Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-06-22

the red field of Leggets bill. Wherever
in all the war the battles wreck lay thick
est, there was the manly form of Gener-
al Gresham, type of enthusiastic hero
ism, an inspiration to the soldiers who
followed him.
But it is not in his military career,
dashing and brilliant as that is, that We
find the crowning reasons for his nomi-
nation. For him, "Peace hath her vic
tories Of no less renown than war;" Ai1er
his relations with the army were volun-
tarily severed, he was called by Presi-
dent Arthur into his Cabinet to the Of
flee of Postmaster General. Here he
greatly promoted the rapid expedition OF
the mails, shortening materially
the time of their transit across the con-
tinent. He also aided jim reduc-
ing letter, newspaper and parcel postage,
thereby saving millions to the public and
encouraging the dissemination of litera-
ture and intelligence. He was also the
first to vigorously enforce the United
States statutes against the abuse OF the
mails by lottery and other swindling
schemes, by which the credulous and
weak-minded we're imposed upon and
their confidence betrayed. 1t is, how
ever, in the discharge of his duties as
United States Judge, that the higher and
crowning glories Of his character appear.
The image OF justice among the
Greeks was represented as blindfolded,
holding scales balanced in her hand, but
unable to see the rank or standing of the
parties before her. Judge Gresham has
been the living ideal Of this. Grecian
figure. Unmoved by the threatenings Of
power, he has gone straight on in the
line Of his duty to the integrity and right
Of the question under consideration, and
has administered justice to high and low,
rich and poor, with a steady but impair
tial hand.
The contestants in one of the greatest
suits that has arisen in our country, have
also been before him. BY his wise and
happy decisions, he administered justice
to all, and prevented the strike from be-
coming universal, public traffic from be-
ing paralyzed, the nation from convulsion,
and the most serious damage to an un-
known number of individuals. Wherever
in all his life he has touched anything, it
has been improved, beautified or radorned.
He hes always had the happy faculty Of
quickly doing the right thing at the right
time, and he possesses in his own great
character, all the good qualities of the
Republican party. Under his leadership
the campaign cry will be, "Live and Let
Live" There will be no attempts upon
capital and no attacks upon labor, but
the country will march with gigantic
strides in settlement, development and
growth. The true leveling system will
be adopted, making all men equal before
law, and placing all mems feet on level !;
then the tall man may thank God for his
L.. ID 81, ~k rk I<
tented with his shortness.
In personal characteristics, in the
manner and condition Of his candidacy,
and his regulations to the Presidential
office, Judge Gresham is more like
Abraham Lincoln than any other man
living. The movement in his behalf,
like the movement for Lincoln, is the
spontaneous and unorganized action OF
the people, Like Lincoln, Gresham is
not working for the Presidential office.
He believes this exalted office should
never be sought and never declined. Like
him, too, he believes that the cares
which tend to great consequences should
be left to work out their results unaided,
as they cannot be materially hastened or
impeded by personal interference. Like
Lincoln in character, honest and simple,
but robust and fearless in danger, full
of justice and of noble heart, he stands
out in prominence as an ideal candidate.
/ may also be pardoned for saying in
this august presence that back in 1849,
at the age OF "a, l first met Abraham
Lincoln, he being Al. Ever after | sat at
his feet, as Saul of Tarsus sat at the feet
of Gamaliel, and was permitted, as we
walked together the journey of life, 'to
lean on his own great arm for support"
/ watched his thoughtful face when the
news first reached him that he had re-
ceived large vote fer Vice-President at
Philadelphia when Fremont and Dayton
were nominated, and when the thoughts
OF the great political preferment first
took root in his mind, / know from this
intimation how confidence and sympathy
may exist between great leader and the
people without either knowing the other.
/ can never forget how, in moments Of
great doubt, he agonized, watched and
listened fjr tokens Of guidance from the
common people, as a sailor watches for
the sun to learn where he is when he is
drifting in storm.
The same sympathy and confidence ex-
lists between Gresham and the people
that existed between Lincoln and the
people. His heart also has beaten in
sympathy with the sons of toll, for he
has labored with them in sunshine and
in cold. He, too, has been promoted
from their ranks and knows the taste of
poverty, and like them has earned his
bread. He has never forgotten their
lives Of privation and self-denial in their
hard strugs e for existence. Whether
bondmen sreemen, he had that sub
lime faith ~ their honesty and patriot
ism that, like Lincoln, he was willing to
have his body pierced with bullets in
their behalf. The rich, too, have found
ample protection and the adjustment of
every right in the equipoise OF his
character. He has always stood
with his party for the protection
of American labor against foreign COM
petition, and has always believed in fair
wages for fair work. He has advocated
liberal pensions for the manned, worn
and dependent defenders Of the Union.
He knows by experience how the rebel
bullet tears and hurts, for he himself has
been wounded and carried on stretcher
from the field OF battle, and has borne
the pains, and sees the needs, of the de-
erepit and health-broken soldiers.
We should not forget also that this
Nation has arrived at that stage OF civili-
zation and development that it has
right to demand common honesty in
politics. If young man happens to ac-
quire the prefix Of "Hon." to his name,
he has the right to demand that that
shall not be q reason Of explanation and
apology ever afterwards. The people
have right to demand higher standard
of integrity than that President shall,