The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-12-17
Leadership in Congress.

Neither branch of Congress has
any one master spirit who stands
forth as its acknowledged leader.
This has, in fact, been true for
wears. but never was it more apparent
than it is now. When Webster, Clay
and Calhoun were in the Senate. they
stood head and shoulders above all the
rest. Still later, Mr.. Seward and Mr..
Douglas were the conceded leaders of
their respective parties, but in the Lee
compton struggle Douglas lost his
sceptre, and when Mr.. Seward retired
from the Hall of Legislation to the
Council Chamber, he left no sue
cessor. Fessenden, Wade, Grimes
and Williams are men of mark, but
to none of them has the Senate, in
any sense, ever said, Rule thou over
us" The same has ever been equally
true in the lower House. Hon. E. B.
Washburne comes the nearest, proba-
bly,, unless we except Speaker Colfax,
to being the leader of the House. He
is its father" having been an M. @.
longer than any of his peers, and
in point of executive ability and
sound judgment upon all matters
of State he is inferior to none.
He is, however, only one Of the lead
ers and not the leader Morrill,, of
Vermont, recently elected to the Sen
ate, and Boutwell,, of Massachusetts,
are the highest authorities in the mat
tiers of finance, but beyond that are
not specially prominent. Some of the
New York papers claim that Roscoe
Conklin, of the Twenty-frst, or Utica,
District, is specially deserving of the
title of leader. Mr.. Conklin is a
courtly gentleman of fine ability, and
should he be chosen to succeed Sena-
tor Harris, as he possibly may, he
would rank high among the members
of the Senate; but he possesses none
of the qualifications of leader. He
is respected rather than admired or
loved. This is mainly because he is a
vain man, and vanity although the
most harmless of failings, is the one
for which the world has the least
charity.
The honor and responsibility of
Congressional leadership which be-
longs in reality to measures and not
to men is continually imputed by the
opposition to Sumner in the Senate,
and Stevens in the House, who of all
others are the least entitled to it..
Each has his own peculiar ideas upon
!, the great issue of the day, differing
somewhat from each other, and still
more from the majority of the Re
publican party, both in Congress and
out. Neither has ever been able to
secure Endorsement for his peculiar
views from any considerable portion
of the party outside of his own i'm
mediate constituency. With indefa-
tigable energy each has striven to
make his policy that of the party and
the nation, but without any measure
of success. What may yet be accom-
plished we do not pretend to foresee,
but even should the final plan of re-
construction approach more nearly to-
theirs than tho present plan does, it
will be the result of Southern per-
verseness rather than of the personal
influence of either Sumner or Stevens.
That they are no nearer the leader
ship than they were formerly was in
Dictated during the first day
of the present session, for both were
voted down by large majorities, and
in the first Republican caucus Thad
Stevens experienced another set
back" Subsequent events have been
in entire keeping with those early in
dications. Whenever they go with
the party they are Endorsed by it, but
the moment they mount their hobbies
they become powerless.
We do not speak of these things to
disparage either Mr.. Sumner or Mr..
Stevens. Both are great and patriotic
men, justly held in high repute. There
is no purer and more upright man in
the nation than Charles Sumner, and
Thad Stevens is generally right, his
hobby aside. There are no two men
IN Congress that attend more closely
to their legislative duties, nor any
two who are more conspicuous; but It
is not the amount of work accom-
plished, nor the notoriety attained,
but the degree of influence welded
that determines ones claim to leader
ship.
As in the party at large, so in Con-
gress, the entire absence of individual
leadership is one of the marked fea-
lures, or proofs, of our advancement
in popular intelligence and real liber-
tV-G hicHOO Journal