Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-09-21

4 ldSL CONSPICUOUS military SCIVICc WAS dI
the battle of Chickamauga. For his con-
duct in that battle he was promoted to a
major geperalship. 1t IS said that he
wrote all the orders given to the army
that day, anG submitted them to General
Rosecrans for approval, save one. The
one he did not write was the fatal order
to General Wood, which was so worded
as not to correctly convey the meaning of
the commanding general, and which
caused the destruction of the right wing
of the army.
ELECTED TO CONGRESS
! The Congressional district in which
Garfield lived was the one long made
famous by Joshua r. Giddings. The OLD
anti slavery champion grew careless of
the arts of politics towards the end of his
career, and came to look upon nominal
ton and re- election as matter of course
His over-contidence was taken advantage
of in 1858 by an ambitious lawyer named
Hutchins, to carry q convention agalnt
him. The friends of Giddings never for
gave Hutchins, and cast about for means
of defeating him. The old man himself was
comfortably quartered in his consulate at
Montreal, and did not care to make a
fight to get back to Congress. So his sup
pOrters made use of the popularity of
General Garfield and nominated him
while he was in the field without asking
his consent. That was n 1862. When
he heard of the nomination Garfield re-
fiected that it would be fifteen months
before Congress would meet to which he
would be elected, and believing, as did
every one else, that the war could not pos
slbly last year longer, concluded TO ac-
cept. l have often heard him express
regret that he did not help fight the war
through, and say that he never would
have left the army to so to Congress had
he foreseen that the sirugg e would con-
tinue beyond the year 1868. He continued
his military service up to the time Con-
| gress met.
On entering Congress, in December,
1863, General Garfield was placed upon
the committee on military affairs, with
Schenck and Farnsworth, who were also
| fresh from the field He took an active
part in the debates of the House and won
a recognition which few members sue
coed in gaining. He was not popular
among his fellow members during his first
term They thought him something Of
pendant because he sometimes showed his
| Scholarship in his speeches., and
| they were jealous of his prominence. His
solid alta inmcnts and amiable social
qualities enabled him to overcome this
prejudice during his second term, and he
became on terms Of close friendship with
/ the best men of both Houses. His COM
| mittee service during his second term was
on the WAYS and means, which was quite
| to his taste, for it gave him an opportun-
| ity to prosecute the studies n finance and
political economy which he had always
felt fondness for. He was a hard work
er and great reader in those days, go
| ing home with his arms full of books
| from the Congressional library, and sit
| ting up late nights TO read them. 1t was
| then that lie laid the foundations of the
conv: ctions on the subject of national
| finance which he has since held to firm
ly amid all the storms Of political aglta.
| ton. He was renominated in 1864, with
out oppos;t :on, but in 1866 Mr.. Hutchins,
! whom he had supplanted, made an effort
/ to defeat him. Hutchins canvassed the
district thoroughly, but the convention
nominated Garfield by acclamation He
| has had no opposi: ION since in his own
parry. n 1872 the Liberals and Demo
Gratis I'm ted 10 beat him, but his major
| ity was larger than ever. In 1874 the
Greenoackels and Democrats combined
and pat up popular soldier against him,
but they made no impression on the re-
suit. :. he Aeltabula district, as it Is gen.
orally called, is the most faithful to it's
representatives of any in the North 1t
has had but four members in half a CEN
fury.
HIS WORK IN CONGRESS.
In the Fort; eth Congress Gen. Garfield
was chairman of the committee on mill
tary affairs. In the Forty-first he was
given the chairmansh p of banking and
currency, which he liked much better,
because was il The me Of his financial
studies. His next promotion was to the
craftsmanship of the appropriations COM
mittee which he held until the Democrats
came into power III the House in 1875.
His chief work On that committee was
steady and jud;cious reduction Of the ex-
penses OF the government. In al the po-
litical struggles in Congress he has borne
leading part, S clear, vigorous and
moderate STYLE OF argument making him
one Of the most effective debaters in either
house.
When James G.. Blaine went to the Sen
ale, in 1877, the mantle of Republican
leaaershlp in the House was by common
consent placed upon Garfield, and he has
worn it ever since. In January last Gen.
Garfield was elected to the Senate to the
seat which was vacated by Allen G.
Thurman on the 4th CT March, 1881 He
received the unanimous vote of the Re-
publican caucus, an honor never given to
any man of anv party in the State of
Ohio. Since his election he has been the
recipient of many complimentary mani
festations in Washington and Ohio.
GARFIELD AS LADDER.
AS leader in the House he is more
cautious and less dashing than Blaine,
and his judicial turn of mind makes him
too prone to look for two sides of ques-
ton for him to be an efficient partisan.
When the issue fairly touches his con-
victions, however, he becomes thoroughly
aroused and str .1es tremendous blows.
Blaine's tactics were to continually har-
rass the enemy by sharp-shootlng sur
prises and picket firing. Garfield waits
for an opportunity to deliver pitched
battle, and his generalship is shown to
best advantage when the fight is fair
one and waged on grounds where each
party thinks itself Strongest. Then his
solid shot of argument are exceedingly
effective. On the stump Garfield is one
of the very best orators IN the Republican
| party. He has good voice, an air of
evident sincerity, great clearness and
vigor of statement and way Of knitting
his arguments together so as to make a
speech deepen It's impression on the mind
Of the nearer until the climax is reached.
Of industry and studious habits a
| great deal might be said, but single il
| lustration will have to suffice here. Once
during the busiest part of very busy
session at Washington, l found him in
his library behind d big barricade of
l hooks Thjo was no nnnSua1 cirht h,,f