The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1872-07-03

vi SptttH W DlCu W u pfOuounCtu " tH
ly leading anti-slayery journals TO b
Up the fullest and most comprehensive
Is speech on the slavery question tina
j. had been made in any Legislative bod
st in the country, and the resOlutio
ID vas adopted in the House by 90 ma
f. majority
1t He was elected a delegate to tn
l. Wing National convention Of 184S
:, and on the rejection of anti-slavery
d resolutions by the convention, h,
d withdrew-seccded-from it and tool
It a prominent part in organizing til,
r Free Soil party Of that year. III,
y purchased the Boston Republican, {
n daily newspaper, which he edited fol
7 two years. In lS49 be was chosen
: chairman Of the Free Soil State Com
t mittee of Massachusetts, a post which
e he actively filled for four years. In
5 1850, and again in 1851, he was chos-
z en- State Senator, and during both
/ terms was president of the Senate
In 1852 he was made president of the
: Free Soil convention, at Pittsburgh,
; and chairman of the National Com
: mittee of the Free Soil party. In
the same year he was the Free Soil
candidate for Congress in the Eighth
district of Massachusetts, in which
the majority against the Free Soilers
exceeded 1900, and he failed of an
election by only ninety-three votes.
He was elected to the Constitution
al convention of 1858, not only by his
own town of Natick, but by the town
of Berlin and and took a prominent
part in the deliberation of that body.
In the same year he was the Free
+ Soil candidate for Governor and was
defeated.
7 In 1855 he was elected to succeed
Edward Everett in the United States
Senate, and shortly after taking his
seat made a speech advocating the re-
peal of the fugitive slave law and the .
abolition of Slavery in the District of
Columbia He has ever since been
conspicuous in the Senate as an earn
est advocate of anti-slavery measures.
For brief period in 1855 he was
associated with the American party:
but on the adoption of a pro-slavery
platform by the national council of
that party, he withdrew from it and
took and active share in organizing
the Republican party on the basis of
opposition to the extension of slavery.
When in May, 1856, Mr.. Sumner,
his colleague, was assailed BY Preston
5. Brooks, of South Carolina, Mr..
Wilson, in a speech to the Senate, de-
tha act '.I.-".~l '--.--.'c- ;
on the ground that duelling Is bar
barous practice which the law of the
country has branded as a crime, but
stated at the same time that he be-
lieved in the right Of self-defence inlts
broadest sense.
During the four following years
Mr.. Wilson took part in all important
debates in the Senate, and made eiab-
crate speeches remarkable for fullness
and accuracy of statement. ON Kan
sas, the treasury note bill, the ex-
penses of the government, the tariff,
the Pacific Railroad, and many other
topics. His speech in defense of free
labor in reply to Senator Hammond
of South Carolina, March, 1859, at
tanned an immense circulation through
out the free States. In January of
the same year the Massachusetts,
Legislature reelected him to the
United States Senate by nearly a
unanimous vote. On the assembling
of the Senate in March, 1861, he was
made chairman of the Committee on
Military Affairs, a post which the
great civil war rendered one Of un-
precedented labor and great RESPONSE
bilitv.
In this capacity he introduced and
carried through Congress, during the
extra session of 1861, the acts to au-
thOrize the employment of 100000
volunteers, to increase the regular
army, to re-organize the military sys-
TEN, and various others of nearly
equal Importance. 1t was said by
General Scott that Wilson did more
work in that short session than all the
chairmen of the military committees
had done for twenty years, and, In
published letter, dated January 22d,
1862, Mr.. Cameron, then said of him;
mo man in my opinion, in the whole
country. has done more to aid the
War Department in preparing the
mighty army now under arms" In
the regular session Of lS6l-2, Mr..
Wilson introduced the bill abolishing
slavery in the District Of Columbia,
and also the measure for ab0lishing
the "black code"
Ever since that time Mr.. Wilson
has been regarded as one of the ablest
men in the Senate, and one of the
strongest supports of his party. He
has taken prominent part in behalf
of all the important Republican meas
ures that have been passed since the
war. and throughout his senatorial
career has proved himself an efficient
and sensible Senator He is man OF
SlTpDUtE pfuttiCuf Sthot eh'i cNt'sN''
and more magnetic and popular IN
his nature. If elected Nice-President
he will do honor to the Office and the
country. But whether he be elected
to this position or not, Mr.. Wilson de-
serves great credit for having worked
himself up from a!poOr farmers ap-
prentice and the shOemaker's bench to
his present high position as Senator
in the Congress of his country. His +
career has been an honorable one, and
offers encouragement to every poor
boy of fair ability to inform himself
and strive to elevate himself in life.
Wilson is, in all respects, superior 10
Colfax, though the latter has done
very well, and deserves great creuit
for his rise in the world.
The GuiIiotine-
Ii is generally taken for granted
the bebeading instrument used in
France and some other countries of
Europe was invented, or ut least per-