The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1882-03-02

by the TACT that ho had year before bee
elected tO congress, aud tho time whom u
must take his scat WIS drawing near II
preferred ~ remain m the military servic
aud had within his own breast the lhrgcs
confidence NJ success In the wider liolI
which his new rank opened ~ 10 him
balancing tho arguments on The one sid
and the other, anxious 10 determine
| what was for the best, de
sired above all things TO do his patriot,
| duty, he was considerably In
! nuenced by the advice OF President Lin
coin and Secretary StaRtOH, both Of whom
assured him that he would at that time
be of
ESPECIAL VALUE
| in the house of representatives. He re-
signed his commission OF major-general on
the 9th day OF December, 1868, and took
his seat in the house of representatives on
the It'll. He had served two years and four
months in the army, and had just compile
ted his 32d year. The thirty.eighth congress
| is.pre-eminently entitled in history to the
designation of the war congress. 1t was
elected while war was Migrant,
and every member was chosen upon
the issues involved in the continuance
of the struggle, The thirty-seventh
congress had, indeed legislated to
Il large extent on war measures,
but it was chosen before any one believed
that secession of the states would be ac-
tually attempted. The magnitude of the
work which fell upon its successor was un-
precedented, both in respect to the vast
sans of money raised for the support of the
army and navy and of the new and extra
ordinary powers of legislation which it was
forced to exercise. Only twenty-four states
were represented, and 1872 members were up
on its roll. Among these were many distin-
guished party leaders on both sides, yeter--
ans in the public service, with established
regulations for ability and with that skill
which comes only from parliamentary ex-
perience. Into this assemblage of
men Garfield entered without special
preparation, and, it might almost be said,
Unexpectedly. The question of taking
command of division Of troops under
General Thomas or
TAKING HIS SEAT
in congress, was kept open till the last mo-
ment, so late, indeed, that the resignation
of his military commission and his appear
ance in the house were almost cotcmpo-
raneous. He wore the uniform of a major
general of the United States army on Sat
urday, and on Monday, in civilians dress,
he answered to the roll call as a representa-
tive in congress from the state of Ohio. He
was especially fortunate in the constituency
which elected him. Descended almost en-
| tirely from New England stock, the men of
the Ashtabula district were intensely radi-
cal on all questions regarding human
rights. Well educated, thrifty, thor
oughly intelligent in affairs, acutely dis
cernlng Of character, not quick to bestow
confidence and slow to Withdraw it, they
were at once the most hopeful and most
trust in men in whom they have once con-
| fded is illustrated by the unparalleled fact
| that Elisha Whittlesey, Joshua Il. Giddings
and James A. Garfield represented the dis
trict for fifty-four years. There is no test
of mans ability in any department Of
! public life more severe than service in the
house of representatives. There is 40 place
where so little Difference is paid to reputa-
ton
PREVIOUSLY ACQUIRED,
or to eminence when outside, No
place where so little considera-
ton is shown for the feelings as the
failure of beginners. What man gains in
the house he gains by sheer force of his
own character, and if he loses and falls
back, he must expect no mercy and will
receive no sympathy. 1t is field in which
the survival Of the strongest is the rule, and
where no pretense can deserve and no
glamor mislead. The real man is discovered.
His worth is impartially weighed his rank
is irreversibly decided. With possibly a
single exception, Garfield was the youngest
member in the house when he en-
| tereu, anu was Uut seven years lroHi
! iti Ia college graduation. But he had
not been II his seat sixty days
before his ability waS recognized and his
placed conceded. He stepped to the ff0at
with the confidence of one who belonged
there. The house was crowded with strong
men of both parties. Nineteen of them
have since been transferred to the senate,
and many of them have served with distinc-
ton in the gubernatorial chairs of their re-
| Oh mil of
great consequence, but among them all
none grew so rapidly,
As said by Treveylan of his
parliamentary hero, Garfield sue
ceeded, because all the world in
concert could not have kept him in the
| background, and because when in the front
he played his part with prompt intrepidity
and commanding ease that were but
the outward symptoms of the immense re-
serves of energy on which it was in his
power to draw. Indeed, the apparently re-
served force which Garfield possessed was
one of his great characteristics. He never
did so well but that it seemed he could
easily have done better He never expended
so much strength but that he seemed
to be holding additional power at call
| This is one of the happiest and rarest dis
tinctions ofan effective debater, and often
count for as much in persuading an assem-
| bly, as the eloquent and elaborate argu-
ment. The great measure of Gariield's
fame was filled by his service in the house
of Representatives. His military life, Illus
trated by honorable performance and rich
in promise, was as he himself felt, prema-
turely terminated and necessarily incom-
plete. Speculation as to what he mi Int
have done in a field where great prizes are
so few, cannot be profitable. 1t is sufficient
to say tina as soldier he
| DID HIS DUTY
brayely. he did it intelligently, he won an
enyiable name, and he returned from
the service without blot or blem-
ish against him. As a lawyer, though ad-
mirably equipped for the profession, he can
scarcely be said to have entered upon its
practice. The few efforts he made at the
bar were distinguished by the same high
order of talent which he exhibited on every
field where he was put to the test, and Il a
ma may be accepted as competent judge
of his own capabilities and adaptions, the
law was the profession to which Garfield
should have devoted himself, but fate
nrdained otherwise, and his reputation in
history will rest largely upon his service in
the house of representatives. That service
was exceptionally long. He was nine tinses
consecutiyely chosen TO the house, an honor
enjoyed by not more than six other
REPRESENTATIVES Of the more than i've thou
sand who have been elected from the or
ganization Of the government TO this hour.
| Asa parliamentary orator, as debater on
an issue squarely joined, where the position
had been chosen and the ground laid out,
Garfield must be
| ASSIGNED A VERY HIGH RANK.
More, perhaps, than any man Wita WhoIn
he was associated in public life, he gave
careful and systematic study 20 pubic
questions, and he came 10 every discussion
ia which he took part with elaborate and
conplete preparatiOn. He was a steady
and indefatigable worker. Those who i'm
agine that talent or genius can supply the
place or achieve the results OF labor VIII mo
~ encouragement in Garfield's life. In
the preliminary work he was apt,
rapid and skillf1l He possessed in high
degree the power Of readily absorbing ideas
and facts. and. like DR.. johnson, had the art