Show people better now than when he was young washington dec 26 speaker cannon flaa one of the callers at the white house today he desired simply to pay his christmas greetings to tho president bu was obliged to defer them as the had gone to the country tor a long ride the speaker was in excellent spirits and talked with his newspaper friends in a characteristic way they say things are not now like they were in the old days that we arc becoming aristocrats there Is no longer honesty in legislative bodies that Is no ability at the bar that wo are liable to become a monarchy that some strong man is liable to also up and dominate everybody but I 1 say that there is no fair minded man who studies the history of this country from the days of its foundation down to the present time and who deduces the difference between eight millions of people and who considers the telegraph telephone and the railroads who will not ay we are markedly better physically mentally and morally than our grandfathers or even our tamers then you believe the house of representatives Is just as representative as it was in years gone by yes es indeed tha speaker replied the house is just as representative a body now as it was when this country had only of people if you listen to all that is said you might believe the country is fast going to the devil is fast becoming a monarchy and will cease noon to be a republic why I 1 heard that same kind of talk when I 1 was a boy cheri we used to gather at camp meetings they used to tell us that things were not what they were in the good old days you hear the same things now that the country is retrograding that everybody is corrupt and dishonest and that there is wholesale immorality I 1 do not hesitate to assert that this country is better today than it ever was in its history that the people arc belter more honest more moral and ls disposed to yield to temptations that are put in front of honest men at every turn tho people arc just as mighty now in the matter of elections as avor before and just as discriminating as to whether a man has done his duty no man ever gets so big that he cannot easily be wiped off the political map and bow quickly tue people do it too they settle a man so quickly that he is soon forgotten 1 I venture tho prediction that few of the best men in the country could sit down today and give offhand off hand the names of men who have helper to make history in the house of representatives senta tives the others were defeated and forgotten and that was tho end there was william J brown who put through the house the appropriation of to build the first telegraph line between washington and baltimore ho did tho world an immense service yet at the next election afterward he received hardly enough votes to count the opposition put up a man who ridiculed the idea of sending messages by lightning and bo beat brown thousands of votes so it is today although a roans services now are not so easily condoned undoubtedly we are bettar off than our forefathers the millennium Is not here it is true and things will not be a bit interesting until everything becomes perfect wo are doing better though |