The National tribune., 1891-02-26
CHARLEY FOSTER THE CONGRESSMAN.

Foster and his friend narrowly escaped with
their lives.
CHARLEY FOSTER THE CONGRESSMAN.
1t was seven years after this that Secretary
Foster made his first race for Congress. lie
| oyeFcame an immense majority, and won By
ms great personal popularity and by his won
! derful power Of political organization. These
| elements were such that they made the district
Republican as long NJ he continued 20 run. and
| he remained in Congress eight years. He was
| one OF the leading men on the Republican side
OF the House during his stay, and IL WAS during
| thls time that he became a factor in National
politics. He has had his fingers in all the
| Presidential nominating conventions since
| lo'2 and had much 10 do with the nominations
OF Hayes Garfield and Harrison. II was one
OF the Delegates at Large TO the Convention
which nominated Garfield and went there
| pledged to the support Of John Sherman. He
saw, however. that Garfield was bound to win,
aud though he did not prove false to Sherman,
he was ready to throw the Ohio vote az the
right time. He and Sherman are still friends,
ana 1t IS expected that the appointment Of
Foster will bring Sherman into a closer sym
pathy with the President than he has hereto
lore manifested.
SOME OF FOSTERS RAILROAD INVESTMENTS.
The first railroad with which Gov. Foster
had much to do was the road which now runs
from Fremont, o., to Muncie, Ind, and thence
westward He was interested in this road with
Senator Calvin Brice, and at rst the specula-
ton turned out to be a bad one, and Exon
gresham Lamison, OF Lima, once told me that At
the end Of it Brice owed Foster something like
$4,000. he was very mach discouraged. and
told Foster that he though he had better sell
out what property he had in Lima, 20 into
bankruptcy, pay his debts as far as possible,
and start anew. Foster laughed at the idea,
and told him he would trust him. and that he
would yet make fortune. He did trust him,
and with him began TO build the Ohio Central
Railroad, which runs down into some Of the
richest coal fields of that State This was going
on at the time Mr.. Foster was Governor and
used TO see Cal Brice come into the StatehOuse
with his pantalOOns in his boots his clothes
and feet spattered with mud, and with an old
SLOUGH hat on his head that made him look like
Jesse James on a tear. He and Foster worked
hard to make the road success and they sue
ceeded. Brice was able to pay of his debts
and to come out with small fortune.
His success stiffened his backbone His lit
tie fortune gave him a basis OF capital to oper-
ate with. and he laid out tho scheme for the
Nickel Plate Railroad, which brought Foster
in a nice little sum and gave Brice several
millions. Briee then moved to New York, and
he has now been elected Senator Of the United
States by the Ohio Legislature. To Charley
a
told. true In many cases Of well-to-do young
men in northern Ohio. Foster has never been
backwards in helping his friends. He does not
want the whole hog in every enterprise into
which he goes. He gives all the other fellows
a chance, and il satisfied with what his bust
ness brains deserve--a very fair slice Of the
ham.
Another investment Of Mr.. Fosters is a big
steam Touring mill, which is located in Fos-
toria, and which is run by natural gas. This
mill produces hundreds Of barrels Of -four q
day, and il is one of the finest mills in the
country. 1t is finished more like fine house
than like mill, and the man who put it up
once told me that $4,000 was expended on
extras which went to produce cleanliness
and beauty, but which were not absolutely
necessary TO the turning out Of -four. This
mill Is owned by Foster in connection with NJ.
ID. Harter. OF Mansfield who was elected as
Free Trade Democratic member Of the next
Congress.
SECRETARY FOSTER AND SECRETARY BLAINE
The Secretary of the Treasury has much to
do with our foreign trade. His Department
collects all the duties. and his recommended
tiOns as 10 the pushing Of our Consular aud
Diplomatic relations are always considered.
Secretary Foster will have no narrow policy in
this regard. / interviewed him some time ago.
at the time that Secretary Bayard was making
his noted mistakes and blunders in different
parts Of the world. He said to me at that time,
Bayard is too timid for the vigorous demands
Of these times. America now needs strong,
pushing foreign policy, headed by man like
Blaine, and the time is past for timid trim
mers as the managers Of our foreign relations.
We should extend our commerce and get back
the trade that belongs TO u.s. even il we have 10
pay large amount in subsidies; we should
have closer relations with the South American
nations, and we should have our share Of their
trade. We should send our best business men
abroad as COnsuls, and should pay them well
enough, so that they would really work up q
trade. and if they engaged in trade themselves
II would not much matter. We should send %
COnsuls where we now send one, and the Consul
lar service should be the source of information
to all American merchants about trade facili-
ties. and it should help them dispose Of their
products. AS to our Foreign Ministers, they
are to large extent fancy fgureheads, and in
most cases We could dispense with them with
out material injury to the country. The Con-
sular service is the great thing, and the service
should be pushed with both money and brains"
These words show how much Secretary Eos
ter is in sympathy with Secretary Blaine
There will be no uncertain sound from the
Treasury Department as to reciprocity and the
development of our foreign trade; and the
South American movement has gotten q strong
friend in the new Cabinet Minister.
HIS FAMILY.
Gaeratarv Eoster will hripg b;a E,r,iIrr e.