Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-11-30

ing from the free North and the slave South
met in contentious commingliug. The ap-
peal from argument to the arbitrament OF
the sword was in process of termination,
and Governor Stanford possessed the
requisite moral and physical courage ne
cessary to the maintenance of a position as
a strong advocate Of Republican principles.
That he belonged to the few who founded
the Republican party on this coast will re-
main forever most convincing testimonial
of the strength of his conviction, the man.
illness OF his courage and the perspicacity
of his judgment. He possessed in an em-
incnt degree that indispensable quality of
leadership which combines discordant ele-
ments into homogeneous following. He
possesses equally with the greatest men of
his time the faculty of attracting 10 him
self the masses of men, and retaining their
confidence.
Possessed of these distinguishing ele-
ments of great leader, he was chosen the
first Republican Governor of the State. He
was thus chosen the first standard bearer
of the party because he was himself the
embodiment of the great principles which
called it into life, and he remains to-day
the most faithful exponent of its best ira
ditions. He administered the government
of a great State in a time of war and
proved himself not only equal to admins
tration OF the Government of a tranquil
country, but equal to those surprising and
terrible emergencies which the vicissitudes
of national life ofttimes engender. The
nation was victorious in the struggle for
the preservation of its integrity. The
principles for which Governor Stanford had
contended had triumphed. The infant
party whose foundations he had assisted 10
lay had achieved national ascendancy.
Slavery had been slain, and to its over
throw he had contributed the aid of his
strong personality, his political sagacity.
his administrative ability, and the argu-
ments of his high intelligence. He left the
Chief Executive chair to enter upon a still
higher career of administrative activity.
The war for the preservation of the Union
had paralyzed the commerce of the country
and arrested its growth and development.
Among the boldest conceptions of policy
which distinguished the administration of
Abraham Lincoln was that which relates
to the inauguration of system of internal
improvements.
The most gigantic of all the schemes in
this direction, and the one which will for
ever remain the most conspicuous monu-
ment to The splendid energy of the time
was the construction of an overland rail-
of this undertaking, it must be seen from
its prospective rather than from its retro
spective view. In the amount of capital
to be placed at risk, the physical difficult
les to be overcome, the mountain barriers
to be surmounted, the problems of engi-
neering skill to be solved, the natural ele-
ments to be contended with-the project of
spanning a continent more than 5000 miles
wide by q railroad was the most gigantic
enterprise ever undertaken in the history
of mankind. To the prospective contem-
plation it presented features of such colossal
proportions as to dwarf all the former I'M
dertakings of men. Before it, the con-
struction Of the Pyramids, the great canal
of China, the Chinese wall, and all other
public works involving a risk of vast vol
umes of capital and the solution of great
mechanical problems, sank into insignifi-
canoe. The successful administration of
the affairs of such an undertaking demand
ed the highest order of executive ability,
coupled with the broadcast and most varied
intelligence concerning the principles of
commerce, financial science, engineering
possibilities, and, in short, high capabili-
ties in every field of human activity. The
completion of the first overland railroad
was the grandest triumph of American
enterprise this country has witnessed. For
nearly a quarter of a century Governor
Stanford has been the leading organizing
and controlling mind of that great enter
prise. Its contributions to national great
ness are incalculable; its influence upon
the progress and the civilization of our
country is inestimable. We look backward
to-day to see not only a single railroad
spanning the continent, but system of
overland railways an accomplished fact
AS contributor to the material develop
ment of his country, therefore, Governor
Stanford has no peer. The enterprises of
other great railway builders were invited
by conditions which conspired. as it were,
to their success. II was the task of the
first overland railroad builders to create
favoring conditions. In the extraordinary
hazard of that undertaking, in the face of
all the doubts and uncertainty of that en-
terprise, Governor Stanford risked his for
tune and his future. That he won both
wealth and fame was just reward of what
must ever be recognized as q heroic en-
deavor. What he won by the success of
that great enterprise would have been suf-
ficient TO satiate the ambi ion of less
energetic man, but the country was not to
lose the benefit of his restless energy. The
main line of the overland railroad was sup
plemented by a network of State railways
which have urged forward the develop
ment of our State, and later another over.
land road, connecting Underwater on the At
lantic with tide-water on the Pacific, stands
as a second great monument to the indus
try, the energy and the capacity of use
full life. Governor Stanford achieved great
wealth, hut his inclinations in this direc-
ton did not become passions and that the
gratified passion for wealth did not partake
nf tho oh, ,f l,Saoea :,
io) often the case-:s witnessed by Il e his h
uses to which he has devoted the accumu-
lations OF his lifetime. If he accumulated
wealth, bis enterprises created empires of
wealth to be accumulated by others and
at last he patronized learning, not by unin-
yentive gifts to institutions already estab-
lished, but by that judicious liberalty
which lays the foundation for the learning
of the future.
There is an eminence due to inherent
greatness upon which mere official promi-
hence can confer no additional emphasis of
distinction. There is a distinguishment
to which no popular recognition can add
distinction. The selection OF q man for an
Office charged with high administrative du-
ties is a popular recognition of the requi-
site abilities for the discharge of such du-
ties. 1t will be plainly recognized that
Governor STANFORD mas successfully en-
counter ed difficulties of administration
greater than those which confront Senator
In Congress and even if his friends should
claim for his career the largest preparatory
experience fitting him for the chief magis-
tracy of this nation. the claim would not
be amenable to the charge OF over partial
panegyric but rather to the well-sustained
conclusion of a confirming record. His
history reveals one of those brilliant careers
which add lustre to the free institutions of
our country, and which furnish to our
young men the inspiration of grand ex-
ample. The lives of men grow naturally
out of their inherent propensities. A
brilliant career has its foundation in the
character of the man who achieves it, and
the career of Governor Stanford is a super
structure which bears testimony to the
breadth of it's foundation. If his name
does not stand high upon the roll of mill
- &c 4,N,,,,J far hot