Mohave County miner., 1888-11-24
OLD.TIME STATESMEN.

OLD.TIME STATESMEN.
a Very Large Number OF Them
Were Young Men.
TAs Rsmarksbly youthfuA Set Of hAsn
known - the " Fathers of the Rspub-
c"-Eaucation i'm the Days of
Our Kcvercd Ancestors.
-
The "fathers OF the Republic" were not
the sexagenarians and septuagcnarians OF
their era, writes Edward p. Clark In the
Chicago Ame,1od. On the contrary, they
were, a. rule, are markably youthful sst Of
men II is the "wigs, queues and knee.
brcecbes, which have caused the misappre-
henson. The pictures In the scho6 history
show white haired men who bear every ap-
pesrance Of oeiDg "weli up In years" and
the child instinctively thinks OF them -
old. Almost superhuman wisdom was re-
quired TO discharge their almost impossible
task, and 1t consequently seems as though
they must have possessed the requisite
wisdom and experience OF the world. 1.-THE
question were asked which Of the two bod.
les, the convention Of liss or the United
States Senate OF 1883, showed the highest
average OF age douDticss nine persons out
Of every ten would answer that the trainers
OF the constitution were much the older.
Forty-one deputies from the various
States subscribed their names 70 the con.
stitutlon On the nth day Of September. ,7SS.
The birthdays Of all but four are known.
OF these thirty-sevcn there were but five
who were as old as sixty, and, In truth, one
OF these five did not complete his sixtieth
year until tho month after the convention
dissolved. The Nestor OF that body was
Bcr)amin Franklin, who was more than
eighty-one when IL met. Roger Sherman
came next in seniority, at sixty.six- Then
followed two members each IA their sixty
fourth year, and the deputy who was just
turning sixty. But only one-sixth Of the
whole number were entitled 70 be called olo
men.
Turn now to the other extreme. Jonathan
Dayton, Of New Jersey, lacked several
months of being "a when thc convention
met; William jackson, CT Pennsylvania,
was but %; Charles Pinckney, of South
Carolina, only 20; Alexander Hamilton, CT
New York, was but @ few months past 30;
Rufus King. Of Massachusetts,, ~; Gouver-
neucr Morris, of New York, 50, and James
Madison, Of Virgin.a, 30. Twelve Of the
thirty-seven were unoer 40, and twenty leaa
than A5 years old. A full third were thus
within the class which, in speaking OF aga
nowadays, we cali young men. The average
age OF the whole number fell Just inside Of
G years.
II would be q waste Of space to argue
that the young men Of the convention did
their full share Of the work IL is
enough to have cited the great names
Just mentioned and TO add that
the committee 10 which the instru.
ment was referred for final revision con-
sisted Of johnson, aged 60; Hamilton, 30;
Gouverneuer Morris, 35; Madison, %, and
King, 30. Bancroft calls Madison "tho
chief author Of the constitution Hamil-
toms work In the Fed>raifst is conceded TO
have been the most potent agency in CON-
mending the instrument to the country and
securing its adoption. Marshall, then only
10, furnished the powerful assistance with
ont which Madison could not have secured
the narrow majority by which their State
was persuaded to accept IL.
The Constitutional convention waa not
unique rs a field for youthful achievement.
Jefferson had been only s3 years old when
he wrote the "Declaration Of Independ.
encc." Hamilton was made Secretary OF
the Treasury by Washington, and began his
great career as fnancier at the age Of 81.
At the same time King, who had become .
"carpet- -baggeru 10 New York-since he
Represented Massachusetts, In the Constitu-
uonal convention was elected United
States Senator at a. Thirty had been fixed
o. the minimum age for Senator'S, and half Of
those first elected were between 30 and IS.
A few years later Henry Clay came TO the
Senate, and was admitted without thought
that be was not eligible--the fact beng that
he did not reach the age Of 30 until moro
than three months later.
No limit Of age for the judiciary was dxed
In the constitution, but IL there be any place
In the Government where maturity 10 de-
manded Il is on the bench of the Supreme
Court Washington appointed as one OF the
early Justices, James Iredell, who was but
@ years old John Adams gave place 70
Bushrod Washington ut 30, and Jefferson
named William johnson at only %. This
was simply the adoption Of the Federal
Government Of the same principle which
the States had applied TO the choice Of
Judges. John Jay, who was made first
Chief Justice OF the United States at 43, had
been appointed Chief Justice OF New York
when but 81. Iredea had been Judge OF the
superior court Of North Carolina when only
"a. =
The truth is that what we have come 70
consider the especial era Of old men wa
really the most remarkable period in our
history for young men. They enjoyed q
chance a century ago such as young men
have never bad since the civil war broke
down temporarily some OF the barriers
against youth in public life, but the con.
trolling forces were welded by men whose
sveragc age was q number Of years greater
than that OF their grandfathers, who held
sway during the revolutionary period.
The youngest man in the United States
Senate to-day--Kcnna, Of West Virginia
was IS years old when he took his seat, and
nobody 80 young had been in tho body for q
long period before his appearance. He IA
now 40 and nobody else In the body OF q
members is so young, although. as we have
seen, one-third of the Constitutional con-
vention were under 40. More than half Of
the body, IL has been shown, were less than
IS years old; only twentyone OF the
present seventy-six Senator's, or but o triae
over q quarter, were less than 45 years
old when they entered the chamber Tho
average age of the Senate to-day Ii 81
years, against an average OF only ~ years
| for the convention Of l1S7.
"Siow-going,' we are wont TO call the
| ways OF the eighteenth century; "a fast
age, is the common description Of our owr
! period. Both expressions are misleading
| Our cor servatiye ancestors rushed their
boys through college during their teens
| two members Of the Constitutional conven'
Il
three at i6 New York College will not ad