USA > Alabama > Memorial record of Alabama. A concise account of the state's political, military, professional and industrial progress, together with the personal memoirs of many of its people. Volume II pt 1 > Part 10
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Tilden, democratic candidate for president in 1876, had, as democrats contended, a clear majority of the electoral votes over Hayes. republican. But the election machinery of South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana, all of which states democrats claimed. was in the hands of the republicans. Hayes would be elceted if he could have counted for him all the electoral votes of these three states. A single vote from either would give Tilden a majority of the electoral college. Indications so clearly pointed to the election of Tilden that Hayes himself. at one time, conceded it. But the chairman of the republican national committee boldly announced that Hayes was elected. "Visiting statesmen." as they were afterward called, were sent by the republican managers into the disputed states and the returns were all so manipulated as to give majorities to Hayes.
There was great excitement at Washington and throughout the coun- try. The house was democratic, but the senate was republican, and Gen. Grant, republican, was president. The two houses, it was evident, could
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not agree about the count. Finally, the house, impressed with the be- lief that otherwise Hayes would be put in power by the army, consented to the creation of the celebrated electoral commission which decided that it had no power to go behind the returns as finally made, and Hayes was counted in.
The democrats. as has been stated, secured in the election of 1874 a large majority in the house of representatives. Alabama sent six demo- crats and only two republicans, Charles Hayes and Jere Haralson. Haral- son was a colored man, formerly a slave. All the democrats, except Col. John H. Caldwell, were new members, and all, like Col. Caldwell, had rendered distinguished service in the Confederate army. Otherwise they would not have been representative men, so universally had the people of the state supported the cause of the Confederacy. Of these new mem- bers, Taul Bradford served only one term, during which he showed him- self to be a very strong man and an attractive debater. Burwell B. Lewis, polished in manners, scholarly, diligent in research and gifted in speech, served throughout the Forty-fourth and, during a second term in the forty-sixth congress, at a time when he seemed to have before him a long and distinguished public career, resigned to become president of the university of Alabama, in which post he has since died universally lamented. Goldsmith W. Hewitt served in the forty-fourth and forty- fifth and afterward in the forty-seventh and forty-eighth congresses. Mr. Hewitt makes no effort to be eloquent, seldom resorts to figures of speech, but with the thorough training of an accurate lawyer speaks forcibly and directly to the point. He was a diligent and attentive mem- ber, active and influential in committee's duties, and as chairman of the committee on pensions distinguished himself by his advocacy of pensions for the soldiers of the Creek, Seminole and Mexican wars. Jere N. Will- iams served in the forty-fourth and forty-fifth congresses. Mr. Will- iams is liberally educated, has genial manners, is a good lawyer, forcible speaker, and was greatly esteemed by his constituency for his unblem- ished character and many estimable qualities.
Into the forty-fourth congress came Gen. W. H. Forney, now famil- iarly known as the father of the Alabama delegation, not only because he is oldest in office, but also because he is often called upon by his col- leagues to assume the role of patriarchal adviser. He was five times wounded in battle and rose to the position of brigadier-general in the Confederate army. Few members of congress, who spoke as little and as modestly, ever acquired as much influence in the house as is now wielded by Gen. Forney. He never takes the floor except when it is necessary to explain a proposition, and then he uses the fewest possible words. He makes no speeches, but does his work faithfully and efficiently in com- mittee, and when he comes into the house with a bill from the great com- mittee on appropriations, of which he has long been a leading inember, confidence in his judgment is so great that speech making seems to be
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unnecessary. Gen. Forney is truly a remarkable character. In 1874, when he was not present and not a candidate. he was nominated by a state convention for congress from the state at large, and has since been regularly returned from the dsirtiet into which he was subsequently placed, and never once, during all this time, has he departed from the simplest and most unostentatious methods. After his election in 1890, much to the regret of his constituency as well as of his friends in the house, he announced his intention to retire from the public service at the end of his present terin. He is utterly devoid of jealousy. and to his kindly leadership is no doubt due the remarkable harmony that has now prevailed for many years among the Alabama delegation in the house. His leadership came to him unsought. All his colleagues acknowledge the wisdom of his counsel; when one doubts his sincerity. If there be any defect in his character as a legislator, it is overcaution- a shortcoming, if it be one, of which no one ever suspected him in the days when every man's metal was tried in the fires of the Confederacy. This, however, remains to be said that the position of the democrats, who, during his term of service, have represented the section from which he came, has been peculiar. They have as a class been tauntingly de- nominated "Southern Brigadiers." More has depended upon what they did not say and did not do than on what they did, and here it may be put down to the credit of the democrats who have represented Alabama in congress for the past eighteen years. that during that whole period not a single expression had been extorted from one of them, that has given aid or comfort to their political adversaries.
