USA > New Mexico > Men of our day; or, biographical sketches of patriots, orators, statemen, generals, reformers, financiers and merchants, now on the stage of action > Part 22
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the end; and you have now your abundant vindication and reward. Though the torch of slander was lit at every avenue of his public life while he lived, the civilized world would become mourners at his coffin; and with those libelous tongues hushed, our whole land enshrines his memory to-day with the Father of the Country he saved."
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"I cannot doubt the future of the great party which has won these triumphs and established these principles. It has been so brilliantly successful, because it recognized liberty and justice as its cardinal principles ; and because, scorning all prejudices and defying all opprobrium, it allies itself to the cause of the humble and the oppressed. It sought to enfranchise, not to enchain; to elevate, not to tread down; to protect, never to abuse. It cared for the humblest rather than for the mightiest -for the weakest rather than the strongest. It recognized that the glory of states and nations was justice to the poorest and feeblest. And another secret of its wondrous strength was that it fully adopted the striking injunction of our murdered chief: 'With malice toward none, with charity for all, but with firmness for the right, as God gives us to see the right.' Only last month the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, in defend- ing his Reform bill, which holds the word of promise to the ear to break it to the hope, exclaimed : 'This is a nation of classes, and must remain so.' If I may be pardoned for replying, I would say : 'This is a nation of freemen, and it must remain so.' Faithful to the traditions of our fathers in sympathizing with all who long for the maintenance or advancement of liberty in Mexico or England, in Ireland or Crete, and yet carefully avoiding all entangling alliances or violations of the law, with a recognition from ocean to ocean, North and South alike, of the right of all citizens bound by the law to share in the choice of
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the law-maker, and thus to have a voice in the country their heart's blood must defend, our centennial anniversary of the Declaration of Independence will find us as an entire nation, recognizing the great truths of that immortal Magna Charta, enjoying a fame wide as the world and eternal as the stars, with a prosperity that shall eclipse in future all the brightest glories of the past."
Religion gained the early adherence of Mr. Colfax, who many vears ago began a Christian life, joining the Dutch Reformed Church, and serving humbly and usefully as a Sunday school teacher for twelve years. The "pious passages" so frequent in his public speeches are not mere sentiment or oratorical arts, for he loves to talk, in private, of how God rules and how distinctly and how often, in our history, his holy arm has been revealed; and the ascription of praise comes from a worship- ping heart, reliant on God through Christ. His personal ex- ample at Washington is luminous. When twenty, he made vows of strict abstinence, which have never been broken. Liquors and wines are never used at his receptions, while Presidential dinners and diplomatic banquets are utterly power- less to abate one jot or tittle of his firmness. Many of our readers well remember his speech at a Congressional temper- ance meeting, and how he banished the sale of liquor from all parts of the Capitol within his jurisdiction.
On the 21st of May, 1868, the National Republican Union Convention, in session at Chicago, nominated Mr. Colfax as their candidate for the vice-presidency, on the fifth ballot, his name receiving five hundred and twenty-two votes out of the six hundred and fifty polled.
To this nomination, all the people will doubtless say " Amen."
HON. WILLIAM PITT FESSENDEN.
ILLIAM PITT FESSENDEN, for nearly a year, during the war, Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, and now, as well as previous to his holding that office, United States Senator from Maine, bears the reputation of being one of the most accomplished scholars, and the ablest financier of the Senate. He was born in Boscawen, Merrimac county, New Hampshire, October 16, 1806. He was of an ex- cellent family, his father, Hon. Samuel Fessenden, as well as other relatives, having done the State good service.
From early childhood he was addicted to study, and at the age of thirteen, entered Bowdoin college, Brunswick, Maine, where he graduated with high honors, in 1823. He at once turned his attention to legal studies, and was admitted to the bar, on attaining his majority in 1827. He practiced his pro- fession for two years in Bridgeton, Maine, and in 1829 removed to Portland, Maine, where he has since resided. In 1831, he was elected to the Maine Legislature, and though its youngest member, he soon distinguished himself, both as an orator and a legislator. A speech of his in this Legislature, in the discus- sion concerning the Bank of the United States, was referred to, for years, as evincing extraordinary ability and eloquence.
