Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1886-07-10
OLD ZACHARu.


The Twelfth President to Have a AIonu-
ment
A Washington correspondent Of The
Atlanta Constitution writes: It seems
probable that the bill providing for the
erection OF an equestrian statue Of Gen.
Zachary Taylor, twelfth president Of the
United States, viii pass during the
present session. AT all events it has had
the start and advantage Of a favorable
recommendation from the Joint committee
OF both houses Of congress on the IL
brary.
The monument business has been
somewhat Overdone, and Mr.. O'NeilI, Of
Pennsylvania, is authority for the state
ment, as a member Of the Joint committee
that the monument to ''the hero of
BuenR Vista" viii be the last to be re-
commended at the present session. The
sentiment in favor Of an enduring trib-
ute to "Old ZACH overcame even Sena-
tor HOar, who had minated that he
meant TO do all in his power to cali a
halt on the matter Of monuments, and in
the committee he joined Senator VOor-
hees and others in favor Of the proposed
monument to President Taylor.
Gen. Floyd King, of Louisiana,
Georgian by birth, and a son of Thomas
Butler King, is an enthusiastic patron Of
this bill. His father along with Mr..
Stephens and Gen. ToOmbs, advocated
TaylOr's nomination instead of Clay as
the WING candidate In 1913 TaylOrs
nomination was In fact a Georgia move
ment. Mr.. Stephens had more than any
other man to do with it. Gen. TOombs
and Mr.. King went heart and soul int
the movement. They were actively as
sisted by Abraham Lincoln. then a wig
member from Illinois. The bold cOncep-
ton Of throwing aside the idol Of the
wing party and putting the
old soldier to the front was worked out
mainly by five or six of the younger
leaders of the party In the house, among
whom Stephens and Lincoln were especi
ally active. The nomination of Gen.
Taylor and success after a campaign
which these young leaders pushed with
great vigOr, gave them, of course, power
ful influence with the incipient admins
tratiOn. During the brief period from
TaylOr's inauguration to his death to the
Georgia trio, Stephens, TOombs and
King, were among the most trusted Of
the cOunselOrs Of the president.
President Taylor attended the cere-
monies at the laying of the cornerstone
of the Washington monument, and on
that occasion, by exposure to the
weather, contracted the illness which ter
minated his career. He died Just as his
administration was shaping its policy.
A few years ago Mr.. Stephens, in a new
paper controversy with ThurlOW Weed,
threw much light upon the aim, and pur-
poses Of President Taylor, which no man
understood better than the Georgia states
man. About the beginning of TaylOr's
administration GeOrgia's inhuece in ma
tional politics probably touched its high
est point.
Howell Cobb became speaker of the
house Of representatives. He left con
gress to be elected governor Of Georgia
on the issue Of the compromise measure
of Henry Clay. On the same issue Mr..
ToUmbs became senator and Mr..
Stephens doomed up as a candidate for
the presidency. Stephen A. Douglas,
In his speech delivered at Atlanta in 1860
divulged the plan which had been cher
ished by the young wings Of nominating
Mr.. Stephens for president. George w.
Crawford, Of Georgia was secretary of
war under both Taylor and Fillmore.
The close connection Of Georgia with
the Taylor administration naturally
awakens an interest among GeOrgians in
the proposed monument. Gen. Marcus
Wright, of Tennessee, says that his state
is in favor OF this tribute to the soldier
president. Kentucky had to many gal
L-ct sons under the old man In Mexico
TO feed Indifferent to his monument.
Morrison and Logan, of Illinois, were
both with Taylorin Mexico. OF GeOrgians
now IN congress, Senator COIquitt is the
only one who served in the Mexican war.
Mr.. Theodore Mills, son of the late
Clark Mills, has the only cast Of Gen.
Taylor that has been preserved, and he
viii probably be selected as the artist of
the statue.
Gen. Floyd King is an imminently
proper patron Of the bill to erect this
memorial. His father was one of Gen.
Taylor's closest and most valued friends.
Gen. King is a native ofGeorgia, a state
to which Gen Taylor owed his nOmina-
ton, and he represents in congress
Louisiana, the state which gave Taylor
to the country as its twelfth president