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As illustrating one of many efforts of the republicans to provoke sec- tional debates that would give them opportunity to "fire the northern heart," it may be well to record here an amusing incident witnessed by the writer in the forty-sixth congress. The democrats, being in control, had decided that in the pending bill, in which such appropriations had been. usually carried, all provisions for the expense of deputy marshals of election should be omitted. and they had also agreed among them- selves not to be tempted into discussing the amendment they knew the republicans would offer. Mr. Frye of Maine had the floor for an hour, and no one can be more bitter than Mr. Frye. He was venomous and aggravating to a degree. Mr. Cox of New York asked him to yield for five minutes. Frye yielded "with the greatest pleasure." Cox then sent up to clerk's desk and had read from Longstreet's "Georgia Seenes" the laughable account of the boy in "the dark corner of Lincoln county," who was "seeing how he mought have fout" an imaginary adversary. "That," said Mr. Cox, "is my speech," and the house exploded with laughter at Mr. Frye's expense. Gen. Forney clearly saw, when he entered congress. that the problem before the south was how to overcome northern prejudice. His solution was, live it down by faithful work for
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the country at large. As he retires, he sees the work almost accom- plished.
At the election of 1876. the state now having been divided into eight districts, eight democrats were returned to congress. The new members were William W. Garth, R. F. Ligon, James T. Jones, Charles M. Shelley and Hilary A. Herbert, all of whom had been soldiers in the Confederate army. Mr. Garth, who served only one term, was an eloquent speaker. Mr. Ligon, who had been lieutenant-governor and was a lawyer of ability, took no active part in debate during the single term he served, though he was a faithful and efficient member. James T. Jones, who served in the forty-fifth, forty-ninth and fiftieth congresses. was a man of culture, a faithful student of public questions, occasionally took a prominent part in discussion, was always found well equipped, and was a strong debater. Charles M. Shelley had been a gallant general in the army, was not a lawyer and seldom took part in debate while in congress, but his speeches showed him to be a man of marked ability. He has recently added much to his reputation by his wise and successful conduct as chairman of the state campaign committee of the presidential campaign of 1892.
Hilary A. Herbert, author of this sketch, served in the forty-fifth con- gress and in each succeeding congress. including the present (the fifty- second), and will retire voluntarily on the 4th of March, 1893. He has taken part occasionally in the debates of each congress, mostly on ques- tions coming from the more important committees to which he was from time to time attached-the judiciary, the ways and means, and the naval-of which latter committee he was the chairman in the forty- ninth, fiftieth and fifty-second congresses. He spoke in the forty-fifth congress against the subsidy to the Texas Pacific railway, in favor of which large petitions had come up from his district and which the Ala- bama legislature had at the previous session by resolution unanimously indorsed. After Mr. Herbert's speech, the promoters of the scheme sought a second indorsement at the hands of the legislature of Alabama. Their attorneys addressed that body at length in favor of the subsidy, the purpose being to demonstrate that Mr. Herbert had misrepresented his state. But the resolution failed at Montgomery, and the congress at Washington never passed the bill. Mr. Herbert offered in the house the provision which. on his motion. became the present law, which guards against the packing of juries in political cases. In the forty-sixth con- gress he alone. of the Alabama delegation, voted against the free coinage of silver, and he cast a similar vote in the fifty-second. His most nota- ble canvass was in 1882. when he and his opponent, Judge Samuel F. Rice, whose great ability has been noted in this sketch, conducted a joint dis- cussion throughout the district. Such canvasses have seldom occurred in the state since 1860, and this attracted much attention. Mr. Herbert became chairman of the naval committee in 1885. The time had come for replacing with modern vessels and armament the antiquated and worth-
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less ships and guns of the old navy, and it was, in his opinion. important that an ex-Confederate should Jead in the work. Nothing would furnish so complete and practical an answer to the slanders indulged in by so many of the republican politicians. They were maintaining their party ascendency by keeping alive the animosities of the war. What could reach the masses, who were so affected like the active, earnest, efforts of southern men to strengthen that arm of the public service upon which the whole country must rely for the protection of its citizens and its flag at home and abroad? During the last ten years large additions have been made to our navy, and practically all the laws making provisions therefor originated in the house committee on naval affairs.
