The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-05-26
Charles A. Culberson
ny sAyOYARD,

ADOuL IOur ytdIS DciOIC thO Pt gation of the Declaration of Independ- ence by the Continental Congress, Will liam H. Crawford was born in Amhert County, Va Before he had advanced beyond childhood his father took him to Georgia, and there the boy grew to manhood. and became one of the first citizens of the republic. He was elect ed to the Legislature. and soon after was chosen a Senator In Congress, of which body he became President pro tempore during his first term. He was Minister to France during the war of 1872, and upon his return was appointed Secretary of War by President Madison, and soon after was transferred to the Treasury Department, of which he con- tinued the head throughout the suc- ceeding two administrations of Presi- dent Monroe. He was a prominent can didate for President in 1924, and his was one of the names that went before the House of Representatives upon the failure of the electoral college to elect. Though he was a Jeffersonian, Daniel Webster. a New England Federalist, strove for the election of Crawford, even over John Q. Adams, from Web- ster's own State. When Adams was elected by the House he invited Craw- ford to remain at the head of the Treasury, but he declined. returned
 
 years later died.
 Crawford was not so great a man as Clay, or Calhoun. or Webster, but he was better fitted for the Presidency than one of them. He was emphati- cally a sagacious man. He was not statesman by intuition; his statesman ship resulted from reflection. Though no genius he had wisdom of the highest practical order. Webster and Calhoun xurrR rRVr1 H~kA fn Afk |. hoped to sec Crawford chosen Presi- dent over Adams or Jackson, and 1t is no small tribute to a mans capacity and character when Calhoun and Web- ster indorsed him for the first place in the Republic.
 Charles A. Culberson of Texas is a direct lineal descendant from William H. Crawford of Georgia, and a chip of that same block in abilities, in char acter. in temperament Cautious in deliberation, he Is adamant when once he has reached a conclusion. There is nothing dazzling about him. It Is cool head always. He reflects carefully and weighs every argument scrupulous- ly before he decides; but his decision is final. He is today the best prepared man in the Senate. He has in old trunks, boxes, drawers, and chests
 
 any other of our public men, and he knows precisely where to search for any one of them. He burns no letters, and writes no letters he would request or wish to be burned. Like Baillie Nicol Jarvie's father, the deacon, he never puts out his hand SO far that he cannot drawNi back again. He is the most capable and the most skillful politician in the Democratic party to- day.
 David B. Culberson was A member of Congress for twenty-two years when he voluntarily retired from that body. As lawyer, he had no superior in either house of the National Legisla- ture, and for many years he presided over the Judiciary Committee. One of the finest public speakers in public life, he rarely addressed the House, but when he did rise to speak he command ed the attention of all within the sound of his voice. He was powerful In the logic of common sense. He loved simple and homely speech. He was simple man in temperament and as democratic as a hunting shirt or a coonskin cap. The late Tom Reed had extravagant admiration for his ex- traordinary abilities. and when they were botth members of the Judiciary Committee, Reed was fond of taking untenable positions just to see "old Cyclops demolish them" It was the ambition of the elder Culberson to rep resent Texas in the Senate; not for vanity, but because he was conscious of his capacities for that theatre. A time came when the Senatorship was his for the asking, but he was now growing old and tired of parliamen- tary life. He declined it, and Texas gave it to his favorite son. the apple of his eye, the core of his heart-the boy