New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1882-03-08

CIV ULM, MINI, WEDN
kept him in the background and be-
cause, when once in the front, he played
his part with prompt intrepidity and
a 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
we'll 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
distinctions of an effective leader, and
often counts for as much in persuading
an assembly as eloquent and elaborate
argument, which distinguished his
service in the House of Representative
HIS MILITARY LIFE,
illustrated by honorable performance
felt, prematurely terminated and neces-
what he might have done in field where
VAAO SAVUO Pl1LCO 01O 0O LOW O0ll11OV UO
profitable. It is sufficient to say that as a
soldier he did his duty bravely, he did it
intelligently, he won an enviable fame,
and he retired from the service without
blot or breath against him. AS a law
yer, though admirably equipped for the
profession, he can scarcely be said to
have entered ON it's practice.
THE FEW EFFORTS 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 if man may be accepted as COM
petent judge of his own capabilities and
adaptations, the law was the profession
to which Garfield should have devoted
himself. But fate ordained otherwise,
and his reputation in history will rest
largely upon his service in the House of
Representatives That service was ex-
ceptionally long. He was nine times
cOnsecutively Congressman to the
House, an honor enjoyed by not more
than six other Representatives of the
more than I 1000 who have been elected
from the organization of the Govern
ment to this hour.
AS A PARLIAMENTARY ORATOR,
as debater on an issue squarely Joined,
where the position had been chosen and
the ground laid out, Garfield must be
assigned very high rank-more so per-
haps than any man with whom he was
associated in public life. He gave care
full and systematic study to public
questions, and he came to every discus
sion in which he took part with an
elaborate and complete preparation.
He was steady and indefatigable
worker. Those who imagine that talent
or genius can supply the place or
achieve the results Of labor viii find no
encouragement in Garield's life. In
preliminary work he was apt, rapid and
skillful. He possessed in high degree
THE POWER OF READILY ABSORBING
IDEAS
and facts, and, like DIR. johnson, had
the art of getting from a book all that
was of value in it by a reading appar-
emily SO quick and curs0ry that. it SEEM
ed like a mere glance at the table of
contents. He was pre-eminently a fair
and candid man; in debate he took no
petty advantage, stopped to no unwOr-
thy methods, avoided personal allusion,
rarely appealed to prejudice, did not
seek to infiame passion. He had a
quicker eye for the strong point of his
adversary than for his weak point, and
O1l Ills OWu olUc Ic 81 uldISlldlcu Ills
weighty arguments as to make his hear
ers forget any possible lack in the COM
plete strength OF his position. He had
q habit of stating his opponents side
with
SUCH AMPLITUDE OF FAIRNESS
and such iberality of concession that
his followers often complained that he
was giving his casesaway. But never in
his prolonged participation in the pro-
ceedings in the House did he give his
case away or fail, in the Judgment of
competent and impartial witnesses, to
gain the mastery. These characterize
tics which marked Garfield as q great
debater did not, however, make him q
great parliamentary leader. A parlia-
mentary leader, as that term is under
stood wherever free representative gov
eminent exists, is necessarily and Very
strictly the organ of his party. An ar
dent American defined the instructive
warmth of patriotism when he offered
the toast, "Our country, always right;
but, right or wrong, our country"
THE PARLIAMENTARY LEADER
who hasa body of followers that will
do, and dare, and die for the cause is
one who believes his party always
right, but, right or wrong, is for his
party. No more important or exacting
duty devOlves upon him than the selec-
ton of the field and the time for contest.
He must know not merely how to strike,
but where to strike and when to strike.
He often skillfully avoids the strength
OF his opponents position and scatters
confusion in his ranks by attacking an
exposed point, when really
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE CAUSE
and the strength of the logical intrench-
ment are against him. He cOnquers
often both against the right and the
heavy battaliOns, as when young Charles
Fox, in the days of his TOryism, carried
the House of Commons against Justice,
against memorial rights, against his
own convictions if, indeed, at that pc
Rod Fox had convictions, and in the in
terests of a corrupt administration, in
obedience to a tyrannical sovereign,
drove Wilkes from the seat to which
the electors of Middlesex had chosen
him, and installed Luttrell in defiance
not merely of law but of public decen-
cy. 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
and aspiration of his nature. The
three most distinguished parliamentary
leaders hitherto developed in this coun-
try are MIR. Clay, Mr.. Douglas, and
Thaddeus Stevens. Each was a man of
consummate ability, of great earnest
ness, of intense personality, differing
widely each from the others, and yet
with a signal trait in common-the
power to command. In the give and take
of daily discussion; in the art of con-
trolling and consolidating reluctant and
refractory followers; in the skill to over
come all forms of opposition and to
meet with competency and courage the
varying phases of unlooked-fo for assault
or unsuspected detection, it would be
difficult to rank with these fourth
name in all our congressional history
But of these Mr.. Clay was the greatest.
It would, perhaps, be impossible to find
in