The Washington herald., 1911-04-16

lasted the rancor In Kansas increased at
the indecision Of Ross. Letters, tele-
grams, and oral examples Of defamation
and spleen poured in upon him. His an
swer was the same-silence and prom
Use to do his duty as he saw It The
momentous day arrived In the progress
of the roll call 1t became evident that all
but Ross had decided in favor OF Johnson
On his vote alone hinged the success or
failure of the impeachment proceedings
for which so much had been staked
Slowly the roll crawled down the al
phabet to his State and name
Senator Ross, of Kansas" sang the
Clerk
The eyes of the crowded galleries were
upon him. Banked in the rows nearest
him were visitors from his own Stain,
many OF them powerful in the influence
that made and broke men at home
Ross rose slowly, as II to explain. He
hesitated only momentarily. Then he
, said, clearly and without CULVER:
No"
Resolution of Kansas Delegation.
Andrew johnson remained President of
the United States. In Kansas the pot
OF enmity and chagrin cooked over. Ross
began TO receive another ffux of the most
frightful communications ever sent to a
public man. Some examples are given
hereafter for what they may represent to
present-day critics Of what a man in high
Office ought to be.
The Kansas delegation at the Republi-
can national convention held in Chicago
in 1865 passed this comment:
Resolved, That we, the delegates to
the Republican national convention from
Kansas. also other citizens from that
State. regard Senator Ross as recreant to
. ho h;erl, ~ ,faft n
full to his oath of ONCE. and unworthy of
the trust and confidence OF the people,
having a name that will forever be as
ISOLATED with that OF Benedict Arnold"
Leavenworth Register: '"The honor of
Ed Ross, A half civilized bushwhacker
| would spit in Ross face II he dared speak
| to him about it -. Wherever he
| lives or dies. that record will follow him.
That's Ross, men will say with con-
| tracted eyebrows as the doomed man
tremblingly writes his name on the hotel
register"
The SaIina Herald recalls NapoIeonic
forations with: I'VE cannot say that he
| is fallen His treachery repudiates the
| idea that he ever possessed an honest
heart. but that he has always been what
| he Is nova cheat, an unmitigated hypo-
critic. a wolf in Sleeps clothing-he has
sunk as low as humanity can sfnk-you
| the said z. G. Ross. have proved your
self to be a great liar and dirty, dirty
dog
From the Oskaloosa Independent: "On
Saturday last Edmund q. Ross, United
| States Senator from Kansas. sold him
self and betrayed his constituents. stulti-
fed his own record. basely lied to his
own friends. shamefully violated his
solemn pledge, and to the utmost of his
Door ability signed the death warrant of
| his country's liberty. This act was done
deliberately, because the traitor, Ike
Benedict Arnold, loved money better than
he did principle, friends, honor. and his
| country. all combined. Poor, pittful.
shriveled wretch. with a soul so small
| that a little pelf would outweigh all
things else that dignity and ennoble
manhood
| A message to Senator Ross On the same
| day from Topeka and signed 1. D. Bailey
| is unequivocal: Probably the rope with
which Judas hanged himself is lost. but
the pistol with which Jim Lane commit
\ ted suicide is at your service"
Comments Kept by Former Senator.
All of these comments are taken from
scrapbook kept by Senator Ross him
| self and from letters in the hands OF his
daughter There always will be a feeling
of snock about contemplating this pitt
able fate of a man saving the mementos
| OF his undoing.
Even as his detractors said, Ross was
dead politically. With the expiration OF
his term he went back to Kansas, to be
greeted with taunts. obloquy, and SLAM
| der. Years of effort to reZestablish him.
self in the community which once had so
honored him were utilities. At last, in
the long evening of life, he moved from
Kansas to Albuquerque, n. Mex, where
he continued to work as printer at the
case, generally in the most evident and
oppressive poverty. He sank out Of the
world. but not out of memory.
As late as 1907 Gen. Hugh Cameron the
Kansas hermit, set out to carry to Ross
a message of penitence from Kansas.
Cameron, a strange character, who made
habit of walking from Lawrence, Kans.,
to Washington to witness every success
sive Presidential Inauguration, made the
long Reorganization to New Mexico and
found the former Senator in his last days.
What solace the changed feeling of the
years may have been to Ross few can
know. Cameron followed him to the
grave within the year. taking with him
the secret