Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-02-28

he preferred to remain in the military ser
vice, and had within his own breast the
largest confidence of success in the wide,
field which his new rank opened to him.
Balancing the arguments on the one side and
the other, anxious to determine what was for
the best, desirous above all things to do his
patriotic duty, he was decisively influenced
by the advice of President Lincoln and Sec
retary Stanton. both of whom assured him
that he could at that time be Of special value
in the House of Representatives.
He resigned his commission of Msjor- Gen.
eral on the 9TH of December, 1868, and took
his seat in the House of Representatives on
the Ssh. He had served two years snd four
months in the army, and had just completed
his thirty-second year.
THE WAR CONGRESS.
The Thirty eighth Congress is pre-emi-
nently entitled in history to the designation
of the War Congress- It was elected while
the war was raging. and every member was
chosen upon the issues involved in the con-
tinuaucs of the struggle. The Thirty -seyenth
Congress had, indeed, legislated to large ex-
tent on war measures, but it was chosen be-
fore any one believed that the secession of
the States would be actually attempted.
The magnitude of work which fell upon its
successor was unprecedented. both in respect
to the vast sums of money raised for the sup
port Of the army and navy, and of the new
and extraordinary powers of legislation,
| which it was forced to exercise. Only twen-
| ty-four States were represented, and one hun
dred ard eighty.two members were upon its
roll.
UNTRIED, ENTERING AMONG PARTY LEADERS.
| Among these were many distinguished
party leaders on both sides, growing gray in
the public service, with established reputa-
tion for ability, and with that skill which
comes only frem long parliamentary ex-
periencs. Into this assemblage of men Gar
field entered, without special preparation,
and, it might also be said, unexpectedly
The question of taking command of di-
vision of troops under General Thomas, or
taking his seat in Congress- was kept open
till the last moment; so late, indeed, that
the resignation of his military commission
aad his appearance in the House were al.
most contemporaneous. He wore the uni
form of Major. General of the United
States Army on Saturday, and on Monday
he appeared in civilians dress. He answered
to the roi.lcaIl as a Representative in Con-
gress from the State of Ohio. :
! He was especially fortunate in the con
stituency which elected him. Descended al
most entirely from New England stock, the
men Of Ashtabula District were intensely
radical on all questions relating to human
rights, well educated. thoroughly intelligent
| in AFFAIR.", acutely discerning of character,
not quick to bestow confidence and slow to
withdraw it. They wero at oncs the most
hopeful and most exscting of supporters.
Their tenacious trust in msn in whom they
have once con6ded is Illustrated by the un-
paralleled fact that Z isha Whittlesey, Joshua
r. Giddings and James A. Garfield repre-
sented the District for ffty-four years.
CRUCIAL TESTS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA-
TIyEs.
There is no test of mans ability in any
department Of public life more severe than
service in the House of Representatives.
There is no place where SO little Difference is
paid to reputation previously acquired or to
eminence won outside no placa where SO
little consideration is shown for the feelings
or failures of beginners. If man gains in
the House he gains by sheer force of his own
character, and if he loses aud falls back he
must expect no mercy, and will receive no
sympathy. II is a field in which the "survi-
val OF the strongest" is the recognized rule,
glamor can mIslead. The real man is dis
covered, his worth is impartially weighed,
his rank is irreyocably decided.
With possibly single exception, Garfield
was the youngest member of the House when
he entered, and was but seven years from his
college graduation but he had not been in
his seat sixty days before his ability was
recognized and his place conceded. He
stepped to the front with the confidence of a
man 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 distinction in the gubernatorial chairs of
their respective States and on foreign mis-
sions of great consequence. Yet among all
none grew so rapidly, none SO firmly as Gar
field.
RESERVE FoRCE-INvINcIBLE ENERGY.
He succeeded because all the world in con-
cert could not have kept him in the back
ground, and because, when once in front, he
played his part with prompt intrepidity,
and commanding ease that were but the
outward symptoms of the immense reserves
of energy on which it was in his power TO
draw. Indeed, the apparently reserved force
which Garfield possessed was one of his great
characteristics. He never did so well, but
that he seemed that 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 distinctions of an active leader, and
often counted for as much in persuading an
assembly as the eloquent and elaborate argu-
ment which distinguished his services in the
House of Representatives.
His military life, illustrated by honorable
performance and rich in promise. was, as he
himself felt, prematurely terminated and
necessarily incomplete. Speculation as to
what he might have done in field where
the great prizes are so few, cannot be profit
able. It is sufficient to cay that as soldier
he did his duty bravely,; he did it intelli-
gently; he won an enviable fame. and he re.
tired from the service without blot or breath
against him.
As lawyer, though admirably equipped
for the profession, he can scarcely be said to
have entered on its practice. The few efforts
made at the bar were distinguished by the
same high order of talent which he exhibited
on every field in which he was put to the test,
and, if a man may be accepted as COM
petent judge of his own capacities and adap-
tations, the law was the profession to which
Garfield should have devoted himself.
SERVICES as a LEGISLATOR.
But fate ordained otherwise, and his Re-
publican history will rest largely upon his
services in the House of Representatives.