Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1881-05-05
TOM CORWIN.
A Few Anecdotes of the Man Who
Could Explain why Do We Laugh2'
His Western Reserve Experience.
Cleveland Herald.

Cleveland Herald.
The discussions which have been 60
ing the rounds of such pessimistie jour
rails as the New York Nation, to the eff
feet that all the great men have disap-
peared from politics are interesting, and
upon their face seem to contain some
truth. At the same time they are born
of that tendency of humanity which in
clines to look upon the "former days as
better than these" While in our own
State we can look back to the elder Ew-
ing. Wade, Giddings, Corwin, Chase and
many other brilliant and remarkable
names, we can be proud in the present
of Garfield, Hayes, Thurman, Sherman,
Waite and many others, who in future
annals will fill fully as large a place.
But while this is true it cannot be de-
MED that the great place which the
stump speech filled in the history of po-
litical thought has passed from the earth
forever. The daily paper and the facil-
tiles which the telegraph and the rail-
road have furnished for the diffusion of
knowledge have made the stumper and
his mission diminish in a fast-increas-
ing ratio.
Memories of 1910 are to-day like the
history of an almost unknown or forgot
ten time. That was practically before
the day of the newspaper squib and par
agraph and before the day of rapid
transit; and Tom Corwin, the king of
stumpers, was the first man to introduce
ridicule and sarcasm on the stump and
make them a success. Pretty soon there
after George D. Prentiss, the great
founder of the Louisville Courier-Jon JonI-
nal, began the work of political para
graph writing and transferred the Cor
winian style of discussion to his paper.
Many were the fights that came from
Prentice's jokes. He kept revolver
constantly loaded and cooked in the right
hand drawer of his desk, and whenever
stranger darkened his editorial sane
tum he instinctively grasped the handle
his precautiOn was entirely pertinent.
The people had to be educated up to
this new idea of freedom of the press,
and the border mind was the first to be
worked upon, and by the hOrid genius
of Prentice.
The fund of stories which the older
class of politicians continue to tell of
COrWin will never be exhausted. l
struck one of these men of 1910 recently,
and the relations which he gave me are
well worth repeating.
Corwin had delivered one of his best
speeches in Salem. Columbiana county.
Ohio, and the large outdoor audience
was convulsed with laughter throughout.
1t was necessary for him to take the
stage for the Ohio river, and in the
coach were three young men, one of
them my informant. All were teachers,
and had been to hear the great orator, ,and
felt greatly honored that he was to re-
turn in the same coach with them. They
expected he would be cracking Jokes all
the way and as jolly as he appeared on
the stump. On the other hand he was
peculiarly moody and sad. and seemed
disposed to keep entirely quiet. At
length he said:
"The world will always honor the
teacher and despise the clown. Would
to God that had never cracked a joke,
but now everybody expects me to be
funny and am obliged. to be So" He
then relapsed into silence, and the young
men appreciating his feelings, were 81
lent to the end of the journey.
Quite the reverse of this is, the story
which the gentleman told of mass
meeting in the central portion of the
State addressed by CorwiL and the elder
Tom Ewing. Ewing spoke in the fore
noon and Corwin was to follow in the
afternoon. Ewing delivered carefully
prepared speech on the issues of the
campaign. There was not single stroke
of fancy or wit in the whole talk from
beginning to end. The people seemed
to restive under it, and desiroas for Cor