The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-12-18
A LINK WITH THE PAST.
A Living Pennsylvania Democrat Who
Knew Pierce, Lincoln, Davis, Tilden,
Hancock and Mcclellan

From Girard s ''Topics of the Town
in Philadelphia Public Ledger.)
Whenever ! look at John Cadwalader |
| marvel that there are so few Demo |
Gratis in Philadelphia. Single-handed, |
he would lend dignity, polish and man
ners to any party, let alone one that
can muster only five thousand votes
out of fifty times that number.
Somebody said that if all the great
men past and present were to meet in
convention George Washington would
be chosen. their presiding officer,
If all Philadelphia were to meet in
convention, I should expect the Uni
yersity Club S president to occupy the
chair. This, however, is not to be All
essay on this able lawyer good locks,
suavity or intelligence.
l simply express the hope that this
man who, when boy, played in the
White House while Franklin Pierce was
President and has known all the Demo
| cratic Presidents and candidates for
President since then will some day give
US a book of "reminiscences He could
write big one.
| Although John Cadwalader was a
young man when Gen. George B. Me
| Clellan was q national figure they were
very good friends.
q once asked Mcclellan Mr.. Cad
walader told me the other day in an
swer to my questioning, if he had ex-
acted from President Lincoln any writ
ten promise when he was called back to
command the army of the Potomac that
he should he let alone
Mcclellan said he had not. His ex-
allied idea of military obedience was
that a general, no matter how high, had
to accept the simple word of his com
mandcrin-chief as law to be obeyed.
Then Mr. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. of
some mighty fine fighting stock-de-
clared with much emphasis that the
, code of honor adhered to by graduates
, of West Point and Annapolis was the
, finest and highest seen anywhere III
America.
Did you ever see Jefferson Davis?
/ asked Mr.. CadwaIader, whose ances-
tors We're already ancient Americans
. when Brandywine was fought.
, Every often said he, "when he
was Secretary of War under Pierce
| was in the White House great dea
as a little boy. I have always thought
that the Confederate president s mil
Iitary training was a real detriment tC
his own cause He interfered with mer
l. like Lee and the Johnstons, who were
far ADLER soldiers than himself; but h,
lidn t seem to admit it. -
I Mr.. Cadwalader told me that on on
e occasion at notable Democratic bar
becue he saw Samuel j. Tilden, Genera
| Hancock and General McClellan-eacl
: at one time Democratic candidate 70
President. This Philadelphia Democrat
: ic leader had been officially designate
. to bring those three Jeffersonian lumi
!, naries together.
: Nobody could ever be guilty of sd
( luting this dignified lawyer with g He
Rube' Just the same, Pennsylvani
has but few bigger farmers than job
Cadwalader. Didn t know it, Ell?
Well / don t know if anybody in tn
State has a bigger farm than he, a
though his lands are not in Pennsy
ie vania, but in Maryland. He employ
K. scores of farmers, mostly Germans an
es negroes.
l heard him say that a German la
Il lged eighteen, walked off his farm an
he got job as railroad brakeman with
to title more than nine times his formC
nc pay. "You can see,' said Mr.. Cadwa
Id | lder, "why it is difficult to keep boy
he IN the farm. The farm doesn t off
II him enough pay"