The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-01-07

Kan ror last folly Of that
Office. sort. Some friend
put the notion into
my head that the
county treasurership, which was an easy
Office to. hold with only a few weeks
duty during the year, ought to go to the
editor of the newspaper organ OF tie
dominant party. I readily agreed TO
this theory and announced my name In
card in half-column list Of similar
cards put in by other aspirants for that
and other offices to be filled at the COM
ing election. The county convention
, met and I was made secretary. l had
the modification Of calling the list or
| townships and hearing one after another
delegation go solid for my competitor, a
retired butcher of very moderate educa-
ton and ability, who had diligently set
up the primaries. Only one township
voted for me. I was so annoyed at the
outcome of my ambition that mace
q resolution never again to run for Of
| flee, a resolution I have never broken.
'eThe member of congress from our dis
| trict was James A. Garfield, who lived
In the college village Of Hiram, In the
| adjacent county Of Portage. Among
my most pleasant recollections are
| those Of visits to his modest nome,
| facing on the college campus lie hao
| q little white house with green plinos'
| a family of small children and a
| charming wife who sympathized with
| all his intellectual ambitions and Kept
pace with him in his studies and read
| ings. In the dooryard were naples
mountain ash trees and rose pushes,
| and in the little parlor there was dig
| bookcase full of good books. He de-
voured all know. dge that came IN his
| way, had a wonderfully retentive MEM
| ory and was the best talker lever knew.
| No matter what topic was started he
| had something interesting to say upon 1t.
| To add to the charm of his companion
ship he was peculiarly genial and af-
fectionate. He liked to call his
| friends by their first names and to put
| his arms around them and hug them
at meeting and at parting. He was
| trimming over with good nature and
! love Of humanity. I remember with
| special distinctiveness one Sunday after
| noon when we climbed to the tower Of
! the little red brick college building
! from which there was vast view look
| ing over many miles of farms and
woods, and sat there for hours, oblivious
| Of the lapse Of time, talking Of litera-
| ture, philosophy, politics and our recent
war experiences, quoting poetry and
| getting each others ideas on all sorts Of
| subjects It was no wonder that be-
! came his admirer and companion. 1
| had never before been so drawn to any
| man. A little latter when the iron mas
| tiers of my county tried to beat him for
| the denomination to congress, because
he was only a moderate protectionist, IN
stead of a high tariff man, l worked
hard for him and had the satisfaction
| of going to the convention with sono
delegation in his favor.
AnyTTCSUr ON OHM GADETET n
Late in the fall Of 1865, when Gen.
| Garfield came to Youngstown, and, sit
ting in my little
/ sanctum, talked
about my future in AdVlce VI
his friendly, sympa- Garfield.
! thetic way. He told
| me I ought to go
| to Washington, see congress in session
and study national politics for a time.
| If l could get some one to run my pa
per during the winter and spring he
would procure for me clerkship in the
! house Of representatives, which would
| pay me fair salary. His friend, Gen.
| Schenck, was chairman of the military
J committee and wanted an Ohio man for
clerk who had some influence in the pol
| itics of the state; he was a royal good
| fellow; / would like him and he would
| like me; I could write letters to my
| paper and run home occasionally to see
that everything was going well. 1t
did not take much argument Of this
kind to convince a young man that It
would be good thing to go into the
whirl Of politics and legislation at
Washington, instead of sticking to his
work in a dingy, smoky, iron-making
village So tie change was made. A
temporary editor was found for the
Register, who looked faithfully after the
receipts and expenses, and who wrote
the local items. On my arrival at Wash
ington Gen Garfield made me acquainted
with Gen. Schenck A few days after
wards the house was organized by the
reelection Of Schuyler Colfax as speak
er. The committees were appointed;
Gen. Schenck was made chairman OF
|, the committee on military affairs, and
I was presented one morning to the
members of this committee as their new
clerk. We had a noble room on the
main floor Of the house wing OF the
| capito]. with q vaulted ceiling and two
| big windows looking along the entire
| front of the superb white building, and
| two more looking out between the Cor
| inthian colu11ns on the east capital park
| This room became my working nome Tor
| seven wears All the members OF the
committee, save three, were generals
| fresh from the war. One member
was a Democrat named Sitgreaves, from
| New Jersey, who told me how to, recall
| his name readily. Said he, I sit here
! at the foot Of the table and grieve that
| I am in the minority
NET BLAINE HERE.
| Another was a tall, handsome man.
| with black hair and piercing dark eyes,
| who had just begun