USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Volume III > Part 7
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HISTORY OF COLORADO.
politics. When the first State campaign came round he mounted the
platform. He was a ready speaker, and passionately fond of the pastime. But for his habit of raising his voice to the highest pitch at the outset and keeping it there until the unnatural strain brings hoarse- ness and exhaustion, he would be a most admirable forensic orator, for he possesses all the other essential conditions. Belford is never a dry or tedious speaker. He has always something to say which enchains the attention of his auditors, and says it with great effectiveness.
In 1864 he was one of the presidential electors of Indiana, for Abraham Lincoln. In 1867 he was elected to the lower house of the legislature, and took a leading part in Governor Morton's fight for the United States Senate. By this time he had won considerable renown. To speak to the people he would sacrifice every other consideration. When General Grant was first nominated he sought, and . through the intercession of Schuyler Colfax, obtained from the national Republican committee, assignments to stump certain districts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The great speech of his life, for which he made diligent preparation, was delivered to a crowded audience in Cooper Institute, New York, over which Edwards Pierrepont presided, in connection with some of the ablest men of that day. He was at his best, and spoke with extraordinary force and effect upon the issues of the war, reconstruction and kindred topics, then paramount questions. He had studied them all, and made the most of his knowledge. He had schooled himself for a mighty effort, and the effect anticipated was produced. The vast audience wildly applauded his glowing periods, and at the close he stirred the uttermost depths by a magnificent peroration. As he retired, A. T. Stewart, the merchant prince stepped forward, and presented him his personal check for three hundred dollars, as an evidence of his appreciation of the speech. No event of his life is remembered with so much pride and satisfaction as this.
All the political aid and encouragement Belford received before coming to Colorado, resulted from the friendly offices of Mr. Colfax, by
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whom he was made acquainted with the leading men of that epoch, and through whom he was appointed associate justice of the Supreme Court of Colorado, in June, 1870. The incidents of his subsequent career are well known.
He has read much of ancient and modern history, and the better literature of all ages ; has written a number of fine essays and lectures, upon various subjects. He is one of the few who can read a book and literally absorb and retain every great thought, argument and sen- timent between its covers. When he sits down to write, his thoughts are far in advance of his pen. The utmost skill of the most accomplished stenographer cannot outstrip the rapidity of his dictation. He is never equal to a ten or twenty minute speech, but must have hours for the full expression of his views. He is a splendid campaigner, but not a safe leader or guide. Every canvass he has made in Colorado has been from plans and specifications furnished by Jerome B. Chaffee, for whom he cherished almost worshipful adoration.
In Congress he introduced the first bill looking to an appropriation to provide a system of reservoirs for the storage of water to supplement the natural streams, and extend the limit of irrigation. It asked for $50,000 to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of War in making topographical surveys for such reservoirs in the valleys of the Platte, Arkansas and Cache la Poudre in Colorado, supporting it by an elaborate speech, showing the importance of the measure for the recla- mation of countless millions of acres of arid lands in the West. It was immediately denounced by the Atlantic press as visionary, uncalled for, and extravagant. The New York "Times" derisively crucified it, by declaring that Belford was urging Congress to build a great series of expensive artificial lakes and ponds, and that at the next session he would go still further and demand the construction of a navy to float upon these still waters. Notwithstanding, this very project in modified form but with the main ideas retained, is now being perfected by Congress, widened to embrace all the States and Territories where the
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natural rainfall is insufficient for the growth of crops. In our particular section, it is the most consequential enterprise of the times.
The same year he introduced a bill authorizing the president to investigate the feasibility of enlarging the commerce of the United States with Brazil, the South American and Argentine Republics, by co-operating with those States in constructing an international railway. with a view to more general reciprocity of trade. But it met with only slight favor, being referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, which reported adversely. At the next session, however, he reintro- duced the bill, and having prepared himself with an array of statistical data from the records, delivered a well digested speech on the subject. The bill passed both Houses, and a commission was appointed by President Cleveland, which made the requisite examination and report. Out of this action grew the late Pan-American Congress.
Acting upon one of his sudden and not always discreet impulses, he delivered a fiery speech on the silver question, in which he warned the Eastern States that if they continued their hostility to the remon- etization of silver, and refused to aid the West and South in their efforts to better their condition by protecting their interests in this matter, which clearly demanded the free coinage and free circulation of silver, the West and South would confederate and in future devote themselves to the advancement of their especial industries, regardless of those of New York, Pennsylvania and New England. For this he was mercilessly scored as a revolutionist. Yet to-day this is one of the paramount national issues. Belford was simply in advance of his time on each of the questions above enumerated. He introduced a bill pro- viding appropriations for sinking artesian wells on the plains of Colorado, which passed and was carried through the upper House by Senator N. P. Hill. Several experimental wells were sunk, but the scheme ended in failure. He secured the passage of the bill for a Federal Postoffice building in Denver,-since erected,-and a number of other measures of value to the State, but much of his time was given to participation in the stormy political debates in the House.
