REED, THOMAS BRACKETT (18391902)

This article appears in Volume V22, Page 973 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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REED, THOMAS BRACKETT (18391902) , American states-man, was born in

Portland

, Maine, on the 18th of October 1839. He graduated at Bowdoin College in 186o; was acting assistant-paymaster in the U.S. navy from April 1864 to November 1865; and in 1865 was admitted to the bar. He was a member of the Maine

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of Representatives in 186869 and of the state Senate in 187o, was attorney-general of the state in 187072, and was city solicitor of

Portland

in 187477. He was a Republican member of the National

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of Representatives from 1877 until 1899; was a member of the Potter Committee to investigate the disputed presidential election of 1876, and conducted the examination of Samuel J. Tilden; and he was Speaker of the House in 188991, and in 189599. He was a " strong " speaker in his

control

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

of the proceedings, and he developed an organized committee system, making the majority of the Committee on Rules consist of the speaker and chairman of the committees on ways and means and on appropriations. The " Reed Rules,"

drawn

DRAWN

up by him, William

McKinley

MCKINLEY, WILLIAM (1843—1901)

and J. G. Cannon, were adopted on the 14th of February 1890; they provided that every member must vote, unless pecuniarily interested in a measure, that members present and not voting may be counted for a quorum, and that no dilatory motion be entertained by the speaker. His parliamentary methods were bitterly attacked by his political enemies, who called him " Tsar Reed." He greatly hastened the passage of the

McKinley

MCKINLEY, WILLIAM (1843—1901)

Bill in 189o, and of the Dingley Bill in 1897. His rules and methods of

control

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

of legislation were adopted by his successors in the speakership, and the power of the Rules Committee was greatly increased under Charles F. Crisp (18451896), Democratic speaker in 18911895. After the war with Spain Reed broke with the administration on the issue of imperialism. He resigned his seat in 1899 and practised law in New

York

YORK
YORK (HOUSE OF)
YORK, EDMUND OF
LANGLEY
- LANGLEY, SAMUEL PIERPONT (1834-1906)
, DUKE OF (1341-1402)
YORK, EDWARD
YORK, FREDERICK
AUGUSTUS
- AUGUSTUS (a name 1 derived from Lat. augeo, increase, i.e. venerable, majestic, Gr. Ee0avr6s)
, DUKE OF (1763-1827)
YORK, RICHARD, DUKE

City. He died in Washington on the 7th of December 1902. Reed was a remarkable personality, of whom many good stories were told, and opinions varied as to his conduct in the chair; but he was essentially a man of rugged honesty and power, whose death was a loss to American public life.
Reed's Rules were published as a parliamentary

manual

MANUAL

. He edited with others a Library of Modern Eloquence (10 vols., 1901): See the chapter on Reed in H. B. Fuller's Speakers of the House (Boston, 1909).

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