Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1877-11-09
The Late sanatOr Morton.

his death Will be regarded as the death
of any great, intellectual man viii be
regarded, rs a national loss. One by
one The States are claiming place on the
roll of illustrious statesmen who have dc.
parted for the names of their sons. In
diana to-day asks that she be represented
on that roll by the name, of Oliver p.
Morton, the most distinguished of. her
sons she has yet given TO the country.
The list of Americans who have won
fame in civil life, who have succeeded in
overshadowing even military glory by
high aims and glorious actions, is not
so long but it,can be called over readily
The statesmen Of the Revolutionary pc
riod form, of course, class by them
selves. With the exception of Hamil-
ton, the majority of these men were in
time made Executive rulers of the ma.
tion. With the advent of Gen. Jackson
new class of statesmen came upon the
stage, and among the most eminent of
these how few attained the Presidency
Webster and Clay, Calhoun, Wright,
Writ and Benton will live honored in the
memory of the nation when many of their
more successful rivals shall be forgotten
| Everett, Seward, Douglas and Chase will
! A'Ai hO iOoo hohOlCu pdSCS III ulSlOIl Dt-
cause other men were preferred for higher
places than they attained. Mr. Morton's,
public career has been a long one for so
young a man. In carly life he had been
Democrat; but after the passage Of the
Kansas Nebraska bill he left that party
and helped to organize the Republican
party of Indiana in 1854. He bounded
to the leadership of the new party in
his State, and for twenty three years he
has been an autocrat, without rival or
heartburn. No Republican in Indiana has
ever contested the leadership with him, or
sought to thwart him in the councils of the
party. His wish has been law among the
Republicans in that State. He was a
natural born leader, and ruler of men
by virtue of brain-power and force of
will. In 1856, only two years after the
Republican party was formed, he ran as
its candidate for Governor, and made a
most vigorous and brilliant canvass,
stumping almost every county, and,
while he failed of an election by less
than 5000 votes in poll of a quarter of
million, he ran ahead of every other
candidate on his ticket, and established
his unchallenged leadership during the
rest of his life. His official life began
with the breaking out of the rebellion,
less than twenty years ago, but into
those brief years have been crowded
greater labors, more active efforts, untir-
ing energy and zeal than are met with in
the ordinary lifetime of most men. In
1850, just on the eve of the war, he was
made Governor of the State of Indiana,
and that, with the exception of single
year on the Circuit Bench, was the be.
ginning of his official life. Up to that
time he was little known outside the linn
its of Indiana. His election as Governor
seems, in the light of subsequent events,
to have been providential. The great
executive abilities of the man were at
once developed. His services and labors
during the four years of the war were
extraordinary, and have passed into his
tory. He well merited the title he OBJ.
tained of "The Great War Governor"
Had man of different politics, or even
one OF less courage and power Of will,
held that office during that critical time,
who can measure the disasters and ca.
lamitous consequences that would proba.
bly, have befallen the country ? i" ~ trr
From the Governors office, to which
he had been reelected in 1864 by more
than 2O,OOO majority, he was elected to
the Senate IN 1867. He entered it dur
ing the period of reconstruction, and,
though he had previously never been a
member of any legislative body, ne at
once took high rank among the most
eminent men of the Senate. 1t is hardly
needed to add that the ten years during
which he was Senator have been
marked by an unbroken series of personal
triumphs.
In what may be called rough. and
tumble debate, he was by all odds the
most powerful man in that chamber of
strong men. No man grappled him in
that kind of discussion but got bruised
and hurt in the fall. His opening
speeches were always campaign docu.
ments, which laid down the platform and
furnished tlN arguments and facts in its
support.
+ He was not a learned man, nor could
he be styled o scholar, as those terms are
generally understood. He was not a
graceful orator; he lacked the polish and
the elegance possessed by many men far
his interiors. But he was not the less
elective. He was bold, determined,
positive, and dogmatic; he carried con
viction to the minds of his hearers by the
force and logic of his language, by the
earnestness of his manner, and by the
deep sense of his own sincerity. He was
fierce in his resentments, bitter in his
denunciations, intolerant in his opposi.
tion, strong in his party prejudices, ex-
treme in his policies and aggressive al
ways. He knew little of what men un.
derstand as forbearance.a Believing him.
self right, he rejected all that did not
meet 8his' approval as wrong, and wrong
he pursued most vigorously. His op.
ponent in politics he treated as public
enemy, and against that enemy he waged
a sleepless, unrelentiDg war. He en-
tered public life in the active prosecu-
tion of the men who had rebelled against
the Government and the laws, and his
last public utterance, few weeks since,
on the far'off coast of Oregon, was, in
general tone, such as he might have de.
livered ten years ago. During his dis
tressing illness, however, he sent to the
President strong words of encourage
ment and commentator. .r.l. ~.
His dying wish was to prevent rupt-
ure between the President and the Re.
publican members. In the main he cor
daily indorsed the course and policies of
Hayes. His last public utterance, given
to the country few days ago, was al
expression of faith in President Hayes
and in the outcome of his Southern poll
cy of peace and reconciliation. He APP
plauded the new departure, and demand
ed that the Republicans in Congress
should not embarrass the Administration
by factious opposition either to measures
or appointments, but should do every
thing in their power to promote harmony
between the Administration and the
| party, which have common interest.
Senator Morton was prominent can
didate for the Presidential nomination
in the Cincinnati Convention, and, had
his health been sound, he would probably
have been nominated; but an apprehen-
sion filled the minds of the delegates
| that disease had such hold of his system