The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-03-21
HE SAID THINGS WELL.


New York Commercial Advertiser. j..
People will miss General Harrison for
qualities very different from those set down
in the biographical reviews. These sketches
deal with certain large and palpable virtues
and a beauty of character that fades or
~brightens according to the politics Of the
paper in which it is described. Yet what
marked him off from our other public men
was chiefly his manner of saying things.
He may have been. as one biographer puts
ii. "a man whose conscience never slept
but we hope he was not. 1t would have
been a wretched life to lead. and could We
as human beings care a rapt for anybody
whose conscience never slept? He may. as
another says. stand forth forever as the
noblest. grandest type of American states
manship. but that. too. is in doubt. All
good statesmen are candidates for this po-
sition the morning after death. and II is
hard to fix a superlative that will last for
all time But grant the truth OF every
pompous word in every pompous obituary,
If that were the whole story he never would
be missed at all.
In itself 1t was not a wonderful gift. but
II was extraordinary I'm a man of public
life. We of this generation are not used to
having political. matters discussed i'm that
way. On whichever side Mr.. Harrison was,
there was always something in what he
said that awakened the mind. He was a
civiliZer OF political discussion. drawing you
for the pleasure of seeing his mind in ac-
ton. even IL IL were going the wrong way.
He could speak well OF his country without
having the air of an advertiser: he could
side with the a~nti-imperialists without
catching their moral ~twang-feats that
seem almost superhuman I'm this day. He
was an unhackneyed patriot, an ingratiat-
ing enemy. our one public man with a style
of his own.
1t is a great thing TO have some one who
can write or speak on burning questions"
without causing ennui. Here was a parti-
san with a message 10 both sides. an incl
dental ~enlightener OF the rreconcilables
He did the thing so well that one might
risk the loss of an hereditary opinion Cor
the pleasure of hearing him. That is saying
a good deal in these days of uniformity
and In this good-natured land OF quick
forgetfulness and easy prizes with so much
room for mediocrity near the top. 1t was
a mere manner OF putting things. what
some would call the literary quality. which
I'm political discussion is thought TO be hard
ly worth while. Yet Ii is more fascinating
than a virtue and more needed. Whom
have we left? There Is the eloquence OF
/; Lodge. Beveridge, Morgan, Bryan and Carl
Schurz. There are the anti-imperialists.
that Barebone's Parliament OF repulsive
saints. Not one OF them would be lovely
were he absolutely right. and not one OF
them knows 1t but attributes his failure
to his hearers sinful hearts. as il the devil
himself would not drive men away from
him If he talked like that. From political
discussion you would think il was princi-
Piles alone that divided men.
As a matter OF IacJ the raw material or
virtue is plentiful even in politics. but IL
can be wrought into most atrOcfous forms.
There is less danger in this country that an
intelligent man will be persuaded to do
wrong than that he will not be persuaded
at all. We shall miss the pleasure Of n
good persuader now that Mr.. Harrison Is
gone. Ii is hard to be good along with Mr..
Cleveland. 1t is hard TO be patriotic along
with Senator Lodge. Intellectual allure
ments are needed in our politics even IL they
tempt US to the bad. Ii certainly makes a
difference how the thing is done. To prove
that our morals are declining requires n
| special gift for melancholy that few OF
us possess: but that we are somewhat
backward as a nation in matters of taste
is easier to establish. Yet the plain peo-
pie put up With Mr.. Harrison and made
him President. and IL may be they would
put up with better things than they now
get. Political debaters ought TO risk II. Per-
haps they are -exaggerating the intellectual
tyranny of the average man.