New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-01-15

larit OF a.. IL WIS ne 100. WHO Sc
cured the adoption of the useful reso-
luton requiring departments of gov
eminent ~ submitting budget estl-
mates 20 make reference 10 the laws
authorizing the expenditures IN ques-
tion. From the House he was sent 20
the Senate as its presiding officer, with
out ever having been a member OF shat
body. Ne referred 10 this latter cir
cumstance half spologctically ON taking
the chair, but We must ON tno whole
regard IL as fortunate. II gave him
freedom from the traditions and GUS
toms which had already begun 20 fetter
the Senate. and enabled him the more
easily TO effect most significant re
form, not merely in its procedure, but
also in its very spirit. Under Calhoun
the Senate had come 20 be regarded as
a sort OF American States General. a
conference Of ambassadors Of separate
and sovereign states, subject 20 no
higher authority than heir own. Ruics
Of order were in consequence largely
neglected. and national sovereignty, a.
expressed In the Vice President, was IL
nored. Fillmore, not for the sake OF
self -eXploitation but because OF his ln-
tense nat!onalism. changed all that. lie
conceived the Senate 20 be Representa-
tive OF the nation subject 10 national
authority superior TO the component
states, and in pursuance Of this theory
he insisted upon the observance OF APP
propriste rules, especially that Sena-
tors in debate should address them
selves to the Chair. and not directly 20
each other. as they had been doing. OF
his personality O. the President OF the
Senate, Alexander II. stephens. who
was not BIASED In his favor but who
clung 70 Calhoun's conception OF the
Senate, gave this account:
lie was Of most imperturbsbls
temper and Of personal presence
IN every way impressive. There
was dignity IN the head of the
ambassadors OF the States ia
Grand Council assembled which
fully accorded with oil the sur
roundings. Order and decorum,
with ali the propr.eties which
should govern high debate were
stamped Oh his brow Of him.
taken altogether, it might be said
with as much truth as OF any
other public character | ever met
with. There indeed is man ih
whom there is no guile"
Fillmore's course in the Texas-New
MeNico embodiment and toward vari-
GUS filibustering enterprises was Gd-
mirable. 50 was his attitude toward
Kossuth and the Austro-Hungarian
war Whether he was as much re-
sponsible FOR Webster's famous letter
10 Huelsemann as his sdmiring bog
rapher thinks may be an open qucs-
tion, but there can be no question a.
all that he was in perfect accord with
mis- great Secretary of State in that
matter. as well ~ In Che other .mpOr-
tant foreign transactions which made
MS administration notable IN our an
mails For his appointment Of Brigham
Young 10 be Governor OF the Terri
sorry Of Utah ne has been much cen
sured, chiefly without justice. Dr.
GriAis. who certainly holds no brief
for Normouism, points out that al tnat
time the Mormons were quiet and or
DERBY. that il was not known that
pOlygamy was 20 be the law OF their
church, and that Cancellation instead
Of coercion seemed 10 be the true pol
ley. The censure which has been
passed upon Fillmore for that ap-
pointment was inspired, ia brief, by
incidents which occurred or knowi-
edge Of which transpired long after
ward
The signing OF the Fugitive slave
bill is. Of course. the one item In Fill
more's career for which ne has beer
most blamed; tho more so because
there WAS not thirds vote fol
that measure. 80 that II could not hav.
become law without his approval. II
must be remembered, however, that his
4 d 4 frF ada q
him Of its entire constitutionality a.
also that so great a hater Of slavery
as Abraham Lincoln admitted that III,
act was legal and must be enforced
The fact seems 20 hc that Fillmore
like Lincoln, was aiming first &C. all a
The maintenance Of the Union Tha
was the enduring issue. Slavery he
hated. but he regarded u as a tempo
rary evil, which was bound 90 be abol
f~hcd I'm some way sooner or later
The supreme thing was TO preserve th'
Union. There was strong reason q
fear that IF the Fugitive Slave bill
were rejected the South would secede
and Fillmore realized that the ma
tional government was then hopeless
lv uupreparcd 10 resist such action
Ten wears later I'm 1851, the natiol
was still ill prepared 20 cope with Sc
rcssion. j. 1851 l. was FAR less pre-
ua~ed. and secession at that Um'
might easily have been trlumph9lt
Dr. Griffs's view is, in brief, that FIJI
more signed that bill from much th'
sam, motives that led Lincoln 10 post
none the Emancipation Proclamation
until after he had made sure OF tn
LOYALTY OF the border states, and d
would not be easy 20 disproye the cor
rectness Of that view.
Those we're times which tried mems
souls, and which were marked with IN
tense and unreasoning passions. Nhlt
tier was absolutely sincere when he
wrote his scathing "Ichabodi" on Web
ster's Seventh or March speech, but
were he living to-day he would rot
. write il or approve 10, nor would Hal
pine now refer 10 the American ta-
as q Haunting lie u seems wei
therefore. now that those passions arc
cooled. 20 review the men of those
fines and their deeds In more judi
cial snirit. and 20 that end this briei
study Of Fillmorcs career and char
scter IS 70 be welcomed. DR.. Grim
Is always interesting, and IN this BOOB
be has I'm a more than ordinary &c
gree suggested investigation, stlmulat
ed thought and inspired broad, sen
erous and iudicious views Of one OF
tho most critical cras IN our country
history. and Of one OF the men whe
we're foremost I'm guiding the natioI
through those troublous times,