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Belford has scarcely a particle of grace or dignity of manner, neither refinement of speech, dress nor address. He delights in speech making, but detests laborious study and detail. That he has remarkable talent is true; that he does not make the best use of the gift is equally true.
Colonel George G. Symes, a gallant soldier, an experienced lawyer and jurist, was the third Representative in Congress from this State, succeeding Belford, nominated by the Republican Convention at Colorado Springs in 1884. His Democratic opponent was Mr. Charles S. Thomas, each in his party the especial exponent of its particular views on the tariff, then, and for six years afterward the predominating national question.
Both advocates had made earnest study of it from opposite sides, Symes of the advantages of Protection; Thomas of its disadvantages, therefore, each argued the case according to personal conviction and in support of the positive stand taken by his party on the great complex problem, which nobody seems to fully comprehend in all its details and bearings. Symes is a studious man, and while declared to be pre-emi- nently egotistical, probably possesses no larger share of self-sufficiency than many of his compeers, but is less successful in hiding it from public view, indeed, making no effort to do so. It impels him to appear well in argument and debate, and to do this among thinking men he must put ideas, his best thoughts to the front, dive deep into facts, and culling the best, weave them into his discussions. This he invariably does, and it is the basis of his standing in court and with the people. He is not a popular, though a forcible speaker. He is not wholly popular with the masses, yet he is respected for his integrity, his earn- estness, the purity of his morals, for his industry and perseverance, his skill as a lawyer, the inherent qualities of his nature which now and then break through and shine lustrously above the upper crust of personal vanity, giving testimony to his worth. His majority in this hotly con- tested election was unexpectedly large.
His first notable essay in Congress was a speech on the silver
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question, in January, 1886, for which he had prepared himself before leaving Colorado, and as this, conjointly with the tariff, was the leading question, more especially with his constituents, he threw the strongest lights upon it, taking advanced ground not only in opposition to the proposed repeal of the Bland bill, but in favor of the free coinage of silver and its full restoration as a money metal. The President (Cleve- land), it will be remembered, some time before his installation in the White House, and again in his inaugural message, virtually demanded the absolute demonetization of silver. His Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Manning, his cabinet and the majority of his party, affected by this demand, were disposed to cooperate with him to that end. A favorable opportunity being presented, Symes fired his well-shotted artillery at this target, and speaking from a profound comprehension of the subject with characteristic energy, produced an impression. But he did not stop to rest upon his laurels. Discovering the advantage he had gained both for himself and party, he soon appeared with another and still more elaborate digest, which was delivered in the general debate that took place in April, in support of the minority report submitted to the House by Representative Bland from the Committee on the Coinage. In this effort he attempted to demonstrate that none but beneficial results would accrue from the elevation of the white metal to a parity with gold; that the gloomy forebodings and predictions of the monometalists, their pro- phetic warnings of disaster proclaimed when the Bland bill became a law, had all proven mere phantoms of the imagination ; that their fore- casts of dangerous inflation and the expulsion of gold from the country by the continuance of silver coinage were absolutely fallacious, as shown by the logic of events, and the effect upon the nation at large had been exactly the reverse. He threshed over much old straw, undoubtedly, but he likewise developed some new and interesting facts from his knowledge of history. Large numbers of prominent men on both sides who actually desired free coinage, but were afraid to antagonize the single standard advocates for fear their views might after all be correct, and would be verified to the detriment of the country, remained neutral
MUR Benson 2
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and inactive. Like a majority of the people throughout the land they did not understand the question, but as arguments from the well advised brought forth the hidden truths, light dawned upon their ignorance, and they began to take sides. They, as well as the people, had to be edu- cated up to the real importance of the issue through intelligent exposition of the various phases of the currency problem. The publication and general distribution of these debates set everybody to thinking, and in the first session of the Fifty-first Congress developed results which, though not the best conceivable, proved a marked advance toward the main object.
Aside from the consideration of matters of national importance, no inexperienced member of Congress can possibly realize before he gets to Washington, the immensity of the responsibilities involved in the accept- ance of that office. Appeals from his constituents for all manner of appropriations ; appeals for numberless intercessions with the govern- mental departments; with the President, the Secretaries of State, War, Agriculture, Interior; the Generals of the Army; the presentation of memorials and petitions ; applications for pension ; for the settlement of long neglected claims; for concessions and grants; for the passage of new laws and the amendment of existing statutes; for reservoirs and canals; appeals for every conceivable thing that enters the minds of those he represents ; applications innumerable for office; for contributions to campaign funds; for speeches and letters, indorsements and pledges ; for interference with this, that, or the other faction of his party, until he is driven well nigh crazy. He must work early and late, answer bags- ful of letters, be constantly alive and alert, dancing attendance upon a thousand calls every day of his official life, and be ready to rise up on every occasion to advocate or oppose bills which affect the interests of his State, or some part of it. He is expected to secure, no matter what the opposition or attending circumstances, the passage and approval of every bill introduced in their behalf, damned if he fails, and sometimes if he succeeds. Acting under these conditions, it is a matter of wonder to the disinterested observer who has no political ambitions, that any 6 111.
