The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-03-15
INGALLS, On G)RhAN
From a "Po' White" to a
Presidential Possibility.
MKINLEY THE ADR0ITEST
Politician of the Century, at
Present on a Volcano.
M'KINLEY THE ADR0ITEST

New York, March I--The Journal pup
lishes the following, a recent utterance Of
John J. ingalls,, his subject being Senator
Arthur P. German Of Maryland:
The abdlcarion of Arthur Pue German
as chairman Of the Democratic caucus.
and MS retirement from the senate, re-
moves temporarily from public life ore OF
the most interesting and extraordinary
figures IN the political and parliamentary
history Of the generation. OF the sixty
years OF his existence, forty-seven have
/ been spent continuously in office. Ap-
pointed, the year Henry Clay died, page
in the senate of the United States, al
the age Of thirteen, when its sessions were
held in what is now the supreme court
room. and subsequently its postmaster,
he returned in 1881, after fifteen years OF
public service in his native state. 70 a seat
in the chamber, where. twenty-nine years
before, in the most subordinate capacity,
as a messenger and errand boy, his active
life began.
His career IS thus exceptional. II stands
unique and alone in American politics in
its contrasts its vicissitud=s and its dura-
ton. Though fashioned TO much honor
from his cradle. Germans birth was hum
BILE and ne had no favOrs from fortune.
He Is son of the soil. His education was
limited to the rudiments taught IN the
common schools of his native county. In
the race OF life such a handicap was
| heavier in Maryland than elsewhere, be-
| cause ineradicable distinctions Of rank,
birth and station had rescended from its
patrician origin. Although renowned for
religious liberation and devotion 10 lib
erty. the colony was an aristocracy where
ancient families, Hving- on ancestral es-
/ tares. with hereditary wealth. dispensing
manorial hospitality, eXerted powerful
/ control over its social structures and its
/ political energies. To the Calverts, barons
Of Baltimore, succeeded the CAROLS, Of
/ Carrollton; the Howards BOwies. Pink
neys, Swans, Thomases, Lees. Keys and
| Goldsboroughs; fancy, the chief justice
and Samuel Chase, the associate; Reverdy
| johnson. Kennedy, secretary Of the navy;
Vans Murray, Pinkney Whyte and an ar
raw scarcely less illustrious-gOvernOrs
senator's, representatives, judges, cabinet
officers and foreign. ministers for $50 years.
Into this splendid succession Of schol-
ars, statesmen and jurists broke, in 1881,
al the age Of forty-two, this self-made
invader Of the precincts Of caste and priv
ilege, offspring of the people, with no di-
| ploma- nor coat of arms. nor pedigree. nor
fortune. and there for eighteen years he
maintained himself with a genius for prac-
teal political management unequalled in
his day.
ITO his enemies he stands as the most
conspicuous representative Of everything
evil in civics, a compound of the worst
traits Of Mephistophles, MaehiavelH and
Wapole-an exempar of obliquity, craft
and corruption the organizer of the dan
gerous and criminal elements of the COM
monwealth into a depraved phalanx that
by force and fraud established an exc
| cradle supremacy compared with which
Tammany, under Tweed, was Chautau-
| qua circle or an Epworth league. No cpl
thet has been too rank, no invective too
violent. for those who condemned his
methods and detested his power. and his
worst foes have been they OF his own polit-
| icaI household.
| with the history OF Maryland politics.
/ in petto, I am not concerned but 10 his
! friends and acuaintances. and TO the gem
eral public Germans character, bearing
and conduct are in singular contrast with
! the impulatiOns OF his adversarles. He has
/ the benevolent demeanor of a Franciscan
! friar in the act of pronouncing benedic-
! zion. If ne be monster of political in
| EQUITY, his private life and reputation are
/ outwardly irreproachable. He may be the
| c0mrade OF thugs-pluguglies. ward heel
ers. .repea ters. ruffians and assassins-but
! his speech and manners are those OF an
! eccIesiastic. II ne carouses, or CANDLES,
! or debauches. rumor Is silent. IF he tarry
long az the wine or stay when pleasure
| ills her tempting breaker up, it is KEEP;
out Of the dispatches.
NO doubt ne has faults. Several men
have The great difference IS in the caPac-
ity 70 avoid detection a profound theO-
logan defined sins Of omission 20 be those
which man forgets 10 commit. There
have been saints whose reputation for
sanct.ty rested on no surer foundation.
The reporter OF the Democratic caucus
/ wrote tHat when German rendered his
res gnation Cockreu burst into tears. I'm
azination never took a o5ider flight This
rsant:c hvberbole far 0uIclasses free
don's shrek when Kosclusko fell. But II
I = not without significance as an expires
sion Of III loss % his party in the senate
Of Germans leadership and counsel. He
has been q safe pilot through mary tenn
pests. and ne has PROBABLY exerted a more
powerful influence IN shaping the p1l-cy
and directing the forces Of the Democracy
and IT'S allies through the last decade thar
any other leader before The campa On o.
1896
There j. a popular impression that Z
man 20 be q successful political lea5el
must De AT orator. But history contain.
many warnings against committing th'
5est.nIas OF nations - professional speech
makers The power OF Demos-hsnes 81
o-a-5-y was not more astonishing taaI
MS imbec.-e coxar1.ce II action Stump
/ speakers. lecturers and elocul1nls-s Eav
-hsr pace but they are not ths bG.lseu
~ empires. German = not Z any sens
All orator. 5ut by practise he has 5ec3m-
an effective. plain. i0rclo,a speaker. VIA
out nacn decoration or qyrotecnul1s- H
goes straight 70 his goal Perhaps hi
campaign il the senate 81 1881, AKA rs
z-nat r commonly known IS -he Fore
b.- gave .he best exhibition o as c7m
handing oazers a. q par-ia EEen-zry man
aver and ra--i1lzn. The Odds Ee-e heav j
az4--s. him H waEe6 a Fabian dga
for tzree aee-v months and wor, Assvlul
many anita E3r-sts but 70 eueule=-
The issues ~ I<o are not ye- formula
ted. nor are -he cs1d-1aI=s csslgra-el
The Ca.cazo platform = zrc1a.c- Is aoar
/ -o2 = bald wL-h 4n5galty TIE rrse a1
unlimited coinage u ser : 3 joe &-l=-
I Free trade sEz ta-lE reform are ez1azl-.a5