Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1915-12-24
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, | should expect the Uni
versity Club S president to occupy the
chair. This, however, is not to be an
essay on this able lawyers good looks,
suavity or intelligence.
| 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 book of "reminiscences. He could
write big one.
Although John Cadwalader was a
young man when Gen. George B. Me
Clellan was a national figure they were
very good friends.
81 once asked Mcclellan, " Mr.. Cad
walader told me the other day in an
swer to my questioning, eff 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 be 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
mander-in-chief as q law to be obeyed
Then Mr.. dwalader-descenda 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 in
America. ,.,. =, ,o,.,.,.. .....
did you ever see Jefferson Davis?}.
! asked Mr.. Cadwalader, whose ances
tors were already ancient American:
when Brandywine was fought.
Every often, said he, "when ht
was Secretary of War under Pierce
l was in the White House q great dea
| as llltle DOy. l. nave uiWHNS though
that the Confederate president $ mil
itary training was a real detriment t
his own cause. He interfered with mer
like bee and the Johnstons, who wer,
far ADLER soldiers than himself; but h,
didn 7 seem to admit it,
Mr.. Cadwalader told me that cn on,
occasion at notable Democratic bar
becue he saw Samuel j. Tilden Genera
Hancock and General McClellan--eacl
at one time a Democratic candidate fol
President. This Philadelphia Democrat
lie leader had been officially designated
to bring those three Jefersonian lumi
naries together
Nobody could ever be guilty of sa
luting this dignified lawyer with " Hey
Rube!' Just the same, Pennsylvania
has but few bigger farmers than John
Cadwalader. Didn't know it, Ell?
! Well / don t know If anybody in the
State has bigger farm than he, al
though his lands are not in Pennsyl
vania, but in Maryland. He employs
scores Of farmers, mostly Germans anC
negroes.
heard him say that a German laC
aged eighteen, walked off his farm anC
got job as railroad brakeman with I
little more than nine times his former
pay. You can see," said Mr.. Cadwal
adler, "why it is difficult to keep boys
on the farm. The farm doesn t offer
him enough pay"