The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1896-02-20

ndO 10 Dc 6x6rClSoQ. IL uaO TO Dc 00iuOu-
strated that the Union could be saved In,
no other way. Lincoln, much as he alb
horred slavery, felt that his chief duty
was to save the Union under the constitu-
ton and within the constitution. He did
not assume the duties Of his great office
with the purpose of abolishing slavery or
changing the constitution, but as a serv-l
ant of the constitution and the laws of the
country then existing. In speech deliv-
cred in Ohio in 1859 he said, The people
Of the United States are the rightful mas
tiers of both congress and the courts, not
to overthrow the constitution, but to over
throw the men who would overthrow the
constitution. I"
Tho Governing Idea.
This was the principle which governed
him and which he applied in his official
conduct when he reached the presidency.
We now know that he had emancipation
constantly in his minds eye for nearly
two years after his first Inauguration. It
is true he said at the start, st believe
have no lawful right to interfere with
slavery where 1t now exists and have no
intention of doing So" and that the public
had little reason to think he was meditat-
ing general emancipation until he issued
his preliminary proclamation Sept. 20,
1859. Just month before exactly he
had written to the editor of the New York
Tribune:
"My paramount object is to save the
Union and not either to save or destroy
slavery. If could save the Union with
out freeing any slave, / would do it. If I
could save it by freeing all the slaves,
would do 1t, and If could do it by freeing
some and leaving others alone would also
do that
The difference in his thought and pur-
pose about 1.-THE divine institution" is very
apparent in these two expressions. Both
were made in absolute honor and SINGER
ity. Public sentiment had undergone a
great change, and Lincoln valiant de-
fender of tie constitution that he was
and faithful tribune of the people that he
always was, changed with the people.
The war had brought them and him to "a
nearer realization of our absolute depend
ence upon IL higher power and had quick
ened his conceptions of duty more acutely
than the public could realize. The pur
poses of God, working through the ages,
were perhaps more clearly revealed to him
than TO any other
A Perfect Ruler.
A distinguished orator (Hon. John j.
Ingalls) of today has said, "Lincoln sur
passed all orators in eloquence, all diplo-
matists in wisdom, all statesmen III fore
sight and the most ambitious in fame
This is in accord with the estimate of
Stanton, who pronounced him the most
perfect ruler of men the world had ever
SEEM"
Seward, too, declared Lincoln "a man
of destiny with character made and mold
ed by Divine power to save nation from
perdition."
Oliver Wendell Holmes characterized
him as Sthe true representative of this
continent, an entirely public man, father
of his country, the pulse of 10000, 900
throbbing in his heart, the thought of
their minds articulated by his tongue
Bancroft wisely observed: Lincoln
thought always of mankind as well as his
own country and served human nature it.
self. He finished work which all time
cannot overthrow
Sumner said that in Lincoln 1.-THE west
spoke to the east, pleading for human
rights as declared by our fathers"
Horace Greeley, in speaking of the
events which led up to and embraced the
rebellion, declared: "Other men were help
full and nobly did their part; yet, looking
back through the lifting mists of those
seven eventful, tragic, trying, glorious
years, clearly discern the one providen-
tial leader, the Indispensable hero of the
great drama, Abraham Lincoln
James Russell Lowell was quick to per-
ceive and proclaim Lincoln's greatness.
In December, 1863, in review of the
Presidents Policy in The Atlantic
Monthly, he said: perhaps none OF, our
presidents since Washington has stood SO
firm in the confidence of the people as Lin
coin after three years stormy administra
ton. A profound common sense is
the best genius for craftsmanship. Hith.
erto the wisdom of the presidents meas
ures has been justified by the fact that
they always resulted in more firmly unit
ing public opinion"
Lincoln and the Tariff.
Lincoln is certainly the most sagacious
and farseeing statesman in the annals of
American history. His entire public life
justifes this estimate of him. It is nota-
BILE that his stand on all public questions
in his earlier as we'll as his later career
stamps him as the wisest exponent of po-
litical truths we have ever had
Witnessing the government as we do to-
day, with it's debt increasing, bond issu
ing, gold depicting, labor destroying, low
tariff policy, with what mighty force the
words of Lincoln, written more than half
century ago, come to us in this hour OF
emergency. They read as if written for
the living present, not for the forgotten
past. Why, do you know that as far back
as March 1, 1S43, at Wing meeting in
Springfield, Mr.. Lincoln offered a series of
resolutions relating to the tariff which
could we'll be accepted here tonight? They
were then instantly and unanimously
adopted, and Mr.. Lincoln was himself APP
pointed to prepare an address to the peo-
pie of the state'' upon the subjects which
they embraced. Let me read from this adj
dress his profound observations upon tariff
and taxation and their relation to the con-
ditions of the country:
.'The first of our resolutions, said Mr..
Lincoln, "declares a tariff of duties upon
foreign importations, producing sufficient
revenue for the support of the general gov
eminent and SO adjusted as to protect
American industry to be indispensably
necessary to the prosperity of the American
people, and the second declares direct tax
alton for national revenue to be improper.
For several years past the revenues OF
the government have been unequal to its
expenditures and consequently loan after
loan, sometimes direct and sometimes in
direct in form, has been resorted to. BY
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