New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1909-02-17

81 not fair. True. that early extrava.
gance did almost bankrupt the state.
But who could have foreseen the panic
of 1887? The people demanded these
internal Improvements. elected their
representatives on that sort of plat
form, and in the legislature itself
there was practical unanimity in push
ing these bills The purpose was good
1t grew out of the right spirit-that of
optimism and construction. The only
trouble was that the Illinois legislators
OF that early day were not high fnan-
ciers and had not learned how to water
stock Lincoln never did know any
thing about finance, either public or
private. But he always belonged tc
the constructive side and placed the
nation above self, and that is more
than most financial experts can boast. ]
In his last two legislatures Lincoln
was the Wing candidate for speaker,
which made him the minority leader
Of the house. He was on important
committees and was regarded not only
as one of the most convincing debat
ers OF the body, but, better still, as one
of its most effective working members
His service in congress did not begin
till 1917, six years after he left the
legislature. That it was so long de-
layed was not his fault. He tried to
get In earlier, but there were too many
other able and ambitious men in his
district. AS a result three or four of
them had to take 'sturn about" and
Lincoln's turn came last
If Abraham Lincoln had remained in
congress more than one term he would
have become leader, just as he had
been in the legislature. 1t requires
long service to gain prominence in
either house in Washington. Mr.. Lin
coin was much more to the front than
the average new member He gained
fame as a debater and wit, his
speeches were made campaign docu-
ments, he was soon known as the best
story teller in congress, and he was
winning his way in more solid and
substantial things. Like most Of the
! conscientious Wings Of his day, how
ever, he was not in full accord with
the Mexican war. Several great and
good American statesmen have com
| mftted political harakiri by opposing
some of Uncle Sans wars In this
| very struggle Thomas Corwin. one of
| the greatest stump orators in Ameri-
can history, prepared the oven for his
| political cremation. Nor was he the
only one Lincoln himself was forced
out of public life for practically ten
years. That he survived and was able
to re-enter at all showed his hold on
the people of Illinois, His district.
which had been Wing, was changed
permanently to Democratic. We preach
and practice free speech in this coun-
try-eScept in wartime. This is one
reason why the sooner war is ended
forever the better. Anything that pre-
vents liberty of thought and express
! sion is a false thing
Lincoln's chief sin against the genius
Of the Mexican war was in the intro
ductiOn. of what were known as the
"spOt" resolutions The reason he
could not be forgiven for them was
that they could not be answered. They
! put the administration in a hole, sit
uation in which no administration likes
to be. The Mexican war is period in
| our national history concerning which
| most patriotic students do not care to
be too inquistive- l generally try to
skip it myself-not the fighting mean,
but the causes that led up to it. The
| fighting was rather one sided but was
| glorious from our viewpoint. But as
i for the things that produced it-well.
why not talk about something else:
One Of Lincoln's most famous
speeches in congress was that in which
he exploited General Cass as mill
tary hero. 1t belonged to the order
OF campaign stump speeches, but was
good of its kind. The relation of cam
paign speeches to real oratory is about
the same as that of campaign songs to
real poetry. In fact the average cam
paign as it has been conducted is a
peculiar combination of mendacity, pet
t1fogg1ng and barroom wit. This is its
| public aspect. The inside part of it
would usually put somebody into the
penitentiary if it were public Cheap
adulation of our candidate and cheap
abuse of the other have been the rule
Fortunately we are beginning to es
cape from the crassest features of the
thing. In Lincoln's day they were at
their height. That was not his fault.
| The tool of campaign oratory he took
as he found it and used 1t effectually.
In this particular General Cass
speech Lincoln recounted his own ex-
| ploits in the Black Hawk war. His
[ manner of handling the subject showed
| a great and redeenling virtue-he die
not take himself too seriously.
To understand Mr. Lincoln both in
this earlier part of his career ard at
later period it must be borne in mind
that in the best sense of the term he
was politician. This was true OF him
As Wing and later as a Republican