kate Schuessler
F. (deceased) of Lafayette, Ala; pc
cember is, 1895. and has one enid
j, Thomas Heflin, Jr.; was elected
MAYOR of Lafayette. March 16, 1888
and reelected, holding this office
two terms; was register in chancery
two years, resiGning in 1896 to ac-
cent the democratic nomination IRON,
Chambers county to the leglslature
was elected in 1896. and reelected
TO the legislature in 1898; was IL
member of the democratic executive
committee from 1896 TO l9O2' was Il
delegate to the constitutional con-
yention of Alabama in l9ol' was
elected secretary of state IN l9e1 lot
term of four years; resigned tnat
office MAY /, 1904; was elected Win,
out onposition May 10, 1904, to fill
the unexpired term of Hon. Charles
w. Thompson. deceased, IN tne
Fifty eighth Congress- was eiecteu
to the ty-ninth-SiXty-siN sixth Con-
crosses. He was nominated May -
1920 in The state democratic prl-
n,arv for the office OF United States
senator from Alabama to fill out the
1nexpired term of Senator John ia.
Bankhead. He resigned his posltloil
as representative from the flith
| Alabama district in the SlNty-siNtn
congress on November /. 1920 ana
was elected the following day. No
yember =. to serve as United states
senator from the state of Alabama
until March 4, 1925.
o o o
Names Lodges.
Senator Heflin omitted to record
the lodges of which he is a member.
| Mr.. McDuffie, in writing of himself
covers that ground. He declares:
"John McDuffie, a democrat, was
horn September -, 1885, on cotton
nlantation near River Ridge in Mon
roe county, Alabama. lie attended
the Southern university. Greensboro
| Ala. one session graduated at Au-