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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 1905)
o THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 31, 105. 41 EIGHTY-TWO BOYS REACHED CONGRESS Beaten Path Lies Through the Law Office and Legislar '""' ture College Men Are in Minority. HOW Hi' sssH&l nHsLV9sHIIH m . BrJi v-- , v-sVJ1E3 sssEt- f-mKr .jssflk' sssk. -iiflKkiM:? .Hi Hf iBHwlM sssssssrLLLLLr sssssssbsssflosssv Hls. sssssssssHSIPsssb. sssssflP w'k nssssssBBn!BvS3Kv9sn. jssssb-- ' ? tss JBjyj-tB sssasssnL- s ? I taB 'B''B ssHssEi: flsssH 'ssHP " PB iCStesK ?:ssH?.. vviirf' .ssssssssf tt. , MSffiH SSv - SSIsSSSSsn. ssR sssssssssk SSSSM '''SPr ?.aSSSSSSSSSH PPB sssshl jnit.M sssssL -x ssssssssV H . j " nssssssssT ssssssv McKBlay.Vl,f0rBUi Former Carriace Pa later. WASHINGTON', Dec. 25. (Special Correspondence.) Hero la the story of how 82 boys came to Congress. These four-score and two lads whom we shall consider are the new member -of the present- House of Representatives. From their careers In irencral "we can draw many deductions. .tlti.dURh- they arc a mixed and motley company, .possessing among them well nigh nil characteristics American, .which mean.) cosmopolitan. The road to Congress Is often a maze and a labyrinth, a hard and strong trail through the slough of despond, and through gates guarded by hungry Jioiig. Again, it is a short and velvety path, at tne rear end of which the goal looms up with a surprising sud denness and with little loss of the tiweat of- the brow. Yet, after all, there KOoms to be a beaten path, one well worn by travelers who have tramped It for years, who have cleared through tlic wilderness a bare, winding road, which others may follow if they but start right and equip themselves for the journey. Tho tollgates along this beaten path are the law office, the prosecuting At torney's office, the State Legislature. In other words. If we should reduce what new members tell of themselves to a diagram of curves as the scien tist does when he condescends to im pait his profound learning at least hieroglyphically we find that the crests of the curve represent these milestones mentioned. Six Out or Ten Lawyers. Six and one-half out of each ten of our new legiplators are lawyers a con siderable majority. This, no doubt, is as It should be. for the makers of our laws Should bo lawyers themselves. While dulling the Imagination of the brain upon which it rests and sapping all of tho poetry therefrom, the bar rister's wlp has ever been a welcome ornament in great legislative bodies. q. then. o'C-ung man, in your journey Congressward enter through tho' gate labeled "law." Though the toll Is cost ly, tho road will be surer than that shorter cut through the turnstile alongside, whcio there Is no fee to be paid, but a honus, perhaps, to tempt ; ou. But after entering this gateway of the law you have your choice of two parallel lanes, tho law school or tho student's ate-room of the lawyer's offlsc. Of the lawyers among the new members of the freshly assembled ON THE 5th day of January. 1RG6, Sen ator Trumbull, chairman of the Judi ciary committee, introduced the civic rights bill. Tills bill provided 1n substance that all the Inhabitants of a state or ter ritory in the United States, without dis tinction of race, color or previous condi tion of servitude, should have the right to make .and enforce contracts, to sue, give evidence. Inherit, purchase, sell, hold and convey real and personal property and be equally subject to all laws. Tho object of this bill was to confer upon colored people tho same rights and privileges that white people enjoyed In re spect to the above-named matters, al though Its provisions applied equally to all persons, white or black. This bill, like J all others proposed for tho benefit of col ored people, was attacked with great ve- I hemenco by the Democrats In the Senate and precipitated a long and angry discus sion between Its friends and enemies. Sen ator Davis was particularly violent in his denunciation of the bill, and after one of his long harangues upon the subject. Sen ator Trumbull said. In a sneering, sarcas tic and mocking sort of way: "The Senator from Kentucky denounces this bill as 'outrageous, 'most monstrous. abominable 'iniquitous, 'unconstitution al.' 