Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-02-28

spect indeed he constantly surprised many who
were most intimately associated with
him in the government, and especially
those who had feared that he might be lack
ing in the executive faculty. His disposition
of business must be orderly and rapid. His
power of analysis, and his classification, en-.
abled him to dispatch vast mass of detail
with singular promptness and ease. His
cabinet meetings were admirably conducted.
His clear presentation of official subjects, his
we'll considered suggestion of topics on which
discussion was invited, his quick decision
when all had been heard, combined 10 show
thoroughness of mental training as rare as
his natural ability and bis facile adaptation to
new and enlarged field of labor.
With perfect comprehension OF all the in
heritances of the war, with a cool calculation
of the obstacles In his way, impel'ed always
by a generous enthusiasm, Garfield conceived
that much might be done by his administra-
ton towards restoring harmony between the
different sections of the Union. He was anx-
ious to 60 South and speak to the people. As
early as April be had Intellectually endeaYored
to arrange for trip to Nashville, whittier he
had been cordially invited, and he was again
disappointed few weeks later to find that he
could not 60 to South Carolina to attend the
centennial celebration of the victory OF the
COwpens. But for the autumn he definitely
counted on being present at three memorable
assemblies in the South, the celebration at
Yorktown. the opening Of the Cotton EXPOSE
tion at Atlanta, and the meeting Of the Army
of the Cumberland at Chattanooga. He was
already turning over in his mind his
address for each occasion, and the three taken
together, he said to friend, gave him the ex-
act scope and verge which he needed. At
Yorktown he would have before him the asso-
Citations of q hundred years that bound the
South and the North in the sacred memory of
a common danger and a common victory. At
Atlanta he would present the material inter-
ests and the industrial development which ap-
pealed to the thrift and independence of every
household, and which would unite the two
sections by the instinct and self-interest and
self-defense. At Chattanooga he would revive
memories of the war only to show that after
all its disaster and al its suffering, the coun-
try was stronger and greater, the Union rem
dered indissoluble, and the future, through
the agony and blood of one generation, made
brighter and better for all.
Garfeld's ambition for the success of his
administration was high. With strong eau
ton and conservatism in his nature, he was
in no danger of attempting rash expert
ments or of resorting to the empiricism of
craftsmanship. But he believed that renewed
and closer attention should be given to ques-
tions affecting the material interests and COM
mercial prospects of fifty millions Of people.
He believed that our continental relations, ey-
tensive and undeveloped as they are, involved
responsibility, and could be cultivated into
profitable friendship or be abandoned to
harmful Indifference or lasting ennity. He
believed with equal confidence that an essen.
tial forerunner to new era Of national
progress must be q feeling of content
ment in every section of the Union, and
generous belief that the benefits and burdens
of government would be common to all. Him.
self conspicuous illustration of what ability
and ambition may do under Republican insti-
buttons, he loved his country with passion of
patriotic devotion, and every waking thought
was given to her advancement. He was an
American in all his aspirations, and ne looked
to the destiny and influence Of the United
States with the philosophic composure of
Jefferson and the demonstrative confidence of
John Adams.
THE MOTIVES ACruATINa HIN.
The political events which disturbed the
presidents serenity for many weeks before that
fateful day in July, form an important chap
ter in his career, and, in his own judgment,
involved questions of principle and of right,
which are vitality essential to the constitu-
tional administration of the federal govern
ment. It would be out of place here and now
to speak the language of controversy; but the
events referred to, however they may continue
to be source of contention with Others, have
become, so far as Garfield is concerned, as
much a matter of history as his heroism at
Chickamauga or his illustrious service in the
house. Detail Is not needful, and personal
antagonism shall not be rekindled by any word
uttered to-day. The motives of those oppos-
ing him are not to be here adversely interpre-
ted nor their course harshly criticised. But
OF the dead president this Is to be said, and
said because his own speech is forever silenced
and he can be no more heard except through
the fidelity and the love of surviving friends:
From the beginning to the end of the coutro-
very he SO much deplored, the president was
never for one moment actuated by any motive
of gain to himself or of loss to Others. Least
of all men did he harbor revenge, rarely did he
even show resentment, and malice was not in
his nature. he was congenially employed
only in the exchange of good offices and the
doing of kindly deeds.
There was not an hour, from the beginning
of the trouble till the fatal shot entered his
body, when the president would not gladly,
for the sake of restoring harmony. have re-
traced any step he had taken If such retracing
had merely involved consequences personal to
himself. The pride of consistency, or any
supposed sense of humiliation that might re-
suit from surrendering his position, had net
less subject to such influences from within or
from without. But after most anxious DELHI
Grafton and the coolest survey Of all the cir
cumstances, he sOlemnly believed that the true
prerogatives Of the executive were In olved In
the issue which had been raised, and that he
would be unfaithful to his supreme obliga-
ton If he failed to maintain, in all their vigor.
the constitutional rights and dignities OF his
great Office. He believed this in all the con-
victions of conscience when in sound and Wig
orous health, and he believed in his suffering
and prostration in the last conscious thought
which his wearied mind bestowed on the tran.
STORY struggles of life.
More than this need not be said. Less than
this could not be said. Justice TO the dead, the
highest obligation that devolves upon the
living, demands the declaration that IN all the
bearings of the subject, actual or possible, the
president was content in his mind, justified in
his conscience, immOvable in his conclusions.
HIS RELIGIOUS ELEMENT.
The religious element in Garfeld's charac-
ter was deep and earnest. In his early youth
he espoused the faith of the Disciples, a sect of
that great Baptist Communion, which in diff
ferent ecclesiastical establishments is SO num-
erous and SO influential throughout all parts
of the United States. But the broadening ten
dency of his mind and his active spirit of in
quiry were early apparent and carried him be-
yond the dogmas of sect and the restraints of
association. Ia selecting college in which
to continue his education he rejected Bethany,
though presided over by Alexander Campbell,
the greatest preacher of his church. His
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