National Republican., 1873-12-18
rDEuAGoGUEs IN CONGRESS" "

A Democratic cotcmpomry Of acknowl.
edged rank and conceded ability In that
party snys, In q recent article: Tho in
spirstions Of the country are rich and
abundant, yet they seldom flower out into
the form Of great statesman. Aitcr such
war, and such recupcntivc vitality, and
such reconstruction Of general order, 1t Is
ather the great men to whom the country
has already been indebted for such results
and upon whose sagnciiy the people depend
for the great practical measures which shall
be commensurate with the resources Of q
nation like this" This passage occurs in an
editorial written under the caption Of
''Dcmagogucs in Congress. and Is Of
course Intended as slur upon the leaders
Of the Republican party in that body.
During the hast two or three years 1t has
become the fashion everywhere, and es-
pccially In the press and In current litcn-
turc, to severely criticise public men, and
10 condemn them in many instances
without reason. Some ono has said
that the telegraph has killed oratory
In Congress. It has also killed greatness.
II has shorn statcsnanship Of the glamour
that enveloped 1t twenty five years ago.
The generations that knew Mr.. Clay and
Mr.. Benton, Mr.. Jackson and Mr.. Calhoun
saw only one side Of them, and that their
better side. They were always upon dress
parade. The public never saw them in
every day life. They were c,ernally upon
the stage IN the most dramatic OF attitudes
and situations. In these utter days NIL this
has been changed. Our public men arc
photographed in thousand Journals every
hour and minute Of the day: subjected 10 Il
scrutiny closer than public men in any
country; and the portraits are scanned
morning after morning by millions who. ~
n general rule. accept the Judgment OF the
artist upon the merits or dcmcriis OF lhr
work
Again. this Is an age of iconoclasn-an
age fatal TO hero worship. We have no
idols and villa, is more VIC do not desire
10 have any The late war has IN more
Ways than -. ., been of immense adsantagc
70 tho country. 1t made MS not only a read,
ing. but thinking pcople-madc the daily
Journal as essential 10 thc community Of n
thousand people as the rarson and the school
teacher. The currents Of thought and &C.
ton have changed. We have turnc,l n
cycle in our development and stand upon a
higher intellectual plane than We stood cvoI
before? The voice that would have arrested
oir fathers in the stage coach thirty years
ago Is lost in the whil and roar Of the loco.
motive. In our quicker methods In our
more active, vigorous life, impressions arc
less easily made. and he who would stamp
his image upon his generation in any walk
must have extraordinary opportunities OF
ovcrshadowing ability. We average better
than VIC did when the great men whom we
80 much revere were with us, and, in The
@mc ratio, are more cxsctiug In our dr.
mands upon tlIusc who would sit In the
seais OF the statesmen oi the last generation
The criticism of our co,cmp0rary is com.
mon one. Of no great depth, and of very
little force Looking at Congress 10 day it
compares ihvombly with even the Con.
grcsses u which We poin, with 50 tender u
reverence. Conlsling nnd Morton, Ed
muuds and Carpenter, Sumner and Howe,
Schurz and Thurman and Bayard are men
Of the very highest order of ability. In the
House Butler and Dawes, Garfield and IRE.
maine. KaSson and Kelley, Beck and Nib.
lack. Marshall and Potter and Cox are OF
no mean height when measured by the
highest standard Of Congress. The
majority Of us did not discover
hat Lincoln was The greatest Of our
Presidents until he was laid In the
tomb ut Springfield. Mr.. Seward was al.
most without honor at the very time thai
he was conducting diplomatic correspond.
encc The most difficult in al our history.
No man welded more influence in Il great
party, led II with more Glllantry. inspired
II with more courage than Thadlcus Ste.
vens, The shadows Of these mcn become
larger and larger as they rcccdc into lhC
past, and already we begin 10 forgot in the
splendor Of their deeds the events which
have made our earlier statesmen illustrious
We must moi be loo cxacling. Congress /,
not entirely Of demagogues and pnslerity
win not, we are certain. altogether forget 8
score OF men upon the one side and the
other who are now shining marks ior id
cule and condemnation.