The Irish standard., 1896-01-11
sexfr ressttoa as well to the views -of the
spaper@ thrQllgh the editorial cnlllnris ~ 81

II sent to him from a neigllboring res;
\ literally livedAfn. the -editorialsroomS
taurant. -. 3..ia.s..e:f.;
In 1870 George u Prentice .dfad, and i
was not until then that Mr.: ,Watterson
assumed the commanding position he has
ever since ,6ccupssd aSthe head and front
Of graax- newspaper, and one pfsthe mort
potent influences in American politics
The first distinctive line Of policy laid
out for the Courier journal BY. Mr.. Wat
f. terson, after his accession ITO complete
control of the paper; was that Of an en!-
ttre.and Sincere. recpnciliation betweeh
4 the sections, a work in VIII h.tch he has
zedonsly 'pnrseyered;to this day. In: the
face of the mast intense and tolerant
Bourbon opposit:onA in Kentucky he up
held the constitution and am eudments as
the eountry's treaty OF peace: and insist
+ ed that they be accepted in good faith
by the North a nd, South alike. --.--..
In open revolt against his own party
in the South, Mr.. Watterson, in collaborsS-
ton with three other noted Journalistic,
Horace White, Samuel Bowles and Murat
Has1eaa.} led the: liberal movements
that evefltnated in the nomination Of
Greeley to- the presidency in 1872. 9 =
- Holding the professional politician and
office-seeker;: IN "a. stern. eontempt,s MI.
overtures looking to any possible candi +
dacY of. his own and has meyer held but
one office in his life.
=, .-As the earnest solicitation of Samuel j.
Tj]dcn in 1876, who desired a trusted
personal representative on the floor Of
Congress, Mr.. .Wattecson consented tp
serge out the 1lnexpired term Of Edward
~; Parsons from the Louisville district.
His speeches and general conduct Of saf :
fairs during the election embrogliO ip
congress at that time. attracted the atten-
tion of the whole. country and marked
Mr.. Waterson as one Of the most sk:llful
parliamentary ians and debaters in this
country. -.
He foresaw clearly the result of the
election G6rlnii ssi5h and vigorously op-
posed that. measure snsboth his speeches
. in congress; and in his editorial CORES
pondence to the Courier Journak -
In 1880 MIR. Wattersoll was almost alone
in MS strenuous: insistence that, the log
ical course for the>Democracy was the re-
nomination Of >Mf. Tilden, both as a re-
:buke. to what. the party called the fraud
Of 1876, as well as. the surests road to sue
cess in the presidential election.
Mr.. WatterSclf's close and confidential
relations with Mr.. Tilden were the: sub
j iect Of much newspaper comment at the
time. He was a frequent visitor at
sGranrlnercy Park and Grey -
He was more than once, offered his
party's nomination to the United States
senate when such. nomination was equiv
alent to an election, but he has. as often
said to political ambition: Get behind
me, Satan!'' ''.-f',, 10 Z:
AT every state convention since 1872
his party has placed his name at the head
nf Il aIxarH :far1,. tn
conventions; always by. acclamation, and,
in 1892, oveffis emphatic protest. /,
In 1892 Mr.. Watterson assumed SOME
., pruln inehce as a presidential -. quantity,
such great newspapers as the New. York
Herald ,urging lis name in: that. cOnnec-
ton, and James Gordon Bennett going
even so far as TO assure the national com
mittee that, in case Mr.. Wattetson' s NOM
nation, he himself would see there
should be o,iaek of campaign funds: /
: ssrsMT. +Waot erscn has personally known
seventeen presiden;s4of the United States,
and fully conscious of the terrible or
deal the incumbancy of the Office, ,signl-
fies, he once said in response to. "a sug-
gestion that he might be one of Them:
"That I should ever become one OF the
number has never crossed my fancy nor
my hope. :. If | should lind myself, giving
eILor dMlI1ieuL u llle Iucd l. 'UVf5A1
,foidol1bt my sanity, and the wish has been
as far from, me as thought. .'.::<2s -
No man 1.vilig,a has made a more pos
tive and potential impression Upon the
public sentiment in America than has. MI
W4atterson. =
He is the greatest living exponent Of
the doctrine of "a tariff for revenue only,'
that famous phrase Being his own, put
BIZ him III the national Democratic con-
c:N1:llton. OF 1a76.... =, -. 49, !
He has written the tariff plank of every
national Democratic platform since that
issue became the dominant onein Amer
lean politics. -. - -: =, -: ~
In the last national con vetion Of his
party. alone and unaided, he won signal
victory in his tariff for revenue only
fight -, ..... .-.....
MI. Waiter son was chiefly instrument
tai in bringing the Grand Army of the
G,Rep,lbic. to Il ,Duisville for it's twenty
ninth encampment, foreseeing in that
event the happy medium for a more per-
feet reconciliation between the sections
once at war, and even yet more or less
estranged solely by reason of a misunder
standing OF each other. -. - u :, = = I
His speech Of Invitation totthe Grand
Army atrPittsburg, instinct with the
spirst, Of national fraternity and resonant
With lofty periods, captured the VetsE-
/: ans completely! Here is a sample par
agraph "Candor compels me to say tl1at
there was a time when our people did not
want to see you There was. a time,
whens without any Invitation whatever,
.reithersswritte4f,o verbal, without SO much
as suggestion OF welcome you in sisted
eon~giving us the honor of your company Y
and, as it turned out. when we'were: but
i'll prepared to, receive you. It were
2Npity to refuse to; come now, when the in
vitation;. is extended :wllen. prepa rationls
are made AND the welcome assured
Mr.. Watterson delivered a magnificent
+ aration at tthe-onening of the Columbian
Exposition at Chicago. No man eyer
arose more completely to the full height ?
of a great OCCASION He made itgthe op
pcrtuiity OF celebrating, 71ntensifyiDs
and enforcing the one controlling idea Of
his public life and that idea was and is
"unioi, an fraternity; one and insepara
.Able. now and forever t-s~
or late years Mr.. Watterson has sought
to relieve himself as much as: possible
from active and regular editorial work,
and has taken to the lecture platform. !;
His first lecture was on the subject,
s.'The Oddities Of Southern Life; deliver
ed in 1877, followed later by Money and
eNpralssp's and then, The Gompromiae Of
T life ''.s,s. ,-F+S ;=f| s.;.!s 4s,Y.i....