From 1832 to 1839, Mr. Fessenden declined all political office, and devoted himself exclusively to his profession, in which he
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rapidly rose to the first rank in his State, both as a counsellor and advocate. He was offered a nomination to Congress, as early as 1831, but refused it. In 1839 he was again elected to the State Legislature, as a representative of the city of Portland. He was, as he had been from his first entrance upon public life, a Whig, but such was the conviction of his ability, that though the Democrats were largely in the majority in the Legislature, the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee was assigned to him, and he was, beside, chosen president of a special commis- sion, to revise and codify the statutes of the State.
In 1840, he received the nomination, by acclamation, of his party, for Representative in Congress, and was elected by a handsome majority, though the district had previously been Democratic. He acquitted himself with great honor, taking part in the more important debates, and attracting attention, by the soundness of his views, the clearness of his logic, his elo- quence and sarcasm, but at the close of his term declined a re- nomination, and returned with new zest to his profession, of which he seemed never to weary. He sat in the State Legisla- ture in 1845 and 1846, but declined any other public office. In 1845, the Whigs in the Legislature, though in a minority, com- plimented him with their vote for United States Senator. From this time onward, for seven years, his already national reputation in his profession kept him constantly and profitably employed. During this period he was associated with Daniel Webster in an important case before the Supreme Court at Washington, in- volving a legal question never before discussed in that court, viz .: how far the fraudulent acts of an auctioneer in selling property, should affect the owner of the property sold, he being no party to the fraud. Mr. Fessenden had to contend against the weight and influence of Judge Story's opinion and decision against his client in the court below. He was successful and
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Judge Story's decision was reversed. His argument on that occasion was remarkable for its logical force and legal acuteness, and won the highest admiration of the court and the eminent lawyers in attendance.
In 1850, Mr. Fessenden was elected to Congress, but the seat was given to his competitor, through an error in the returns, and Mr. Fessenden declined to contest it, from his unwillingness to serve in that body, the nomination having been forced upon him, against his declared wishes. In 1840, he was a member of the national convention, which nominated General Harrison for the presidency; in 1848 of that which nominated General Taylor, and in 1852 of the convention which nominated General Scott. In 1848, he had supported Mr. Webster, but in 1852, he voted against him, on account of his recently declared opin- ions on the fugitive slave law compromise and other topics. In the convention of 1852, he was one of the sixty-seven who opposed and voted against the platform, at that time set up by the Whig party. In 1853 he was again elected a member of the State Legislature, and was chosen United States Senator, by the Senate, but the House, being Democratic, failed to concur, and no Senator was chosen. The House, however, though opposed to him in politics, associated him with the Hon. Reuel Williams in the purchase of a large body of wild lands of Massachusetts, lying in Maine, which was successfully accomplished.
In 1854, Mr. Fessenden was again a member of the Legislature, which was Democratic in both branches. The Kansas-Nebraska question, operating to produce a division among the Demo- crats, Mr. Fessenden was chosen United States Senator on the first ballot, by a union of the Whigs and free soil Democrats. Though he declined to be elected except as a Whig, this event may be said to have been the preliminary step toward establish- ing the Republican party in Maine, the necessity of which new
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organization, after the action of the main body of southern Whigs on the Nebraska bill, Mr. Fessenden was one of the first to proclaim and advocate. He took his seat in the Senate, February 23, 1854, and on the night of March 3, following, at which time the bill was passed, delivered one of the most elec- tric and effective speeches made against it. This effort esta- blished his reputation at once, as one of the ablest members of the Senate. Of his subsequent speeches in the Senate, during his first senatorial term, the most important were: on a bill to protect United States officers (1855); on our relations with England ; on Kansas affairs ; on the president's message (1856) ; on the Iowa senatorial election (1857); and on the Lecompton Constitution (1858). He also took a prominent part in the general debates and business of the Senate, and was a leading member of the finance committee. In 1859, he was re-elected United States Senator for six years, by a unanimous vote of his party in the Legislature, without the formality of a previous nomination, it being the first instance of the kind in the history of the State. In the distribution of committees in the Senate, he was at once made chairman of the Committee on Finance, and of the Library Committee, and appointed one of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Bowdoin college, his alma mater, had, in 1858, conferred on him the degree of LL. D .; Harvard university bestowed the same honor upon him in 1864. In 1861, he was appointed one of the members of the peace confer- ence, which met in February of that year. During the war, while in the Senate, Mr. Fessenden upheld the national cause with great vigor and ability, and as chairman of the finance committee, aided, so far as was in his power, the patriotic efforts of Secretary Chase, to maintain the national credit and honor. Owing to impaired health, he took a less active part in the sena-
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torial debates than in previous years, but he was never remiss in attention to his duties, in relation to the finances.
