Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-24

Representative q. A. Grow.
liamentary tactics rarely seen in the halls
of legislation secured the passage of the
most important law Of the century, he not
only became a benefactor of the race but
endeared his name to all toiiing people,
and especially to the freeholders of Ameri-
can soil.
Galusha Grow entered Congress in 1851,
retired in 1863, re-entered it In 1894, and
at the rare age of eighty. still young In
heart and possessed Of remarkable mental
and physical vigor. he will retire from
Congress on the 4th day of next March,
having entered public life f1fty-two years
ago.
The incidents in the career of ex-Speaker
Grow may be quickly told, but the infiu-
ence of his life can only be measured by
the limits of human hopes.
Westward From Connecticut.
You first see him young lad with his
mother making westward from Connecticut
to find home among the rugged hills of
northeastern Pennsylvania. You see him at
Glenwood faithfully discharging the duties
of farmer boy. At fourteen you find him
rafting lumber on the Susquehanna from
the Tunkhannock to the Chesapeake bay.
Z Later you find him at Amherst College,
from whence he returns with students
honors to the hemlock hills of his noun
tain home. You see him spudding bark with
the energy and skill of q veteran woods
man. and you find him sleeping upon
bunch of straw at night in a rude hut at
the mountain camp But soon you hear the
voice of the people calling him to the af-
fairs Of state.
You see him in Congress, chairman of the
committee on territories, then the most i'm
portant committee of the House. But few
md E,,a ft,ax 1.il
liant Pennsylvania elected to what was
then the third place in the nation. Two
more years go by and. covered with honors.
he passes from public to private life, but
still you hear his voice pleading eloquenty
for wise government, pure politics and the
immortal principles Of right. In 1892 you
find the great sovereign state of Pennsyl-
vania proudly presenting to the Congress of
the United States tie portraits Of her two
famous sons who had reached the speaker
shipoGrow and Randall, and you see the
House, with packed galleries. and crowded
floors, tremendously accept the gift with
eloquent tributes. amid thunders of ap-
plause. Two years go by and he suddenly
appears in the halls of Congress as member
at-large from Pennsylvania, with greater
plurality than was ever given to any can
didate In any state for any office. He came
back to Congress as strong In intellectual
and physical vigor as he was in those his
toric days tnat tried the souls of men.
A Representative at Twenty-Seven.
In the winter of 1851. at the age of
twenty seven, he took his place in the
Thirtyseco Congress, the youngest men,
Der of that body. The days were pregnant
with peril. The most startling drama of
all national life" was just beginning. The
fight over the repeal Of the Missouri com
promise was near at hand. The south was
boldly asserting that Slavery must live
and increase" The north was resolutelv
muttering that slavery must be restricted
or die The irrepressible conflict was ap-
preaching with swiftness that made the
nation quake. Wise men were trying to
keep folded the wings Of human strife"
Patriot hearts were making for harmony.
but the waves of war broke over the bikes
or peace and drenched land with blood
With sublime determination to save the
Union President Lincoln called the Thirty
seventh Congress together In extra ses-
sion on the eighty-fifth anniversary of our
nations birth. 1t was notable assem-
page OF men; and of them all. only one.
Gaiusna A. Grow, who shared the gloom
ana glory OF that session, is still mem
Der of the House. There was Eiihu wash
purn. afterward the Father Of Congress-"
who received Lincoln upon his entry into
the capital of the nation he had come
TO serve. There was the courtly Morrill,
OF vermont. the memory of whose chiyal-
rous spirit still pervades the Capitol. There
was the gallant Logan, whose memorv
Is dear to every man who wore the hIme
There was Thaddeus Stevens, the great
commoner of Pennsylvania, and Roscoe
Conkiin. the brilliant son Of the empire
state, and Blair, the bold trapper of the
Rockies There was Cox, the promoter
OF our life-saving system, and Pendlefon.
tina earnest reformer Of the civil service
and Holman, the burglar proof SAFE of
the national treasury. Among them all
were five subsequent Vice Presidents. four
governors. seven senators and other dis
tfnguished men, many of whom had grown
gray IN the service Of their country
Elected Speaker.
From that bright galaxy OF mental stars
a young Pennsylvania, only -thirty-seven
years of age, was chosen, without the for
malities Of a caucus, to preside over the de-
liberations of that Congress which made
the unparalleled record of appropriating
five hundred millions Of dollars in less than
fifteen minutes OF time, 1t being the largest
single appropriation every made to save
nation or protect q flag; and when that
Congress closed its great career It bestowed
q unanimous vote of thanks upon the young
and popular Speaker. Is there any other
instance In the parliaments of man where a
youth unframed in the art of government
passed with such rapid strides from the
, school desk to the gavel OF such an impor-
tant legislative assembly?
Galusha A. Grow has risen to emfnence
To-a&@vv~