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Show 0RVILLE H. PL ATT. Orvllle H. Piatt was a Connecticut man. He was born such. Orvllle H. Piatt was a Connecticut man. He died such. Anybody who met him during dur-ing the intervening time between birth and death would have found that he was a Connecticut man. Do not think that this made him narrow nar-row as the boundaries of Connecticut. There were several things to broaden out his State: There was the Western Reserve; there was the development of mechanical progress all over the world duo to Connecticut Inventiveness; there was the lending of Connecticut money to aid variouo enterprises from the Arctic Arc-tic circle nearly to (he Antarctic circle. And. besides. Orvllle H. Piatt got a little lit-tle beyond even the widenlngs of his own State; for he came Into contact with all the intellects of Congress during dur-ing a period of thirty-four years-and he sharpened his dry wit on all of them. And, besides, he was a newspaper editor; ed-itor; and that Is an education of Itself! Orvllle H. Piatt was not only an able man, nut he had one characteristic which projected Itself at all points. He scorned a lle-and he would play nice gentlemanly tricks to find out whether people were telling lies or not. On one occasion, when the Utah question was under consideration by his committee, he asked a man who appeared in behalf of the Mormon side: "Do you know Abbott Ab-bott R. Hey wood of Ogden? Is he a" truthful man?" . Tho fact was, Mr. Heywood was chairman of the Liberal party in Utah. And Mr. Piatt was palpably toying with a letter which, by the handwriting and the Imprint, showed that it came from Mr. Heywood. The answer was: "Yes, I know Mr. Abbott R. Heywood; and I think that he 18 a truthful man." . Senator Piatt chuckled drylv; opened the letter and said: "You have made a most fortunate reply.. I jcuess you arc a truthful man, too. Abbott Heywood says that you are all right, and he .takes your view of this particular part of the case." . Later on. when the Statehood question ques-tion was acute, and we were just on-the on-the verge of gaining or losing, he asked for Abbott R. Hcywood's opinion, and got It. And when certain over-zoalous over-zoalous friends of Utah bad utterly misstated mis-stated the case In their desire to gain his Instant favor for Statehood for he stood at the head of the Senate committee com-mittee he sent for the man whom he had once before tested on one of Hcywood's Hcy-wood's lettern. and said: "I'll take your word, and no one else's, among the Mormons, on this question. Have thesa people, any of them, been living with their wives since the manifesto?" "Yes, Senator; here and there there has been a case, and tho Gentiles have not chosen to prosecute It. because they believe, as T believe, that the church will steadily reprehend this course; the church leaders have declared de-clared against It In the most binding way. nnd In their practice have indicated indi-cated their intention lo discountenance it; and if the pulpit will range itself with the law, It can not go on." His answer was: "Well, they say that you are New England folks out In Utah. If you are. and will live up to New England traditions, you yoon will get Into line for the country, and you will stand by it to the death." Perhaps no man ever lived who scorned a He more. Perhaps there never was a more modest man than he. And In practical legislation, probably there was no more useful man in the Senate than Orvllle H. Piatt. He was serving his sixth term when he died. He will be mlsacd and mourned by every man at the Capitol: besides being passionately passionate-ly mourned by all bis people. He was of tho highest type of American citizenship. citizen-ship. In this generation there are not twenty such men In all the United (Staic3 as Senator Orvllle H. Piatt. |