History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, Part 35

Author: Sulgrove, Berry R. (Berry Robinson), 1828-1890
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 942

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Oliver P. Morton was twice eleeted a member of the United States Senate by the Republicans, his first

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term commencing on the 4th day of March, 1867, and his second on the 4th day of March, 1873. The limits of this sketch forbid anything like an attempt at a history of his senatorial labors. During his ten years of service he was foremost in all things,-in debates, in party counsels, in labors. It is not in- vidious to say of him that in labors he was more abundant than any other, notwithstanding his physical disability. He entered the Senate at a stirring time. The war was ended, but the South was in a state of chaos. What was to be done, and how to do it, were the two questions uppermost in the minds of all. There was an irreconcilable quarrel between Congress and the President. At the very outset of his sena- torial career, although it was his first legislative ex- perience, he was given three important places. He was made chairman of the Committee on Manufactures, and a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations and that of Military Affairs.

The first great question in which he took part was that of reconstruction. He went into the Senate with well-settled views upon this question. He had held tenaciously to the idea that this was a nation, and he insisted upon that on all occasions. He looked upon treason as a crime deserving of punishment. He could not be led to believe that those who had laid down their arms after a four years' struggle to over- throw the Government could safely be intrusted with power until, at least, they had given evidence of having renewed their allegiance. He was inspired by no hatred of the people of the South ; it was their treason he hated. His first speech on this question was an impromptu reply to Senator Doolittle, of Wis- consin. In that speech, brief as it was, he outlined his whole after-attitude on this question. He said,-

"The issne here to-day is the same which prevails through- out the conotry, which will be the issne of this canvass, and perhaps for years to come. It is between two paramount ideas, each struggling for the supremaey. One is, that the war to suppress the Rebellion was right and just on our part; that the rebels forfeited their civil and political rights, wbieh can only be restored to them upon snch conditions as the nation may prescribe for its future safety and prosperity. The other idea is, that the rebellion was not sinful, but was right; that those engaged in it forfeited no rights, civil or politieal, and have a right to take charge of their State governments, and be restored to their representation in Congress, just as if there were

no rebellieo and nothing bad occurred. The immediate issue before the Senate now is between the existing State govern- ments established under the President of the United States in the rebel States and the plan of reconstruction presented by Congress."

He then proceeded to demonstrate that Congress had all the power that was necessary to formulate or dictate to the States the kind of a constitution they should adopt, and that it was in duty bound to insure justice, security, and cquality to all classes in the South, and said,-

"Sir, when Congress entered upon this work it had become apparent to all men that loyal republican State governments, such as are required by the Constitution, could not be erected and maintained npen the basis of the white population. We bad tried them. Congress had attempted the work of recon- struction through the fourteenth constitutional amendment by leaving the suffrage with the white men, and by leaving with the white people of the South the question as to when the eol- ored people should exercise the right of suffrage, if ever; but when it was found that these white men were as rebellions as ever; when it was found that they persecuted the loyal meo, beth white and black, in their midst; when it was found that Northern men who bad gone down there were driven ont by social tyranny, by a thousand annoyances, by the ioseenrity of life and property, then it became apparent to all men of intel- ligence that reconstruction could not take place upon the basis of the white population, and something else must be done. New, sir, what was then left to do ? Either we must hold these people centinnally by military power or we must nse such ma- chivery on such a new basis as would enable loyal republican governments to be raised np : and in the last result I will say Congress waited long, the nation waited long,-experience had to come to the reseuc of reason before the thing was done. In the last resort, and as the last thing to be done, Congress deter- mined to dig through all the rubbish, dig through the seit and the shifting sands, and go down to the eternal roek, and there, upon the basis of the everlasting principle of equal and exact justico to alt men, we have planted the eulnmn of reconstrue- tien ; and, sir, it will rise, slowly but surely, and ' the gates of bell shall net prevail against it.'"