On the 30th of June, 1864, Mr. Chase, who had managed with great ability the financial affairs of the nation, under circumstan- ces of extraordinary difficulty, resigned his secretaryship. This resignation created instant alarm, and gold, which had stood at 86 premium on the 28th of June, and 90 on the 30th, rose rapidly until it reached 185 premium on the 11th of July. Mr. Lincoln nominated Mr. Fessenden at once to the vacant secretaryship, but he was very reluctant to accept it, both on account of the precarious state of his health, which rendered the performance of the duties of such a position almost impossi- ble, and because of its great difficulties and fearful responsibili- ties. After some days' deliberation, however, he yielded to the urgencies of the other Senators and cabinet officers, and entered upon his duties on the 5th of July, 1864.
The situation was indeed critical. Specie payments had been long since suspended, and with the increasing emission of legal- tender notes, and the various forms of loans which the exigen- cies of the war had rendered necessary, the currency had rapidly depreciated, till, as we have said, gold stood, six days after Mr. Fessenden accepted office, at one hundred and eighty-five dol- lars premium, or, in other words, the paper dollar was worth only about thirty-four cents. Provision had, indeed, been made by Secretary Chase for the sale of new loans, the five-twenty bonds and the seven-thirty treasury notes fundable in three years in the five-twenty bonds, with six per cent. interest paya- ble in coin, but the sale of these was as yet slow. Except Ger- many, Holland, and Switzerland, the foreign markets would not deal in our bonds, and there was a general apprehension abroad of our national bankruptcy. To this two causes had greatly contributed : the utter worthlessness of the bonds of the so-
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called Southern Confederacy, which naturally, though unjustly, threw discredit on our securities; and the want of military suc- cess, notwithstanding the frightful and rapidly accumulating expenditure, which now amounted to from two and a half to three millions of dollars per day. The vast armies in the field, and the great naval force afloat, could not be maintained without immense resources, and they could not be reduced until the rebellion was subdued.
For Mr. Fessenden, then, the problems to be solved were these : to raise promptly, as needed, the very large sums of money wanted for the efficient prosecution of the war, and, at the same time, to enhance the national credit and reputation to such an extent that the bonds, treasury and legal-tender notes should approximate more nearly to the value of coin. With the army and navy well and promptly paid, and by the offering of bounties, kept up to the highest standard of efficiency, it might reasonably be hoped that victories would come, and a few of these would be sufficient to finish the war.
Mr. Fessenden wisely judged that it was best to make a frank and manly appeal to the nation, whose patriotism had never flagged during the war, to subscribe liberally to the public loans, and especially to those known as seven-thirties, which were con- vertible, at the end of three years, into six per cent. five-twenty bonds, the interest of which last was payable in coin. This appeal, seconded by the energetic advertising system of Mr. Jay Cooke, whom Mr. Fessenden, like his predecessor, had intrusted with the sale of the loans, soon brought a sufficiency of funds into the treasury, without the necessity of attempting to procure loans from abroad, and the European bankers were soon eager to buy those bonds which a few months before they had refused with scorn. He avoided, meanwhile, any farther issue of legal- tender notes, or greenbacks, as they were popularly called, and,
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by conciliatory representations, soothed the irritation of the State banking institutions, and induced them to adopt the na- tional system, to which they had hitherto been averse. This was a consummate stroke of policy, for it at once secured a market for nearly three hundred and fifty millions of the bonds, and removed the State currency from the market, substituting for it national bank notes, which were at par all over the coun- try. In the purchase of the bonds, too, the legal-tender notes were paid into the treasury, to such an extent, that the Govern- ment held in its own hands the power of reducing, as fast as seemed necessary, the volume of circulation.
