The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-02-08

tfOn ana a requiem. Inc RepuDliCdn party
there took leave of their dying leader, and
bade him an eternal farewell.
The chapter entitled stormy Days of the
Electoral Commission" is indeed most fasci-
mating. mainly because ingalls, was per-
sonal spectator and behind the curtains in
that remarkable tribunal. He begins with
a vitriolic yet extremely unjust picture Of
the two candidates, Hayes and Tilden. This
is his language:
Hayes was hopeIossy prosaic and COM
monpiace. He mad been a reputable soldier
and was by profession a lawyer. lie was
the dark morse" OF the Cincinnati conven-
ton. rendered available because in a des-
perate emergency ne had been chosen Gov
ernOr of ONO. He had no vices, and the
customary sort of rather tiresome and un-
interesting virtues. His enemies accused
him or sanctimOny and hypocrisy, and OF
sometimes forgtting his promises; but all
good men have been slandered by their
contemporaries.
linden was a cadaverous, tallow-faced
attorney, in feeble health, who having
raked together an immense fortune, natu-
rally became a reformer in politics, and
was elected Governor OF New York His
methods were those OF the mole. except that
ne left TO external indications OF the silent
and tOTtuOus windings of his Subterranean
pathway. He took personal management
Of his campaign with a few confidential
clerks, and was accused of attempting TO
. purchase the vote necessary to secure
majority OF one in the Electoral College"
And here is one of the most biting pieces
of sarcasm ever written by human pen
about this celebrated measure-the cleo
toral commission:
THE committee was not only to devise an
unconstitutional measure that should be
strictly within constitutional limitations
(Which would not be hard. for that instru-
ment is elastic and hospitality, but to in
vent tribunal composed of partisans that
should be nOnpartisan in operation; prOpl-
tate the implacables; preserve the prerog-
ativeS o. the Senate, and maintain the con-
| ficting pretensiOns Of the House; secure
the cooperation of those VINO contended
that there was power to go behind the re-
turns, and those who asserted that the
only question to be decided was which
certificate was actually given by the
authorities OF the State; and, most impor-
tant of all. obtain the cordial support of
both parties by holding out to each the
| hope Of cheating the other.
l have always thought ill of Hayes yet,
in spite of this prejudice, can do him JUS
tice. He was one of our second-rate Pres
idents, yet greatly the superior of Polk.
Pierce or Buchanan. Our country and the
Republican party owe Hayes an enormous
debt of gratitude. He overthrow the rot
| ten carpet-bag governments. Sometimes
the unwisdom of this world is wiser than
| its wisdom Those great men, the greatest
of the greatest era OF the Republican party.
|
| others scarcely less brilliant. made the
| enormous social mistake of trying TO found
| States upon ignorance and inexperience.
| They put the bottom rail on top, and thus
brought their party to the verge of political
overthrow The present Indifference of the
North to the undoubted wrongs of the black
man is simply the reaction against this
enormous stupidity. To Hayes and his adj
ministra ton belong the credit of restoring
| the Republican party to it's common sense.
1t had attempted TO stand the pyramid of
reconstruction upon it's apex instead of its
| base. Morton is usually supposed to have
been the author of this great mistake.
Upon the authority of his biographer. Will
lam d. Foulke, L am glad to call attention
to the forgotten fact that Morton siren
uously objected to the fifteenth amend
ment in its present form, and always in
sisted upon an educational qualification for
| suffrage, black and white. With such a
| limitation, the great fifteenth amendment
| would not have proven to be the dead let
| ter that it has, but would have been a wise
and beneficent constitutional measure.
Another chapter of this engaging book
is given to Garfield, with whom ingalls,
was a classmate at Williams College. Here
| are few extracts:
81 often heard him upon the floor of the
| House of Representatives He was not y
| ready, off-hand, skillful debater. He was
disconnected by sharp and sudden attacks.
He was without capacity for retort or re-
| partee. He had no emergency bag, but In
ability to deal with large subjects, after
elaboration, with broad and comprehensive
strength and candor, he was not excelled
| by any contemporary.
His tennDerament was ardent and i'm
pulsive. He desired intensely to be written
as one who loved his fellow-men He was
incapable of intrigue or hatred. he had no
personal enemies. His long, active parlia-
mentary life had been without rancor or
bitterness. He had a large, broad brain
well furnished by study and a genuine love
for literature. which survived his youth
and was the best solace of laborious years
Garfield was splendidly equipped and
| magniicently disqualified for executive
functions. Had he lived, 1 suppose his adj
ministration would have been a disastrous
failure. Fate in one sense was kind to
him. He died at good time for his fame
Morally, he was an invertebrate. He
had no bony structure He surrendered un-
consciously, perhaps, to the powerful, ag-
gressive, artful domination of Blaine, and
, became like clay in the hands of the pot
| ter"
| Let us turn now to another branch OF
our subject. Here is Mr.. Ingalls's defini-
ton of himself-"A statesman out of a
job" The following is, perhaps. his most
celebrated utterance. essentially untrue
but none the less brilliant:
THE publication of politics in an rides
| cent dream. Government is force. Politics
| is battle for supremacy. Parties are the
| armies. The Decalogue and the Golden Rule
| have no place in political campaign. The
I object is success. To defeat the Antagonist
| and expel the party in power is the pur-
pose. The Republicans and Democrats are
as irreeoncilably opposed to each other as
| were Grant and Lee in the Wilderness
They use ballots instead of guns but the
struggle is as unrelentng and desperate
and the result sought for the same. In
war ii is lawful TO deceive the adversary
to hire Hessians. TO purchase mercenaries
to mutilate, TO destroy. The commander
| who lost the battle through the activity OF
his moral nature would be the derision and
jest of history. This modern cant about
corruption of politics is fatiguing in the ex.
| IRENE. 1t proceeds from tea-custard anC
syllabub dilettanteism and frivolous senti.
mentalism."
Ingalls, was unquestionably one of the
most brilliant literary men of the last cen
tury. In proof of il is given below an H.
lustration or two. Ii is the custom in the
United States Senate TO pronounce eulogies
upon its deceased members. One. of the
most celebrated of these is that of ingalls,
upon Ben HILL If excelled at ali IN our liter.
allure. it is only by that OF Colonel Inger-
soil upon his dead brother:
1 is