The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1879-05-06
WOODsFIELD MONROE COUNTY, OHIO TUESDAY, MAY g. 1879

Washington Post.
Allen G.. Thurman, President of
Tho Senate.
The de jure President of the United
States, whose portrait accompanies this
article, is Allen G. Thurman, ot Ohio,
who was on Tuesday chosen president
pro tempore of the Uai:ed States Senate.
By the terms of the c institution, when
there is vacancy in the Presidential and
Vice Presidential Office, as there now is
-Messrs. SamuclJ Tilden and Thom
as A. Hendricks having failed 10 qualify
and assume the duties Of the Offices to
which they were respectively elected.
the presiien' pro tempore of the Senate
hecomes the acting President of the
United States. To this Office Mr.. Thur
man was yesterday chosen.
Mr.. Thurman is now in the sixty-sixth
year OF bis age. and In the thirty urth
year Of nearly continuous public ser
vice, either as make: or an expounder
Of laws. Born at L nchburg, Va i, in No
vember, 1913, and removing with his
parents 10 Ohio in 1919, his early train
ing was substantially that Of q pioneer
not, indeed, Of the school whose disc:-
PIES carried their lives in their hands and
their fortunes on their backs-the first
settlers OF the great West-hut rather of
that class who followed in the footsteps
Of corqutsl to build the palaces Of peace
ful civilization upon the ruins Of the red
mans wigwam. When Thurman FIRST
saw the soil OF OHIO be was child Of
six years, and it might not be an ipapt
simile to sav the incident was the joining
Of two des'inies-that Of the future man
and the future common wealth. Oie of
the best abused phrases of our vernacu-
lar is growing up with the country" o
phrase which. in Mr.. Tuuiman's case,
has as | teral meaning as it is possible
to convey in words. The growth. in this
instance, has been almost exactly para
llel, and TO carry the analogy to it's cor
clusion it might be added that as stands
Ouio in the list OF states 80 stands Thur
man on the roster OF statesmen-with
but one step more to reach the head. It
is not our purpose, in the present sketch.
to deal with dry details of biography
The character Of Senator Thurman is q
topic of greater interest than survey Of
his career would be.
Taking Mr.. Thurman as he stands, we
end man somewhat above middle sta
ture, with the traces of his sixty six years
mainly confined to his hair and whis-
kers, and owing whatsoever Of enervs-
tion that m " he his lot rather to the lax
Of intense labor than to the ravages OF
time or the inroads of disease. He has
shared the common fate Of those who
sacrifice the body to the mind In the
shape Of legacy Of small ails and little
ills shich do not shorten ones days so
much as they lengthen ones nights now
and then with t. mporary suffering. But,
barring these, Mr.. Thurman is the young
est man of his age now prominent 10 our
public life. .Tae cut which accompanies
this sketch, though accurate from its
point of view, does not fairly convey the
expression OF the mar. The best view
of Mr.. Thurman's face is the full front,
and even that is superior to the art OF
portraiturc. We have never seen any
picture of Mr. Thurman which did not
represent him as an austere man, grave
at all times and under all circumstances,
not one Of them ever conveying the
slightest intimation of what is really the
most salient element in his composition
Ibis ovelfl,w OF qIalnt humor, which
would be cruel il it we're not quite so
droll, and which at times would approach
lcynicism il its conceits we're not 80 queer.
In point OF fact, gravity is one Of Mr..
Thurman's studies. He has, indeed, ac-
q1ired the status Of thinker and logici-
40 in public life, but those who know him
well know that not the least OF his efforts
has been to suppress or keep in hand q
levity of conception and drollery Of no
tion, which, under other schooling, might
easily have given him the less comma :
ding though, perhaps. not less com 'orta.
ble reputation ofa wit and satirisi. o.
casionally tue rollicking instinct gets the
better Of the studied thought, even in the
Senate. and there is fash Of humor
from the ordinarily sombre front Of the
Democratic le.der.
II have in times past" said Hoar, on
one occasion, "been q traveller in foreign
lands. have seen the glorious sun rise
over Nom B ong," and so or.
Whether it was the fa' -felchedness OF
the application, or the affectation Of the
incident, or both, that reused the sleep
ing leopard of Thurman's wit, need not
be inquired. But something did for be
rose to say that while he had never seen
the glorious sun rise over "Mom Blong,
he had observed the insidious miasma
steal up from Kidwell bottoms. which left
the rest of his retort struggling vainly
fer the attention OF the Senate and the
galleries in competition with a rosr oil
merriment at the expense of tue spects-
cIed egolist Of Massachusetts,, whose
chief characteristic is his habit OF play
ing tie role of Jeremy Diddler inthe cast
off buskins Of Daniel Webster.
The groundwork OF Mr.. Tuurm IN 5
character is a love Of frankness, col
tempt for affectations aud horror oi
shams. As debater, which is, oil
course, the centre-piece of his public rt :
pu,ation, NJ. Thurman is one of the
plainest, rlearest and most perspicuous
men who ever addressed the Senate. He
wastes no time on the ornate parts oi
o'atory, and paws but little attention to
even the more ordinary eleganciss of die
ton, striving rather to present matter
than to cultivate manner, and to make on
impression upon the intellect than 10
produce an effect upon the fancy of his
audience.
As politician he works altogether to
ends, valuing himself as an instrumen-
tality or a means, and accepting bis own
personal destiny as an incident in the his
tory which he helps to make for bis time.
His economic creed is as simple as his
methods Of advocating it are straight
forward His one dogma, from which
all his principles radiate, is that the peo-