On the charge of inconsistency on the subject of negro suffrage he said,-

" Why, sir, let me frankly say to my friend from Wisconsin that I approached universal colored suffrage in the South re- luetantly. Net beeanse I adhered to the miserable dogma that this was the white man's government, hut because I entertained fears about at once introstieg a large body of men just from slavery-to whom education had been denied by law, to whom the marriage relation had been denied, who had been made the most abject slaves-with political power. And the seuater

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hna referrod to a speech which I made in Indiana in 1865. Allow me to ahow the principle which then actuated mne, for in that apeech I said, ' In regard to the question of admitting the freedmen of the Southern States to vote, while I admit the equal rights of all men, and that in time all men will have the right to vote, without distinction of color or race, I yet believe that in the case of four million slaves just freed from bondage there should be a period of probation and preparation before they are brought to the exercise of political power.' Such was my feeling at that time, for it had not then been determined by the bloody experience of tho past two years that we could not reconstruct upon the basis of the white population, and such was the opinion of a great majority of the people of the North. . . . I confess (and I do it without shame) that I have been educated by the great events of the war. The American people have been educated rapidly ; and the man that says he has learned nothing, that he stands now where did six years ago, is like an ancient mile-post by the aide of a deserted high- way."

He coneluded as follows :

" The column of reconstruction has risen slowly. It has not been hewn from a single stone. It is composed of many blocks, painfully laid up and put together, and ecmented by the tears and blood of the nation. Sir, we have done nothing arbitrarily. We have done nothing for punishment-aye, too little for pun- ishment. Justiee has not had her demand. Not a man has yet been executed for this great treason. The areh-fiend himself is now at liberty upon bail. No man is to be punished ; and now while punishment has gone hy, as we all know, we are insisting only upon security for the future. We are simply asking that the evil spirits who brought this war upon us shall not again come into power during this generation, again to bring upon us rebellion and calamity. We are simply asking for those accu- rities that we decin necessary for our peace and the peace of our posterity."

To Senator Morton more than to any other man is due the eredit of the adoption of the fifteenth amendment. He was bold and aggressive in his ad- voeacy of this important measure, designed as it was to secure to the eolored man the right of suffrage. It was opposed by Senator Sumner and some other Republiean members, but Mr. Morton led in the de- bate and carried the measure triumphantly through. He met all arguments, repelled all assaults, held the friends of the amendment together until the final vote was taken. Nor did his labors end with its adoption by Congress. It had to be ratified by the States. The Democratie members of the Indiana Legislature resigned to defeat its ratifieation. Sen- ator Morton reached Indianapolis the morning the

resignations were handed in. He sent word to the Republiean members not to adjourn, but take a recess and meet him. He then showed them the resigna- tions did not break a quorum, and demonstrated that they had the power to ratify the amendment. They aeted in accordance with his wishes, and the work was done, to the amazement of the Democrats. Still States were wanted. Senator Morton was equal to the emergency. A bill was introduced providing for the reconstruction of Mississippi, Texas, and Vir- ginia. He seized the opportunity and offered an amendment providing that before these States should be admitted to representation in Congress they should ratifiy the proposed fifteenth amendment. The amendment was referred to the Committee on Judi- ciary. An adverse report was made by Senator Trumbull, chairman of the committee. Senator Morton still adhered toThis amendment, and, after a debate lasting three days, was successful. This was one of the most remarkable debates of the Senate. Still another State was wanted, and again Senator Morton led in the work of securing it. He introduced a bill authorizing the military commander of Georgia to eall the Legislature of that State to- gether, ineluding the eolored members who had been expelled the year before, and empowering the Legis- lature to reconstruet that State, by eleeting two United States senators, after ratifying the fifteenth amendment. Again the Judiciary Committee an- tagonized him, but again he triumphed, and the fifteenth amendment beeame a part of the Consti- tution, and stands to-day a monument of his love of justice and his powers as a leader, more enduring than brass or marble.

Space will not permit the dwelling on his labors in the great kuklux debates and other similar measures, but in all he took a leading part, and upon all he left the impress of his lofty and unyielding patriotism.

