Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1882-03-09

| lie, lie gave Careful anu Sysl6maLlC
study to public questions, and he came
10 every discussion in which he took
part, with elaborate and complete pre-
paration. He was steady and indie
fatigable worker. Those who imagine
that talent Or genius can supply the
place or achieve the results of labor,
will find no encouragement III Gar
fild's life. In preliminary work he was
apt, rapid, and skillful. He possessed
in a high degree the power of readily
absorbing ideas and facts, and like
Dr.. Johnson, had the art of get
ting from book all that was
of value in it by reading
apparently SO quick and cursory that it
seemed ike a mere glance at the table
ofcontents. He was a pre- minently
fair and candid man in debate, took no
petty advantage, stopped to no I'M
worthy methods, avoided personal al
lusions, rarely appealed to prejudice,
did not seek to inhame passion. He
had a quicker eye for the strong point
Of his adversary than for his weak
point, and on his own side he so mar
shaled his Weighty arguments as to
make his hearers forget any possible
lack in the complete strength OF his po-
, sition. He haG a habit of stating his
opponents side with such amplitude OF
fairness and such liberality of conces-
sion that his followers often complain
ed that he was giving his case away.
But never in his prolonged participa-
ton In the proceedings of the house
did he give his case away, or fail in the
judgment Of competent and impartial
listeners to gain the mastery.
These characteristics, which marked
Garfield as great debater, did not,
however, make him great parlia-
mentary leader. A parliamentary
leader, as that term is understood
wherever free representative govern.
ment exists, is necessary and very
strictly the organ of his party. For An
achievement Of that kind Garfield was
disqualified disqualified by the texture
Of his mind, by the honesty of his
heart, by his conscience, and by every
instinct aud aspiration of his mature"
The three most distinguished a.
mentary leaders hitherto develot,I IN
this country are Mr.. Clay, Mr.. Douglas,
Mr.. Thaddens Stevens. Each was Il
man of cOnsummate ability, of great
earnestness, of intense personality,
differing widely, each from each other,
and yet with signal trait in common
the power to command.
From these three great men Garfield
differed radically, differed in the quail
ty OF his mind, in temperament, in the
form and phase of ambition. He could
not do what they did, but he could do
what they could not, and in the breadth
of his Congressional work he left that
: which will longer exert potential in
tiuence among men, and which, meas
! uIed by the severe test of posthumous
criticism, will secure more enduring
and more enviable fame.
Garheld's nomination to the Pre8i-
dency, while not predicted or anticipa-
ted, was not surprise to the country.
His prominence in Congress, his solid
qualities, his wide reputation, strength
! ened by his then recent election as
Senator from Ohio, kept him in the
public eye as a man occupying the very
highest rank among those entitled to be
called statesmen.
One aspect of his candidacy was I'M
precedented. Never before in the his
tory of partisan country, had success
full presidential candidate spoken freely
on passing events and current issues.
To attempt anything of the kind
seemed novel, rash, and even desper-
ate. The older class of voters recalled
the unfortunate Alabama letter, in
which Mr.. Clay was supposed to have
signed his political death warrant.
They remembered also the hot-tem-
pered effusion by which General Scott
lost large share of his popularity be-
fore his nomination, and the unfortu-
nate speeches which rapidly consumed
the remainder. The younger voters
had seen Mr.. Greeley in q series of Wig.
orods and original addresses, preparing
: the pathway for his own defeat. I'm
mindful of these warnings, unheeding
the advice of friends, Garfield spoke
to large crowds as he journied to and
from New York in August, to a great
multitude in that city, to delegations
and Populations of every kind that
called at Mentor during the summer
! and autumn. With innumerable
: critics, watchful and eager to catch a
phrase that might be turned into odium
and ridicule, or a sentence that might
be distorted to his own or his party's in
. jury. Garfield did not trip or halt in
any VI LIS S6N0Hty SpG0Cu6s. InlS seems
. all the more remarkable when it is re-
membered that he did not write what
he said, and yet spoke with such logi-
cal consecutivenes Of thought and such
! admirable precision of phrase as to
DEFY the accident of misreport and the
malignity of misrepresentation.
In the beginning of his Presidential
, life Garfeld's experience did not yield
him pleasure or satisfaction. The du-
ties that engross so large portion of
the Presidents time were distasteful to
him, and were unfavorably contrasted
with his legislative work EInave been
dealing all these years with ideas" he
lmpatlently exclaimed one day, land
here am dealing only with persons. l
have been heretofore treating of the
fundamental principles of government
and here | am considering all day
whether A or B shall be appointed TO
this or that Office" He was earnestly
seeking some practical way of correct
ing the evils arising from the distribu-
ton of overgrown and unwieldy patron
age-evilS always appreciated and often
discussed by him. but whose magnitude
had been more deeply impressed up
on his mind since his accession to the
Presidency. Had be lived, a compre-
hensive Improvement in the mode OF
appointment and in the tenure OF Office
| would have been DrOuOsfd nv him ,,S