The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1880-06-17

HOW ir Is THAT HE Is ALWAYS READY 70 srEAb
on ANY SUIlECr.

on StucIdl llldlltIS, lIlt btltIdl Sdiu, see
here, what a fine idea this is IN the way
of memoranda OF reading and study, "
and he brought out a large leather bound
blankbook, arranged with indexes and
classification divisions for the name, au-
thor, page and subjects of books, SO that
a student might hoard scraps from his
fugitive readings. This incident changed
the topic, and the General went into an
enthusiastic description of his system OF
study, thereby showing that he had ma
tured it with much thought, and credited
1t with having a great deal to do with
the success OF his eNttmporanc0uS speech
es, the like Of which, for wealth Of ntor-
nation, are not heard in either branch OF
Congress to-day, and have not been for
lAany years. There is a commonplace
saying in the reporters gallery that, when
Garfield chooses to cram on a subject,
there is no man in Washington who can
stand before the
pELUGE OF FACTS
with which he viii oVerwnelm all opposj-
ton He opened his desk and brought
up an armtuI OF large memorandum
books Tor my examination. There We're
many hundreds OF pages filled with scraps
annotatuns, picked sentences. Incidents
and Wlttlc>mS from Il collection of authors
and newspapers, representing the best
thoughts in the llteratnrcs, modern and
ancient, Of almost the entire world Be
side these quotations, there were numer-
Gus thoughts OF his own upon the nmu-
merahle things he had read dlriu- The
COURSE Of his prolonged studies, ana which
Ne had cmbalmed In black and White
when the "t1ta divine" VAS warm and
living III his BRAN. All were arranged
IN the incest order, and through The series
OF books one could follow the trail of the
great deOater's readings from their begin
nmT almost to the present time InuS.
for The Year l>59. YOU tlud the first ammo
tatlons on financial SUBJECTS. These are
at first somewhat Struggling, mixed in
with more or less Of the classic poets:
then they become more frequent unul
they outnumber All other topics, and are
lull OF "Touke'S History OF Prices and
">ir Archibald AIbinn.' when Garfield
followed Pig Iron Kelley into the history
Of France and England last winter and
tai, to the discontinue OF the old man
and his soft monev friends. Reinforcing
hi, scrap book, the General has a large
case OF pigeon holes, holding, perhaps, 80
boxes, labelled "The Press" ''French
>poliation," ''Tarlf, "Gencva Award"
"Gencral Politics, ">tatc Politics.,
'publc Men," '.parliamentary Decls-
ions" "AmecdoteS. electoral Laws ana
Commission, etc These ale All filled
with the choicest references and bits Of
current literature on the various special
topics, and are continually replenished
from every product of the printing press.
Ii is common for men of affairs, LAWYERS,
editors, statesmen ana literatcurS to
have a sl stem ol this kind, and ! write
not OF Gen Gartield's as being a new idea,
but because it is Interesting on account
of the
WONDERFUL OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
of his readings and the closeness with
which he follows such great number of
pubic questions, aud is thus able to pre-
pare in an hours time to speak With de
tailed intelligence on any question that
may be sprung in the house Of Repre-
sentatves. In case he wants to talk
against the Democrats when they are
yelling '.traud' and dtuOuncing the cleo
tOral commission, he goes To his box and
runs over the newspaper clippings on thal
subject and is almost sure to find Just
the thing he wants some ugly fact that
the opposition has forgotten, because
none Of them had taken the care to pre-
serve it in the cold eXactncss Of black
and white. ooh, said the General, cid
rather have this old en-cOOp, which has
cost me 20 years OF mental toll to stock,
Il Thousand tunes over than OlL sam
Iildtns barrel and all it contains" and
he looked ut that unimpressiVt anu mod
est affair more aftctiunatelv than most
men gaze on their wives. George Alfred
ToWnsend's Versatility in writing Of pub
lie men is due, in il great measure, to a
similar system. He has a stock of scrap
books running back for % years, filled
entirely with personal items, and there is
hardly IA man that the newspapers have
spoken Of during that time but that
Townsend can find something interesting
about him in his compilation. With Ban
croft, the historian, this systematic ar
rangement Of knowledge. however, is
probably more extensively developed than
with any one else in the country. He,
however, works on a special subject, and
has Il score Of Stenographers and book
worms especially trained for the purpose,
as large as the editorial force of a respect
able newspaper. while Gen. Garfield com
piles for reference on an immense range
of public questions, greater, perhaps, than
any other public man in America. Indeed,
it is doubtful if there is a debater in any
of the European countries that possesses
Il broader literary culture than he.
Col. Tom Orchltree OF Texas is the
man who during the war, while on fur