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man should wish to sacrifice the peace and profit attaching to a well- directed profession at home, for the shreds of fame attaching to a mem- bership in Congress. These are only an indication, however, of the major burdens and responsibilities that come to him. The thousands of minor perplexities, cares, anxieties and annoyances that fret the soul and wear out the body, have not been taken into the account. Symes met with all these and more. Two terms satisfied his keenest aspirations.
In the Fiftieth Congress, he charged into the tariff debate, for which he was also well prepared by studious investigation, setting forth his views in a lengthy speech, demonstrating the necessity of a strong national, in contra-distinction to the proposed international policy for the collection of Internal Revenue, and the enlargement of our commerce with foreign nations; assuming the impracticability of the theory of free trade advanced by the President (Cleveland) because if Congress should attempt to institute the policy of trying to build up a foreign market for American manufactures and other products beyond the existing limit by opening our ports upon the plan of unrestricted reciprocity, it must inevitably lead to our being shut out of those ports by tariff and other regulations so soon as the competition became too sharp for them, giving in illustration the history of the so-called Inspection 'laws of Germany. and France, whereby American meats were excluded when they came into dangerous competition with their home productions. He contended also with much force, that a judicious protective tariff would in future be of far greater benefit to the West and South than to New York, Pennsylvania and New England, for the reason that those States with their extensive and firmly established industries, supported by vast aggregations of capital, might dispense with the tariff altogether, but that it was needed in the West and South as an aid to the full develop- ment of the multifarious industries recently established there.
It is no part of my purpose to pursue this discussion any further than this brief epitome, except to note its conclusion in the final passage of the Mckinley Tariff bill in the summer of 1890, under which we are now operating, the ultimate effects of which remain
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to be seen when the commerce of the country shall have adjusted itself to its provisions.
Judge Symes managed in the House, and was influential by speeches and in personal conferences with members in passing the bill that provided for the survey of the arid lands of the West, and the selection of storage reservoirs to aid their reclamation by increasing the quantity of water for their irrigation. He argued that out of the millions annually appropriated for the improvement of rivers, harbors, brooks, creeks and channels, the people of the vast region west of the Missouri received not one penny, to assist them in the redemption of that important part of the public domain. The cultivators of such lands would be the producers of material wealth, of commerce for the railroads and the country, the builders of homes for millions of emigrants. Without water they were and would always be worthless.
The bill passed, over strenuous opposition however, and the first steps toward practical solution have been taken.
As a member of the Committee on Territories, having resided some years in Montana, and in Colorado while it was still a Territory, he was in full sympathy with all measures looking to their development. He earnestly seconded the movement that finally resulted in the admission of North and South Dakota, Montana and Washington as sov- ereign States. Notwithstanding that a majority of the committee reported adversely upon these Enabling Acts, the minority, of which he was a member, beat them on the floor, securing their admission by proclamation of the president.
When the bill to admit Utah came up, he took strong ground in opposition. Until the Mormons should renounce and forever put away the doctrine of polygamous marriages and practices, there would be no safety in giving them the independence of Statehood, for once acquired, and they in control of the political government, it would be reaffirmed, when Federal authority would be powerless to interfere. He favored the organization of Oklahoma Territory, both in committee and on the floor.
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The State has thus far had no more efficient representative in Congress than George G. Symes. Upon this point I speak from personal knowledge. Although he may not have been equal to all the demands upon him, he certainly was able, influential, zealous and faithful to every important trust. At the end of his second term he voluntarily retired from active engagement in politics for personal ends, to re-engage in the practice of law and the supervision of his large business investments.
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CHAPTER IV.
VARIOUS LOCATIONS OF THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT IN COLORADO FROM 1861 to 1881 -HISTORY OF THE SEVERAL MOVEMENTS-CONTESTS IN THE COURTS OVER THE CAPITOL SITE - HENRY C. BROWN'S SPLENDID GIFT AND ITS ATTEMPTED REVO- CATION-BUILDING THE PRESENT CAPITOL.
The location of the permanent capital, or seat of government is in every State a question of such importance as to make it the subject of much animated, and not infrequently of bitter contention between the various cities and towns that aspire to that distinction. The manifold phases of the contests which have preceded the actual or final location are interesting parts of their history, and the annals of Colorado con- tain, as every old settler comprehends, some facts in that connection that are worthy of more than mere incidental attention.
