The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-12-22
PARTY LEADERS
There Is No Cause for Despairing of
Leadership in Our Own Time

|
that it is a propensity of mankind to
depreciate the present and exalt the
past. 1t is probably due to this that
we are inclined to underrate the men
| of our own time and to aScribe to those
who came before them a superiority of
ability and achievement really beyond
their due. At any rate, it is seldom
that one hears Americans of this gen
| eratiOn-thOSe, l mean, who are in the
! forefront of affairs now-ascribe to the
! men of public life the same high quail
tiles that are recorded of the men who
Immediately preceded them. This is
J particularly true of politicians. 1t is
quite probable that the men who are
today conspicuous in political life pos
SeSS a broader patriotism, a firmer
grasp of public questions and an abil-
ity and equipment capable of a higher
performance for the public good than
those who composed the school of
statesmen and politicians that was led
by Webster, Clay and Calhoun. Yet I
doubht that one person in 20 who reads
this, no matter how we'll informed he
may be, will agree that 1 am within
hailing distance of the truth in my sug-
gestion.
Indeed, the consensus of opinion
seems to be that the men now prOmi-,
nent and forceful in the nations pOliti-
cal life are inferior to the men who
Immediately preceded them, and that
in fact, we now have no really great
men directing the currents of public
thought. The idea appears to have
passed beyond the formative state of
belief into firm conviction that in the
matter of great leaders the politics
and statecraft of the country are just
now in state of transition; in other
words that while for the moment we
I ~-c+ i
oping, and soon will be on the stage.
The old men are rapidly disappearing
from the arena, and there is no cen
tainty yet who among the new ones
treading upon their heels for leadership
will prove their metal.
On this subject Congressman Joseph
| w. Bailey of Texas. than whom there
is no mere promising young man in
public life discoursed briefly but en-
couragingly with me the other day
while he was on his way to Washing
ton to resume his leadership of the
| Democratic minority in the house. He
accorded to Speaker Reed a need of
praise which 1 believe it would please
that level headed and withal self-suffi-
cient Yankee to hear. Mr. Bailey
spoke of Mr.. Reed as a statesman with
an unfinished career, and seemed con-
WINGED that the Maine mans forceful
personality would get carry him to the
position in his party once occupied by
Blaine. That set me to thinking about
! the theme of this discourse and. to rum
| maging around in memory for d man
who has grown in the last ten years,
in the estimation of both friends and
foes, as rapidly as has Mr.. Reed. He
has shown himself a Hercules, where
a strong man was needed, even though
he has carried the house so far away
from its character as q deliberative
body, and made it merely the board of
directors of g great organization. the
Republican party. The record of his
service in steering the uncertain, in
suppressing the fools, and in promoting
the serious business of legislation gen
orally, would astonish the country if
it were candidly and fully written. The
circumstance that, while everybody adj
mires Mr.. Reed more or less, there has
never been around him any particular
sect or circle Of personal idolatOrs, is
not his least claim upon public graft
tude. His sense of humOr, as keen and
as sane as any mans since Abraham
Lincoln, has preserved him from that
fate. He cannot tolerate humbug, even
humbUg about himself. He is not
avaricious of wealth. That is not Tom
Reeds character Besides what mere
ly professional income would cOmpen-
safe him for the life which his own
genius has arranged for him and in
which he rejoices as his muscles play?
Nor can I believe that his is a disap-
pointed man. There is too much op-
timism in his nature for that. Admin
iStratiOnS come and administrations go,
but a reputation such as Mr.. Reed has
won on his individual merits endures.
Who would rather not have been Blaine
or Henry Clay than r. B. Hayes? By
the same token, who today would not
] II. 10 r11,1o 10
KinIey? I have thus singled Mr.. Reed
out and briefly recOunted his career to
the croakers as evidence that we have
at least one man of our time whose
record, though not closed, proves him
to be as worthy to rank with the great
men of the country as any who have
gone before MIN. Let it be understood
( that Mr.. Bailey did not say the things
about Mr.. Reed have here set down.
He only limited at them.
Mr. Bailey spoke hopefully on
the Democratic prospects for de-
| veloping leaders worthy of the
party and its traditions, and with
generous praise of every one of
his Democratic colleagues of con-
spicuous standing, in and out of con-
gress. I'VE have a distinct advantage
over the Republicans, both in congress
and in the field of national politics, in
that our leaders are nearly all young
men with their careers ahead of them
while the Republicans have a lot of old
men on their hands,, said Mr.. Bailey.
Il could name % men on the Demo-
cratic side of the house at Washington
who are young, either as to age or ex-
! perience in public life any one of
whom viii very shortly be more than
q match for the most experienced and
skillful Republican in or out of con-
gress. Indeed, our fellows are the
Youngest lot that have been in the
house for many years. Generally speak
| ing, each has his record to make, and
you may rest assured that they are go
!! ing to make no mistake as they go
| along. The q I have in mind are
likely to stay in congress as long as
they choose, and for that reason I con-
fidently look for the early development
of soma OF the most capable and bril-
liant Democratic leaders the party has
ever had. Leadership among the Dem
ocrats, you know, is much harder to
win and maintain than it is among the
Republicans. The reason for this is
| fundamental, and lies at the very foun-
dation of the difference between Demo-
Gratis and Republicans. The rank and
! file Of the Republicans are so thor
oughly indoctrinated with centraliza-
tion that the organization among them
| rs much more easily accomplished than
among Democrats. Organization once
established, leadership comes easily and
naturally. The Democratic SPIRIT
may say the essential character of De-
necracy-is opposed to Capitalization.