As chairman of the Committee on Elections and Privileges he rendered signal service. All questions that eame before him were treated with the utmost fairness, and stern justice ruled in the decisions of his committee. One notable instance of this kind was his aetion in regard to the election of Caldwell as senator from Kansas. It was evident that his election

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had been procured by corrupt means. Senator Mor- ton held that he should be expelled from the Senate as unworthy a seat in that body. The friends of Caldwell plead to have the election simply declared void. Mr. Morton would not listen. His sense of justice had been outraged and he felt that American politics needed purifying, and insisted on expulsion, and to save himself from that the Kansas senator resigned. With fraud, force, or corruption he had no patience, and he would neither listen to the plead- ings of friends of the accused, nor pay heed to their threats. He believed in the right and had the cour- age to at all times and under all circumstances to maintain his beliefs.

In 1873 he delivered a speech in the Senate, which in the light of later events looks almost like prophecy. The question under discussion was a resolution in- structing the Committee on Privileges and Elections to report upon the best and most practicable mode of eleeting a President and Vice-President, and provid- ing a tribunal to adjust and decide all contested elections connected therewith. Senator Morton took strong grounds in favor of doing away with the Electoral College and electing a President by the direct vote of the people. In the course of that speech, in regard to the dangers of the present system, he said,-

" There is imminent danger of revolution to the nation when- ever the result of a Presidential election is to be determined by the vote of a State in which the choice of electors has been irregular, or is alleged to have been carried by fraud er vio- leoce, and where there is no method of having these questions examined and settled in advance; where the choice of Presi- dent depends upon the election in a State which has been publicly characterized by fraud or violence, and in which one party is alleged to have triumphed and secured the certificates of election by chicanery or the fraudulent interposition of courts. If the system of electoral colleges is to be continued, some means should be devised by which the election of these electors in the States may be contested, so that if it has been controlled by fraud or violence, or if there be two sets of electors, each elaiming the right to east the vote of a State, there may be some machinery or tribunal provided by which fraudulent re- turns euuld be set aside or corrected, and the contending claims of different scts of electors be settled in advance of the time when the vote is to be finally counted, and by which the Presi-

· dent of the Senate may no longer be left to exercise the dangerous powers that seem to be placed in his hands by the

Constitution, nor the two houses of Congress by the twenty- second joint rule."

Could he have been given the power to look into the future only three years he could not have been able to better portray the dangers that were before us as a nation. This was one of his great powers,-to discern the signs of the times, and see the pitfalls and the rocks that lay hidden from view. It was this power which stamped him before all other Amer- icans, a wise statesman.

It was Morton that gave to us the civil rights bill, which were intended to make good the promises of the nation to the colored men,-that they should have equal and exact justice with all races. That they have since failed was no fault of his.

In the Senate he left the stamp of his individuality upon all legislation. He was the moving spirit, the leader, the one upon whom all relied. There was no question of public moment too small for his attention ; but his mind grasped all, his wisdom foresaw all, and as far as possible he attempted to warn and to guide the country that it might avoid the danger he saw before it. He spoke often in the Senate, but always with effect, and was listened to with the utmost at- tention, for it soon became recognized that when he summed up the arguments there was little or nothing left to be said. When defeated, as he sometimes was, he at once accepted the situation, but never despaired. His fertility of resource was wonderful, his industry was prodigious. The last stroke, which ended eventu- ally his life, camo while in the discharge of his sena- torial duties, and though not in his place at the cap- itol, yet, like John Quincy Adams, he died in the harness. In 1877 the Senate ordered an investigation into the case of Senator Grover, of Oregon, who was charged with having secured his election to the Senate through corrupt means. This duty devolved upon the Committee on Privileges and Elections, of which Senator Morton was chairman. It was necessary to go across the continent to Oregon. Senator Morton, though physically feeble and worn out by his incessant labors, did not hesitate to undertake the long and tire- some journey, in company with Senators Saulsbury, of Delaware, and McMillan, of Minnesota.

