The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1902-01-14
HOFFMAN ON JACKSON

ulssemDle5 packed 10y a nation that
would bear no trining.
It was a favorite expression OF his,
scrupulously followed, that ut was
never right tc inquire mo the ex-
pediency of doing wrong"
He corrected the ABUSES which
brought the patronage Of the govern.
ment into conflict with the freedom
/ of elections
He was the original Free Home.
steader" From his message of 1888
I quote:
ut is our true policy that the pub
\ lie lands shall cease to be a source Of
revenue The speedy settle
ment Of these waste lanes is an OBJ
ject of abiding interest It
means the increase of "a hardy race or
free citizens. our glory in peace and
our defense in war"
It would be hard to find in these
sentiments free homes" by shreds
and patches, with some included ,,nd
others left out, to be he1~ as a club
over the heads of constituents 10
boost a designing politician into an
other congressional term.
Missour's greatest scn, VINO once
faced him as a foe upon the field OF
honor and afterwards MS strong est
ally and supporter. Senator Thomas
II Benton has said of hls in his
Thirty Years"
"He neither favored the masses IN
the distribution Of money or prop rty
nor enriched the classes with undue
advantageE. He was not a dema-
gogue and was as far above seducing
the masses with agrarian laws, as
above enriching the few with the
plundering legislation ~ 5anks and
tariffs"
He urged that tariff upon any
other basis than revenue was wrong.
He insl~ted upon the str,ctest econ
omy in all branches of the service.
During his administration a disor-
dered panicky ana unstable treasury
became solid as Gibraltar, and the ma
tional debt was extinguished When
he stepped down from his high station
the nation didn't owe a dollar
The people came to find that he was
generally right, there seemed to be
something between Andrew Jackson
and the Almighty that the rest of them
wern't onto.
Twice he recommended that con
gress abolish the barbarous statutes
providing Imprisonment for debt, and
this humane act was accomplished
during his administration.
He was the first to inaugurate the
policy To the victor belongs the
spoils" He believed in the gospel Of
rewardng those who have borne the
heat and burden of the day He had
no use for "snivel~ service mug
wumpery. that impedes the ship of
state with a load or Darnacles and
leeches, political immunes from neces-
sity and hermaphrodites from choice.
He was firmly and uncompromising
ly for the union. When South Carolina
passed its nullihcation act arising out
OF the tariff troubles, when Henry
Clay was Offering his compromise in
an endeavor to conciliate rival fac
tions, when all were urging mild meas
ures. and when the union seemed
about dissolved without resistance he
issued Il proclamation admonishing
the seeding state as a father would
a child he saw rushing 20 ruin, defin.
ing the rights and duties of the gen
eral government, expressing his belief
that the constitution would tolerate
no withdrawal from the compact be
tween the states, ana that by the
Eternal" he would preserve the union
by all constitutional means and exc.
cute the laws if it took the last drop
of the nations blood and treasure.
He sent vessel Of war to Charles
ton harbor to collect the duties, and
ordered General scott to hold troops
in readiness to march at the first
overt act. A Characteristic instance
OF the administrative courage OF the
man, as wen as of the intense love he
bore for the union.
The Cherokee Choctaw and Greek
troubles were terminated by moving
them from Georgia Alabama and Mis-
sissippi to their present home; where
the enlightened Christianity Of a later
day could get at them in bunch Z"
and adequately punish ,nem for all
their misdeeds and everything bad
they might have done but didn't do, BY
indlctlng upon them the Dawes com
mission