This admirable financial management, aided by the great suc- cesses of our arms on sea and land, soon enhanced the value of the legal-tender currency, and, on the 4th of March, 1865, when Mr. Fessenden resigned the secretaryship, to return to the Sen- ate, gold was at ninety-nine per cent. premium, and on the 11th of May following, had fallen to thirty per cent.
Another part of Mr. Fessenden's financial system had reference to a more comprehensive and effective system of taxation. Con- gress, during Mr. Chase's. secretaryship, had hesitated to levy so large and severe taxes as the emergency demanded, and though he had urged it with all his eloquence and ability, they had always fallen far short of what he had assured them was neces- sary. But when Mr. Fessenden, who had been one of them- selves, and knew all the objections they could urge against rais. ing the larger part of the required revenue by direct taxation, assured them that heavy taxes were indispensable, they came up to the mark, and were astonished to find how readily the people responded.
On the 4th of March, 1865, Mr. Fessenden, having meantime been re-elected to the Senate for six years from that date, re- signed his office as Secretary of the Treasury, and took his seat
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again in the Senate chamber, and was immediately appointed chairman of the finance committee.
Mr. Fessenden has, since that time, continued an active and able member of the Senate, participating in its debates, espe- cially on questions of finance and reconstruction. He has dif- fered somewhat, though not radically, from other members of the Republican party on the latter question, and though he speaks with much of his former fire and earnestness, years of infirm health have somewhat impaired the amenity of his tem- per, and there is, at times, a bitterness and imperious tone in his speeches, which not even his rare abilities and extensive culture can wholly justify .*
Yet he is, withal, one of the ablest of the "men of our day." In wide and generous scholarship, in profound legal attain- ments, and in eminent financial knowledge and capacity, he is the peer of any man in the Senate. With the added grace of a kindly and genial disposition, he might easily rule all hearts, and win for himself a deathless fame.
* His action on the question of the conviction of Mr. Johnson in the impeachment trial, has disappointed and distressed all his friends, to whom it was entirely unexpected. That it should have excited strong and severe denunciation, was inevitable, and though the motives which influenced him are as yet inexplicable, his whole past history and his elevated per- sonal character prohibit the belief that they were sordid or mercenary. It has been attributed also to personal animosity, and to disappointed ambition . but we hope these motives had as little weight as the other.
HON. JAMES HARLAN.
ON. JAMES HARLAN, late Secretary of the Interior, and now United States Senator from Iowa, was born in Clark county, Illinois, August 26th, 1820. When he was three years of age his parents removed to Indiana, where he was employed during his minority in assisting his father upon the farm. His early advantages of education were small but they were improved to the utmost. In the year 1841, he entered the preparatory department of Asbury University, then under the presidency of the present Bishop Simpson. He graduated from the university with honor, in 1845, having paid his way by teaching, at intervals, during his college course.
In the winter of 1845-6, he was elected professor of lan- guages in Iowa City college, and removed thither. He soon became popular in the city and State, and in 1847 was elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction. His competitor for this office was Hon. Charles Mason, a distinguished gradu- ate of West Point, who had served as Chief Justice of the Federal court of Iowa Territory during the whole period of its existence, a gentleman of great ability and unblemished reputa- tion, and the nominee of the Democratic party, who had been, and subsequently were, the dominant party in the State. His election over such a competitor was highly creditable to him, especially as he had been a resident of the State but two years.
