The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1880-07-01

tinned and onlni1ated tn Congress upon Is
proposition 20 admit Kansas into tho Union
under what WAS known % tho Leoo mptou
constitution, which did not prohibit the
institution Of slavery, and It vas at this
period Of Mr.. English's Congressional his
| tory that he acquired his widest reputation
- statesman. He VAS firmly opposed 70
tho admission Of Kansas under tho Le-
compton constitution until that instrument
had been ratified by vote of tho people,
and 10 true was he to his convictions that
be opposed the policy of the administration
Of his own party upon the measure. Il wa
the turning point in the history Of the
country, and the position assumed and main.
tanned by Ar. English in that long and OK.
citing contest WAS tho GROWING glory of his
Congressional life. He was "anti- Lecomp-
ton from principle and not from hostility
to tho administration opposition did moi
intimidate him, danger did not alright him.
He shrank from no duty, and while his ut
terances were bold they were consistent
with tho right, with duty and with the best
interests OF the country.
The Senate saw proper to pass 4 bill I'd.
hitting Kansas, under the Leoompton con-
stitution, without limit or condition; but
this bill, although it commanded the favor
Of the President and bis cabinet, failed to
receive the sanction of the House Of Repre-
sentatives. Tho House, on the other hand,
passed 4 bill as substitute for that Of the
Senate; but this the Senate would not accent
or the executive approve. Thus was IN issue
formed between great CO. ordinate branches
Of the government, whose joint and har-
monious action could alone remove the dan
gerous question and give peace to tho coun-
try.
In this stage of the proceedings, when the
whole country had about abandon
ed the hope of q settlement of the disagree.
uent between tho houses, and the angry
contest was likely to he adjourned for further
and protracted agitation before people a.
ready inflamed with sectional animosities,
Mr.. English took the responsibility Of NOV
ing to concur in the proposition of the
Senate, asking for committee Of free con-
ference. The excitement upon the occasion
had scarcely ever been equalIed in the House
Of Representatives. Upon adopting this
motion the vote was 1O8 to 1O8, but the
Speaker voted in the affirmative and the mo-
ton carried. From this committee MI.
English reported what is known as the
"English bill," which became the law after q
struggle of unparalleled bitterness. Under
this law the question of admission under the
Iecompton constitution was in effect referred
back to the psople of KaEsas and they voted
against it, just as Mr.. English and almost
every one else expected they would do. Even
80 bitter a partisan as Mr.. Greeley then was,
admitted in his book that the vote cast on
the proposition submitted by the English
bill twas in effect, to reject the Lecompton
constitution" Thus was the result accom-
plishel which Mr.. English had commended
for from the beginning, and there is no in
consistency in his record upon this subject.
On the final vote which admitted Kansas as
a State he was still q member and voted for
her admission.
RETIREMENT FROM CONGRESS-.
After the passage of the "English bill'' q
very determined effort was made to prevent
Mr. English's reelection to Congress, but he
was returned by larger majority than ever.
There had been no change in:the boundaries
of his district, but his career, in this as in
everything else, had been upward and on
ward, his majority gradually increasing at
each election from 400 in 1852 to 1000 in
1858, and this ct time when Democratic
congressman were almost swept out of exis-
tence in the northern States. At the close
of the Thirty sixth Congress-, and when in
the full meridian Of SUCCESS, never having
been defeated before the people, and with
fair prospect of being advanced to still
higher political honors, he retired from Con-
gress and active political life az an office
holder. AS chairman of the committee on
resolutions at the convention of 1864, which
nominated his friend, Michael G. Kerr, for
Congress from his old district, Mr.. English
prepared and reported resolution, which
was adopted, declaring:
"rhat We are now, AZ We ever have been,
unquali6edly in favor of the union of the
States under the constitution, and stand
ready, as We have ever stood heretofore, to
do everything that loyal and true citizens
should do to maintain that union under the
constitution, and to hand it down to our
children unimpaired az We received it from
our fathers''
10 these sentiments of loyalty to the
union Mr.. English firmly aud consistently ad
hered throughout the struggle. Ills fidelity
never wavered, nor did his doubts ever gain
an ascendancy over his convictions that the
union would be preserved.
FINANCIAL RECORD.
At the close of his useful and honorable
Congressional services Mr.. English was con-
fronted with the fact that now departure
in his business life was inevitable. He had
abandoned active politics and declined Of
fetal position. He had grown rusty in the
law, but his native energy forbade that he
should remain quiet. At this juncture no
concluded to embark in the business of
banking, and, in connection with J. r. D.
Ianier, O. New York, and George w. Riggs,
of Washington city, he established, in the
spring of 1868, the First National bank of
indianapolis. The bank was among the
first organized in the United States under
the national system and the very first to gel
out its circulation. Mr.. English's connection
with this bank brought him into great prom
inence as finanoier, and in this position, "a
in other places of great responsibility, he
displayed consummste ability. During the
period OF his connection with the First Ma
tional bank the question of national finances
excited the profoundest solicitation and On
gagged the attention of the best thinkers in
the country. During the entire period of
that discussion MI. English's views were we'll
uAAA0AosOVAc nv AA0A ONAuAOu6 "0E0 Iek36
equivocal. His knowledge of business finan-
ces and of the needs Of the country was
comprehensive. He was opposed to in fla
ton, and as certainly opposed TO extreme
and hasty legislation looking to forced re-
sumption. With regard to
gold and silver a. the
standards of value, and to the absolute nee
easily of ultimate resumption, no man in
the country was more pronounced in his de-
clarations. The heresy of an irredeemable
paper currency found in Mr.. English an I'M
compromising opponent-as a result his
financial record isjwithout blemish. Mr..
English presided over this bank over four
teon years, to the entire satisfaction of tho
stockholders, and then, in 1877, in the full
meridian of financial success, he resigned
the presidency and retired from active bust
ness, az he had years before retired from &C.
tive politics as an ofiioeholder when in the
fnll tido nf n0litical anccaaa Faithful IN