The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-01-18
STATESMEN AS FRIENDS.
Party Lines are NOT Drawn on quiet
Social Occasions.

Ola tsCo MI " 40 IKE " DSS
Party Lines are NOT Drawn on Quiet
Social Occasions.
Correspondence of the Press.l
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16.--A pleasant
theme is friendships among great men.
Early in the present century there was
notable meeting of kings and emperors
at Erfurth. Princes and courtiers were
numerous. The town was illuminated.
A tragedy developing the noblest traits
OF human nature was performed by the
most accomplished actors of France.
Emperor Alexander of Russia and Napo-
leon the Great sat side by side. As the
sentiment was expressed from the stage:
The friendship of great man is gift from the
gods,
Alexander gracefully rose, took the
hand of Napoleon, and, bowling, said:
Il experience the truth Of that senti'
ment today" An instructive burst of
applause from a pit full of princes,
mobiles and kings shook the walls OF the
theatre. Perhaps there is no more uni
versal aspiration than that for the friend
ship of one of ones own station and sex.
There have been but few men in the
world SO great as to be above friendships.
Napoleon was one of them. He had de-
voted followers, enthusiastic admirers,
but no friends-not even the graceful
and sentimental Alexander. The other
day | saw President Harrison out riding
with ex-senator Davis, of West Virginia.
These men are chums. Davis is about
the only close friend the president has.
though he likes Edmunds very well, and
puts much trust in Attorney General
Miller. If there is any famous man in
Washington who has no chum it is Sena-
tor Ingalls,. The original, unique man
from Kansas goes it alone. His accom-
plished wife is his chum. Ingalls, is
strong enough to get along by himself.
At the dinner given by Chief Justice
Fuller to Justice Brewer the other night
l saw w. G. Goudy, the leader of the
Chicago bar. The chief justice does
well to honor Mr.. Goudy. But for this
friend he would not now be wearing the
great black robe. 1t had been the am
hilton of Goudy's life to sit upon the
supreme bench. President Cleveland
had an appointment to make, and he
turned to Cloudy for advice, Cloudy
pressed Fuller, his life long friend, with
what eloquence the sequel showed.
Friendships move the world. But for
his friendship with Roscoe Conkling
Mr.. Arthur never would have been
president. But for his friendship with
Davis, Harrison would not have been
president, since it was through Davis
Elkins was enlisted, and through Elkins
the political forces which resulted in
nomination at Chicago. Half the men
in public life can trace their rise to
single personal friendship. Three
fourths of the men of great wealth can
look back to the turning point at which
the helping hand of friend supported
them. In these days of selfshness,
greed, political and industrial throat
cutting, let us not forget or underrate
the power of friendship. Such thoughts
help our human nature. They lead us
to value the friends we have, and to
appreciate at their true worth the loyalty,
generosity and manliness by which
friends are won and held.
An odd phase of friendship often seen
here is that between men who are bitter
political opponc~t ,,x Garfield and Ran
dolph Tucker " (, intimate associates.
The closest frier idenator Edmunds ever
had in congress was "Old Roman" Thur
man. Since Thurman left the senate the
ripe old Vermonter has honored none
with an unfolding of his inner self. An
unexpected pairing off in mutual friend
ship is that of Vest and Quay. These
senators, one the well known Republican
campaign manager and the other as in
tense Democrat as one could find in a
days journey, are very fond of each
others society. They have some mutual
tastes, and good fellowship and good
stories abound when they sit down to-
gether. There is nobody in Washington
that abuses Quay the politician with
more varied and vigorous vocabulary
than Senator Vest, and nobody that so
well likes Quay the man.
Many of the most earnest partisans in
public life say they find that politics has
not the slightest influence upon their
choice of friends. The unsuspicious Mr..
Pickwick was no more surprised at the
amiable relations existing between op-
posing counsel in the celebrated case of
Bardell VS.. Pickwick than some visitors
to congressional galleries are at the evil
dence of personal friendliness which
they see on the floor below. When Sen.
ator Voorhees, made his terrific onslaught
on Dudley and the administration the
other day, the first man to congratulate
him and to sit down beside him and talk
it all over was Gen. Grosvenor, the Re.
publican statesman from Ohio, who is
known for his resemblance to Santa
Claus.
Senators Payne and Sherman, Of Ohio,
are warm friends, and there is a great
deal of intimacy between their families.
Don Cameron's closest friend in the SEN
ate is Democrat, Butler, of South Caro-
lima. Cameron and Butler lunch together.
ride together, and about once year go
hunting together in the famous duck and
snipe fields of the latter's state. This
friendship began many years ago, when
Don Camerons father, old Simon, voted
for Buffers admission to the senate.
Speaker Carlisle and Maj. Mckinley
are much together. Each has sincere adj
miration for the other. Carlisle and a
Republican congressman, Mr.. Steele,
once kept house together here. Carlisle
and that fine old Kentuckian, Willie
Breckenridge, are as popular ON the Re-
publican side of the house as they are on
their own, while Mckinley, Butterworth,
Cannon, and Henderson of Iowa are
prime favorites among the Democrats.
To hear the last named make a party
speech you would not think him capable
even OF shaking hands with |. member of
the odious opposition. As a partisan
Gen. Henderson is as intense as he is elo-
quent as an orator, and that is saying
much. He roars and throws his hands
about wildly, shakes his head till his au-
ditors can imagine they hear his teeth
rafting, and grows literally red in the
face denouncing the brigadiers ON the
other side-and then goes over and sits
down among them as if he was at home.
zen. Hooker, of Mississippi, counts his
Republican friends nv tho ecore