The weekly North-Carolina standard., 1869-04-21
'1IIT al u = ~ lIflTt n
Rlalne and COlfaX.

81 Y -
George Alfred Townsend, the well known
Washington correspondent Of the Chicago
Tribune. gives an analysis of, the Com
miteesr of the House appointed by Mr..
Blaine, and awards him much praise for the
skilfu manner in which the, task was per-
formed, He also, draws the following CON
trast between Mr.. Blaine and the lVice-Presi;
dent whom he succeeds as Speaker Of the
House:f ,,.,,,s lr..,jss. .,si.l.... 20 t.s;,l.,.
~ A fine antithetical. study would be that of
| Blaine and his predecessor, Colfax. They are
so like in the averages that one has to
hesitate before he prefers either. Colfax is
a native of the Empire State, Blaine Of the
Keystone Both are, Middle, State men in
| all essentials Of temperament, figure, physi-i
| ognomy and hearty commen-sense patriot
ism. Colfax is accidently a New Yorker,
being by right Jerseyman, and his DISPOSE
ton lacks in some respects the largeness and
"dash "9of the metropolis, retaining in
some small regards the traditional traits of
the State of Camden and Amboy.T Blaine,
with the open cantlor of rural Pennsyl-,
vanian, caught the fire of the Kentuckian as
he taught school in the Blue grass country,
and then he pursued a sweetheart into the
I State of Maine and settled there. He is. a
| fine specimen of how much better Yankee
| is. for having been first a Middle State or a
Western State man. Blaine has all the bet
ter ideas of New England with better man
/ ners. He is long WASTED man, with
shoulders square and ready for the wheel,
and there is an itch to them when he IS
anxious. His eye is piercing and large, his
head is carried handsomely, he has vigorous
legs and arms, and often looks sulderly, as
if cavalry boots and buckskin gauntlets
would become him. He is more manly
parsonage to the eye than Colfax, showing
throughout his live Irish extraction, and he
has wit, perhaps imagination to match. He
Z is strong executive officer, and he directed
the Republican vote OF the State of Maine
last year with zest and energy in which
you could hear his nerves tinglel - p
Colfax, as presiding officer was dis
tinguisbeft for his perfect and available
knowledge of rulings, for the rapidity of his
mind in catching up appeals and trisises and
a the shrewdness with which he distributed
al the committees. Mr.. Kerr of Indiana, re-
Gently said, at Fernando Woods dinner,
& that he WAS as fair presiding officer as an
oPponeht WVuiu eApeCt. 4 MS was luke
/ warm truth. Once or twice Colfax surpris-
| ed me by leaving the chair and Joining in
pitched battle upon some one point affecting
the propriety of his rulings, and hehas dis
played much ceyerness in such debate. He
is one of those anomalous members who
shows far stronger in the presiding chair
than on the floor. siuro9 niaYH l9y5H liz =
l. Speaker Blaines committees are great
Improvement over the former committees of
the House. Particularly is it fortunate that
James A. Garfield, the most gallant in in
telligence of the House, Is put at the head of
the important Committee OF Banks and
Banking. He is the parent of the. sound
financial system adopted late in, the day by
Sherman and the rest and he is the most
systematic and sleepless student in the House
| Of Representatives Garfield never enter
! tanned mean or servile thought, and his
life is like German students in its en-
thusiasm for learning and country, Mr.,
Blaine, in this as in several other cases, has
done himself honor. He has ruled off the
floor the tramps and footpads who dis
graced journalism, and made himself posi-
tive master of the situation. ~. ,,s-, :.