The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1882-03-03

comprehensive Improvement In the mode OF
appointment and In the tenure OF Office would
have been proposed by hun, and, WI h the aid
OF Congress, no doubt, perfected. But, while
many OF tho executive duties were not CRATE
full TO him, he was assiduous and conscientious
in their discharge. From the very outset he
exhibited administrative talent OF high or
der. He grasped the helm OF Office with tho
hand Of master. In this respect,
in iced, he constantly surprised many who were
not mo I ultimately associated with HIM IN the
Government, and especially those who feared
he might tie lacking IN the executive faculty.
His disposition Of business was orderly auu
rapid Ills power or analysis and his skill In
claseitcat on enabled him TO dispatch vast
mass OF d. tail with singular prompness and
ease; his Cabinet meetings were admirably con-
Quoted his clear presentation OF official sub
jects, his well-conscered suggestions oil topics
on which discussion was invited, his qulck deci-
sloh when ali had been heard, combined 10 show
a thoroughness of mental training rare as
his natural ability and his facile adaptation to .
new and enlarged field of laUor.
With perfect comprehension OF all the inherit
snces OF the war, with q cool calculation OF the
obstacles in the way, impelled always by gem
erons enthusiasm, Garfield conceived that
much might be done by his administration
toward restoring harmony between the differ
ent sections of The Union. He was anxious to
go South and speak 10 the people. As early as
April no had Intellectually endeavored 10 ar
range for trip to Nashville. whittier he had
been cordially invited, and he was again di APP
pointed q few weeks after to find he could not
go 10 South Carolina to attend the centennial
commemoration OF the victory OF Cowpens
Tut fer the autumn, he definitely counted on
beng present at three memorable assemblies in
the South-the celebration ut Yorktown. the
opening Of the Cotton Exposition at Atlanta,
and the meeting of the Army of the Cumber-
land mt Chattanooga. He was already turning
over in his MUD his address for each occasion.
and the three taken together, he said to
Trend. gave him the exact scope and verge he
needed. AT Yorktown he would have before
him the associations of n hundred years
that bound the South and the North in the
sacred memory Of a common darger and a COM
mon victory at Atlanta he wonld present tho
material interests and the industrial develop
ment which appealed to the thrft and indie
pendence of every household. and which should
unite the two sections by the instinct OF self
interest and self-defence. AT Chattanooga, he
would revive memories of the war only to show
that after all its disasters and all It's sufferngs,
the country WAS stronser and greater. the
Union rendered indissolube, and the future,
through the agony and blood OF one genera
ton, made brighter and better for all. Gar
fields ambition for the success of his admins
tration was high With strong caution and
conservatism in his nature, he was in no dam
ger of attempting rash experiments or OF re-
sorting to the empirlcism OF state manship;
Tut he believed that renewed and closer at
tsnton should he given to questions
affecting the material interests and
commercial prosperity OF 5O.O0OOO0 Of
people. He believed that our contne tal rela-
TONS extensive and undeveloped as they are,
involved responsibility, and could be cultivat d
in profitable friendship, or be abandoned to
harmful indifference or lasting enmi " lie be-
heved with equal confidence that an essential
Tor rnnner To new era OF national progress
must be a feeling of contentment in every Sec
ton of the Union, and general belief that the
benefits and burdens of government would be
common to all. Himself conspicuous illus
tration of what ability and ambition may do
under republican institutions. he loved his
country with a passion OF patriotic d, votion,
and every waking thought WAS given to her adj
vancement. He was an American in all his
pirations, and be looked 10 the destiny and in
fuence Of the United States with the philo-
sophical composure of Jefferson and the dem
OnstratIve confidence OF John Adams.
The political events which disturbed the Pres
ident's serenity for many weeks before that
fatefu day in July form an important chapter
in his career and in his own judgment involved
matters of principle and OF right which are vi
tally essential TO the constitutional admnistra-
ton OF the Federal Government. 1t would
be out of place here AMI now to speak
the language of controversy, but the evt nts
referred to, however they may continue
to be the source OF contention with Others,
have become, SO far as Garfield Is concerned,
~ much a matter OF history as his herolsm at
Chickamauga or his illus,rious service in the
House. Detail is not needed, full and personal.
Antagonsm shall not be rtknJled by any word
uttered to-day.
The motives Of those opposing him are not to
be here adversely interpreted nor their course
harshly characterized, 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 q rough the fidelity and the
love of surviving trends From the beginning
to the end Of the controversy he so much de
plored the President was never for one mo-
ment actuated by motives of gain to himself
or loss to others. Least OF ali did he barbor
revenge; rarely did he ever show resentment;
and malice was not III 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 until the fatal shot entered his
body when the President would not gladly, for
the sake OF restor ng harmony, have retraced
any step lie had AIKEN, If such retracmg had
merely involved consequences personal To him.
self. The pride OF consistency, or any sup
posed sense OF humiliation that might result
from surrendering his POSITION, had not IA
feathers weight with him. No man was less
subject TO such influences from within or vii h
out but after most anxious dcliberatiOn and
the coolest survey of all circumstances he SOL
EMMY believed that the true prerogatives of
tnb Executive were 1iiNOiVeu Ill the Issue which
had been raised, and that he would I've uniaith-
full TO his supreme obligation if he failed to
maintain in all their vigor the constitutional
rights aud dignties Of the great Office. He be-
lieved this in all tho convictions of conscience,
when in sound and vigorous health, and he he
lieved 1t i'll lis suffering and prostration, in the
last CONSCIOUS thought which his wearied mind
bestowed on trsnsitory struggles of life. More
than this need not be said /; less than this could
not lie said.
Justice to the dead, the highest obligation
thatdevolves upon the living. demands the dec
laration that III all the bearings OF the subject,
actual or possible. the President was content in
his mind, justified in his conscience, immovable
in his conclusions.
The religious element in Garfieds character
was deep and earnest. In his youth he es-
poused the faith Of the Disciples, sect OF that
great Baptist communion which, in different
ecclesiastical establishments. Is 80 numerous
aud Influential through all parts OF he
United States but the broadening tendency Of
his mind and his active spirit of inquiry were cary
apparent, and carried him beyond the dogmas
OF sect aud the restraints of association. In
selecting college in which 10 continue his edu
cation, he rejected Bethany, though presided
over by Alexander Campbell, the greatest