Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1906-03-10

| a Square Fighter.
Senator John T. Morgan of Alabama,
eighty-one years old, or eighty-one
years young, is, with the exception of
his colleague, Senator Pettus of Ala
bama, the oldest man in the United
States Senate.
He is one of the very active men OF
the Senate, and of late years has
achieved considerable fame because
of the vigor with which he champion
ed the Nicaragua route as the proper
way for the trans-isthmian canal, and
also for the ardor and perseverance of
his opposition to the Panama route.
Because oe the bitterness of his antag-
onism to the purchase by the United
States of the concessions of the
Franco-Panama canal company. and
because of his determined effort to de-
feat the adoption of the Panama
route, Senator Morgan has in some
quarters gained the reputation Of be-
Ing an obstructionist.
A Square Fighter.
Nothing cou'l be farther from the
truth. He is a great and strong
fighter, but his opposition is fair and
square, he has resorted to none of the
tactics employed by Congressional OBJ
structionists, and when he has been
beaten he has admitted it. This Is
clearly shown in q recent letter to the
Panama Canal Commission, declining
an invitation to accompany the Com
mission on trip to the Isthmus. In
this letter the venerable Senator says:
Since the ratification of the Hay
Vanilla treaty which I opposed, I have
done all that could and much more than
thought could ever be of advantage tn
he country to sustain the government in
its purpose to construct a canal at Pans-
ma Yet I have not believed that success
could crown their efforts, even in their
most costly and desperate form. You
may find the key to unlock the barriers
that nature has interposed at Panama II
you should be so fortunate, will applaud
your genius and courage. I will vote to
provide you with every reasonable au-
thority and power to accomplish your
task and to meet your tremendous re-
sponsibility'
This letter shows that Senator Nor
gan is good loser as well as
good fighter. To be good loser is
trait He does not rankle
over defeat and does not nurse a cause
which he sees is irretrievably lost.
This Is practical craftsmanship.
An Active Record.
Senator Morgan has had an active
life. He was born at Athens, Tenn,
June 20, 1924, and with his parents
went to Alabama when he was nine
years old. He was admitted to the bar
Of Alabama in 1915; was a Presiden-
tial elector in 1860 for the State at
large and voted for Breckenridge and
Lane; was q delegate in 1861 from
Dallas county to the State convention
which passed the ordinance Of secess-
Ion; Joined the Confederate army in
1861 as private in the Cahaba Rifles
and when that company was assign
ed to the Fifth Alabama regiment
John Morgan was elected a major and
later Heut-colonel of the REGIMENT.
He was commissioned q colonel in
1862 and raised the fifty-first Alabama
regiment, and came out of the war a
brigadier-general in command of an
Alabama brigade. He was Presiden-
tial elector in 1876 and voted for
Samuel J. Tilden, and was elected to
the United States Senate to succeed
George Goldthwaite, taking his seat
March 9th, 1877. He has been in the
Senate ever since, and will probably
remain there as long as he wishes, or
as long as he lives.