The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1877-08-23
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENCE.

=
| ular army, and though | had often been
| in the same room before, I had on this
occasion an opportunity to look at the
| portraits on the walls with considerable
| leisure This was dne TO the fact that /
conrteously waited for an elderly gentle
men TO precede me iii his business with
! Tie Sc rotary. He happened to be ssine-
| thing Of a bore in the spceehiEying line,
ard consequently had time 70 lock
about ME and examine the paintings with
some care Let me make this honf's
/ ssudy-for SO long did the venerable GUS
toner aforesaid continue TO chuck his
eloquence into the ears of McCrary- the
| topic of portion of this epis:!c.
SOME DISTINGUISHED HEADS OF TIE WAR
DEPARTMENT.
The portraits, each tine oil painting,
of no less than sixteen Secretaries of War
s;iorn the walls Of The secretarv's, ov,
Office. First chrnnologisan-s ~; among
/ The first America. Statesman is John C.
SsiilosD lis portal. h.css ssas tic
! I, Centre OF the east wall, and is an uncom-
monty fine work of nss, giving one an
adnsiring conception of The great intelli-
gence and intellectual force Of that Illus
trious eonspirator- statesman. Looking
en- the upright hair, the eye of fire, the
determined expression of the man gener.
ally, thought he could be properly
/ described only in the words of Milton:
Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell.s
This remarkable man was Secretary OF
War during Monroe's administration
from December 1917 till he became Vice
President in March 1925.
Right above him on the wall is the por.
trait of John B. Floyd. who was Buchan-
sn's Secret iry of War till December 1850,
when he seeded" On his right is JEFF.
ferson Davis, who had preceded Floyd
in the office. This is the best picture OF
the 'arcii-iraitor' as he is so often called,
that have ever seen. On the left OF
Floyd is an admirable painting of Gener-
al w. ". Belknap, whose misfortunes
in office have brought forth the tears OF
indignation of the American people ac-
cording as they have judged ehariiably
or sternly as to his participation in the
! high crimes and misdemeanors with
1 which he stands charged in history. Be
| ing among the former / could but keenly
regret the singular juxtaposition of The
| portraits on the east wall-Calhoun, JEFF.
Davis, Floyd. Belknap. Surely no man
can count his life happy or miserable I'M
| ill it is ended
| But let me hasten on. The north wall
is graced with the portraits of George W.
cr~-~ferir Of Georgia, Secretary of War
under President Taylor; Charles Nj. Con
rad, Of Louisiana, who filed the office I'M
der the President of Fillmore; and vii
liam L. Marcy who was at the head of the
department during Folks administration.
and, of course. throughout nearly the
whole period of our war with Mexico
Marcy was great man and an honest, as
was shown by his whole political history
as Judge, Governor, Senator, Secretary oi
War, Secretary of State. Nevertheless
he was the author of one of the mos
harmful of Americansaws, often attribu
ted to others To theyictors belong tn,
spells of Office"
On the south wall we have portraits o.
Gen Lewis Cass, prominent in our pol.
i,ics for fifty years. Judge Joseph Holt
Secretary during the latter months of Blu
chanan's term; and Gen. John A. Raw
Inns for some time under Grant Above
the mantel, on the west side of the room
| are magnificent portraits of General.
Grant, Sherman. and Schofield, our mos
distinguished modern captains who hav'
s---s -i.srera i.f tha. denarfment of War
On,the same side of the room, and direc
| tiy fronting lie Sccrctary's desk are por
traits of Simon Cameron, Edwin H. Stan
ton, and AIonzo Taft.
Thus is the list complete from the tim,
that Polk became President to Hayes
with the exception of Dor. Cameron, ant
/, yiih The addition of Calhoun Of the eldel
time. Every one must agree that these
paintings. all of which are much better
works of art than can be seen every day
/ firm a study of exceeding interest
/ There is q world of suggestiyeness il
them to The student of American politics
Half the men represented here are dead
and two more, JEFF. Davis and Belknap
have seen the last of earth in political
affairs. Among all the eminent men whf
have attained this position in the pas
few if any did so at so early an age a.
McCrary, the present Incumbent. lie
has already had many exceptional du-
ties thrust upon him by the singular sit
uat,on of affairs but it is only justice to
say that he has performed them all with
rare fidelity, promptness. and vigor.
George w McCrary is thoroughly west
! ern. doubt whether lie was ever as faI
east rs Ohio till about the time he was
elected to Congress nine years ago He
! was born in Indiana. lived short time in
Illinois. but has spent nearly the whole
of his life in Iowa. He is q imam Of the
| people, modest, unassuming.. and with
out the popinjay graces Of what is called
polite society. But he is man of IN
commonly good judgment and of rare
genius for affairs. He is, in fine, a states
man. You may be certain it viii not be
long till his portrait will be regarded as
| that of a man equal to any OF his distin-
| guishea predecessors in the War office.
x..x, u .ttst,f IA s.;.s tbs ieSt r..for.