The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-08-04
THURMAN AND CONKLING.


The two foremost leaders of the Sen.
ate, who for twelve years opposed each
other on all the great questions that sep.
arated the Democratic and Republican
parties, and whose speeches form part
of the history of these times, are retired
from public life, with little prospects Of
immediate return.
Mr.. Thurman will be sixty eight years
next November, and Mr.. Conkling will
have sCored fitty.two years at the close
OF October. Though antagonists in the
fierce conflicts, from reconstruction down
to the inauguration of Gen. Garfele,
they were personal friends, each respect
ing the other as foeman worthy Of lis
steel.
With minds differently organized and
trained, their methods ofargument were
wide apart. Mr.. Thurman was always
clear, direct, and compact, but without
the least attempt at ornament. AS
prompt and vigorous debater well equip
ped in constitutional end political knowl.
edge, an acute lawyer, with the super
added experience of a Judge; an excel
lent scholar, familiar with the classics,
and a natural lover of intellectual con.
troversy, he has had few equals in the
Senate. His best speeches, like those Of
Pitt, were made on the spur of the oc.
Casion.
Mr.. Conkling, though but thirty.eight
years of age when he entered the Sen.
ate, carried to that body a reputation for
rare intellectual gifts and for high at
tainmenta, acquired during three terms
in the House of Representatives. He
took rank Immediately with Trumbull,
Morton, Grimes, Fessenden, Sumner,
Wade, Sherman and Edmunds, then the
recognized leaders of the Republican
side, and he lrew in fame and influence
until he overtopped them all. On the
day of his resignation he was the first
and mcst commanding figure in his par.
ty, though among the least popular of
those who Contended for the primaCy.
Cons Cious of strong powers, and am
bilious OF distinction, he did not court
favor with the arts Of the politician, but
aimed at leadership in right Of intel
leCtual force. In debate he invariably
went TO the front; he was rec dy for any
turn it might take, and he had at hand
most varied stock of resources, no matter
who took the field against him. Severe
study, a memory like storehouse of
law, literature, science, and song, long
practice, and keen faculties, made him
dreaded Combatant. An extraordinary
flow oflangusge and spontaneous flowers
of rhetoric, perhaps decorated too highly
his arguments; but, all in all, few men in
public life have deserved more attention
than Roscoe Conkling.
At any period of the Senate, Thurman
and Conkling would have been Conspic-
uous characters, who could have held
their own with the best, They leave a
void which will be hard to fill, not only
for pre.eminence, but as examples of
honor and integrity, unstained amid a
pervading corruption and loose notions
of accountability.
The Republicans lost three of their
ablest men in the Senate when Conkling,
Blaine, and Carpenter were removed
from that scene. The Democrats werO
equally u rortunate in losing Thurma
Eaton, M Donald, and others OF less
degree vi had attained prominence o
usefulnef, As body, the Senate
fallen fro its former high estate, an
longer )ys the confidence that le
,uCe reposed in it, The ur.
chase of ats, almost in open ml lket,
by rich aspirants to political fanfG the
constant accession Of the agents, attorn.
eys, or creatures of great corporations;
and the presence of notorious jobber in |
have contributed o decline,
which ls getting worse instead of better.
Taken collectively, the members of the |
Senate, with occasional exceptions such |
as Edmunds or Bayard, do not rise above |
and there are not a few who
are unable to claim complete ownership |
If themselves.
In England a comparatively small
number Of men own the land; but here
he rich corporations, instead of owning
he lind, lay claim to the men who
make its laws.-M. Y. Sun.