Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-10-01
COnklIng's Claims to Greatness.

Mr.. F. W. Whitridge has an article
in the International ReUteaO for next
month in which he examines Mr.. Conk-
ling's claims TO greatness. For the
purpose of finding out on what these
claims rested, Mr. Whitridge was at the
pains to examine every speech which he
ever delivered in the Senate, and most of
his speeches outside the Senate, ,thelaws he
has introduced into Congress, and the
reports Of cases which he has argued.
The following are the results of his in
vestigation: Mr.. Conkling, in the
House, served upon the Reconstruction
Committee, but was author of none of
the important measures proposed by it;
in the Senate he has served upon the
leading committees, but is not the
author of a single one of the
great measures of his time. "His
admirers, in answer to inquiries recently
made, have, so far as appears, claimed
for him the authorship of only three i'm
portant laws These are the present law
governing the election of United States
Senators, the law confirming the titles
of pre- e-emptors and settlers to lands along
the lines of railroads claiming lands from
the government, and the trade mark law.
Of these the latter was declared uncon-
stitutional as soon as it got before the
courts, and the others were amendments
of old laws, and he had nothing to do
with proposing or carrying either the
laws or the amendments. On the whole
his actual services as a proposer or for
warder of legislation "might have been
rendered equally well by any of fifty men
who could be picked from the New York
or Massachusetts Legislature.
If we turn from what he has done to
what he has treated with Indifference we
find that the latter head covers all the
most important questions of his period
of service. Tariff reform, our CONNER
cial relations with other countries, meth
DDS of taxation, the relations of corpo-
rations to the State and national govern
ment, Chinese immigration, the condi-
tion of American commerce--fsall these
have no more vexed him than the pass
ing shadow of cloud" In financial
matters he had taken no part in shaping
legislation. I'm the evils arising from
the condition of the South he has
been deeply interested, but rather
as party weapons than as questions
for his solution and it is an historical
fact that those evils have diminished in
proportion as the use of the remedies ad-
vocated by Mr.. Conkling has been dis
continued" He has never attempted to
cut a figure as an author, while as an
orator his speeches, whatever their i'm
mediate impression asJ efforts have
contributed nothing to the thought of
the country. As a lawyer Mr.. Conk-
ling has appeared in only six cases in the
Supreme Court since 1862, in two of
which his political position may have
had something to do with his being re-
tanned; in the Court of Appeals of this
State he has had but five cases, and two
of these may be called political. His
disappearance, the People against Den
nison, covered him in the eyes
of the profession here with
ridicule. The question which of
course arises in any ones mind on exam
ing this analysis is what in the world Mr..
Conkling has been actually doing all
these years, for he has not been an idle
man, and until few months ago his
greatness" seemed to be rising and in
creasing steadily. Mr.. Whitridge does
not answer this question, but we all know
what the answer would be. What he
has really been doing all the time he is
doing still, and probably will continue
to do as long as he lives. In the past he
has found that it paid better in the way
of producing greatness" than anything
else he could do, but then his ideas of
greatness" are different from those of