Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1874-12-10
From rorpey., fphIIaaeIphlsl Press ]


Tennessee, brother of Preslden'
Polk, rare good fellow, as tht
phrase goes, of Infinite Wit and good
nature, said on one occasion, when
certain gentleman was accidentally
nominated for the first Office in tht
oaton, Il must take care or the
lightning may strike me nobody Il
safe after that" He was in Congress
from 1851 to 1853, and there was not
a day he did not brighten with 8
Joke. II he were living now-he
lied at Nashville; a defiant enemy
of the rebellion, December Is, 1867
he would find source of grea,
amusement in the list eff possible oil
probable candidates for the Presi.
dency in 1876; and without wound
ing any sensibiIities he would score
each of them and make every socla
circle ring with his happy hits. Let
mo try to enumerate the catalogue
excluding Gen. Grant, who, whether
an aspirant for third term or not
has been so often described that i,
would be lost time to reproduce his
familiar picture.
Oliver Perry Morton, of lndlaoa,
born in Wayne county, Indiana, Au'
gust 4, 1923. A face OF singular
force and mobility, very pale, set of
oy sparkling black eyes slightly
bald, with a broad expansive brow,
and the manners of the West, chas-
tened By society and study; fine
speaking powers instructive execu-
tive tastes an admirable organizer,
and the magnetism not always found
IN ambitious men. He is Republic
can of advanced views, and enters
the race with the Western sentiment
at his back, splendid war record,
and pledged to liberal increase OF
the circulating medium Afflicted
by a numbness of his lower limbs,
and often confined to his bed, he is
nevertheless a great traveller, and
his stump speeches are models OF
logic and good temper. He is never
coar Sc, though always bold and often
severe. He is now in the Senate
his term expires March 3, 1875, and
no lives at the Eobit House.
Morton's political and personal
antipodeS is Thomas A. Hendricks,
Democrat, present Governor OF In
nana, born 10 Washington county,
Ohio, September 7, 1919. Studied
aw and completed his studies AZ
| Cham bersburg, Pennsy lvaDia.in 1843
sF,sr winch n6 soLLteu IA AuuIo"s'-
md soon rose in succession to most
# the fl in the gift of the peo-
pls Legislature, Congress, United
States Senator, aud now Governor.
President Pierce made him Commits
sioner of the General Land OH 50.
An excellent man every way. Cool,
4agacious, persuasive, his gentle
manners and pleasant cOuntenance
add to his influence. | know no
aspirant for the Democratic nomina-
lion that would make better Presi-
tent. He and Morton agree on the
urrency. but differ about everything
lse. Hendricks in complexion Is
light, and in tns is the exact oppo-
ute of his dark skinned Republican
competitor.
James Gillespie Blaine. of Maine
Speaker of the present House, porn
IN Washington county, Pennsylvania,
n 1880, graduated at Washington
college, same county, in 1847, then
moved to and married in Maine, be-
came editor of the Kennebec journal
and the Portland Advertiser, four
years in the Maine Legislature, two
# them Speaker of the House; 10
1862 chosen to Congress from the
Third or Augusta district; and has
been reelected to every succeeding
term. Is now Speaker of the Houte e;
first elected in 1871, and again in
1873. There is solid metal here. A
foe physique, excellent habits, varied
-tudy, great energy, ready orator,
with ringing voice prompt and
decisive, he holds over three hundred
members and delegates 10 check with
firm and strong hand. And this Is
40 light task. When Henry Clay
was speaker he made great fame by
his manner, in fact, almost as much
as when be got to the Senate after
wards. And yet the House over
which ne lorded and ruled, which he
rode, reined in, and for ten years
spurred, had oDly eightv-four meD-
bers in 1914, which gradually be-
came in his Speakership, of 1873,
1873. They were frey and untamed,
but he was equal to them. When
they threatened be threatened when
they said severe things he retorted
bitterly, and moro than once he came
| down from the chair to lash some
rude adversary into silence. 1t was
a word and 8 challenge with him
always.
There is as much difference between
the Speaker OF the House and the
President of the Senate of the Uni
ted States as there is between the
master of a school of half-grown
boys and the professor of class OF
sober students. Tue Speaker has an
occasional rest, but there is hardly a
lay that all his powers of mind and
body are most severely tested. The
President of the Senate is nearly
always at ease. Decorum is the
rule of the Senate-decorum of speech,
of dress, of manners; and hence he
ats for hours and days in statue-Iike
illness, only broken by his taking
or stating q question. The Speaker
of the House is like the captain OF
an ocean steamer. He must be on
the qu uipe all the time.
| Untike Henry Clay, Mr.. Blaine
was not Speaker of the House pre-
oeding great war. Perhaps the
most brilliant period of Mr.. Clay's
eallY Life was that between 1911 and