Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1858-04-18


re And the doors shall be shut in the street
'st when the sound Of the grinding is low, and
he shall rise up AZ the voice Of the bird, and a
! The daughters Of music shall be brought low:
% Also when they shall be afraid Of th'
II which is high. and fears shall be in the wa
r and the almond tree shall flourish, and ID
,b grasshoppeT shall be a burden, and desire sha
fail; because man goeth to his long home an
the mourners 30 about the streets:
nd 81 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or th
IL golden bowl be broken, the pitcher b
broken at the fsuntain, OF the wheel broken a
l' the cistern
ne . Then shall the dust return to the earth a
ef it was; and the Spirit shall return to unit
"A God who gave IT,"
= have already spun out this contribution t
too great length. I shall probably resum
! the subject for your next Sundays paper
: closing for the present with the simple injunc
!. tiOa, " Search the Scriptures ~ 1t is too tru
that with great many the only alternative
left is to search the scriptures, or die the dealt
hat Is CteraaI. ITHURIEL.
!. BToGRAPHY OF COL BENTON
:, From the New American Cyelopsils, Vol. III. To b
published Eb5ut June !. 1855.
THOMAS Hart BENTON, an American states
man and Senator for the State OF Missouri
was born near Hillsborough, Orange county
n. C., March Il, 1882. His father died when
be was eight years old; his early sdueatioH
! was imperfect; be was for some time at a
grammar school, and afterward at Chapel Hill,
the University Of North Carolina, but finished
no course Of study there, as his mother re-
moved to Tennessee to settle on a tract Of land
belonging to his fathers estate. Thomas
studied law and soon rose to emnence IN that
profession. He was now elected to the Begis-
latuTe, serving only single term, during which
he procured the passage Of a law reforming
the judicial system, and of another giving to
slaves the benefit OF jury trial, the same as
white men. One Of hIs earliest friends and
patrons was Andrew Jackson, at that time
Judge Of the Supreme Court, and subsequently,
Major General Of the State militia Benton
became MS aid-de-csmp, and during the war
also raised a regiment Of volunteers. II WAS
from that service he derived the title Of Colo
nel, which has clung TO hin through life. Not
withstanding the close intimacy between Jack
son and himself, which was Of the most cordial
and unreserVed character, a rude and sudden
rupture took place in which severe pistol and
dagger wounCs were given, and produced
! rencoUnteT that estraDged them for many years
| After the volunteers were disbanded, Mr.
I Madison appointed Col Benton, in 1913,
Lieutenant Colonel in the army, but on his
way to serve in Canada, ia 1914, be heaId the
news If the peace and resigned. He now re-
moved to Missouri, and took up his abode in
the city Of ST. Louis IN 1915. There he de-
voted himself anew to his professina. Soon,
however, engaging in the politics of the day,
be was led TO the establishment Of a newspaper
entitled The Missouri .4Tgas. In this position
be was involved IN many dispates and couten-
tions. Duels were usual at that time, and be
had his share Of them with their unhappy con-
] "a una of vi uTaa ed
upon him, he killed bis opponent, Mr.. Lucas
an event be deeply regretted and all he private
papers relating TO which he has destroyed.
His journal took a strong aud vigorous stand in
favor Of the admission Of Missouri, notwiih-
standing her slavery coustitut on, aud when tue
angry controversy was terminated be was re-
Warded fer his labOrs By being chosen one OF
the first Senators from the new State. Il is
from this peTiOi lS20, that his political history
and the great influence be has exeTted upon
public affairs may be said to date A man in
the early prime Of life, possessed Of a cog-
mandiHg intellect, Of large and liberal culture,
an assiduOus student, Industrious, temperate,
resolute, and endowed with memory whose
tenacIty was marvellous, be soon placed him
self in the front rank ef those who shaped the
I councils Of the nation As representative
of the West with the manifold interests Of a
frontier population intTusted to his care, Col
Benton forthwith devoted himself to securing
a reform in the land system Of the General
Government. A pioneer himself in early life,
he sympathized with the demands of that
class, aud bis familiarity with the admiuistra-
tion OF government taught him how fallacious
and suicidal was the policy Of attempting 10
derive a revenue from such source. The
general distress which prevailed throughout
the country in 1920, and which bore with es-
pecial hardship upon the land purchasers of
the West. attracted attention to this subject,
D 4 IL - a. Es-E-
taken by Congress in iberaliZing the system.
