Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-04-15

SAMUEL IT.. RANDALL.
An announcement Of death always
carries with it more or less of surprise.
The eternity OF hope in the human
heart drives back our fears, and despite
the approach of the inevitable, its de-
fusion bars the way while unbelief is
possible. So was it when the new
was borne over the country that Samuel
j. Randall had passed over to the silent
majority In the first flushing of a
those whose loving devotion had known
no WEAKNESS through months of PAIN
a great spirit went forth from it's frail
clay tenement, TO put on immortal
ity. Not alone TO that sorrowing
group bound to him by closest ties is the
sense of great loss; the entire land enters
the band of mourners and from every
section there m expressions of g Il
OF bereavement.
Samuel j. Randall was a man so init
mately associated with political move
ment in this country, and so thoroughly
identified with its history during a period
rife with events affecting all sections,
that he belongs to the whole country.
Nominally a representative from Penn
s~ylvania, allied by birth, education and
political eminence to that state, showing
his devotion to the Union cause by taking
an active part in the war hat secured
its permanency, he was large enough
to love justice above all these. From
the day he took his seat in the house of
representative in 1863 he showed himself
to be a firm, courageous. independent
thinker, a man too grand for pettine ss
who believed in a fraternity of which
others only talked. However the ma
jority Of his own party may have diff
fered from him on questions affecting
revenue, there is no one who will deny
that he stood in the days that followed the
surrender, as the defender of the Sou tn
from the injustice that men of bitter
spirit would have inflicted on her. As
speaker of the house for five years, he
won the approval of both parties, and
his rulings from 1875 to 1881 will
always be considered as precedents
of weight in parliamentary usage.
Mr.. Randall possessed in an eminent
statesmanllke qualities; he &C
knowledged neither the dictum of indi-
vidual or party; he thought for himself
80 nm, in he nnrinEionS nbis
was prominently set forth by his attitude
the tariff question. In favoring as
speedily as possible a total abolition of
the internal revenue system, and an
equalization of duties on imports he
stood opposed to the majority of the
Democratic party, Il by his bold adVo-
cacy of his views came to be known as
the leader of the protection wing of that
party. he repeatedly urged an imme-
diate revision of the existing tariff laws at
the same time emphatically denying that
favored g tariff upon the ground of pro-
lection simply for the sake OF protection
as he did not believe there was any con-
stitutional warrant for any construction
or grant. Of any such power. Here is
the keynote of the harmony of his life;
''was it right?'' as he interpreted law,
civil and moral, was the question for
him to decide? The decision reached no
of expediency, no incentive of
personal ambition, not ever to occupy
the presidential char could swerve him
from the path he had marked out for
The testimony of his asso-
ciates in all the walks of his busy life is
that in every relation of that life he was
q true man. A testimony that is sus-
tanned in the fact that even in his posi-
ton towards his own party his most
opponents conceded to him
integrity and those high qualities
fit a man for leadership.
wide the differences that ex-
listed politically, there is now no
voice lifted to arraign him as a man
in discharge of duty, failing in
or courage; but all unite in a need
Of praise for this man as one possessed of
many virtues, and having odly a mini
mum of error.
His state win find Mr.. Randall IS place
to fill, and his successor will find
his standards by no means easy to
hold up.