Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-03-02
KIND OF A BOY WHO
GETS ON IN THE WORLD
Orcutt Tells of the Ideals of Senator Burrows's
Youth and How He Realized Them in
Spite of Obstacles

connecticut and his mother first saw
the light in Massachusetts. When the
young couple married they settled in
Erie County, Pennsylvania, and it
was there that the boy julius Caesar,
who later became Senator from Michi.
gan, was born. His father took him
TO Erie to hear Webster speak. When
the boy was thirteen years old the
family moved TO Ohio. just across the
State boundary. julius worked on a
farm and went to school. one winter
he spent studying at an academy sew
eral miles from his home. lie boarded
himself. cooking his bacon on the top
of his wood stove and roasting his po.
tatoes in the ashes When he was
eighteen he became principal of the
public school in Jefferson the home OF
Senator Wade and Representative Gid
dings. Jefferson was "A village of only
700 population, and the villagers came
in close contact with these two states
men of national reputation. A year or
two later young Burrows became prin.
cipal of a school in Kalamazoo, Mich,
and permanently settled there. Kala-
maZoo was then only village. 1t is
now city of 10000 population, but
it did not grow so rapidly as did the
young principal of its one school Bur
rows became national character: not
a man of the first caliber. it is true.
but still man of weight and influence;
while Kalamazoo would not be known
outside of Michigan il it were not for
it's slapstick comedy name. The story
of his youth shows that he did not
spend his time whining about his lack
of opportunities"
Did Burrows ever do anything
worth while in.Congress?" Doctor Nc.
Fabre asked.
"He did two things for which |
think he deserves credit" replied.
"He may have done others--his biog
rapher thinks he did--but of two |
have no doubt. The first is the draft.
ing of the Mckinley tariff law. lie
was then a member of the Ways and
Means Committee of the House of Rep
resentatives, and Mckinley himself
said that Burrows did most of the
work on the bill. The second is pre-.
venting Quay from taking his seat in
the Senate after he had been appointed
by the Governor of Pennsylvania.
Burrows was chairman OF the Senate
Committee on Elections, and his
speech in support of the report of the
committee was so clear an exposition
of the meaning of the Constitution
that he persuaded enough Senators
to vote in favor of the committee re-
port to, keep Quay out until he was
legally elected.
81 wish that better life of Burrows
had been written than the one which
l have been reading. 1t is by William
Dana OrCutt, a novelist. His knowl-
edge of the political and economic his.
tory Of the last fifty years is not ade-
quate for the task that he undertook.
For example, he says that Mckinley
was defeated for Congress because Of
the Democratic landslide which fol.
lowed the passage of the tariff law.
AS matter of fact Mckinley was de-
feated because the Democrats in con.
troll of the Ohio Legislature gerryman-
dered his district in such IA way as to
create district with Democratic ma
jority of 5000. Mckinley came within
400 votes of being elected in spite of
the gerrymander. There is no evidence
of Democratic landslide in this. Mr..
Orcutt has given us chronological
record of Burrows's life, with liberal