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In 1848, Mr. Harlan was superseded by Thomas H. Benton, Jr., who was reported by the canvassing officers elected by seventeen majority. The count was subsequently conceded to have been fraudulent, though Mr. Benton was not cognizant of the fraud. Mr. Harlan had been for some time engaged in the study of law, in his intervals of leisure, and now applied himself to it more closely, and was admitted to the bar in 1848. He continued the practice of his profession for five years, and was eminently successful in it. During this period (in 1849) he was nominated by his party for governor, but not being of the constitutional age for that office, he declined the nomination.
In 1853, he was elected, by the annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, President of the Mount Pleasant Collegiate Institute, which during the winter following was re-organized under an amended charter as a university, and Mr. Harlan was retained in the presidency. His energy and industry found full scope in this position, and for the next two years the university grew and prospered.
On the 6th of January, 1855, without any candidacy, or even knowledge of his nomination, Mr. Harlan was elected by the Legislature, United States Senator from Iowa, for the six years commencing March 4th, 1855. As a pretended informality in this election was made the occasion of his being unseated by the Democratic majority in the United States Senate, two years later, it may be well to give a somewhat more detailed account of this election. In accordance with the custom and the Con- stitution of Iowa, the Senate and House of Represenatives of the Iowa Legislature met, in joint session, soon after the first of January, 1855, to elect a Senator and judges. The two parties were nearly balanced in both houses, and at first there was no election; they adjourned from day to day, when the Democrats found that a majority could be obtained on joint
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ballot for Mr. Harlan as Senator, and to prevent this, the Democratic members of the State Senate withdrew, intending thereby to render an election void. But as the Democratic members of the House remained, there was a quorum of the joint session present, and Mr. Harlan was elected by a clear majority of both houses.
On his election to the Senate, Mr. Harlan resigned the presidency of the university, but accepted the professorship of political economy and international law, to which he was immediately elected, and which he still holds.
He took his seat in the United States Senate, December 3d, 1855, and his first formal speech was made on the 27th of March, 1856, on the question of the admission of Kansas. It was pronounced at the time, by both friends and foes, the ablest argument on that side of the question delivered during the pro- tracted debate. Later in the session, on the occasion of his presenting the memorial of James H. Lane, praying the accept- ance of the petition of the members of the Kansas territorial Legislature, for the admission of their territory into the Union as a State, he administered a most scathing rebuke to the Democratic majority in the Senate for their tyrannical and oppressive course in regard to Kansas. The Republicans at this time numbered but a baker's dozen in the Senate, and it had been the fashion with the Democratic majority to refuse intercourse, and a place on the committees, to some of them on the ground that they were outside of any healthy political organization. They had been disposing, as they hoped, forever, of the Republican leader in the Senate (Mr. Sumner), by the use of the bludgeon, and they were greatly enraged at the castigation which they now received from another member of the little band, and resolved to rid themselves of him also. For this purpose, nursing their wrath to keep it warm, they
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called up the action of the Democrats of the Iowa Senate to which we have already alluded, and early in the second session of the Thirty-fourth Congress, introduced a resolution that "James Harlan is not entitled to his seat as a Senator from Iowa." The resolution was fiercely debated, but the majority, confident in their strength, passed it by a full party vote on the 12th of January, 1857.
Their triumph was short. Immediately on the passage of the resolution Mr. Harlan left Washington for Iowa City, where the State Legislature, now unmistakably Republican, was in session; he arrived there on Friday evening, January 16th. On the next day, Saturday, he was re-elected by both houses to the Senate, spent a few days at his home in Mount Pleasant, returned to Washington, was re-sworn, and resumed his seat on the 29th of January. The next session of Congress brought valuable additions to the strength of the Republican party in the Senate, but it had no truer member than Mr. Harlan, and his fearlessness, conscientiousness, industry, integrity, and ability as a debater, made him an acknowledged leader in it. In 1861, he was re-elected for the term ending March 4th, 1867, without a dissenting voice in his party at home.
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