Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-05
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the Bookloper

Il 4. ny tUC DOOwtVUeTF Il
In his bulky volume Andrew john
son: Study Of Courage" Lloyd Paul
Stryker gives not only the promised
study of the sorely tried, many think
States who had the misfortune to take
up the load which would have been
Lincoln's had not John Wilkes Booth
sneaked into Fords Theater on the
night of April IA; 1865. There are also
many other incisive studies, clear por-
traits, well documented, Of the men who
thwarted Andrew johnson In his deter
mination to carry out Ltncoln's Re.
construction plans and the men who
stood by him and defended him. There
is Gideon Welles, Secretary Of the Navy
In Lincoln's cabinet and wisely con.
tinued BY johnson: His Diary Is of
Mr.. Stryker, who says OF him: "The
diary Of Gideon Welles Is an invaluable
record Of the Civil War and Of the Re-
construction, not only because Of its
authors opportunity to observe the
men and the events Of which he wrote,
his ability to describe them wildly and
clearly, but because he was q man Of
Integrity, was possessed of AN accu.
rate memory and was a very shrewd
and very fair Judge Of men," William
H. Seward. whose life was attempted
as part Of the plot which had as its
main object the assassination of Lin
Lincoln and johnson. LAS early as
1856, Seward was harboring presiden.
tial aspirations" but, though these were
disappointed, "he became the most
trusted and the most acceptable Of all
the Presidents Nincoln'e) advisers"
and during the Reconstruction Period
played q brave part, daring to num-
Der himself among that pitiful minority
remaining true TO Lincoln's hopes" A
third member CT Johnson's cabinet who
did him good service was Henry Stan
berry Of Ohio, who was appointed Attor-
ney General by johnson and afterward
dents counsel in the impeachment
trial. He left sick-bed to come to
the Capitol and close the defense Of
johnson.
Among the counsel Of Andrew John.
son In the Impeachment trial was VIII
liam M. Evarts, "the most sophisticated
lawyer" "the acknowledged leader Of
the New York bar" ''It Is q face OF
the greatest interest to study-such q
one as might have been encountered
in the Roman Senate. There is no
genial warmth there, but every line be-
tokens the high-bred gentleman, the
man OF intellectual and moral power.
Stryker lists on q roll Of honor the
seven Republican Senators who voted
for Johnson's acquittal. against the
majority Of their party. and 50 defeated
the Impeachment conspiracy" He
recalls from English history the seven
bishops who refused to read from their
pulpits King James Declaration of In
diligence and says: "Fessenden of
Maine. Fowler Of Tennessee, Hender-
son Of Missouri. Trumbull Of Illinois,
Van Wrinkle of West Virginia, Grimes of
Iowa and Ross Of Kansas-these seven
Senators who dared to defy the con-
gressional tyranny Of 1858 are well de-
serving OF place Of honor alongside
the seven English bishops" Senator
Henderson, in response to q telegram
from an important st. Louis man ure-
ing that he vote for conviction, re-
piled, Say to my friends that am
sworn to do impartial justice according
70 law and evidence, and viii try to
do 1t like an honest man"
\
Mr.. Stryker's portraits of the RAD.
Gals" in the Senate and House of Rep.
resentatives during the Reconstruction
Period are not euphemistic. and Edwin
M: Stanton, Secretary Of War in both
Lincolns ana Johnson's cabinets, Is
seen as spy of the radicals In the
cabinet and the persistent enemy of
Johnson and his pacific Reconstruction
policy. Gideon Welles pronounced
Stanton as more violent than vigorous
. more vain than wise rude ar.
rogant and domineering toward those In
subordinate positions II they will SUBJ
init to his rudeness, but a syco-
plant and dissembler in department
with those whom he fears" Mr..
Stryker himself sums up the character
OF Charles Sumner: "A marrow, bigoted,
opinionated. SNUG, complacent, muddle.
headed man! unlike the lying
hypocrites with whom he consorted, his
pretenSionS to virtue we're sincere. He
believed that he was not as other men.
His fellow impeachers deserve to be de-
spised. Sumner should have pity; he
was o mental case-an egomaniac
needing treatment. But his dementia
was dangerous to the Republic" Mr..
Stryker gives an extended sketch Of the
Civil War record of Gen. Benjamin r.
Butler before his congressional record
becomes . part of the history of An
drew johnson. He appears as one of the
most implacable enemies Of johnson
and the defeated South. OF his mill
tary career, Mr.. Stryker says: "Wher-
ever Butler was in command ugly ru-,
mors came of jobs and frauds" and "as
a commander Of troops he became an
outstanding failure Of the war" He
reveals the insolence and the coarseness
Of the man. The heavy jowls. the
bony forehead. the dropping eyelids and
moustache. the rotund, clumsy figure
it Is not difncult to associate baseness
with the possessor of such features. It
is the very model of the shyster law
yer" In discussing Thaddeus Stevens,
relentless proponent of military rule for
the States which had seeded, Mr.
Stryker quotes freely from Gideon
Welles' DIARY" "Thad Stevens has to-
day made a backyard and disrepu-
table speech IN the House This
bad traits Of Discrimination. insincerity,
falsehood. scandal-loving and defama-
ton that have characterized his long
life. The radical managers and leaders
were cognizant of his speech, and had
generally encouraged it, but shall be
disappointed If they do not wish the
vain man had been silent before many
months. Such disgraceful exhibitions
can do the author and his associates no
good. nor those whom he assailS endur-
ing harm. The people may not in the
first excitement and under the disci-
pline of party be enabled to judge OF
the conspirators correctly who are striv-
ing to divide the Union, not by seces-
sion, but by exclusion. It Is clearly q
conspiracy though not avowed."
\
Woman's power as purchaser seems
almost startling to women themselves
and perhaps to men who pay the bills
and even more SO to the men who
wish to sell goods. Mrs. Christine
Frederick In her book selling Mrs.
Consumer stresses consumer psychol-
ogy, which means in so many cases