| Show DEATH OF SPEAKER REED distinguished 8 STATESMAN T A T IE 8 51 A if SUCCUMBS AFTEU SHORT former speaker of the llouis of Re represses wat was cincil Cin nil to lo ills III nl bed but bowen of days ft when he passed to the great Itry ODd ond thomas thoma brackett reed former speaker of the house of re presenta tives find and tor for many years one of 0 the tha most prominent characters in public life Is dead his death occurring in washington D C at 1210 sunday morning after a short illness the immediate cause of death being uraemia ura emia ernia at the bedside when he died were mrs reed and alsa katherine Kalher lne reed doctors gardner mcdonald bishop and goodnow Good cow and the nurses mr reed passed away peacefully and apparently without pain thomas brackett reed was born october 18 1839 in portland me and received his early education in the bommon schools of that city in he was graduated from bowdoin col lege winning one of the highest honors the prize for excellence in ling eng iash composition the next four ye years ars were spent by mr reed in teaching and the study of law before his admission to the bar he was appointed acting assistant paymaster in the united states navy after his discharge in 1866 1865 mr air reed returned to portland passed the abo bar and entered on the practice of his profession three years later he was elected as a republics republican n in the legislature of the state of M maine alne in 1869 he was reelected re elected to the house and in 1870 made state senator passing from the latter position to that of 0 attorney general of the state the same year retiring from this office after service in 1873 he was then made solicitor of the city of portland in september he be was elected to lo the forty fifth congress of the united states which assembled in december 1877 ile he immediately be came prominent through a speech one of the few formal ones ever delivered by him in which he argued argue d against the payl ment of damages bli b the united states for injuries r received by william and mary college at the hands of united states troops duril duriell ll the war the subsequent policy of the government in relation to wai claims was largely determined by the defeat of this measure to which mr reed signally contributed lie he wan wai also one of the minority members appointed to investigate the election of president hayes in the famous hayes tilden controversy his skill as a debater was at once recognized and his influence becoming more strongly marked each year the leadership of his party was finally conceded to him and in the forty ninth and fiftieth congresses the complimentary norr non d nation to the was ten tiered dered him by the republicans in the fifty first congress that party having obtained the ascendancy he ha was elected speaker on the first ballot in the first days of his adminis tratten of the office much opposition was made by the minority to the enforcement of what mr air reed believed hie constitutional power to count members present in the house as participating in a vote despite their refusal to use their privilege the qu ques e S tion of silence on suh such occasion con sti legal absence and the do st ruction thereby of a quorum was however set at rest by the adoption of new nem rules by the house february 14 1890 in september of the same year mr reed was reelected elected re to the fifty second er cr ess by a large ma bority mr air reed proved himself an indefatigable worker even while in concis congis con gis and aside from his duties a as rong congressman and speaker he found time to contribute to several maga tines lines of the day articles pertinent to the various political and econ economic mic questions which were from time to time agitating the country |
