New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-17
THE COMING PREMIER.
JOHN sHERMAN's REMARKABLE PoLIrI-
CAL CAREER.

HIS LONG AND BRILLIANT SERVICE IN CON1hESS
AND THE TREASURY pEPARrMENT-oNE OF
THE LAST LINKS BETWEEN THE OLD
SCHOOL AND THE NEw-HIs FIT
NESS FOR THE POST OF SEC
RErARY OF STATE.
rsr TELEGRAPH IRrsuNE.1
Washington Jan. 16.-The retirement Of John
sherman from the Senate after March 10 ac-
cept the premiership. so called. OF the Mckinney
Administration will break practically the last
link in either branch OF Congress whch o'''''
the political life Of to-day with that OF
generation ago. Among the survivors, now ie"
and rapialy thinning in Congress. Of that STIRRING
and dramatic period in American politics VINO"
saw the struggle over slavery culmnate' III.
war for the Union fought. and the feoe'a'
structure rebuilt on broader and more enduring
foundations Senator Sherman has IN 'he pu'"'
mind almost uniquely typihed Of recent years inc
pol,tical traditions and the political accomplish
ments Of that earlier and more heroic Gay
TYPICAL REPUBLICAN.
With a service in the House Of Representatives
dating hack TO December. 1855. he shares
with the venerable Senator from vermont
Mr. Morrill, the honors OF the Consressloha
patriarchate Rising into leadership IN tne
popular branch before his second term mad
ended; the candidate of the ant-slaVery
elements In the House for the Speakership IN
1850: recognized leader in the Republican
marty from It's very incepton; the champion
through the stormy years Of war and recon-
struotion CT It's stalwart administrative and
legislative policies; a controlling influence In its
history and fortunes for more than generation
the Ohio Senator has come 10 be identified more
completely. perhaps. than any other living public
man with the ideas and purposes which through
the agency Of the Republican party have for
thirty-s,x years past been embodied In American
legislation.
As force to be reckoned Of the first import
ance in Congress. in the Cabinet. in National
conventions along all lines of political activity
an associate on equal terms In party councils
with Stevens Morton. Fessenden. Morrill, WADE
and Blaine. Mr. Sherman has been universally
accepted as the last. Mr.. Morrill, perhaps ex-
cepted Of the coterie of virile and broad minded
statesmen which sprang into existence through
the stress of National upheava and civil war.
That at the age Of seventy three he should de-
sire to leave the of his many legislative tri-
umphs and seek to round out his career by term
in the State Department-the most inviting goal
OF political ambition next to the Presidency itself
is not perhaps to be wondered at. But what
will be gain 10 the executive branch OF the Gov
eminent through Mr.. Sherman's long experience
and training will be an equally distinct ana SEN
s!ble loss TO the legislative branch-a loss the
more irreparable because 1t breaks perhaps the
last vital connection in the two houses of Con-
rress between the older school Of politics and
politicians and the new.
A RECORD TO BE PROUD OF
Mr.. sherman's biography in The Congression-
q, Directory" covers barely twelve lines-less
than half of the space appropriated by many a
budding statesman of one-third his years. Yet
what record of political activity and achieve
ments those twelve lines modestly conceal A
delegate TO the Wing National Convention In
lS4S when only twenty five years DID, delegate
again TO the convention Of 1852: president of the
frN Republican State Convention held IN ONO
In 1850 elected Representative In congress IN
1884 and reelected in 1856. 1858 and 1850: the
Republican and Free Soil candidate for Speaker
in 1859 losing an election by only three votes;
entering the Senate in 1861. and serving there
continuously until 1877; devotng four years as
Secretary Of the Treasury in President Hayes's
Cabinet to carrying into execution the ooio ana
far-sighted financial legislation which he had
been the chief factor in passing through Con-
gress: returning the Senate in 1881 and retain
ing his seat there through three successive re-
elections; a candidate for the Republican Presi-
Dental nomination in 1880, 1884 and 1888. recev-
his party in the Senate and one Of its recognized
and authoritative spokesman on the public plat
formal these phases of useful, honored, Ia
borious and eminently successful political career
can be traced between the lines OF the Direc-
torv's concise and unassuming photographed
sketch.
STILL ALERT AND VIGOROUS.
Senator Sherman. though fast approaching his
seventy-fourth birthday-May 10. 1e91-shows
to-day few traces of his advancing years. he
has displayed much alertness and vigor IN
the prosecution OF his legislative duties this
winter as at any time in ten years past In
speech last month on the condition or the
Treasury and the urgent need OF legislation 10
make good the annual Deficiencies he disclosed
all the fire and spirit to which a discussion OF
this sort is sure to stimulate him. Or recent
vears Mr. Sherman has taken very considera-
ble share in the routine debates In the senate
Inn, he is rarely absent from the Capitol. and on
nil financial measures he has spoken both freely
and effectively. His speeches In opposition 10
.,a ,,ar,ous FREQ coinage bills which have beer
rusbad m the front In the "deberative branch
have attracted universal attention and many
~ bis anncaIs TO the Senate TO put asade
denagogv and factionasm and to legislate with
nrudence and moderation have been both no
,iceably dramatic and OF genuine political ef-
feet
Mr. Sherman is not a natural and easy talker
His sentences arrange themselves with oiill-
GUILTY and the thought seems always 10 De
struggling with the expression But "hen the
heat Of the occasion carries MIN away MS oia
tory is vivid and passionate ana seioo"' i@'S ~
its purpose. Few who hearo MN uu''ne '"e
long summer session Of 1894 rebuke the Demo