Evening star., 1926-05-17
''Uncle Joe" at Ninety Holds
Remarkable Place in Nation

Once Gar" but now just plain
| Uncle Joe" to his neighbors and the
| Nation, Joseph G.. Cannon has cele-
brated his ninetieth birthday amid a
| food Of fluctuations from, all parts Of
| the country.
Uncle Joe" is not one of those
prophets without honor in their own
countries. Heading it's editorial An
other Famous Tar Heel" the Winston
Salem Journal says: Because as a
little boy he first learned to love life
in the hills of old Carolina, Tar Heels
everywhere have a warm spot in their
hearts for Uncle Joe as he Journeys
! down the other side of the long hill.
| May his rest be peaceful and may his
| last days he filled with happiness
| Recalling that "it was 80 years ago
that Mr.. Cannon was born in Guilford
| County, North Carolina" and that later
| he went West with his father, "a
| Quaker DOCTOR" the Raleigh News and
Observer declares that Everybody in
America, even those most opposed to
| 'Cannonism,' sent messages of good
| fellowship to the friendly Uncle joe
who is growing. old philosophically and
with good will to ALL" The Raleigh
| paper analyZes the Cannon character
as that OF a man who never pre-
tended to believe one thing and say
another" and adds: "F1e had simple
tastes and no back door. He was free
from any suggestion of graft or
double-dealing. He had friendliness
and kindliness, and had the regard of
his most bitter political enemies.
| X X X
illinois claims Uncle Joe as one
of it's most distinguished sons" says
| the Rock Island Argus, ''but in real
| ity he belongs to the Nation. All unite
in the wish that time will continue to
deal gently with him to the end and
| that the end will be long in coming"
The Peoria Transcript notes that
| Uncle Joe holds the record for length
| of service in Congress-" and holds that
"by performance he is the most con-
spicuous of the elder statesmen of
| America"
| America has rarely produced so
picturesque a character a 8 Uncle joe
! Cannon" observes the Oklahoma City
| Daily Oklahoman, as it bears witness
! to the universal esteem in which this
venerable statesman is held, saying:
| Even the Democratic partiSanS who
once fought Cannon so furiously and
Republican insurgents who warred
| against his rule as czar of Congress
now join in doing honor to the name
and fighting qualities of Uncle joe"
|
wonderful to have become "a patri-
arch with faculties as keen as in the
heyday of battle; still more wonderful
| to wear the crown of a country's
veneration," and the Herald tosses
"a rose to dear old Uncle Joe, the
| Gulf Stream Of whose youth still
warns the Arctic Circle of his years."
X X X
The Louisville Times says: "Mr.
| Cannon is of an American type
| which is growing rare. He was a
figure racy of the soil and unashamed
OF it," retaining always the speech,
the manner, the general aspect, of
| the rugged provincial, breeZlly and
ioyously at home in America. This
| tvpe is disappearing, continues the
| Times "as the smartness of our cul-
ture grows" to be supplemented by
| "the dapper man..
| "IIncle Joe Cannon, with his cigar
| stuck in his teeth at a rakish angle
and his brief whiskers preceding him
down the street, was almost as much
of a fixture in Washington as Penn
sylyania avenue ITSELF" the Provi-
dence Journal recalls, land when at
last there arrived year when he
didn't come back from Danv1lle, some
thing immemorial and steadfaSt
1
seat of government" The Oakland
Tribune finds him still "a distinct per-
sonality, rugged old fellow who says
what he thinks, hobnobs with his
neighbors and keeps his mind young"
while the Pasadena Star News notes
that "he is the oldest living man. with
the exception Of Chauncey M. DepeW
now 92-who has had active and
lprominent service in national politics. )"
or these two cotemporary great non
lagenarians the Lincoln Star remarks:
I"Both are hopeless and incurable opti-
mists. No man would wish for more
than to grow old as gracefully as
these two fine American specimens
have"
X n X
"Uncle Joe Cannon is still a wise
man. On his ninetieth birthday he
refused to tell the present generation
how to conduct ITSELF" comments the
lDes Moines Register. Concerning this
attitude. the Flint Daily journal asks:
~