The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-04-11


ter pered by the atmosphere and prophecies
of the place.
Senator Voorhees, was placed among the
first rank at the Western bar, and his i'm
posing presence and flexible rhetorical gifts
made him especially effective in exposition
and before juries. His legal training and
experience were also his best equipment for
the duties of legislator. In pure intel
lectual force, such as cOnferS the endoW-
ments of statesmen. there was in him, In
spite of the enormous size and promising
shape of his head, an occult limitation,
probably having its source I'm temperament,
which kept him from reputation of the
very hrst rank He mad a natural instinct
for, and is known TO have affected litera-
ture, but his tastes in this direction again
had the fiorid crudeness of the academy
and high school, rather than the cosmopol-
itan breadth of literature itself. There
seemed TO be I'm all of the Indiana senator's
mental operations, in fact, and perhaps
beyond the fault of his own consciousness.
a touch of the strained and unSimple. as
distinguished from the natural and uni
versal. AS a physical presence in the Sem
ate he had no superior. Among the Demo-
ceDting Beck he was facile princeps. And
even the Antinous and Hercules-lke pro-
portions combined in the symmetry of the
late show figure OF the Republicans, Roscoe
Conkling. diminished when thrown against
the gladiatoria! physique of the political
chief of the Hoosier Democracy.
INGALLS, AND VOORHEES,.
The Ingalls-Voorhees episode in the Sen
ate is still fresh in the minds of most read
ers of the Journal. and it need only be
briefly recalled here. In the spring Of 1888,
when in a speech in the Senate Mr.. Voor
hees assumed 10 speak for the Democratic
party, he aroused the ire Of John James
ingalls,, of Kansas. According to Volume
10, Part 4, of the Senate debates. Mr.. In
gals on May /. 1883. replied to Voorhees,.
ingalls, charged that during the war days
VOnrhaOC ro11r in cxrnn
the south. was cOpperhead and a Knight
OF the Golden Circle and ''all their brutal
and degraded allies" ingalls, questioned
the right assumed by Voorhees, to speak up
Tor any loyal Union man. Mr.. ingalls, de-
clared that at Sullivan. Ind, on Aug. .,
1868, voorhees,, in a speech. said in refer
go TO the nearest blacksmith shop and have
an iron collar riveted around their necks,
boeaTi ill:d thereon the inserption: My dog;
lings''
Voorhees, vehemently denied Ingallss
charge, and the Kansas man then fired his
second barrel. He quoted letters on Voor-
nees, and the Indianian retorted by shout
ing at ingalls, Liar" ingalls, replied: IF
TINS were a police court. the senator from
indlana would be sent to the rock pile for
being drunk and disorderly." ingalls, next
submitted the affidaVits of eighteen citizens
or sullivan county. who swore that they
heard Voorhees, use the language ascribed
to him: Ingalls, then told how there were
lOuHC III voorhees, \ OfilCe liz copies of the
ritual of the Knights OF the Golden Circle
voorhees, interrupted ingalls, and declared
that ina AL all such statements We're rotten, pu
trld hes. ingalls, then asked: "Will the
senator from Indiana allow me to ask him
whether the soldiers of Indiana did not
threaten TO hang him with a bell rope on
train between Greencastle and Terre Haute
after he made that Lincoln Speech?
Mr. voorhees, replied. addressing the
president of the Senate: Mr.. President, the
senator Is great liar when he intimates
such thing; great liar and a dirty dog
Such a thing never occurred in the world
That is all the answer / have to make
Mr.. ingalls, replied: MIR. President. there
Is very reputable citizen of Indiana in
the chamber a citizen of Indiana, who in
forms me that the signers of the certificate
about the Lincoln dog speech are entirely
reputable citizens. male and female of Sui
ilvan, and that he knows of fifty people
W to it, neara the speech made and can swear
The incident closed with Mr.. VOORHEES,
saving: Il say he is an infamous liar and
scoundrel who says / did. L say So.
FRIENDSHIP FOR ARTHUR.
Little has been said about the warm
friendship that existed for number of
ter A. Arthur. When Arthur succeeded
Garfield as President of the United States
he had no other companion in Washington
who was quite so close TO him as was
Voorhees,. This was true despite the antag-
onism of their political views They were
peculiarly harmonious personally. Arthur
had great confidence in Voorhees, judsr-
ment on delicate points of executive policy.
and he would talk TO the senator with as
much or more freedom than he talked to
any other person. The President was con-
tinually inviting Senator Voorhees, to the
White House. He consulted the great
Hoosier Democrat in regard to Indiana pa
tronage as freely as he consulted any Re
publican. They are said to have had many
bottle of wine together in the Presidents
private office while discussing matters of
state and dwelling upon those thousand and
one other questions which interest svTnpa-
thetic and enlightened men. 1t is known
that Arthur always regretted to have Voor-
hees leave him. and frequently induced the
tive mansion.
Senator Voorhees, was just as deeply at
tached to the President. He held him in
nigh esteem because of his strong mental
attributes and his gentleness of disposition
The affection of these men for each other
was singularly like that of brothers. and 1t
continued throughout the life of Arthur
When Arthur was candidate for the pres
idential nomination before the MINNEAPOLIS
convention one of his most ardent cham
pions, so far as sympathy was concerned
was Voorhees,. The senator took an ex-
traordinary interest in the contest and for
some reason. seemed to hope that his friend
would win. When his disappointment came
it is said by those who were with Voor-
hees at the announcement of the news that
he broke down and cried like a child
No man was better known among the
old timers of the Terre Haute cOngresslon-
al district than Senator Voorhees,. Indeed
IL is doubtful if any other person ever
connected with the politics of that part of
the State had a purely personal following
SO large as that of the Tall Sycamore
of the Wabash" He knew hundreds of
the voters of the district by their Christian
names. He had stopped over night at their
houses and had made himself familiar. not
alone with their families. but with their
antecedents as well. When young Mr.
Voorhees, was g candidate for Congress in
the days before the war he canvassed the
district horseback. frequently travelling
with his rival on the opposing ticket. This
was true in 1860 when he and the late
Colonel Thomas Nelson, cx-Tninfster to
Chile and Mexico. were candidates for Con-
gress on the Democratic and Republican
in joint debate in Parke county.
HOW HE WON A FARMERS VOTE.
One night they appeared at Rockville and
they were billed TO speak on the following
night at a country town several miles dis
tant In the afternoon of the next day Col.
Nelson left for the little town alone. On the
way he stopped to talk TO old farmer
who was blowing in a field near the road.
The farmer stopped his team at the corner
of his land" near the fence, and climbed
up and sat beside eNlson on the top rail TO
hear his exposition of the Republican side.
While they sat there talking Voorhees, rode
up and spoke TO them in his usual most cor
have become somewhat awkward. but
Voorhees, did not permit anything of the
sort. He dismounted and tied his horse to
chatting pleasantly meanwhile