The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-28

AM ALMOST FORGOTTEN PREsIDEHT
 Last wednesday was the centennial anniversary of the birth of Franklin Pierce. the fourteenth President of the United states, and an ofnciai who has never recsived the justice to which his merits and his administration entitled him. The general opinion of him is that hs was an obscure and unknown man. and that his administration was very mediocre one. both of which opin- Ions arc erroneous.
 It is true that Franklin Pierce did not occupy such . prominent place in the public mind as did Clay. Calhoun and webster. that tfiunivirate of great men who were his contemporaries. but he was far from being obscure or in- significant. Before he was ss years old he had served nine years in Con gress. i've of them in the Senate, from which position he resigned because he really had little desire fof public life. President Polk offered him the position of Attorney General which he declined. and also declined an appointment as United states Senator to f,ii vacancy. Later he entered the military service as . private in the war with Mexico. and rose to be Brigadief-Generai, but made little reputation in the army. With such men as Scott and Taylor and Wool and others of military fame around him. there was little chance for a volunteer officer to make reputa- ton.
 When, in 1852, the Democratic Far ty nominated him for President, there were pyominent politicians and states men who ridicuied the idea of making him the leader and candidate for tho highest ofice The whiEs nominated General Scott, fresh from the battle- fields of Mexico. and thought his mili- tary fame would triumphantly elect him against man who was not then prominent in either civil or military life, but there has rarely been greater political miscalculation. The Whigs. | who had triumphantiy elected Taylor only four years before, carried but four states--vermont. Massachusetts. Ken- lucky and Tennessee. Scott only re- ceived 42 electoral votes out of 2ss. It was one of the worst defeats the country has known.
 It is also a mistake to suppose that the Pierce administration was a quiet and uneventful one. for some of the most important events of our history occurred while he was President. l Among them may be mentioned the re- peal of the famous Missouri Compro- mise, the ostend manifesto, of which we have heard good deal of late. and the desperate Kansas Nebraska strug- gle which was one of the beginnings of the great war few years later. The Manchester Union, published in the county of his birth, says:
 During that administration the United States increased rapidly in wealth ana population. Commerce and man9IaS- rsiIaoaS to ise Paeae were explored | a controversy with Great Britain over the fisheries was honorabiy adjusted. The prompt and positive action of the kosas sslaSht the F auassrisn ass rsfusse. forced respect and admiration fro,a the lead ing nations of Europe. A treaty with Great Britain providing for commercial negotiated by Commodore Perry with Japan, were ratifed at the same session of the Senate. The British Minister at Washington, and the British consuls ,SIs dismisssd di IsaoeiR%'A for compllcity in secret Crimsan war, after the BEitish Govern ment had refused to reeyn them. The organized, the court of claims was or l ganized, the entire system of military tactics was changed. retired list for spanned by a bridge, the important | work of the coast survey and of the Smithsonian Institution was encouraged and promoted as by no administration before or since.
 One reason for the success of his ad- ministration was the exceptionally strong Cabinet selected by him. and which comprised such men as William L, Marcy. James Guthrie. Jefferson Da- wis, Caleb Cushing, and men of that character. The fact that his Cabinet remained Intact during his entire ad- ministration shows the character of the men and the harmony of tfse official family. He died in 1889, but took no part in public affairs after his retire. msnt from offics in 1857. Though a Northern man by birth, residence and feelings, he had no sympathy with the Republican policy of coercion. and re- rnained in quiet and retirement. He was a good man, patriot and Demo- crat, and his administration was a highly successful one. The country has had few better. but the mighty and stirring events following his adminis- tration, and which were then shaping themselves. have served to obscure what was really a splendid adniinistra- tion.
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