Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-03-13
Ex-CEESIDENT BENZ. HARRISON.

EX-CEESIDENT BENZ. HARkiSON.
The bulletins from Indianapolis at
n M to-day show that former President
benjamin Harrison is sinking to his final
rest. with the end but few hours off,
at the most.
With the passing of General Harrison.
the nation loses one of its greatest men.
Yet whoever would form true estimate
of his greatness must look upon him from
several points of view for he was truly
a many sided man. 1t is as a lawyer,
no doubt. that he vii! be longest remem-
bered. He was drawn to that profession
naturally. In it he Won his first and
last successes When. in 1854. he settled
at Indianapolis. this grandson OF William
Henry Harrison was. except for small
sum Of borrowed money, without means.
without friends and rather handicapped
than otherwise by the memory of his il
lustrious iinsman. Yet the ability OF
the man was such that in a few years.
starting as crier of the court, he won
place in the very front rank of the bar.
liant mind broadened by travel and eN-
perience he became known at last
one Of the worlds greatest lawyers. His
knowledge of the law was profound.
bis conception of the whole structure of
Jurisprudence 50 broad and his Judgment
50 unerring that in later years. when
he spoke on this subject. his words had
weight possessed by the utterances Of
but few men. The attention attracted
by his lectures at Stanford university IL
lustrate this.
As soldier, General Harrison proved
himself to be brave and capable. but he
did not possess true military genius. AS
q brigade commander he was admir-
able, and contributed much to the sue
cess of the Union arms on many a des-
perate field. At Resaca and Peach Tree
Creek he showed such ability and real
heroism that he was especially COM
mended by the general commanding. and
lis splendid conduct won for him his
brevet of hrigadier general.
After the war General Harrison's ca
1eer as a politician began, and as a
speaker. he took conspicuous part in
the Grant campaigns in 1868 and 1872.
His first important nomination, that for
governor. was forced upon him in 1875,
through the withdrawal of the regular
nominee 1t was a hopeless fight from
the beginning. but it brought him for
ward conspicuously and some time aft
experience of this Office was of infinite
value to him when, in 1885, he was elect
ed president. His administration was
clean, honest and able one. He was
never called uror to face such great
problems as President Mckinley has
met, yet during his four years as pres-
dent, Re displayed craftsmanship of the
highest order.
The coldness for which General Har-
rison became noted in later years was
first remarked after his unsuccessful
campaign in 1876. 1t grew upon him after
lis election as president and resulted in
alternating many of the great leaders of
his party. To this was largely due his
defeat in 1892
1t was in his famous tour across the
country in the spring of 1891, that he
was seen at his best. His impromptu
speeches We're all gems of oratory, and
while he sometimes spoke five or six
times in a day, his mind was such {
store room of knowledge that he never
repeated himself
General Harrison fail to arouse popu
lar enthusiasm during the campaign o
1892, and With the old guard alienatea
defeat was inevitable. 1t was, neverthe
less, profound disappointment to hin
and seems to have embittered him agains
the successful party leaders of TO-DAY
Evidences of this We're found in Genera
Harrison's public utterances last year an
in his recent writings. All this, how
ever will soon be forgotten and Ben
jamin Harrison will go down in histor
as one of the foremost LAWYERS of hi
time, a great statesman and a BRAY
soldier.
General Harrison was born at Mort
Bend, Indiana, on August goth, 1888,