Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-03-09

In the preliminary work he was apt. rapid
and sl>ilful. He possessed i'll high degree the
power of readily absorbing ideas and facts
Hsae ia it O0S By a" read shas ap mas y
like a mere glance at the table of con-
tents. He was pre- -eminently fair and can
did man in debate, took no petty advantage
stopped to no unworthy methods, avoided
personal illusions, rarely appealed to preju
dice, did not seek to in1ame passion. He
adversary than for his weak point, and on
his own side he so marshalcd his weighty
arguments as to make his hearers forget any
possible lack in the complete strength of his
position. He had a habit OF stating his Oppo-
ncnt's side with such amplitude of fairness
and such iiberality of cOnceS sion that his fol-
| lowers often complained that he was weak
! ening his case, bat never in his prolonged
parts. p atom i'll the PROCEEDINGS of the House
did he give way or fail in the Judgment of
competent and impartial listeners to gain the
mastery.
| These characteristics, which marked Gar
| field as q great debater did not, however,
make lin great parliamentary leader A
! parliamentary leader, "a that term is under
| stood wherever free representative govern
ment exists, is necessarily and very strictly
Those unfamiliar with GarfieId's industry,
and ignorant of the details of his work, may,
in some degree; measure them by the annals
public men to which he belonged has contrib
uted 80 much that will be valuable for future
reference. His speeches are numerous, many
of them brilliant, all of them well studied,
car fully phrased and exhaustive of the sub
| ject under consideration. Collected from the
scattered naTeS of ninety royal octave vol
umeS of Congressional record, they would
present au invaluable compendiumo of the po
| litical history of the most important era
| through which the National Government has
| ever passed When the history of this period
shall be impartially written, when war legis-
! latiOn, measures of recOnStructiOn protection
of human rights, amendments to the ConStl-
| tuition, maintenance OF public credit, be re-
| viewed unsurrounded by prejudice and dis
! connected from partisaniSm, the speeches Of
| Garfield will be estimated at their true value
| and will be found to comprise Il vast maya
! zine of fact and argument, OF clear analysis
! and sound conclusion. Indeed, if no other
| authority were accessible, his speeches in the
| House of Representatives,, from December
| 1858 to June 1850, would give a well connected
| history and complete defense of the imDOr-
| years that constitute his parliamentary lite.
| Far beyond that, his speeches would be found
| to forecast many great measures yet to be
| completed. measures which he knew were be
| yond the pubic opinion of the hour, but
! which he confidently believed would secure
| popular approval within the period of his
! own lifetime and by the aid of his own efforts.
| Differing Garfield does from the brilliant
| parliamentary leaders. it is not easy to find
| his counterpart anywhere in the record of
! American pIblclitc. He pcrhap more nearly
resembles Mr.. seward in his supreme faith in
| the all con- uering power of 4 principle lie
had the love of learning and the patient in
dustry Of investigation to which John Quincy
Adams owes his prominence and his presi-
dcncy. He had some # those ponderous ele-
Inents of life which distinguished Mr.. Web
ster, and which in all our public life have left
the great Massachusetts Senator without an
intellectual peer.
In English parliamentary history, as in orr
own, the leaders in the House of Commons
present points of essential difference from
Garfield, but some of his methods recall the
best featurHs in the strong independent
course of sir Robert Peel, and striking reSem-
biances are discernible in that lost prOmiS-
ing OF modern conservatives, who died too
early for his country and his tame, the LORD
for the sublime and the beautiful, with posi-
bly, something of his superabundance, and in
his faith and his magnaninty i'll his power OF
statement, in his subtle analysis, in his fault
less logic, in his love of literature, in his
wealth and world of illustration, one is re-
minded Of that .s"cat Eng j~A 5. ate$!nal OF to-
day who, confronted with obstacles that
would daunt any but the dauntless, reviled
by those whom ne would relieve as bitterly as
by those whose supposed rights he is forced
to invade, still labOrS with serene courage for
the ameioratiOn of Ireland an for the honor
of the English name Garhelds NOMINATION
to the Presidency. while not predicted or an
:icipated, was not surprise to the country.
Ills prominence in Congress, his sohd quail
ties, his wide reputation, strengthened by his
then recent election as senator from Ohio,
kept him in the public eve man occupy
ins the very highest rank among those en-
titled to be called statesmen. 1t was not mere
chance that brought him this high power.
I'VE must says Mr. Emerson. "RccEon sue
cess n constitutional trait. If Eric is in robust
health and has slept well, and is ut the top of
parture from Greenland he will steer west
and his ships will reach New Foundland but
take Eric out and put in a strongera and boider
aud the ships VIII sail 600, 900, 800 miles
farther and reach Labrador and New Eng
land There is no chance in results. As
candidate Garfield steadily grew in popular
favor. He was met with Il storm OF detrac-
ton at the very hour of his nomination. and
it continued with increasing volume and mo-
mentum until the close OF his victorious cam
pa1gn.
No might nor greatness in mortality
Can ccnsure 'scapa; back wounGing calumny
The whitest virtue strikes. What King so
strong
Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue?
Under it all he calm and strong AMI
confident: never lost his self OISe@Sion; did
no unwiSc act; spoke no nasty or Ill -consll
cred Wo"d. Indeed, nothing in his whole lie
Is more remark abe or more ere litaDle than
his bearing tnrnu IN thos" five full months OF
vituperatiUn- rO!OH@"d agony OF trial to
sensitive man, a constant ant cruel draft up
on the powers of moral endurance. The great
mass OF these uni t inlputations passed I'M
noticed, and. with the general debris o. the
campaign, fell into oblivion. Bur in a few in
stances the iron entered his soul and lie died
with the injury untOr@O5tcn ii not unfDrgiven.
One act of tiartield's candi lacy was unprece-
dented. Never before in the history OF pa I'll
san contests i'll this country hal successful
Presidential cautli'tat" spp> n freely on pass
ing events and current issues. To attempt
anything OF the kin seemed novel, rash and
even desp crate. The older class OF voters re-
called the unfortunate Alabama letter, in
which Mr. Clay was supposed to have signed
his political death warrant. They remem-
bered also the hot temp red efu sion by which
Gen. Scott los. larg" share of his popularity
before HI, nom nation. and the unfortunate
speeches wh;ch rapidly consumed the
mainder The Younger voters had seen Mr.
Greeley, in a series of Wig rrouS and original
addresses, preparing the pathway for his own
defeat. Unmindful OF these warnings,
needing the advice of frietds, Garfield spoke
in large crowds as he i)Irneged to AMI rom
New York, in August. to Il great multitude in
that city, to delegations and Populations of
every kind that called ut Mentor duriny the
summer and autumn. With innum ti;tble
critics. watchful and eager to catch phrase
that might be turned in5o ridicule odium,
o sentence that might be distorted to his
own or his party'S injury, Garfield did not
trip or halt in any one Of his seventy speech
es. This seems q the more remarkable
when il is rememb crcd that he did not write
what he said, AMI vet spoke with such logical
consecutveneSS of thought and such admira
BILE precision of phrase as to defy the acct
dent of misreport and the malignity of mis-
representation.
In the beginning OF his Presidential life
Garfields experience did not yield him pleas
ure or satisfaction. The duties that engross
so large a portion of the President ) time were
distasteful to him and were unfavorably con-
traStei with his legiSl tive work. II have