Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-12-05

merit system TO all minor and clerica
en1ploymcnts Of the Federal Government
Who was the first man 10 move in thl
natter j answer that one OF tho mrs
to agitate the subject, the one who mad
II hobby from year to year, and VIII
finally formulated q wise and practica
measure to effect II. was again your mar
Of Essex-R. NJ. T. Hunter. II passed II
his very words, and thus became the law
Oh the land. It Is sound. sensible
! moderate, and constitutional measure
III II were the law to-day, and duly en-
J forced and had never been tempered WIT,
I py demagogues and ignorant men, Il
would secure efficient employees for tn
government. protect their tenure bettel
than your present law. protect also tht
beet interests OF tho government, and u
would be an admirable substitute for tbs
present bastard system OF cant and
| hypocrisy, doubtful in its constitutional.
", and almost universally regarded as
having sunk into evasion, trickery. and
fraud. with features that no sensible
Businessman, no president OF a bank OF
manager Of a business establishment ever
acts upon in private life. i say, therefore
that we are indebted TO Mr.. Hunter for
the only good law ever passed upon this
| subject.
Inn tOINAGl QUESTION.
We have had on two continents, and
especially on this Continent. a long and
heated controversy over the coinage ques-
ton. 1t has engaged the intellects OF she
ablest men In modern times In 1851,
1889, and 1883, long before parties ever
divided on this question, Mr. Hunter. as
chairman OF the Senate Finance Com
mittes. found IL In his pathway and
dealt with II exhaustively. Rejecting the
shallow Mint-Bureau plan OF Mr. Secre-
tary corwin-an echo OF the British sys-
tenn OF coinage, not extensively. but SIM
ply Ignoring 1.-The formulated a measure
regulating tho coinage which passed the
Senate unanimously, without debate. pre-
cisely as he wrote II and upon his sole
pse dixit. Next, but after some delay,
this Identical measure passed the House
or Representatives and became law In
February. 1s5S-to remain the law OF the
land without question or cavil from
PreBidents Pierce. Buchanan, Lincoln.
johnson, and Grant. Such was his power
in the United States Senate in a period
OF fierce party strife on a great organic
and economic question, opposing as he
did then, the Secretary's reccmmonda-
ton. / have heard or read this coinage
debate from 1874 when It began, till now,
over twenty years OF parliamentary strug
gle. and II / were called upon to name q
document which best expounds the true
principles OF finance and craftsmanship !
on this difficult subject. and in a perfectly |
unanswerabls manner, free from ill-tem- I
per or bias and full Of wise prescience |
and overwhelming argument, i should |
name the report made by Robert NJ. 4. 1
Hunter in March. 1852, TO tbs United |
States Senate, which accompanied the |
bill proposed by him to regulate the gold |
and silver coinage.
Mr.. Hunter spoke also on foreign at
fairs as such questions came up. He
was conservative by nature and habit. |
He did not love or desire sectional con-
but in that trying period OF
agitation and controversy he stood by
the institutions. the civilization. and the
rights OF the South. He
aid this without sectional or personal
rancor, burt with a irmness, learning.
eloquence. and argumentative power that
made him second to none in tho debate.
The very men who voted against him on
hese sectional questions never impugned
his motives or questioned his ability, and
IN the fiscal and administrative ques-
lions which were especially contded TO
his care they trusted him far more than
hey trusted each other Can you ina
zine more splendid triumph OF Virginia
nlnd ana chdractorT
/ have preferred 20 speak not 80 much
Z his stand on party or sectional ques-
ions as on measures and policies where !
"a acted with or led men OF both par
les. This sketch is but passing glance
{ long, laborious, and brilliant career | ,
ir. Calhoun, Mr.. Clay, and Mr.. Web
tor all left the Senate, or died I'm the ,
onate, about 1851 or lS? When this
rand triumvirate had departed, there
iere yet many strong men who served
! that body with Mr.. Hunter from 1850
, 1851 who have made great impress
pom our history. ] need hardly men
on such great names as Senators Ma !.
IN, Toombs, Jefferson Davis, BENJAMIN,
tephen A. Douglas. Seward. Sumner.
base, Trumbull. Bayard. Slidell, and ,
rlttenden. Yet can truthfuliy assert :
rat OF this list of very able men, not !,
ne was superior In general all-'round |.
bility 20 Mr.. Hunter; not one was HIS .
lual In legislative force and influence; =.
d one was 80 universally confided in
nd trusted. Since the passing away OF Y
Madison, Marshall, and Mon V
e, hardly any Virginian has borne SO q
nuential part In political affairs as y
M. T. Hunter. and certainly no Viz ,
MAN has done SO In the Federal Con- u
ess. though the Commonwealth has s.
I'd many sons who were wise and eIo- G.
lent In council. To be pre-eminent, c.
even prominent, In such q galaxy as Ct
re, demanded the very highest quail
u OF mind and character n