Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-07-04
Mr. GaIIowax,s Letter.

+ Mr. GalIOway's Letter.
EThe following was refused a place in the
columns of the Journal, that paper wishing
only one side to be seen. We publish it
without comment. 1t speaks for itself:l
Mr.. EDITOR The letter of Mr.. Gallo
way, declining the nomination for Lieu
tenant Governor, has just appeared in the
papers. A production so peculiar invites
comment, and propose to examine it.
AMER peremptorily refusing to accept
the honor, Mr.. Galloway proceeds to assign
MS reasons for step which he evidently
considers the end of his career as candi-
date for office. His first reason is, thaehe
never wanted the. Lieutenant Governor
ship, but the Governorship.1 His ambition
being upaodrd In its aspirations, he can
not consent to sink" to so low
position as the second place sson
the ticket. He reminds US what
perhaps we had otherwise forgotten that
at the tender age of thirty three he was
Secretary of State and Superintendent of
Common Schools. and at forty-three, a
member of Congress; and now. after years
of fierce politicabstrife, in which his tolls.
utterances and sacrifices have ,equalled
those OF any other man, he does not pro-
pose to have his "animation suspended"
for eight months of the twenty-tour. Mr..
Galloway's political status is, in our est-
nation, very anomalous one. He does
not, either as a man among men, or as an
Office seeker, among office seekers, stand
on the common plane of humanity. He
hangs, like Mahomet's coffin, between
heaven and earths and though he may
rise to Governor, he must sink to
Lieut.. Governor. g... 5"..f,f ~
This is a sad and melancholy result, after
so many tolls and sacrifices, and he may
well be a warning to that ''vaulting ambi-
ton overlapping ITSELF" and which, in
| stead of falling on the "other" side, con-
tinues to hang, helpless and sprawling, an
object of laughter to the many and pity to
the few. As second cause for declining
| he asserts that he is unfit for the duties of
presiding officer of the Senate; his "tem-
perament' is too "mercurial;" the quick
silver in his veins will not suffer him to sit
! still in that chair he must speak. N o one
who knows him will dispute his untitness.
| But on the other hand, how far this rest
less vanity and confessed inability to hold
his tongue, supereminently fit him for that
other chair. where there can be little or no
ex-officio speaking, we shall now, alas,
never know by experience. Lastly, Mr..
Galloway pleads iil-health. This might
| seem superfueus. After saying that
he did not want, and was
not fit for the second office, and did want and
was fit for the first office, we might have
| rested satisfied. His health is not sufficient
for place he has no stomach for. Posi-
| bly, the balmy, emOllient plaster of q Gu
6e,adtcrial nomination might have sootled,
or even cured, his bronchial or other irri-
tations, and made welcome the sacrifices
of his s'pecuniary interests and social and
domestic comforts" If Mr.. Galloway, be
the man he claims to be in every line of
this remarkable letter, his unequalled abil-
| ties would have made him the leader in the
coming canvass, whoever might nomi-
nally bear the baton, and the fact
that he looked only for the Sec
ond office could not have enfeebled
his mercerial brain, or palsied his irrepres-
| sible tongue. His zeal for .'rnan's redemp-
tion would have carried him triunphantly
onward. facile princeps among all aspirants,
and looking to no such vile motive as the
recompense of reward. He tells US that he
is not surprised or disappointed" that he
was not chosen as the standard bearer; he
| ''foresaw his coming destiny and calmly
met it. A man so well prepared, and so
little disturbed, should not now lose his
philosophic dignity, and grumble like. the
angry boy, Johns got the biggest
piece" But the = truth is, Mr..
Galloway has foreseen his destiny so
often that he has got tired, and what is
| worse, he. perceives that his party is tired
too. Therefore, although his politics are
"radicated" on the 9th verse of the 1st
chapter of Genesis, and his love for human
ity in its fullest development embodied in
the cardinal idea of the "great apostle" he
is nevertheless exceedingly sore; and he
darkly intimates .'treachery" and speaks of
the spontaneous offerings of loyal hearts
''untainted and unpurchased" by any sac
rifice of manhood" Surely these be Bit
ter words. Does he really mean somebody,
or is all this the outpouring of mortified
vanity, disappointed ambition and a long
ing to work out "man's redemption as Gov
ernor of Ohio? 1t is hard to refrain from
laughing at the exhibition Mr.. Galloway
has made of himself in this letter. Indeed,
nobody, trys to refrain, and the guffaW is
universal. Seriously we should like to see
him as Governor, mounted on horseback,
with chapeau, sash, sword and epaulette, at
the head of one of those legions of the ssun-
purchased manhood" who are recorded in
Mr.. GallowaY's "noblest magma charta."
ga thing of beauty is Il joy forever. and
one such beatific vision would almost rec
oncile us to the corrupt rascality, and base
ingratitude of the Convention, as shadowed
forth in Mr.. Galloway's philippe. But
enough, and too much of this big little man
thus suddenly squelched; may his shadow
never be less, and his profile never be more
perfectly drawn than be has. done it him
self in this magnanimous letter.
,7... - UNPuRcHAsED MANHOOD.