The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-22

son was again chosen President pro tempore, serving from 1852 to 1854. II is the history of the chimney corner that Atchison was "the President of 2 day" March 4-~1S49, falling on Sum day; but that is a story for the ma rines and other credulous. Atchtson was a Missouri Democrat, born al Frogtown. Ky. and intensely Southern in his views. Kansas gave us three remarkable men, all adaptive sons John Brown, Jim Lane and John J. In gals, Lane was very great orator, and had the self-sacrificing audacity of the fanatic. He offered to settle the slavery question by wager of bat tie after the order of the Horatii and the Curiatii of the then infant Rome that is. he was. to pick 100 jayhawkers from Kansas and Dave Atchissn was to choose 100 border ruffians from Mis- souri, and they were to meet on the prairie and fight 1t out till there was no survivor on one side. It was to be asbattle royal. the victor to take Kan sas, that was the stake. The beauty of the proposition was that Lane was in earnest, and would have stood the hazard of the die, or rather the crack of the rifle.
 Jesse D. Bright came next. a man who was expelled from the Senate for writing a letter to Jeff Davis, flag rant and a contemptible piece of petty tyranny. A certain eminent magistrate declined to hold communication with Mir. Jefferson Davis when that illus trious man was yet among the living, even though the objective of the cor respondence was the vindication of manifest truth: yet that same great parsonage lived to eulogize that same Jeff. Davis in a public address. And thus doth time make all things even, and so forth, and so forth.
 James NJ. Mason was the next Pres ident pro tempore. He was a man out of Plutarch. He was of that set who set on Curule chains when the profane and barbarian Gaul invaded the Roman forum. Of all the Southern Senators, he was most the Roman in dignity and that sternness of character that stands for virtue. He gave way to Benjamin Fitzpatrick of Alabama, who was President pro tempore when the Southern Senators withdrew.
 Solomon Foot, of Vermont, was the first Republican to be chosen President pro tempore. He was a very great parliamentarian. There is much to dis tinguish the parliamentarian from the presiding officer. in rare cases the two qualities are united in one individual. Blaine was thus doubly gifted. As presiding officers Aaron Burr, John c. Calhoun and John c. Breckinridge were the greatest the Senate ever knew; but as a parliamentarian, Capi- tol Hill never knew a greater than Sol omon Foot. with the singlesexception of John G. Carlisle, the greatest par liamentarian who ever presided over a body that conducted debate in the Eng fish tongue. Randall was ex- cellent in the chair and Reed was tre- mendous. This young man Hinds. who coaches Uncle Joe, knows parliament tary procedure by rote. Carlisle knew 1t by instinct.
 Daniel Clark came next after Foot, serving a year. when he was succeeded by Lafayette S. Foster, who served two years Then came Ben Wade, the bull dog of the Western Reserve. He was a man of great force of character. full of prejudice and obstinacy and igno- rance. He shouldered his way to the front, beat Chase, a. far greater man, for the Presidency in 1s60-that Is, made the nomination of Chase impos- sible. Later Chase, presiding over the impeachment trial of Andy Johnson, was instrumental in keeping Wade out of the White House.
 One day James Duke of York. after ward James IT, King of England. wait ed on his brother. thens,Kjn Charles IT. and laid before his majesty some- thing about plot to kill the King. Charles heard the story with incredu- lous ear and replied: James. nobody Is going to kill me to make you King. And that is what saved Andy Johnson's bacon, The Senate refused to i'm peach Andy because it would have made Wade President Had Henry Wilson, or even Oliver P. Morton. been President pro tempore in 1868 Andy would have been statesman out or a fob for doing a thing that every other President could have done without question. .> fCopyright, 1907, by E. w. Newman