The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-01-14
JURY FREES ALLEGED TIPSY DRIVER
Webster One Of
 Nations Greatest
Taft Headmaster Lauds Life and Works of Noted
 Statesnarl-Greatest Orator America Produced

Horace D. Taft. headmaster of Taft school, in Watertown, in an address delivered before the mem- bers of the Mattatuck Historical society las. night described in de- tail the life of Daniel Webster de- claring that he was lone of the great ones of America and the great one of the first half of the 18th century," The Mattatuck His- torical society members met at the orga nization's hall on West Main , street last evening and elected di- rectors as follows: For one year, c. Sanford Bull, Walter w. Holmes, John P. Elton, Edwin s. Hunt and | Carl E Munger; for five years, David c Griggs and Attorney N. R. Bronson.
 l Plans were made for participa- 1 ton by the society in the bi-cen- tennial observance of the birth of | George Washington. A committee consisting of Chase KimbaH, John P. Elton and David c. Griggs was named to consider development of an industrial museum to trace the industrial history of Waterbury. | MT Taft described Webster as a king by nature. When he frowned, | the speaker explained, men trem- | bled and when he smiled men felt charmed. His interest in Daniel Webster and his enthusiasm for him was inherited, Mir Taft stated. His father often talked to him about Webster and made him a very vivid personality to the speaker.
 "He was acknowledged to be the greatest lawyer of this country for almost generation" said MT Taft. "He would be a rash man who named another lawyer in our whole history whose fame could touch his, and this whether you consider jury trials, arguments be- fore the court or those great cases in which his arguments helped John Marshall in expounding the Constitution of the United States.
 He was our greatest orator for 30 years and Lodge, who is not too friendly to Webster, says that be- yond question he was the greatest orator this country has produced. No man except Abraham Lincoln has produced such gems as the Gettysburg Address and parts of the Second Inaugural, but as a convincer, a persuader, com- peller of men, no man can com- pete with Webster, whether at the bar, in the senate or in occasional addresses.
 "He had the dearest grasp of sound finance of all the statesmen who lived between Gallatin, Jeff ferson's great secretary of the treasury, and the Civil war. He was for two brief periods secre- tary of state and no man has been his superior in that office. His in- telligence, dignity, good will and fair dealing prevented a war with England at time when a smaller man would have blundered into it."
 Mir Taft referred to Webster as being of great significance in our history. He then discussed his va rious achievements for the coun- try. He explained that he was pre- eminently a representative of the Union and a defender of the Con- stitution. He withstood demands for war with England over the oregon boundary. Although a northerner the speaker pointed out, he was not an abolitionist but his passion was for the preserva- ton of the Union. MT Taft re- called the time that Webster was bitterly attacked by the north be- cause of his speech in which he appealed to the north for patriot ism, forbearance and tolerance as against sectionalism and using force to keep the south in line.
 Webster longed to be president more than most people know, MT Taft told his listeners. But his straightforward manner of declar- ing himself cost him the presi- dency.
 "When Hamilton put down the miserable little whiskey insurrec- tion friends of the government thought it a magnificent showing of magnificent power" declared MT Taft.
 Describing the life of Webster Mir Taft told how he was born at the end of the Revolutionary war, the son of New Hampshire farmer. His father was a silent, uneducated man who had fought through the Revolutionary war, had been trusted by Washington on two occasions and had had a lifelong struggle with poverty. Once on a journey he was taken i'll and thinking his end was near insisted on being carried to the next town, declaring that he would not die in democratic town.