In the Forty-fifth congress also appeared for the first time Senator John T. Morgan. Senator Morgan, who had risen in the Confederate army to be a brigadier-general. is an untiring student: he has a phenom- enal memory and almost unparalleled powers of research. On taking his seat, he at once set himself to work at the great task he put before himself-that of inducing southern democrats to assert themselves. Nothing, he thought, could so alleviate the embarrassing situation of southern democratic legislators, distrusted and continually maligned. as taking hold of the machinery of debate and legislation and operating it for the benefit of the whole country. Pursuing steadily the even tenor of the path he thus marked out for himself, he has amassed a fund of information that is truly wonderful. Senator Morrill excels him in knowledge of his specialty, finance; Allison surpasses him in matters relating to appropriations and government details, and Carlisle as to questions relating to the tariff, but in general all around information, Senator Morgan has perhaps no equal in the senate. and certainly no one can rival him in his knowledge of our foreign relations, acquired during his long service on the committee to which these affairs are entrusted. All men acknowledged it as a just tribute to his integrity and fitness, when a republican president (Harrison) appointed him recently to be a member of the commission that is to arbitrate the Behring sea dispute between Great Britain and the United States.
Great as are Senator Morgan's powers of acquiring information, his capacity for imparting it is equally wonderful. In ease and grace of manner he has no equal in the senate. He never hesitates for a word, . and the beauty and grace of his language can best be illustrated by recalling the impression said to have been made some years ago upon Dr. Porter, president of Yale university. The learned doctor, who had been spending some days in listening to and criticising senators, con- cluded that Senator Morgan's language was, of all he had listened to, the most classic. Great must have been the surprise of this doctor of laws, when he learned that the senator had completed his education in an "old field school" in Alabama. Senator Morgan has spoken much and often; he has debated perhaps every class of questions that has come
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before the senate, has been often criitcized as having a "fatal facility of speech," and for occupying too much of the time of the senate, but he has never discussed any question upon which he did not shed light, and so much has he increased his reputation, that he is now universally esteemed as standing in the very first rank in the senate. And he has not in his devotion to the general business of the country neglected his immediate constituency. To him the university of Alabama is indebted for a grant of 40,000 acres of mineral lands, which has placed the old college again firmly on its feet. Indeed. he has continually, in the midst of his unremitting labors for the benefit of the country at large, exer- cised a most watchful care for the interests of his state.
