The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1882-03-02


IS that term is understood wherever free
representative governulent exists. D. neeet
essarily and very strictly the organ of !
his party. An ardent AMERICAN de |
Tended the instictive warmth of patriot |
ism when he offered the asst "Our |
country, always right, but right |
or wrongs our countFF."k The
parliamentary leader who has ability |
and followers that will do and dare and |
die for the cause, is one who believes
his party -alWsys-Fighs,= but right ~eF
wrong is for his party. No more I'M
pOrTant or4exActinE duty devoIVes upon
him than fl1e selection OF the field and
the time for contest. He must know
not merely how to strike but when to
strike. He often 'skillfully avoids the
streR 9Th OF his opponents position and
scatters confusion in his ranks by al
lacking an exposed point when really
the. righteousness of the. cause and the
strength of logical intrenchment are.
against him. He cOnqgers often both
against the right and the heavy battal-
ions as when young Charles Fox, in the
days of his toryism carried the house of
commons against its immelnorial rights;
against his own convictions, if indeed
at that period Fox had convictions, and
in the interest of
-" CORRUPT ADMINISTRATION, 'l 81
and in obedience to atyrannieal king,
drove Wilkes from theseat tn which the
electors of MiddleSeX had chosen him,
Z and Installed Euttrelf in defiance, not
merely of lag, but of public decency.
For AN achievement of thai kind Gar
field was disqualified by the texture of
his mind, 80.
- Blythe HONESTY OF HIS HEART, IA. =
by his conscience and by eyery1nstinct
p L. a
most distinguished parliamentary leaders
hitherto developed in : this country
are Mr.. Clay, Mr., Douglass and Mr..
Thaddeus Stevens, Each was y, man Of
consammate ability, of great earnest
ness, of intense personality, differing
widely each from the other, and yet
with n signal trait in common--the pow
err to command in the give-take of daily
discussion, in the art of controlling and
consolidating reluctant and refractory
followers, inithe skill to overcome all
| forms of opposition and to meet with
| competency and courage the varying
| phases Of unlooked-for assault or unsus-
pected detection. 1t would be difficult
| to, rank with these 3 fourth name in all
our Congressional history, but of these
hfr. Clay was the greatest. It would
perhaps be- impossible to find IN the
parlimentaryiannals of the world q paral-
| lei to Mr.. Clay in 1871, when at Ga years
| of age he took the control of the Wing
party, from the President who had re-
ceiyed their suffrages, against the power
| of Webster in the cabinet, against the
| eloquence of Choate In the senate,
against the herculean efforts of Caleb
Cushing and Henry. A. Wise, in the
house. : In nnshared leadership, in the
| prime and pIehtitude OF power, he hurl
1 Il T,I,s gVNr,laV r
| scoun, the mass of that conquering col
umn which. had swept the land in 1s4C
and ns.s....,... ....,....,.~. ~. sly
7-'''9 DROVE HIS ADMINISTRATION
to seek shelter behind the lines of his
| political foes. Mr. douglas. achieved d
victory scarcely less wonderful when, in
| 1854 against the secret desires of strong
administration, against the wise counsel
| of the older chiefs, against the iconserva
tive instincts and even the moral sense
of the country, he forced Z, reluctant
congress into a repeal of the Missouri
compromise. Ar'rhaddeus Stevens, III
\ his contests from 1865 to 1865 actually
| advanced his parliamentary leadership
until congress tied the hands of The
| president and governed the country by
| its own will, leaving only perfunctOry
duties to be discharged bythe executive
/ With SOC, O00, 900 of the patronage in hi;
hands at the opening Of the contest, aid
ed by the active force Of Seward in tho
cabinet and Chase on the bench, An
drew johnson could not command the
support of onc-third in either house
against the parliamentary uprising of
which Thaddeus Stevens was the ami
mating spirit and the. unquestoned
4 men Garfield differed, radically diff
| fered in the duality of his mind, in
/ temperament. in theiform and phase of
ambition. He could not do what they
could, but he could do what they could
4 not, and in the breadth of his congress
sional work he left that (which will
/ longer exert potential influence among
men, and, which measured by the Sc
we're test of posthumous criticism will
secure a more enduring and more en-
yiable tame. H. 5 az
Those unfamiliar with Garfeld's in
dustry, and ignorant of the details Of his
work, may, in some degree, measure
them by the annals of Congress. No
one of the generation of public men &c
/ WHICH he belonged has contributed Sc
much that will be valuable
FOR FUTURE PREFERENCE.
His speeches are numerous, many Of
them brilliant, all of them we'll studied
carefully phrascd and exhaustive of the
| subject under consideration. Collected
Z from the scattered pages of ninety roy
al-octaVo volumes of congressional rec
4 ord they would present an invaluable
compendium of the political history o
the most important era through which
the national government has ever pass
ed. When the history of this perioC
shall be impartially written, when wa
legislation, measures of reconstruction
1 Z. H..
to the constitution, maintenance of pub
lie credit be reviewed, unsurrOundcd by
prejudice and disconnected from parti
sanism, the speeches of Garfiels
will Ee estimated at thei
true value, and will b,
found to comprise q vast magazine o
fact and argument, of clear analysis ant
sound conclusion. Indeed, if no othc
authority were accessible, his speeche
in the house of representatives from De
cembeT, 1868 to June, 1880, would Civ
a well-connected history and complete
defense of the important legislation o
the seventeen eventful years that consti
tute his parliamentary life. Far beyond
that, his speeches would be found Il
forecast many great measures yet to b.
completed, measures which he knew
were beyond the public opinion Of thu
hour, but which he confidently believed
would secure popular approval within
the period of his own efforts. Differing
| as Garfield does from the brilliant par
liamentary leaders, il is not easy tt
ind his counterpart anywhere in thu
record of American public life. HI
perhaps
MORE NEARLY RESEMBLES MIR. sEwARI
in his supreme faith in the all-conquer
ing power OF a principle. He had thu
love of learning and the patient indus
try of investigation to which join
/ Quincy Adams owes his prominence and
his presidency. He had some of those
| ponderous clements of merit which dis
tinguished Mr.. Webster, and which, in
deed, in all our public life have left the
| great Massachusetts senator without an
Intellectual peer.
In English parliamentary history, as
| in our own, the leaders in the house OF
| commons present points of essential diff.
ference from Garfield, hut some of his
methods recall the best features in the
strong, independent course of Sir Rob
| ert Peel, and striking Resemblance are
| observable in that most promising of
| modern conservatives, who died too early
| for his country and his fame, the Lord
George Bentinck. He had all of Burke's
| love for the sublime and beautiful, with
possibly solnetninS VI LIS SupeEaounu-
| ance, and in his faith and his magma
nImity, in ibis power of statement, IN
his subtle analysis, in his faultless logic,
IN his love of literature, in his wealth
and world of illustration, one is remind
| ed of that great English statesman of
to-day who, confronted with obstacles
that would daunt any but the dauntless,
reviled by those whom he would relieve
IS bitterly as by those whose supposed
rights he is forced to invade, still Ia
bors with serene courage for the ameli-
Grafton of Ireland and for the honor of
the English name. Garfield's nomina-
tiOn to the presidency, while not pre-
dicted or anticipated,
WAS NOT A SURPRISE TO THE COUNTRY.
HIS prominence in congress, his solid
qualities, his wide reputation, strength