During the entire trip to San Francisco he was

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much prostrated, but the sca-voyage to Portland, Oregon, seemed to do him good. The investigation lasted eighteen days, during which he labored inces- santly, and the sessions of the committee were somc- times prolonged late into the night. This labor nearly broke down the other members of the committee, but it seemed the iron will of Senator Morton rose above every trial, for, in addition to his work on the com- mittce, he prepared an elaborate political speech to be used in the approaching Ohio campaign. At the con- clusion of the investigation he addressed the people of Salem in a speech of considerable length, which was pronounced the ablest specch ever heard in the State.

He arrived in San Francisco on his return home early in August, and on the 6th received his second stroke of paralysis. By morning his entire left side was paralyzed. We take the following account of his journey home and the closing scenes from a sketch written by Hon. C. M. Walker :

" Notwithstanding his alarming condition he insisted upon starting home the next day, and accordingly a special car was furnished, in which a cot was provided and the best arrange- ments possible made for his comfort. Then, on the 7th ef August, accompanied, as usual, by his wife and son, he started from San Francisco for his Indiana home. During this long journey, though he was very much depressed and even feared he would not reach home to die, he uttered not a word of com- plaint, but bare his affliction in heroic silence. At Cheyenne, W. T., he was met hy his brother-in-law, Col. W. R. IFolleway, who thenceforward was a constant attendant at his bedside, and at Peoria, Ill., Dr. W. C. Thompson, the senator's Jung- time physioian, joined the sad party. llis hause in Indian- apolis not being prepared for his reception, he was taken to Richmond, Wayne Co., and to the residence of his mother- in law, Mrs. Burbank, in that city. Here he was at onee made aa comfortable as his condition would permit, and had every attention that medieal skill or loving affection could devise. The news of his attack had already spread abroad, and, al- though as yet his friends did not think it would prove fatal, the greatest coneern was manifested throughout the country. Letters and telegrams poured in from all parts, and this eon- tinued during his entire illness. Many distinguished men visited him, and a still larger number sent messages of love and sympathy. On the 13th of September the President of the United States visited Richmond for the express purpose of calling on the sick senator. The meeting hetween them was simple but effecting. The great war Governar and dis- tinguished senator lay stretehed upon his bed broken, ema- eiated, and almost helpless. Ilis once massive features were

pinched with pain, and the eyes that had flashed fire in so many contests were dimmed by sickness and by the medi- cines taken to alleviate his sufferings. Approaching the bed, the President pressed the senator's extended hand warmly, and then, bending over, kissed him on the farehead. The interview was necessarily brief, and after a few words of earnest sympathy from the President, in which he said he spoke for the country es well as for himself, he retired from the room evidently much affected. In this interview Senator Morton assured the President that he would be in his seat in the Senate at the opening of the regular session of Congress in December. Such was doubtless his expectation at the time, but it was not to be realized.

"On the evening of the 15th of October he was placed in a special car and removed to his home in Indianapolis. This short trip seemed to do him some goud, and the hupe of his recovery, at least sufficiently to take his scat in the Senate, was strengthened. During the following weeks Cul. Ilalloway and other friends were unremitting in their attentions, and nothing was left undane either to prolong his life or mitigate liis suffer- ings. All this time he took a lively interest in current affairs, and especially in what was passing in the political world. IIe wanted the papers read to him during nearly every waking mment, and even at night, waking from a short sleep, his first exclamation was ' Read.' If the reader stopped a moment to rest or for any other purpose, he would say, ' Read on ! Don't stop till I tell you.' So absorbing was his interest in publie affairs, and his desire to keep up with current events. Meau- while it had become apparent that his vital forees were giving way, and that he could not last much longer. Fer many days, even weeks, he took no nourishment except milk, er occa- sienally a little beef-tea, and even these were not digested. The paralysis seemed to have reached his stomach, and all natural action was destroyed. Still his mind continued active and clear, and when friends visited his bedside ho would wel- come them with a pleasant smile and grasp of the hand. As long as there was the slightest ground for hope those nearest to him clung to the belief that he would recover, but from Tuesday, October 30th, it became evident to all that his case was hupeless. llis symptoms on that day were such as to make it plain that bis end was drawing near. During the 31st his death was hourly expected, and several times the rumor went abroad that he was dead. A great many telegrams were received from alt parts of the country, inquiring if these rumors were true, and asking for information as to his condition. Thursday, Novem- ber 1, 1877, dawned gloamily. Thu dall, gray light that first found admittance to the sick-ream fell upon a dying man, though the end was yet some hours distant. During the day he lay very quietly, only making known his wants in bruken accents. A number of friends were in and out of the room during the day, and his wife and family remained near the bedside. In the afternoon he sank rapidly. At 4.45 o'clock be had a paroxysm of pain, and passing his hand over his . stomach, said feebly, ' I am dying.' A little later his youngest

