Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1886-01-20
College Man in Politics.

The st. Louis Globe Democrat in
recent issue says: Those who in
.ist upon the value and necessity Of
collegiate influence in our politics
can find but little comfort in the con-
temptation Of the present facts in
that connection. The President OF
the United States, Grover Cleveland,
never attended college Of any kind.
The Acting Vice President, John
Sherman, is graduate Of the com
mon schools of Ohio The Secretary
of State, Thomas f. Baysrd, rever
got farther than a Delaware rural
academy. The Speaker Of the House
of Representative, John g. Carlisle,
is selfeducated man. OF the en-.
tire seventy four members of the
Senate, only thirty are graduates OF
colleges; and of these thirty only
twelve hold diplomas from institu-
tions of national reputation. In the
House, the ratio Of college graduates
to those who never had any college
training is less than one to four, and
the collegians are by no means the
strongest and most influential men
of the body-a statement which also
applies to the relative standing and
power of the two classes in the Sen
ate The party leaders on both sides
in both branches OF Congress are
nearly all men whose educational
privileges, in the strict senses OF the
expression, were confined to the Or
binary country or village school.
1t seems incredible that Harvard,
with ell its boasted service and its
long array Of alumni, really furnishes
but one Senator. Yale does some
what better, having three Senators
to represent her, while Princeton
and Hamilton have two each, and
Bowdoin and Williams one each.
Singularly enough, neither of the
Senators from Vermont or New
Hampshire is college graduate, and
only one each Of those from Maina
and Connecticut have that distinct
ion. Few people are aware, we sIs-
pect, that Senator Edmunds, tie
peer of any other man in the nation
, as to political and legal wisdom and
influence, never attended college q
day in his life. The same is true of
Senator Beck, who is probably the
most capable and forceful man on
! the Democratic side. New York, the
greatest of the States has Mr.. Ev-
arts, Yale graduate, to speak for
her; (; but the best representative Of
college breeding, in manner and eff
fectiveness (Mr. Ingslls) halls from
the comparatively new and untutor,
ed State of Kansas, instead of stand
ing for one ofthe old and we'll school
ed Eastern States, as would seem to
be most proper and consistent-and
it is equally curious to note that one
of the ripest scholars in the Senate
(Mr. Morgan) comes from Alabama,
and never enjoyed any school advan-
tages beyond those furnished by the
humble academies of his native State.
There is no warrant, of course, for
the inference that because SO many
of our legislators and other promin-
ent political characters are not col
lege graduates they must be unedu-
Gated men. As matter of fact, ma
ny of them are excellent scholars,
having overcome their deficiencies in
the college lineby resolute and pains
taking processes of self-culture. 1t
is doubtful if any collegians in the
Senate are better versed in all the
departments of classical and modern
learning than such men as Edmunds.
Sherman and Morgan. In very few
instances, it is safe to say, could one
tell by listening to or reading the
debates which speakers are college
bred and which are not. The srayest