Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1890-04-18

lofty disdain which alike excited wrath and
compelled admiration. His iron will never
bent before any storm. Mr.. Reed carried
through his recent programme by the force
OF will. When he first suggested it there
were men of his own party who distrusted
his ability to succeed, He Was victorious
because there was no man in the opposition
whose will was equal to his. There are
many who are strongly of the opinion that
had Randall been on the floor the result
would have been different.
There never has been more exciting and
desperate parliamentary battle than that
waged over the Force bill in the winter of
1874-75. There was a field for the courage,
the determination, the agygressiveness that
inhered in Randall. Still in a minority in
the House Of Representatives, the Demo
Gratis scarcely dared hope to defeat the bill;
but Randall took the lead, made their fight
aggressive instead of defensive, and the
whole party seemed to catch his spirit.
For days and nights he opposed skillful
parliamentary tactics, ready strategy and
invincible pluck against the will Of a COM
pact Republican majority, with all the
machinery of the House at it's back In
the end his apparently forlorn hope was
victorious, and Randall was by common
consent the hero of the contest.
THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION.
On December 4, 1876, MIR. Randall was
elected Speaker to succeed MI. Michael O.
Kerr, deceased. On taking the chair at
that critical time he said: eve stand in
the presence of events which strain and
test to the last degree our form of govern
ment. Our liberties, cOnsecrated by so
many sacrifices in the past, and preserved
amid the rejoicings of an exultant people at
our centennial anniversary as one among
the nations OF the earth, must be maintain
ed at all hazard. The people look confident
ly to your moderation, to your wisdom, in
this time fraught with SO much peril. Let
us not, beseech you, diSappoint their just
expectations and their keen sense Of justice,
but by uncesssing vigilance let us prevent
even the slightest departure from the con-
stitution and the laws, forgetting in the
moment of difficulty that we are the adj
herents of party and only remembering that
we are American citizens with a country
to serve. :" 1t was partly owing to his deter
mined spirit i'll maintaining such senti
ments that the turbulent factions in the
House were held i'll check and the results OF
the electoral commission quietly acquiesced
in. AS he expressed it in his valedictory
at the close of this Congress, ''The Demo
cratic party yielded temporary possession
OF the administration rather than entail
upon the people a civil war with its atten-
dant horrors"
AN INCIDENT OF HIS CAREER.
An incident of his canvass for the speaker
ship shows the character OF the mana
character that distinguished all his public
career. A railway magnate said to him:
''Mr. Randall you want to be Speaker. 1t
is in my power to elect whom l please, and
you know it. Allow me to name a majority
of the Pacific Railroad Committee and you
shall be the man. Win you do it :"
'No."
Els that your last word 20
''Y esq
''Then you will not be Speaker
| But he was, all the same.
TRIBUTES OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES.
Representative Roger G. Mills when he
heard Of Mr.. Randall's death and was asked
his opinion of Mr.. Randall, spoke
feelingly and earnestly. ''He was very
great man, said he, ga man of unimpeach-
able integrity and a natural born leader of
men. He had more of the elements OF lead
ership than any man have come in con-