The Washington herald., 1909-02-07
LINCOLN'S PERSONALITY.
BY SENATOR CULL0M.

BY SENATOR CULLOM.
There were many great and interesting
men in both the House and Senate IN
those terrible days during the civii war.
and many Of them continued leading fig
ures during the days OF reconstruction
Immediately following. With many OF
these was personally and later became
more OF less intimately acquainted There
was Fessenden. OF Maine, who succeeded
as Secretary OF the Treasury the dig
nified Salmon P. Chase. whom many
people Gncluding HIMSELF thought iHdis-
penssbIe and succeeded him in the once
50 well that the country never felt the
change There was John Sherman IN the
Senate. even then one Of the leaders.
later 10 become cne Of our greatest Sec
retsries Of the Treasury; Thaddeus
Stevens in the House. who welded an In
huence second 20 none: Charles Sumner.
one Of the great men OF his day, who
filed q peculiarly important place N
the history Of his tine, then serving as
chairman Of the Foreign Relations Com
n1ittee Senator TrumbuIl, OF Illinois,
was one OF the leaders OF the Upper
House and was recognized as one Of the
great lawyers OF the nation. Hendricks,
Of Indiana: Wilson OF Massachusetts
Howe. OF Wisconsin, Henderson. OF Ms
souri: Chandler, OF Michigan. were then
in their prime John A Logan was dur
ing the early part Of Linceln's admins
tration member OF the House; rssIEn-
ing in 1851 he became the foremost vol
Unteer officer OF the civil war.
7 f~7-0 In
mated as a candidate for a second term.
Salmon P Chase, a member OF his Cabi-
metz had quietly undertaken 10 secure
I the nomination for himself I was lA
Washington when The secret letter writ
/ ten by Senator Pomeroy, urging poll
ticians TO support the Chase candidacy.
came out. and I was among those who
urged that Chase be turned cut Of the
/ Cabinet. and 1 so expressed myself 70
/ the President He replied: Let him
alone. he can DO no more harm where ne
/ IS than on the outside
Bore No Resentment.
That was his way % looking at things
He was OF too kindly a disposition. too
great man, to punish any one for being
against him. but at the same time he vas
more farseeing than others. he knew
( that 10 remove Chase would only make
q martyr OF him. 10 send him back TO
Ohio would only place him n a position
10 make trouble for the administration.
and so he simply let him alone. which
was by far the visest thing to do, until
/ NIr. Chase resigned once too often. and
then. one day, much TO the chagrtn OK
his Secretary OF the Treasury, he &C
cepted his resignation
/ No more striking illustration Of Mr.
L-lneoln-s magnanimity can be given than
his appointment OF Mr. Chase 10 be Chief
Justice OF TIE United States few months
after he had accepted his resignation as
Secretary OF the Treasury Il so hap
pened that I was in Mr.. Nicoisy's off1cs
when Mr.. Chase came to the White
House TO thank the President for his ap-
pointment as Chief Justice The door
was Jar. and I heard the few words that
passed between them They were both
extremely dignified Mr. Chase thanked
him in a few words. and the President
simply responded that he hoped that Mr.
Chase would do his duty, and 50 the in
terview closed.
The message 10 Congress the year
was elected was. I recall il. a marvel o.
succinctness and frankness as TO actual
conditions prevailing IN The land A sIn-
nv and optimistic view OF every situa-
ton was taken. however. and II the
PEOPLE wished 20 take a gloomy view ot
even disastrous war episodes. Il was their
own doing. At the time 5lie message was
written Gen sherman was attempting
his famous march OF 800 miles directly
/ through the insurgents region. There
were plenty OF forebodiRgs AT Washing
ton as to the eventfuI outcome Mr. Lin
coin dismissed the subject IN his msssags
with these few words, after stating the
undertaking: "The result not yet being
known. conjecture in regard TO It IS uot
here indulged-
Note of Determination
In other words. Mt Lincoln iutiTnatsd
TO Congress that the country would cross
no bridges until they were reached How
ever. there was contained IN that mes
sage TO Congress. when the war was
nearly over. q note Of determination
which left no doubt IN the minds OF those
VINO read II that Lincoln still believed
the sentiments he had expressed In his
/ great speech wherein he said, a house
divided against itself cannot stand, a
speech which / heard him deliver, by the
way. and / must confess that II was an
uttersnce which vas q culWark 10 me
IN those trying DAYS when determination
only gave way to doubt and fear
Those were dark days but how soon
vas 70 come vindication OF Lincoln'S
diagnosis that the issue could only Be
tried by war and decided by victory In
the early days Of the spring came the
campaigns around Richmond and Lee
was driven TO the final stand where he
accepted bitter and unconditional sur
! render