The new members in the forty-sixth congress. elected in 1878 and again all democrats, were Newton N. Clements, chosen to fill the unex- pired term created by the resignation of Burwell B. Lewis; Thomas Will- iams, William J. Samford, William M. Lowe and Thomas H. Herndon. Mr. Clements, who is a good lawyer and who, as speaker of the lower house of the general assembly of Alabama, exhibited high qualities as a presiding officer, followed during his brief term in congress what may be almost called the unwritten law of that body. and was a silent mem- ber, though otherwise diligent in the performance of his duties. Mr. Williams, who served not only in this the forty-sixth congress, but also in the forty-seventh and forty-eighth congresses, has by nature many of the qualities of an orator. He relates anecdotes admirably, has fine descriptive powers and is a very attractive stump speaker, but, making no pretensions to culture, his modesty deterred him. while in congress, from participating in debate. He was diligent in committees and atten- tive to the wants of his constituents. William J. Samford is an orator. His speeches abound in beautiful imagery, his language is classic and his style fervid. During his single term he attracted marked attention in the house. William M. Lowe was elected to the forty-sixth congress as an independent democrat, supported by the greenbackers, and went back to the forty-seventh. fully identified with the new party. Mr. Lowe was a man of marked ability and very ambitious, well versed in public affairs, strong in debate, powerful with his pen and of popular manners. He died in 18 . Colonel Thomas H. Herndon served in the forty-sixth, forty-seventh and forty-eiglith congresses. He was a typical southern gentleman, elegant in manners, highly cultured, an accurate lawyer, and his speeches were clear, concise and pointed. He was suffering during most of his career from the fatal discase that carried him off before the close of his last term, and died, singularly beloved and admired by all who had known him. James L. Pugh, who has already been mentioned as having distinguished himself by the speech he delivered in 1560 in the house of representatives, was elected a senator in the forty-sixth congress, and by continuous re-elections is still a member of that body, in which he has added largely to his reputation. Senator Pugh is an orator of
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great power. He makes no pretensions to classical learning, never in- dulges in flights of imagination, and never makes any attempt at rhetor- ical displays. He speaks to convince the understanding, not to captivate the fancy. He is a logician. not a rhetorician-is noted for pithy and pointed expressions, which are delivered with great dramatic effect- takes part in debate rather infrequently, speaking mostly on subjects coming from committees to which he belongs. He prepares himself with care, states his case with power, and always marshals his facts so that they shall speak for themselves. His strong sonorous voice gives great emphasis to his arguments. Among his most signal successes were the report and speeches he made, during the early part of Mr. Cleveland's administration, touching certain powers of the president in relation to appointments and the papers connected therewith. Into the forty-sev- enth congress came Joseph Wheeler and William C. Oates. Judge James Q. Smith. republican, was also adjudged by the house entitled to the seat in this congress from the fourth district, then occupied by Gen. Shelley; but, though Shelley was ousted, Smith died of pneumonia in Washington without taking his seat.
Joseph Wheeler was the distinguished major-general of cavalry who in the Confederate army became so widely known for gallantry and genius as a commander. Beginning in 1981. Gen. Wheeler has, with the excep- tion of the forty-eighth congress, served continuously since, is re-elected to the fifty-third congress and it may be added that, until the general dies or voluntarily retires. there will in all human probability not be any "vacancy" in the eighth district. Gen. Wheeler displays in congress the same qualities that made him illustrious in war. He watches all the points and "keeps up all the gaps." He is without doubt the greatest worker in the house. Others may be as willing. but none of them can perform as much labor as he. It is not believed that any other member of either house keeps himself in such close touch with all his constitu- ents. All this is done without any neglect of his more strictly public duties, as the records of congress, showing votes, speeches and reports will testify. Gen. Wheeler is not an orator, his voice is not pleasing, but he makes strong cogent speeches. full of information, aptly arranged. and always expressed in fitting words. He has a genius for statistics and facts. Some of his speeches on the tariff might almost answer for text-books on political economy, and they have had wide circulation .. One of his greatest speeches was on the celebrated Fitz John Porter case, a bill being before the house for the relief of Gen. Porter from the sen- tence of a court martial, on charges of misconduct in the battle of Ma- nassas. 'Gen. Wheeler is a devoted frend of the army and has done much efficient work in the committee on military affairs, of which he has long. been a leading member.
William C. Oates was the gallant colonel of the Fifteenth Alabama regiment and is popularly known at home by the title of "the one-armed
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hero of the Wire grass." He was elected to congress in 1880 and has been since continually re-elected to and including the fifty-third or coming congress. Of great intellectual power and uncommon force of character, he has been noted throughout his congressional career for an unflinching support of democratic policies, and his courageous and independent ad- vocacy of whatever measures his own judgment approved. As a speaker he is always forceful and pointed and often eloquent, his fine voice, earn. estness of manner and convincing logic giving him remarkable power over an audience. He does not often take part in debate, not caring to impair his influence in the house by practicing before the galleries or by speaking for the admiration of absent constituents, but he is always ready when the occasion demands, and, when questions arise that have been considered by him in committee. he is never unprepared to present his views. He has long been a leading member of the committee on the judiciary and has taken an active and efficient part in passing many of the most important bills coming from the committee, such as those limit- ing the jurisdiction of the United States courts, establishing intermediate courts of appeal. forfeiting unearned land grants, etc. In the fiftieth congress he attained great prominence before the country by the vigor by which he postponed, for the session, the very objectionable bill to refund to certain states some $17,000,000 of direct taxes. When this bill came up afterward, he succeeded, upon an amendment which he offered, in bringing to a direct vote a proposition to submit to the courts the question of refunding the cotton taxes collected in 1865-8.' Col. Oates was re-elected November, 1892.
