New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-08-26
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
"A MONOGRAPH ON THADDEUs srbVh'>''
srHADDEUs STEVENS. BY sam@ nn,svo do. vi
eeo Houghton Mfiin & co.

- n vi.
(American Statesmen Series oo'"''' F
$50 Houghton. Miffiin d CO.
{ Few men during the last hfty years nov
h.rted "a greater influence upon America" ms
s.n.n Thaddeus stevens Throughout 'he en-"
- ., tho Civil War and in the critical
N.-s.d of reconstruction he was the ieaoer Oh ''
Su.use q, Representatives. and prooapN Wv
-. .rv other man to shape the legsia-
- -. @ha. fatefuI time. BY so good a judge DIS
p,.,ra he Is placed with Clay and Douglas
~. had NJ our parliamentary leaders he'
~ .xcent special students OF history anu
,osa recol;ections reach back to the oec-
- y, the war he has become niue more 'i'd
,,. There is not even an EXTENDED pioeia
- h,r, in existence. Mr.. Mccall vigorous anu
.,onu,ar account of his career Is 'hereloie Vi
.snecial value It will aid in revivine the iiie"'
orv Of a great statesman and rerar haoie man
The notable part of Stevens's career began GU
nm age when most men retire from ac'i>V my
Or he was born in 1892 He had, II is true
risen to great eminence at the bar: had acquire"
considerable political Influence in pennsylvania
his adopted state; had served for several years
f1s4a-'53) In Congress. and had become known
70 the country at large as vigorous oeieH"',
.,s ort,-s,averv cause. But. as his biographer
saws although he had shown nlmseh eq"'' ~
.v.rv mart that he had been called upon to play
wo,nd hardly have been mentioned in the MS
.torv az his country" It was with his return 10
tt,onrress in 1859. es Representative from Lam
caster. that his opportunity came; ana VINE" "e
Id,ed. IN 1865. worn out by his unremittins Ia
S,ors IN the House. he had succeeded in com
messing into eight or nine years enough OF 'o''
a,,d attainment to fill out a lifetime.
,1a mas induced to return TO public life at
-, advanced age by the formation OF the Re
lv,,,hrcan marty. with its pledge to take an ag-
.ressive stand against the extension OF slavery.
ute onnosition to the slave power had long
ibaen uncompromising, and it had been SHOWN
lboth in a vigorous preaching Of the principles
of freedom and practically. in the defence ana
assistance Of fugitive slaves on entering .ne
BLOUSE he at once occupied on TINS ana d'ieu
.ouestions. the radical and aggressive posi'ioh
which marked his entire subsequent career
AND It was not long before he had an opportu-
nifty to disclose that attitude In a most ara
,,s4ic wav The action of Congress upon the
.e1ayery problem in the early part OF the session
that followed the Republican victory OF looo
A one of the most extraordinary eplsooes III
guur National history. The actual execution or
the secession programme, the helpiessness ana
,vacilation Of the Buchanan Administration and
the shadow Of impending war seem to have
mar
mon sense of the victorious forces. The leaders
fairly fell over another in their haste TO
make any Imaginable concession TO the slave
mower that might bring back the seeding
states. The committee Of thirty-three ap-
nointed nv the House TO deal with the stua-
t,op brought in a report recommending an
amendment TO the Constitution. proposed by
Charles Francis Adams, providing that any
future amendment affecting slavery must origl-
nate in a slave holding State and be ratined by
all the States: the admission or NeW-Mexlco
with its slave laws; the repeal OF the personal
liberty laws" in the free States; and the trial
nv iurv OF a person charged with being fugi-
tive slave not in the State where he was seized,
hut in that from which he was asserted TO
have fed This report. with the exception Of
the provision with regard TO New-Mexico, was
adopted the proposed amendment receiving
more than the necessary two-thrds vote
Against this amazing surrender OF freedom-as
ignoble as 1t was useless-Stevens set himself
like a rock. Rather" he said. than show re-
pentance for the election Of Mr. Lincoln, with
all its consequences, I would see this Govern
ment crumble into thousand atoms. III l
cannot be a freeman, let me cease to exist
He attacked the report Of the committee and
the slavocracy which It sought to concilate in
speech of extraordinary power. His denun-
ciation," says Mr. Dawes, of the plotters of
treason TO their face was terrible. and his ex-
pose OF the barbarism of the so-called civiliza-
ton behind them awful Nearly
fifty Southern members rose to their feet and
rushed toward him with and threats of
personal violence AS many Of his friends
tgathered round him, and moving him in
sort Of hollow square TO the space in front Of
the Speaker, opened before his assailants stood
slavocracy in an indictment for its crimes
against humanity, SURPRISING in severity even
the great srraignment by Mr.. Sumner.
The excitement aroused by his fiery denuncia-
ition and defiant scorn beggars all description"
No incident could be more typical of the times
land OF the
When Congress met in July after Lncolns
Inauguration, Stevens was made chairman Of
the Committee on WAYS and Mears, a place
that carried with 1t the leadership of the House.
r'But he needed no formal christening
leader. He was says Mr. Blaine, the natural
leader. wEo assumed his place by common con-
sent" The committee then had also the jurisdic-
ltion Of the later created Committee on Appro-
priations. and upon him its head fell in largest
measure the duty both OF devsing the means
for raising the revenues to prosecute the war
and OF directing how the money should be spent
yThe task immense one, and upon his
execution Of It rests his chief claim to states
,fnanship Mr.. Mccall sets forth clearly the diff
sficulties that stood in the way-a weakened Ma
ltional credit. depleted Treasury the neces-
,sity Of raising at once equal to five times
the ordinary annual revenue. with the certainty
that the amount must soon enormously be In
icreased-and the promptness and skill with
which the emergency met but he. prop
lery. passes over most of the details Of the work
To the issue of legal tender notes however and
particularly to Stevens's able defence Of that
fateful measure, he devotes an instructive and
impartial chapter. His views on this much de-
batsd question II is unnecessary to state in de-