Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-11-05
A Versatile Genius

-
ON JoHN SHERMAN. lie Is great
educator. His Ohio and Virginia
speeches have done great deal OF good'
lie came South to teach our people their
political duties, and, indirectly, has been
the cause Of stimulating study in several
directions in the North. The popular
mind hes been deeply interested IN hx-
ing his exact status, and has been
led to profitable research, particn-
larIy in the fields Of mythology and
natural history. And when we con-
slider the various opinions that have
been expressed as to what JOHN most
resembles it is easy to see why this
should be. Some Of the classical edi-
tors declare that he is a Janus. others
think that they are justified in calling
him A Proteus. On several occasions
he has been styled hyena, and day
or two ago we quoted from the Boston
Globe to show that that paper IS
confident that he is peculiar
Kind Of leopard that has the power
Of changing his spots. Not few have
been inclined to the opinion that he is
a mixture of all four, but now comes
the St. Paul Mimi Globe with the
positive assertion that he is the "Great
Political Chameleon Of the Nineteenth
Century," The Globe, in emphasizing
its assertion, says:
"He can change color with every
varying light. He has laid aside the
blood-dyed garments which he wore in
the Ohio campaign aud has gone to Vir-
GINA clad in the snow-white emblems
of peace. As the wolf said to the kid
in the fable, time and place make a
wonderful difference in the tone of John
Sherman's speech. After reading
one of his Ohio speeches we
picture him in imagination as
mail-clad warrior. his hands reek-
ing in the blood of slain rebels, and his
valiant sword carrying death and de-
struction to the white people of the
South. Then turning to his Petersburg
speech, with its sweet, honest words of
adulation for the people whom but q
week ago he held up on the point of his
lance, we are prone to believe that ne
is the veritable dove, with its olive
branch, which escaped from Noah's ark
four thousand years ago. A versatile
genius is John Sherman, our 10 john"
But the studies indicated above are
not the only ones JOHN has stimulated.
lie has also started the more practical
editors to looking into figures. For
instance, the Baltimore Sun says:
1.-THE Chicago Herald has been study
ing the census to find out exactly how
many votes were suppressed in the
census year and where. The result is
the discovery that Of S,4l6.00O males
of voting age in the North, 6,525, 00O
voted for President, and 1891 900 did
not. In the southern States the num-
Der of non-voters was l,37l 200, OF
$4,000 less than in the North. II
would seem that if it is worth while to
partially disfranchise the one section
because it polls 1871 200 less votes
than it might, it ought to be wortf
while to disfranchise the other section
which has a still larger number of non
voters. Does Mr.. Sherman reflect tina
possibly all those northern men tina
are kept from the polls are Democrats
In Rhode Island, it seems, most Of then
undoubtedly are"
For fear Of " misrepresenting" JOIN
we shall decline as yet to give al
opinion as to his status with referenc
either to the domain Of mythology o
Of natural history. There is one thing
however, we will say, and that is tina
a man who can so nearly resemble S
many different things and set so man
people to thinking on such variety
subjects must be entitled to the con
pliment Of the st. Paul Globe, that b
is a versatile genius.