The Alabama representatives in the house in the forty-eighth congress 1883-5, were all again democrats, except George M. Craig, republican, who, on a contest, unseated Charles M. Shelley, democrat. The new democratic member was Luke Pryor. Col. Pryor had served for a short time in the senate to fill out the unexpired term of Senator Houston, and now was elected to a single term in the house, during which he de- livered a strong, fervid speech. on an important question, which elicited great applause. Col. Pryor is an orator, impulsive, magnetic, and espe- cially powerful before .a jury or on the hustings. The new members of the house in the forty-uinth congress, 18:5-7, in which the members were again all democrats, were Thomas W. Sadler, A. C. Davidson and John M. Martin. Mr. Martin, who served a single term, was a quiet member, as was also Mr. Davidson, who was in this and the succeeding congress. Both were attentive to their duties upon committee and in other respects. That members are quiet or silent upon the floor is no criterion by which to judge of usefulness, as was illustrated by the quiet meniber, who after getting an important bill passed by personal inter- views, said, that a "pair of good legs were worth more than the tongue of any man in the house." Indeed, the real work of the house is, ihost
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of it, done in committee. Col. Davidson had previously been a prominent member of the Alabama state senate.
Mr. Martin, who is a lawyer of ability, did not appear much upon the floor, yet spoke enough to show himself a strong debater, and would have acquired a wide reputation if he bad been continued in the house. He is fond of paradox, indulges in startling propositions to gain the attention of his audience. which he never fails to do. and then maintains his statements with great fores and originality.
The single new member in the fiftieth congress was James E. Cobb, who at the time of his election to congress was filling a third term on the bench as judge of the circuit court of his state, with great credit to himself as a jurist, and to the universal satisfaction of the bar and people. Judge Cobb, who has been a member of the house continuously since 1887. and has also been elected to the coming congress, is rapidly rising to distinction in his present field of action. He has a pre-eminently judicial mind, addresses the house like a lawyer pleading his cause before a court, lays down his propositions distinctly and in definite order, and his arguments, delivered in a clear, ringing voice, always attract attention. He has spoken most frequently in questions involving some matter of law, and has won much reputation by his speeches in election cases, coming from the committee of which he is a leading member.
The new members of the fifty-first congress (1889-91) were J. V. McDuffie, a republican-who served only for that term and was a quiet member; Richard H. Clarke and John H. Bankhead, both democrats and both of whom have served without intermission since 1889, and are now members elect to the fifty-third congress. Mr. Clarke is a very able law- yer and a strong debater. He has not spoken so frequently in con- gress as he probably would have done had his time not been so much occupied by his duties upon the river and harbor committee, which sits during the sessions of the house, and of which he has been a member since his service began. Mr. Clarke has rendered distinguished service to his state upon this committee. and especially to the district he repre- sents. He has secured deep water in Mobile bay. an inestimable boon to his city and state. Mr. Bankhead is not a lawyer, nor has he been trained as a speaker, but he has an extraordinary fund of strong com- mon sense, a natural gift of speech, and is rapidly rising to prominence in the field of politics. He is chairman of the committee on public buildings and grounds, and has much commended himself to the econo- mists of the house and the country by not allowing, up to the date of this writing, January. 1593, by the bold stand he has taken, any bill to pass for the erection of a new building. Mr. Louis W. Turpin, the only new member of the fifty-second congress and now re-elected to the fifty- third congress, is a farmer and business man. He became prominent by the force of his character, and his constituents soon recognized his
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