The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1880-05-20
Allen G. Thurman.

All6n Il II u
With the present Copgressionalter term
Mr.. Thurman's term expires in the
Senate, and in his retirement from the
national councils the country will Gus
tain loss that will be perceptible in
the future disposition Of affairs. The
election of General Garfield as Thur
mans successor is great gain to the
Republican party, in party sense, and
a correspondent loss to the Democrats.
1t must be conceded that General Gar
field is very able and adroit politl-
clan, and he is, withal. not destitute OF
character stics that define statesman,
when not ouerruled by the imperious
dictum of party diplomacy. But it
cannot be disputed that ia all the many
sided qualities that go to make up
statesman Mr.. Thurman is immensely
the Generals superior. Garfield is
brilliant, but Thurman is strong Gar
field is polite, keeping carefully to
the roadway of public sentiment, while
Thurman is broadly comprehensive,
impregnably buttressed behind cor.
rect principle and fundamental law.
Garfield is an able advocate, while
Thurman's mind is eminently judicial
in its texture, resting upon the merits
of the question under the fundament-
al law. There are many able men in
the United States Senate, but in all
the forensic conflicts of that body of
aggregated wisdom, Allen &. Thur
man has stood erect, broad shouldered,
q master mind among its leaders. HIS
power is not in polished and scholarly
oratory, but in the strength OF his rea-
soning from incontrovertible premis-
es. Compared with the lordly Conk-
ling, Or with the caustic Edmunds, or
the handsome and polished Freeling-
huysen, 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 to express intellec-
tual sturdiness and power. He 10 the
direct opposite of Blaine, who docs
what he does and says what he says
with an eye to what the rabble, the
correspondents of newspapers and the
public at largo will say, while Thur.
man considers public questions solely
with reference to their intrinsic mer-
its and the general welfare. A case
in point is Mr.. Thurman's bill 20 put
stop the gigantic Pacific Railroad
steal which commenced with the fa-
nous credit mobilier, Mr.. Blaine's
part IN which intamy brought that
stalwart politician to the feet Of Null
ligan. A Washington correspondent
who was present on that occasion thus
describes it: Il shall not soon for
get the day upon which the final vote
was taken upon that bill in the Senate.
The railroad kings were intensely in
terested in the defeat of that bill that
sI kn1 <o - ,hH1lve
dence, and had pushed their lobby in
chamber itself. For days and weeks
the Senate, and they had neglected no
art or. vile which can influence sena-
torisl votes. On that final day, the
railroad kings themselves were pres
ent. Jay Gould, shrunken and YET
low, peered down from prominent
corner in the reserved gallery, and
watched the marshaling of his forces
upon the floor. He and his men were
confident of victory, and it was OPEN
ly bruited about that the money OF
the railroads had purchased enough
votes to defeat the bill. Thurman
rose for his final plea, and such plea!
1t was exhaustive, convincing, unans-
werable, and in it's denunciation Of
the railroad lobby it was terrible. The
lobbyists, who had been brszen-eaced
for weeks, slunked out of the chamber
like whipped spaniels, and even Jay
Gould seemed to shrink 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 las. vote was taken, 10,
and behold, the votes upon which the
railroad men had counted dared not
or did not make good the boasts of
the lobby, and voted with Thurman
for the bill. The passage OF that bin
was the first defeat of any sort which
the Pacific Railroads encountered in
Congress, from the time the first bill
authorizing their existence was pass
ed, and Senator Thurman 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 half SO long
in responsible public positions have
made so few mistakes as has Thurman,
and few indeed haye SO clean record.
His hands were undefiled when many
eminent men yielded 10 the seductions
of the corrupt Grant regime. In his
private as we'll as his public relations
he has maintained spotless reputa-
ton, which is monument to wisdom
and worth as a statesman who has
never failed to acquit himself with
honor and fidelity to his country. The
Ohio Democracy is profoundly sensi-
BILE of his great ability and incorrupti-
BILE integrity, and will present him as
formidable competitor with other
distinguished Democrats for the nom-
ination at Clncinnati.-[Gazette, Bur-
ling, Iowa.
ANOTHER TOWN BURNED.
Iass 0f Life and 4 nm N, nse neitruc.