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son, taking his hand, suid, ' Father, do you know me?' IIe nodded an assent, and gave signs of satisfaction when his son and other members of the family kissed him. A few minutes after five o'clock, while Dr. Thompson was holding his hand, he said, ' I am dying; I am worn out.' These were the last audible words he uttered. Then he ceased to move, and at twenty-eight minutes past five u'clock the vital spark went out, and his great life was at an end.

"The news of Senator Morton's death eaused a profound sensation throughout the country. Although the event had been anticipated for several days, it came as a shoek at last, nud created a sorrow so deep and wide-spread that it could ouly be compared to that caused hy the tragie death of Abraham Lincoln. Flags were displayed at half-mast, and bells were tolled throughout the land. Men gathered on the street cor- ners, and discussed the event as a national calamity. The President of the United States issued a special order dirceting the flags on all the public buildings to be placed at half-mast, and the government departments to be closed on the day of the funeral. He also sent n telegram to W. R. Holloway, expres- sive of his personal bereavement, and his sympathy for the surviving family of the departed statesman. The Vice-Presi- dent of the United States sent a similar dispatch. The cabinet met, and gave expression to their deep sense of the nation's loss. The Senate and the House of Representatives each ap- pointed committees to attend the funeral, and both adjourned ns a further mark of respect to his memory. The Governor of Indiana and the mayor of Indianapolis issued proclamations closing public offices, and ealling upon citizens to suspend husi- ness during the funeral services. The hells of Indianapolis were tolled and the City Council met, and, after passing me- morial resolutions, resolved to attend the funeral in a hody. The City Council of Cincinnati met, and appointed a committee to attend the funcral. Citizens' meetings were held in all the Jarge towns of the State, and appropriate action taken in regard to the sad event. The State University and tho publio schools of Indianapolis were ordered to be elosed on the day of the funeral. The Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections, of which Senator Morton was chairman, met, and having passed a resolution of sympathy and condoleneo, adjourned in honor of his memory. The members of the bar of Indianapolis and other cities met and took appropriate action. In many of the country towns throughout the State the court-houses were draped in mourning and business was suspended. The press tcemed with elaborate articles upon his character and public services, and agreed with remarkable unanimity that the coun- try had lost one of its greatest men. Military companies and social organizations of various kinds met and determined to attend the funeral. Thus in all directions, and by every means known to modern society, men gave expression to their pro- found sorrow, and to the respect and affection which they bore for the deccased.

" There being a general desire ou the part of the publie to view the remains of the departed statesman, they were placed

in the main hall of the court-bouse at Indianapolis, where they lay in state during Sunday and part of Monday. During this time they were viewed by many thousands of persons who came from afar and near to take a last look at one who had filled so largo a place in the history of the country. Special trains were run on several of the railroads, bringing a great number of persons to the eity, and the solemn procession which passed through the court-house during those days had seemingly no end.

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History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, Part 35

Author: Sulgrove, Berry R. (Berry Robinson), 1828-1890 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 942

Author: Sulgrove, Berry R. (Berry Robinson), 1828-1890
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 942