“Mr. Halliday of Virginia:  ’I move to further amend the report by substituting Mr. Harvey Davis of Oregon for Mr. Messick.  It may be urged by gentlemen that the hardships and privations of a frontier life have rendered Mr. Davis tough; but, gentlemen, is this a time to cavil at toughness?  Is this a time to be fastidious concerning trifles?  Is this a time to dispute about matters of paltry significance?  No, gentlemen, bulk is what we desire—­substance, weight, bulk—­these are the supreme requisites now—­not talent, not genius, not education.  I insist upon my motion.’

“Mr. Morgan (excitedly):  ’Mr. Chairman—­I do most strenuously object to this amendment.  The gentleman from Oregon is old, and furthermore is bulky only in bone—­not in flesh.  I ask the gentleman from Virginia if it is soup we want instead of solid sustenance? if he would delude us with shadows? if he would mock our suffering with an Oregonian specter?  I ask him if he can look upon the anxious faces around him, if he can gaze into our sad eyes, if he can listen to the beating of our expectant hearts, and still thrust this famine-stricken fraud upon us?  I ask him if he can think of our desolate state, of our past sorrows, of our dark future, and still unpityingly foist upon us this wreck, this ruin, this tottering swindle, this gnarled and blighted and sapless vagabond from Oregon’s hospitable shores?  Never!’ [Applause.]

“The amendment was put to vote, after a fiery debate, and lost.  Mr. Harris was substituted on the first amendment.  The balloting then began.  Five ballots were held without a choice.  On the sixth, Mr. Harris was elected, all voting for him but himself.  It was then moved that his election should be ratified by acclamation, which was lost, in consequence of his again voting against himself.

“Mr. Radway moved that the House now take up the remaining candidates, and go into an election for breakfast.  This was carried.

“On the first ballot—­there was a tie, half the members favoring one candidate on account of his youth, and half favoring the other on account of his superior size.  The President gave the casting vote for the latter, Mr. Messick.  This decision created considerable dissatisfaction among the friends of Mr. Ferguson, the defeated candidate, and there was some talk of demanding a new ballot; but in the midst of it a motion to adjourn was carried, and the meeting broke up at once.

“The preparations for supper diverted the attention of the Ferguson faction from the discussion of their grievance for a long time, and then, when they would have taken it up again, the happy announcement that Mr. Harris was ready drove all thought of it to the winds.