The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1896-06-18
THE PEOPLES FRIEND.
Brief Sketch of Senator Mitch
ellis Public Life at Wash
ington.

i u0 IOllOWluS ShClCIl vi DGIldlOf
Mitchell was made by Frank A.
Peltret, the well-known Washing
ton correspondent, while collecting
material for his book of congress
sion Il wit, humor and satire. It
Is nicely written and contains a
vast amount of data heretofore
unpublished, which will be read
with pleasure and interest by the
senator's many warm admirers
throughout the state:
"The true gauge Of lawyers
ability is what his brother lawyers
think of him; of general. what
his brother generals think of him;
of statesman what his brother
statesmen think of him: for to Sc
cure the appreciation of his rivals,
man must be possessed of quail
(ications which command their re-
spect and admiration.
"The honors which have been
thrust upon Senator John FL. Mitch
ell by his confreres in the senate,
testify with more force to his sig
nal abilities, than could columns
of laudatory comment. Panegyr
les on statesmen are about as tire
some as epitaphs on tombstones,
and as a rule, even less truthful,
and therefore are regarded with
suspicion and skeptcism; but when
man has been selected TO ar
range the committees of the sem
ate of the United States, the COM
mittees through whose hands all
the legislation of the country must
pass, and by whom all proposed
legislation must be considered,
when man has been selected to
perform such a task. out of all the
distinguished men who adorn that
body with their experience and
wisdom, no more convincing testi-
monial to his impartality, wisdom
and the esteem in which he is held
could be given or asked And the
manner in which he performed
that delicate duty confirmed the
wisdom of the senate's selection.
Amidst the clash of conflicting in-
terests and desires of the different
senators, he made the assignments
with such tact, with such manifest
propriety, with such consideration
for all the senators and the differ
ent sections of the country, that
there was not a single objection
not a dissenting voice, when il
came to a ratification of his action
.sOn March 4lh, 1897, Senator
Mitchell will have concluded his
third term of service in the United
States senate. He is today as alert
as industrious and as sound. physi
cally and mentally as he was wher
he first entered the senate, twenty
three years ago. In accordance
with the law of nature he is prob
ably not as vigorous physically
as he was quarter of a century
ago, but if he has lost anything ir
vigor, his vitality in those days
must have been wonderful. Dur
ing the present session of congress
he has worked an average of fif-
teen hours a day, some days more
and some days less, but striking
about that average. He dictates
almost everything to his stenog
rapher, and seldom makes cor
rection after the first dictation
His great speech on the Dupont
election case, considered to be one
of the finest legal arguments ever
made in the United States senate
was dictated at odd moments dur
ing the course of three or foul
days. This is the way in which
most of his speeches are prepared
He never neglects one thing fol
another, if he can psssibly help it
His popularity among the people
of Oregon, is largely due to the
fact, that every man however low
ly, however obscure, has consider
alton at his hands. There is M
letter addressed to him from con
stit:ient, however trivial, or unim
portant in its nature, that does no
receive his-personal consideration
'They are all equally my constitu
ents,' he says, and as such, have ;
right to my attention and consid
eration.'
sSenator Mitchell first took hi
seat in the senate al the United
} States on March 4. 1878, being thel
| 81 years of age. Six years before
he had fallen one vote short of oh
tanning the same honorable prize
in the republican caucus.
There were giants in the senate
in those days. The young senate
from oregon found hl''self pitteC
against such men as Chas. Sumner