Evening star., 1932-11-09

YOEN NANCE GARNER was born
at Blossom Prairie, in Red River
County, Tex. November %, 1869.
~ He was the son Of John
Nance Garner and Sarah Guest.
his wife, and first saw the light OF day
through the chinks Of log cabin wall.
Not much is known of the Garner
family, but the first Of the clan Is sup
posed to have arrived in the New Wcrld
in the early eighteenth century. There
was a Nance with George Washington
in the Braddock campaign, and another
Of the name appears in the chronicle OF
the surrender at Yorktown.
Mr.. Gamers parents were poor and
he perforce grew up without educational
advantages. He attended a country
school until he had reached the fourth
grade, but beyond that elementary point
he could not go. At Is he was clerk
in his uncle's general store at Detroit,
Tex. Later he added to his slender
earnings by playing professional
base ball At Clarksville, near Detroit,
he read law in the Office Of NJ. L. Sims
and w. L. Wright He was admitted to
the bar in 1890.
No sooner was he certain Of his pro-
fessional status as practicing lawyer
than he launched himself on the sea OF
politics He ran for city attorney OF
Clarksville and was beaten. The ex-
perience prompted him to look else
where for opportunity. He found what
he desired at Uvalde, where he entered
into partnership with Tully Fuller. The
firm prospered. and portion Of its
earnings was invested in the Uvalde
Mr.. Garner eventually became publisher
and editor.
Appointed County Judge.
His next political venture was sue
cessful. He was appointed county judge
to fill an unexpired term: then con-
firmed in his tenure of the Office by
election The future looked bright
enough at the time to suggest matri-
mony, and on November 25, 1895, Mr..
Garner married Ettie Rheiner, girl
who "at first had disapproved Of him."
but who was persuaded to change her
mind under the influence of better ac-
quaintance. Their only child, son,
Tully Garner. was born September "a,
1896.
Meantime. Mr. Garner had faced
another campaign for the office he
held, and had lost. For while his politi-
cal prospects were unattractive. But,
spurred by the needs of a wife and
baby, he decided to run for the State
Legislature. He made good cam
paign and was elected. That was in
1898. He served during two sessions.
and is remembered for his advocacy
OF plan for dividing Texas into five
new States That plan came to moth
devoted himself was more fruitful The
census of 1900 increased the congress
sional representation of Texas, and
Mr.. Garner was chairman of the Re-
districting Committee OF the 1901 ses-
sion of the Legislature. 1t is said that
"he used his authority to block out a
new congressional district in which he
could be confident Of election" Among
his friends he was considered the logi-
cal man for the place. In any event,
he filed for Congress in the new f1f-
teenth district, and on August q, 1902,
was nominated by acclamation. Nonli-
nation, of course, insured election.
Mr. Garner arrived in Washington in
November, 1908, and took his seat in
the House Of Representatives. Eighty
per cent of his constituents were natu-
rallied Mexicans upon whose loyalty he
could count 1T has not been neces-
sary for him to make an electioneering
speech in 20 years" He was auto
matically reelected to the Fifty-ninth
Congress and every Congress since the
Fifty-ninth.
No Speeches in Eight Years.
For the first eight years Mr.. Garner
did not make a single speech. He
passed unnoticed in the Capital during
all that period. Apparently his ambi-
tions were satisfied. He did nothing
to attract attention. With other West
ern Democrats he opposed the "despotic
rule" of Speaker Joseph G. Cannon
and supported Minority Leader John
Sharp Williams. He served on the
Committee on Railways and Canals,
"but on the floor he bided his
time" On February IS, 1905, he was
called to preside briefly in the absence
Of the Speaker.
When Champ Clark led a fight for
liberalization Of the House rules IN
March, 1909, Mr. Garner lent his aid,
and when Mr.. Clark was chosen Speak
er in March, 1918, he was one OF his
lieutenants. Offered the chairmanship
of the Foreign Affairs Committee. he
r.f,,-ed it for a place on the powerful