By direction of Governor Gilpin, under authority given him in the act of Congress providing for the organization of the Territory approved February 28th, 1861, the first legislative assembly convened at Denver, September 9th, of that year. In the primitive condition of settlement at this time only the rudest accommodations for such a body were procurable, and the best at command of the Secretary who was charged with that duty was, for the House of Representatives, a small frame building on the corner of Larimer and G streets, where the McClintock Block now stands, and for the council, the first floor of a brick building on the same street next the old People's Theater between E and F streets (now Fourteenth and Fifteenth), The Executive offices occupied by Governor Gilpin, Secretary Weld and others were in the building which is still standing on the southeasterly corner of
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Larimer and Fifteenth streets, East Denver, opposite the Pioneer building.
The Council or Senate organized by the election of E. A. Arnold president, and the House, after a spirited contest, chose Charles F. Holly speaker. The judiciary committees under whose auspices our first laws were framed, were for the council, Amos Steck, Samuel M. Robbins and Charles W. Mather, and for the House, George F. Crocker, Jerome B. Chaffee and Captain Edwin Scudder. But as a matter of fact, Mr. L. B. France, now an attorney of Denver, and for many years reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court of the State, was employed as clerk by the Judiciary Committee of the House to draft bills for that body, and actually prepared the greater part of the more important bills passed by the first legislative assembly, from the statutes of Illinois and those of other States, adapting them to the requirements of the Territory. The laws thus enacted were arranged for publication and indexed by Frederick J. Stanton, by authority of Lewis Ledyard Weld, first Secretary of Colorado.
Section 12 of the organic act empowered the Assembly to locate and establish the seat of government. By an act approved November 5th, 1861, it was located at "the town of Colorado," then and ever since designated "Colorado City," situated on the east bank of the Fountain- qui-Bouille at the mouth of Camp Creek. The site was to be fixed within the surveyed limits of the town, and to be selected by three commissioners, namely: S. L. Baker of Central City, E. B. Cozzens of Pueblo, and M. Holt of Gold Hill, who were required to perfect a title for the same at a cost of not more than one hundred dollars. The commissioners were allowed the sum of three dollars each per day while engaged in this service, and fifteen cents per mile for traveling expenses. All the civil officers of the Territory were commanded to establish their offices there. This extraordinary proceeding excited universal comment, and not a little indignation, as Colorado City was known to be simply a paper town site without accommodations for capital purposes, and with but shadowy prospects for the future. But Mr. A.
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Z. Sheldon, the early historian of El Paso County, informs us in his admirable sketch, how it was brought about. The county having been organized, measures were at once taken to elect to the legislature a majority known to be favorable to the location of the capital at Colorado City. "It was customary every spring with a majority of the population to go to the mountains for the purpose of mining, and on this occasion every such person became an emissary in a common cause, and labored in season and out of season by word and deed, successfully to shape and guide the contest. Every legislative candidate was inter- viewed and pledged, and every mining camp so leavened that the election of the pledged candidate should be rendered sure. El Paso, Pueblo and Fremont Counties constituted one electoral district, from which were sent Colonel John M. Francisco to the council, and R. B. Willis and George M. Chilcott to the House of Representatives. Willis, a citizen of El Paso County, proved to be one of the most efficient workers in the legislature. Adroit to plan, and prompt and vigorous to act, he so managed his material, favorable and indifferent, to the interest of Colorado City, that when the question was brought to issue, the partisans of Denver were paralyzed with astonishment to find that the matter was already virtually disposed of."
But it proved a fruitless victory, for not one of the public offices was ever removed to the new capital, nor was it ever officially recognized as the seat of government by the Federal appointees. Nevertheless, the Second Assembly convened there July 7th, 1862, organized, wrestled with the rude conditions a few days,-the House of Representatives wrangled most of the time over the election of a speaker, Charles F. Holly and Daniel Witter being the principal can- didates,-and then adjourned to Denver on the 11th, where the remainder of the session was held.
By an act approved August 14th, 1862, the capital was established at Golden City, Jefferson County. The Third legislative assembly convened there February Ist, 1864, but as the town was new, thinly populated and the accommodations indifferently suited to the purpose,
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
it adjourned to Denver three days afterward. The Fourth and Sixth sessions were continuously held in Golden, but only three days of the Fifth were passed in that place ; the Seventh convened there December 2d, 1867, but by the provisions of an act passed and approved on the 9th, the capital was transferred to Denver. Notwithstanding the fact that the capital remained in Jefferson County from 1862 to 1867, it was only during a part of the administration of Governor Alexander Cum- mings, October, 1866, to the appointment of Governor A. C. Hunt in 1867,-that the Territorial offices were established there.
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