The National tribune., 1900-08-23
JOHN ]. INGALLS,.
Death Of the Kansas Statesman at Las
Vegas, N. N.


No veteran of the war of the rebellion
can learn without pang of regret that
John j. ingalls, is dead. 1t was he, and
he alone, who caused the famous arrears
act, which resulted in the payment Of
scores of millions of dollars to the soldiers
of the civil war to be passed by Congress-
The bill had passed the House of Repre-
Sentatives as a sort of doubtful measure,
no one expected it to become law. They
had forgotten about ingalls,. In the Sem
ate there Is no previous question: when
a Senator has given notice that he will
call up a certain bill on given day the
courtesy of the Senate" gives it the right
of way, and when once it has been called
up it becomes the unfinished business
until it has been disposed of. The bill had
Slumbered for some time on the calendar
when Mr.. Ingalls, one morning, in his de-
liberate and measured way, rose and gave
notice that he would call up the measure
and make some remarks upon it and ask
| for a vote. There was at once Hutter.
Senator ingalls, was well known by this
| time, and his methods peculiar to himself
were no longer q novelty to his associates.
They knew his desperate earnestnesS in
any cause he eSpouSed; they knew his un-
| flinching courage, his indomitablc will, his
| blazing elOquence, his blasting sarcasm
and his wit, which in retOrt cut Ike the
thrust of 4 dagger. The Senate, as usual,
was full of towards. There were plenty
of men there who did not want to pass the
| bill and did not dare oppose it. Senator
| Ingalls, knew this better than anyone else.
He opened the fight. The only people who
dared oppose him were the fre-eaters from
| the far South, whom he always delighted
| to stir up. Without going into details. as
| is well known the bill became a law. 1t
| was due to Mr.. ingalls,, and he not only
| champaioned the measure upon its pas
sage, but many times thereafter during
| the years that he occupied a seat in the
Senate he was called upon to steadily de-
| fend it, and nothing would please him bet
| ter than to diate upon the beneficence OF
| the measure which had paid just dues to
poor men and their widows, which had
| lifted mortgages and put new roofs on
broken homes.
Mr.. ingalls, was not a Western man, az
some have thought, but native of Massa-
chusetts, born at Middletown, in Essex,
| Dec. %, 1893. He was educated in the
| common schools, and then went to VIII
liams College, where he graduated and
| forthwith took himself, in the enthusiasm
Of the young New Englander of those days,
to bleeding Kansas" He went to Atchi-
son, opened 4 law office and began busi-
ness. Plucky, pugnacious, talented, eccen-
trio, he early made his mark. He went into
politics. He became Secretary of the Ter
ritorial Council in 1860, and held the same
office in the State Senate in 1861; subse-
quently he became a member of the body,
was an unsuccessful candidate twice for
Lieutenant-GOvernOr,a and during the war
Of the rebellion was active as Major,
Colonel and Judge-Advocate in the frontier
militia. After IA term of service editor
of the Atchison Champion, together with
his law practice, he was elected to the
United States Senate in 1873, being Presi-
dent pro tempOre of the body during Cleve-
lands second term, and continued to hold
the position as one of the leading members
of the upper body of Congress until Kan
sas forgot itself and sent PETER. Since
the expiration of his term of office Mr..
ingalls, has not fallen from public view.
but has continued at work writing political
articles for the newspapers and magazines.
Suddenly, a little over a year ago, he
was taken i'll with bronchitis. He did not