The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1910-10-22

NO "oo cicStcu ny Tue leBiSldtuTe one
81 the states first two United States
senator's.
Declined Money ProdsifromI Public
Service.
Immediately upon his election, with
scFup616Is fsgSfd -rur-m -umcfal inss
tegrity. Benton called all of his clients
to his office and told them that he
caul6~net. fdivAer serEa thep As there
might be- a conflict tetweeA their In,
ierest and the public welfare. For
some fAhis :chenta he. had litigation
over land grants, and as senator be
was In position. through the enact
mentiof laws. to make them land him,
self wealthy in the, settlement Of dis
puted titles. He refused even to rec
ommend an attorney to them. lest this
might -embarrass him in his pubic
duty. His idea of public office
was ltnatIan' onicial. had no7meTe right
to use his public, functions to aid per
sonal friends or to advance his own
fortune than he would have to put his
K6hfnk6fE5,fHE333fzEaE1AHY=and take,
money therefrom to pay a private
debt. Through all his official career
Benton was true to this ideal and, was
incoIruptihls aAdAa1ove reproach from
any-lenal stanApCKt 'at y
Championed missouri CompFonnIse~
IL Bentoh's career Of constructive
craftsmanship was the GREATEST Mis-
souri, or the west has PRODUCED. He
came upon the stage Of public activity
WITH the senaetfnehf sof the Missouri
compromise, which was LARGELY his
work. He left public life c6fncident.
with the repeal Of that Measure.
HHHF4HfH4pHYEpMtE4=aatxs8hri was
Eadmitrur-mru- S,nfnn- Though =, II
was 'sUfhe' years inter .before the state,
was formally recognized) as a slave
state, with.the proYisio4 that. no state
created out OK the Louisiana purchase.
north of the southern boundary OF
Missouri. should be admitted with
slavery. Jtft'shaGked sldvery agitation
for decade, and any attack upon It
for slime was resisted by south as
yell as north. Benton rvas 80 years
old when he took his seat and. had
lived, exactly half the years given to
him., Monroe was inst beginning his
second term as president, Calhoun was
secretary OF war. Henry Clay was
speaker of the house OF Representa-.
tives I'M fhs fsH ! presidential con-
Jackson. but s ssysssrIaafssr that Ss was
clay's political enemy and sJackson's
warmest and strongest supporter. ~ n,
Father. Of Homestead Law. We
To Benton more than any other man
IS due the4fact that there is no from
tier in the United, States to-day. What
was O. wilderness, west Of the Rocky
mountains nifty, years ago y now set
tied by happy and prosperous men
and women BY reason Of hp effort in
securing the enactment Of sthe home
stead law Benton established the pol.
Icy Of selling public land at ia maxi.
mum OF SIPS an acre, giving prefer.
fencY tU- 9ctuaissettfefss snd.securing to
i1s0it2efs tb0u y3g6f 0S 1SsSrS Ktion. - This
made settiem9nt easy 4{id &treams. OF
sturdy men and women bed An Al once
to-move westward.
Benton looked into the Culture. fur
fther tirn any Qtber Statesman OF his
Hiuit. RI a1swe} 0b-fhe tau1ss that the
westcrh county J pkmiculaSiy Oregon,
would never be anything Emore than
a hunting ground, he propHesied that
fyng Yfmv- hen there
would be more people Vest OF the
| Rockies than east. He ADVOCATED the
Econstfuction Of military Dad to New
Mexico. and was so earnesy1in, hts sup
port OF the idea OF n tfan5continental
railroad that HIS enemies SAarged him
wfth'being rseBtally 3nbald iced on the
psab3eet,~ahd AyGn MA fri$hds feared
he was too enthusiastic. one OF his
,arst.. speeches he prophesRd that tife
| Patfnc coast- wofld soon become the
door OF Asia and advised Sendins min
listers to China and sJapanf proposal
at thatsilmss cdnsidereb extremely hu
morcus.. - L. -I--4~l NJ IA frfi mr.,
Bsonsht About specie Rayments..
p-utrwss -thsvuahs BentonF effort tina,
fs1etie payments -werek est blished lind
that all our money becath 70 based on
VOID xndisllver. sp-earndf was he n
the demand for specie lsisathat hs
twss lpicknamedf roM billion. q
which he became very p.pud. and "a
fnmvpveuhes-sS4sa-seferr4 70 hineSil
BY that term. He was at ret inclined
~ kvoern g.eteptiye hri1 lsYst6m; ppl
E6E II &fis Spplss proasetIS.