The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1880-05-13
e1lameutts.
ALLEN G. THURMAN.

With the present Congressional term
Mr.. Thurmsn's term expires in the Sen
ate and in his retirement from the ma
tional councils the country will sustain a
loss that will be percep!ible in the future
disnosition of affairs. The election of
General Garfield as Thurman's successor
is a great gain to the Republican party
in a party sense, and correspondent
loss to the Democrats. 1t mlst be con-
Ceded that Gen Garfield is very able
and adroit politician, and he is, Wlthal,
MOI destitute characteristics that define
a statesman. when not overruled by the
inperious dictum of party diplomacy
But it can not be disputed that IN all the
many.sided qualities that go to make up
a great statesman Mr.. Thurman Is I'M
mensely the Generals superior GalheId
is brilliant, but Thurman is strong; Gar
field is polite, keeping carefully to the
roadway of public sentiment. while Thur
man is broadly comprehensive, impreg-
nably buttressed behind correct princi'
ple and fundamental law. Garfield is an
able advocate, while Thurman's mind is
eminently ] ,dicial in its texture, resting
upon the merits of the question under
the fundamental law. There are many
able men in the United States Senate,
but in all the forensic conflicts of that
body of aggregated wisdom, Allen T.
Thurman has stood erect, broad shoul-
dered, a master mind among its leaders
His power is not in polished and scbol'
arly oratory, but in the strength of his
reasoning from incontrovertible premis'
es. Compared with the lordiy ConkIing
or with the caustic Edmunds, or the
handsome and polished Freelinghuysen
or the somewhat conCeited Howe, and
other fellow Senators, Thurman is q
plain, blunt man, but sturdy, muscular
one, if those terms may be employed tc
express intellectual sturdiness and pow
er. He is the direct opposite OF Baine
who does what he does and says wha'
he says with an eye to what the rabble
the correspondents of newspapers and
the public at large will say, while Thur
man considers public questions solely
with reference to their intrinsic merits
and the general welfare. A case in point
is Mr.. Thurman's bill to put stop the
gigantic Pacific Railroad steal which
commenced with the famous credit mo
bilier, Mr. Blaine's part in which intamy
brought that stalwart politician to the
feet Of Mulligan. A Washington cores
pondent who was present on that occa'
sion thus describes it, shall no
soon forget the day upon which the tina
vote was taken upon that bill IN the Sen
ate. The railroad kings were so intensely
interested in the defeat of that bill that
they had forgotten even common pru
dence, and had pushed their lobby IL
upon the very floor of the senate cham
ber itself. For days and weeks they haC
hung upon the very skirts of the Senate
and they had neglected no art or vile
which can influence senatorial votes. u
that final day, the .ailroad kings them
selves were present. Jay Gould, shrun.
ken and yellow, peered down from a
prominent Cornerin the reserved gallery,
and watched the marshaling of his forces
upon the fl lor He and his men were
confident of victory, and it was openly
bruited about that the money of the rail
roads had purchased enough votes to de,
feat the bill. Thurman rose for his final
pie, and such plea 1t was exhaustive,
convincing, unanswerable, and in its de-
nunCiation of the railroad lobby it WIS
terrible. The lobbyists, who had been
brazen-laced for weeks, slunked out OF
the chamber like whipped spaniels, and
even Jay Gould seemed the shrind down,
as though desirous of hiding himself be
hind the parapet. Fearless, and with
marvellous ability, the Ohio Senator
pleaded his cause, and when he sat
down, and the last vote was taken, To-,
and behold, the votes upon which the
railroad men had counted dared not or
did not make good the boasts of the lob
by, and voted with Thurman for the bill.
The passage of that bill was the first de
feat of any sort which the Pacific rail-
roads encountered in Congress, from the
time the first bill authorizing their ex-
istence was passed, and Senator Thur
man deserves the thanks of the entire
country for this one act of legislation,
which he, and he alone, carried through
to success" Few men who have been
have been half 30 long in responsible
public positions have made so few mis-
takes as has Thurman, and few indeed
have 30 clean a record. His hands were
undefled when many eminent men
yielded to the seGuctions of the corrupt
Grant regime. In his private as well as
his public relations he has maintained
spotless reputation, which is a monu
ment to wisdom and worth as a states.
man who has never failed to acquit him
aelf with honor and fidelity to his COun.
try. The Ohio democracy is profoundly
sensible of his great ability and inCor.
ruptible integrity, and will present him
as formidable competitor with other
distinguished Democrats for the nomi-
nation at Cincinnati-Gaaette, Burling
ton, IoaCa.