The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-12-22
EX-SENATOR INGALLS, TALKS.


are to take place on Thursday.
EX-SENATOR INGALLS, TALKS.
ATCHIsoN, Kan, Dec. Ex-senator
ingalls, was interviewed today regarding
the death of Senator Preston B. Plumb,
and delivered himself as follows:
81 had been in the senate four years
when Mr. Plumb became my colleague, as
successor to Governor Harvey, IN 1877.
He was then in his forty-frst year. had
a general acquaintance with him pre-
yiously from territorial days; but we had
never been intimate, and at the time OF
his election our political associates were
not in the same camp. He was not always
intrepid in politics, and sometimes
wavered and conceded more than was
necessary He believed in plowlng
around a stump rather than over it, and
danked obstacles instead of charging
them, but he always came out IN the right
place: he kept his bearings and reached
the goal He voted against the Mckinley
bill, favored free silver, denounced the
national banks and the financial policy OF
his associates, but never parted company
withIthem in the end. With none ofthe grace
of oratory, he was an exceedingly forcibIe
and interesting speaker on public ques-
tions There was no poison on his arrows
and he never struck in the dark, In the
back, nor below the belt.
His disposition, to use hackneyed
word was practical, from center to cir
cumference. He wanted results, and not
dreams and intangible conclusions. He
cared less for fame and distinction than
for success and power His favorite COM
mittees-public lands and appropriations
gave him opportunities to deal with the
concrete rather than with the abstract,
and be used them with great skill and
strength Land, money, cattle, mines,
,-.il
business and politics-gave him delight
that child feels III its toys. He derived
from the contemplation of these subjects
the pleasure which men differently organ
lied feel In society.
Apparently robust, with an unusually
strong physique and ineXhaustible Vitality
his friends have long known that bis health
was precarous, and were apprehenslve OF
a catastrophe. He was troubled with IN
somnia, and told me last year that he had
symptoms of paralysis, which gave him
concern, but he could not stop. In the
eager competition of public life, there is no
place for rest or repose The struggle Is
incessant. The public man has no inter-
val for recreation, for reading, orfor lndIs-
pensable attention to private or personal
affairs. Subjected to such an 1ncessant
strain. the strongest succumb. Kansas,
like all the new states OF the west, de-
mands too much of its public servants.
The correspondence about pensions and
patronage, and the multifold interests
requiring care, is excessive. Business at
the departments is perpetual These,
added to the work on committees, attend
ance in the senate or house, preparation
for debates, social obligations, attention to
guests and visitors, make an aggregate of
ever-recurrng toll, of which none but
those who perform it can have any just
conception. Then, upon the close Of sess-
H..
Gus campaigns upon the stump, travelling
great distances and addressing large
audiences, frequently for weeks in sue
ression.
The loss which Kansas has sustained
by this deplorable casualty is irreparable.
Mr.. Plumb's place cannot be filled. The
state is not wanting IN men Of genius, ca
pacty and learning, who can add luster to
her fame; but knowledge and skill, the fa
miliarity with the methods of legislation
obtained by long practice and experience,
al the acquaintance with public men so
essential to succesS-these are not endoW-
ments, bur acquisitions. The senator who
succeeds Mr.. Plumb must begin where he
began fourteen years ago, leaving the |
state meanwhile without prestige or sta
zion till they have been earned again. |
Fortunate, indeed, will he be, if, after such
apprenticeship he shall secure for his con
sjiruency such lasting advantages and
'.l undylng renOwn.
The governor must fill the vacancy by
appointment until the next meeting of the
legislature. elected in 1852, which will
rEo0se a successor for the fraction of
term from 1893 20 1895 This precipitates
political convulsiou in the state of long
Lurat on, and whose result cannot be fore
told. The campaign for the legislature |
will begin at once. The Peoples party will /
endeayOr to secure another representative |
in the senate, and they may have the as |
sIstauCe OF the Democrats again, as they |
had year ago, in the sheer effort to re- |
duce he Republican ma iority in hat body. |
The Republicans have an advantage in |
the pendency of the presidential election, |
which viii tend to allay disCord and bring |
The old an. young crowds together. Pro |
hibition and women suffrage are looming |
against the horizon, and, al |
together the porlents Of strife are abun- |
dant. By the disastrous death of Plumb. |
destiny completes the devastation wrought |
by the balelui campaign of 1890 To com
bne the factions, recall the errlng, restore |
confidence and discipline, and regain the |
rank and supremacy of the state in con |
gress and the nation, will require patience, !
tor,itude courage, self sacrifice and the |
highest qualities of state manship.