The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1881-09-24
PRESIDENT ARTHUR.


who cmigIHrrd /" this ""'Gmiry from All
trim, Ireland. in his -ioE;"r',tii wear. and
! died October =. $50. ~ ,..wtunvi.ir.
near AlbaIr. Iir. .tIItrlr wa~ IN many
RESPECTS Il rcnArkao, mia. He lc,juir-
I ed extended fame not on!y i'll his calling,
! but also III the domains OF hulship.
| His work on " Family Names is regard
cd the world over as one Of the curio>i-
ties of English erudite literature. From
#, 1879 to 1868 he was pastor of the Calvary
BAPTIST Church of New York city. He
also filled the pulpits OF Baptist churches
| at Bennington. IlineShurg. Fairfield and
! Wiiiston. in Vermont, and York. Perry.
Greenwich. Schenectady. l.msingburg.
/ Hoosic Yves; Troy and NewtonviIIe. in
| New York State. His other son made
! a gallant record in the war of the rebel
lion, and is now Il payma>ter Of the reg
ular army. with rank of ma ior.
Gen. Arthur was educated at Union
; College and was graduated i'll the class
of 10. After leaving college lie taught
a country school during two years i'll Yer
mont and then. having managed by rigid
economy to save about 500, he started
for New York city and entered the law
office of ex-.Judge Z. ID. Culver rs a
student After being admitted 10 the
!
| innate friend and roommate. Henry ID.
/ Gardiner, with the intention of practicing
in the West. and for three months they
roamed about in the Western-StateS in
search of an eligible site. but in the end
returned to New York. where they hung
! out their Joint shingle and entered upon
! Il successful career almost from the start.
! Gen. Arthur soon afterward married the
, daughter of Capt. iierndon. United
states navy. who was lost at sea, and
: vino calmly went down to death smoking
a cigar Congress voted gold medal to
/ his widow in recognition of the conspicu-
Gus bravery he displayed on that occasion.
Mrs. Arthur died several months ago.
. In 1882. Jonathan and Juliet Lennon.
4 Nirginian Shareholders, intending to emil
/ crate to Texas, came to New lork city
to await the sailing of Il steamer, bring
I ing eight slaves with them. \ writ of
/ habeas corpus was obtained from Judge
Paine to test the question whether the
provisions of the fugitive slave law were
in force in that State. Judge Paine rem
dered decision holding that they were
not, and ordering the Lennon slaves to
be liberated. Henry l.. Clinton was one
of the counsel for the Shareholders The
/ Virginia Legislature authorized the at
! torney-general of that State to assist in
| taking an appeal. VIM. VI. Evarts and
/ Chester \. Arthur were employed to
/ represent the people. and they Won their
case, which then went to the supreme
I Court of the United States. where the
decision OF the lower court court was
affirmed. In 1856. Lizzie Jennings,
colored woman was put off Fourth
avenue car in New York with violence
. after she had paid her fare. Gen. Arthur
sued on her benalf and secured verdict
! of $500 damages. The next day the COM
pany issued an oder to permit coored
persons to ride on their cars, and the
, other car companies quickly followed
their example. Before that the Sixth
Avenue Company ran a few special cars
for colored persons, and the other lines
refused to let them ride at all.
Gen. Arthur was 4 delegate to the con-
vention at Saratoga that founded the Re-
publican party. Previous to the outbreak
of the war he was Judge advocate of the
second brigade of the New York State
militia. and Gov. Edwin d. Morgan. soon
after his Inauguration, selected him to
/ fill the position of engineer-in-chief of
his staff. In 1861 he held the post OF in
spector-general, and soon afterward was
advanced to that of quartermaSter-gen-
eral. which he held until the expiration
, of Morgan'S term of office. During his
term of office every present sent to him
was Immediately returned. Among others
prominent clothing house offered him
IL magnificent uniform, and Il printing
house sent him costly saddle and trap
pings. Both gifts were rejected. When
Mr.. Arthur became OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
cral he was very poor When his term
expired he WAS poorer still. He had OPP
portunities to make millions unquestion-
ed. Contracts larger than the world had
ever seen were at his disposal He had
to provide for the clothing, arminy and
transportation of hundreds of thousands
of men. Speaking of him at this period
Il friend says: = So jealous was he Of his
integrity that | have known instances
where lie could have made thousands of
dollars legitimately, and yet refused to
do it on the ground that he was a public
officer and meant to be like Caesar wife,
above suspicion His own words to me
i'll regard to this matter amply illustrate
his character. IT had miSappropriated
five cents, and on walking down town
saw two men talking Oh the corner to-
gether, | would imagine they were talk
ing of my dishonesty. and the very
Thought WOulu drive HE lllu.
At the expiration of Gov. Morgan's
term Gen. Arthur returned to his law
practice. Business Of the most lucrative
character poured in upon him. and the
firm of Arthur X Gardiner prospered ex-
ceedingly. fIuch Of their work consist
ed in the collection of war claims and the
drafting of important bills for speedy
legislation, and a great deal of General
4
Washington. For 4 short time he held
the position of counsel to the board of
tax commissioners of New York city at
$4,000 per annum. Gradually he was |
drawn into the arena of politics. lie !
nominated, and by his efforts elected, the /
Hon. Thomas Murphy State Senator. |
When the latter resigned the collector
ship of the port of New York, on No |
vember 30, 1871, President Grant nomi- /
mated Gen. Arthur to the position, and |
four years later, when his term expired, !
renuminated him. He was removed by !
President Hayes on July II, 1873 despite |
the fact that two special committees ,
made searching investigation into his adj |
ministration, and both reported them
selves unable to find anything upon which |
to base charge against him. In their ,
pronunciamentOes announcing the change |
both President Hayes and Secretary |
Sherman hore official witness to the puri- |
ty of his acts while ia office. \ petition /,
for his retention was signed by every /
Judge Of every court i'll New York city. !
by al the prominent members of tIe bar /
and by nearly every important merchant /
in the collection district but tl.i.. Cen. (
Arthur himself suppressed.
In a letter to Secretary sherman, re-
vicwing.the work Of one of the investi- !
eating committees, Gen. Arthur produced |
statistics to show that during his term of .
over six years i'll office tho percentage of
removals was only -, against al annual /
average Of about % per cent. under his
three Immediate predecessors, and an
annual average of about q peg CenI. Since
1851. OF the aga persons i'll Office prior
to his appointment 531 were still retained
on May l, 1877. All appointments except
two to the one hundred positions com
handing salaries Of 81, 600 per year were
made or the plan of advancing men from
the lower to the higher gr.,t;c. on the
recommendation. ii heads OF bureaus.
The fetprms which Gen. Arthur inStitut-
ed in the methods of doing business in
the custom house We're as humorous as
they We're grateful to the mercantile com
munity. After lia re.Aavai he resumed
the Erapiipt ii law, and took ali active
part il politics. being the chairman of
the New York Republican State commit
tee