A measure Of relief devised By Mr.. Crawford,
Secretary Of the Treasury, changing all future
sales 70 the cash basis, reducing the price to
I 81 % Fer acre, and allowing discount equal
to the difference to former purchasers, afforded
material relief.
I But this was not all that was needed. First,
| pre-emptive right to all actual settlers; sec
Ondly, a periodic reduction according to the
| time sections had been in market, so as to
make the prices correspond with the quality
/ and thirdly. the donation Of h0mesteads 70 i'm
poverished but Industrious persons who would
cultivate the soil for a given period of years,
and thereby develope the resources Of the
country-thess were all points essential to the
/ zee ied reform. Col. Benton appFehended the
/ full scope Of these changes, and determined to
/ persist in urging them Gntil they should be ac-
complished The years 2S24, 1926, 1928, ac-
cordingly found him doing battle for such
smsiiorstion Of the entire system. A bill EN-
/ bracing these features was moved BY him and
renewed annually until it at last took hold upon
I the public mind. At fast his speeches at
trNcted more attention throughout the country
I than in Congress, for there his efforts were
| counteracte by schemes for dividing the pub
/ lie lands or the proceeds Of their sales among
I the Safes. His hrmness and position IN the
Senate as a supporter Of the administration Of
JacksoR, gave him great weight with that
party, nd be was thus enabled 80 far to i'm
/ press bis views upon the President that they
were embodied in one OF bis messages, and from
/ that date the ultimate triumph OF land reform
became only question Of time. In his own
State Of Missouri, there were large quantities
/ Of saline and mineral lands. which it had been
the object Of the General Government to with
draw from sale and farm out. This injurious
monopoly was also aimed at in his measures,
and he succeeded in efecting change which
! threw all open TO occupancy.
! Ultimately blended with the same subject,
/ and moved by the same considerations, were
the efforts which he began during the first term
| Of his Senatorial service, to effect repeal Of
the impOsts upon all necessaries of life. These
duties bore with great hardship upon the popu-
latiOn Of the Valley Of the Mississippi. 1t
was a tribute levied upon them in part to sus-
tain Government and in part to protect special
| interests. Ia some cases this was most une-
quail as well as oppressive, and we may cite the
salt tax as one that at that time met with more
hostility than any other. Daring the session
Of Is29-30, Col. Benton delivered the first slab-
/ crate argument against tkis burden upon
prime necessary, and Afterwards followed it up
IN such a manner al TO effect it's repeal. IN d.
recting adventure TO explorations in the far West
! IN 6Ning the attention Of Government upon the
carly occupancy of the mOu h Of the Columbia, in
eBcours ging overland transit from the Atlantic
10 the Pacific, Col. B sntOn was also prominent.
He bad previously devoted himself 10 these
subjects and written largely upon Them in 1919,
/ and no sooner had he taken his seat in the Sen
a.e than be made direct efforts to engage Con-
gress and the public IN the great enterprise.
From the researches Of Clark and Rogers, fTou
the suggestions OF Jefferson, from reports OF
trappeTs and yoysgenrs, and from the courses
Of ihe continental streams, be first elaborated
the project OF overland connection; and as
science expanded, and knowledge OF the inter-
yening wilderness became more dshnite, bis
views took form in tie proposals which are now
solargely occupying Fublic attention for great
central railway. The route urged by him as
preferable to all others is through the passes
of the Rocky Mountains discovered BY FIRE.
mont. known as the COochetope, and debOucb-
, ing upon California through gaps in the Sierra
Nevada. For many years be was the leading
advocate and support in the Senate OF the
whole scheme Of Western exploration.
Il will thus be seen that Col. Benton became,
almost ct the outset Of bis career, the exponent
/ OF Western interests, and though largely par
ticipsting in all the great measures aud Polit-
I ieal struggles that separated parties, he never
neglected what was due to bis own immediate
E constituency. The success which has already
attended land reform. the Enlistment Of pre-
T emption, the graduation Of price, The dona'
tions to works Of public improvement, all trace
: their origin to his continuous labors- In sub
ordination to these leading objects, be likewiss
did much to open up and protect the trade with
New Mexico, to encourage the establishment Of
n military stations on the Missouri and through
ont the interior, to cultivate amieable relations
Z with Indian tribes, and to favor the eommeret
Of our inland seas that now bear such wealth
of freights. The marking out Of post-Toads
and securing appropriations for their mainte
: nance, was especially work of his own un'