'void.' Now, what is this bill that is so obnoxious to such terrible epithets? It is a bill providing that all people shall have equal rights: is not that abominable? Is not that Iniquitous? Is not that most monstrous? Is not that terrible on white men, sir7 This bill applies to white men as well as black men. It provides that all persons in the United States shall be entitled to the som civic rights the right to tho fruits of their own labor; the right to make contracts, the right to buy, sell and enjoy liberty and happiness, and that is abominable, iniquitous and unconstitu tional." Senator Davis Kctort. Senator Davte said: "The Honorable Senator from Illinois Js full -of conceit, but I have seen less conceit with a good deal more brains than he has." Senators Heudrick, Saulsbury, Cowen and others opposed the bill with all sorts of amendments and In long speeches, but on February 2 it passed the Senate by a vote of S3 to 12. When the bill reached the House It met with the same opposi tion it encountered in the Senate, but after some verbal amendments It passed that body by a vote of 111 for to 2S against it. The Senate concurred In the House amendments. Vetoed by President Johnson. The bill "was vetoed. President John son In his first annual message said: "That good faith required the security of the freedmen in their liberty, their right to !a"bor and claim a Just return of their labor. I cannot too strongly urge a dis passionate treatment of this subject, which efeettld be carefully kept aloof fro si all -iwrty strife." This WM was Intended to carry Into ef fect the recommendation Df tne pregj dent. Hfe vet message was largely a rehash f We fmr vetoes, but man fully tfea tlMt xepilfie4 hli afejka- Samac. Jbbj1vhs: Termer BkUe House there are twice as many who have been admitted to the bar through the law office as those who have gone through the law school. But it Is dan gerous to draw a direct deduction here, as the majority of these boys grew up In country towns, far from the law school, and the greater part of them read their Blackstone' book In the days when law schools wore few,, and state laws as to admission to the bar were lax, as they are still in a few states. College Men In Minority. Less than half of these boyj got to college only four out of ten were so fortunate.- Hence we did not, upon the basis of the data at hand, mention the college a3 one of the stepping stones along the most beaten path. .Yet it would have been safe to say that u largre majority would have wade great er speed toward their goal had they donned the gown and mortar board; but 1" that event the goal of man5' would very likely liave been a higher pinnacle even than the dome of tho" National Capitol. Nearly all of those who have sheepskins received them from colleges that arc obscure. Only five passed through our great univer sities, and one was graduated at Ann apolis. Three out of five of those who were ad mitted to the bar were later riveted to some legal office. The greater number of these became town; city, prosecuting or district attorneys. Eight 'became judges of some sort. No office open to the young man in his Immediate community can try his mettle more, can render him more conspicuous to the public eye than that of prosecuting attorney. If he pleases the populace In this role it seems to be his fate. In what we might term the average case, to be elevated to the legis lature, and, in some cases, directly to Congress. Legislature Great Training School. Of all elective offices which have helped these young men to Congress that of sttte- leglplator has been the most potent stepplng-rtone. Three out of eight have thus represented local constituencies and groomed themselves for higher legislative services. A state Legislature is a minia ture Congress, and no other training school could to well fit for a scat in the Capitol at "Washington cither lawyer or layman. Other public offices which have lifted these men to Congress are Lieutenant-Governor, Mayor, postmaster, po. lice commissioner. Alderman, prison com missioner, school superintendent, health PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF JUDGE GEORGE H. WILLIAMS & PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S VETO OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS BILL A PIECE OF DEMAGOGISM ment of principles and his treachery to the party by which he was elected. When the message was read in the Senate, Sen ator Trumbull dissected it in a most un merciful manner, showing up its false assumptions, its fallacious arguments and its inconsistencies with the President's former opinion upon its subject matter. When ho had concluded his speech. Sen ator Rencrdy Johnson, of Maryland, took the floor In support of the veto. He argued at great length and with great ability, for he was a great lawyer, that the clause in tho bill making colored peo ple citizens of the United States wa un constitutional and destructive of the rights of the states. While ho was- speaking It occurred to me that before 'its passage, and while the bill was pending In the Senate, he had made a speech In exact opposition to the one he was then making. 1 stepped Into tho Secretary office, and taking a copy of the Congressional Globe tinder my arm, brought it into the Senate and laid it on Senator Trumbull's desk open at the place whee the speech to which I have referred was printed. This at tracted the attention of Senators. Senator Johnson DlscomfJtcd. When Mr. Johnson had finished his speech. Senator Trumbull arose, and in that sarcastic manner of which he was a master, after referring to some judicial decisions said: "I will now refer to a very high authority, to the opinion of a great lawyer, one of the leaders of the American bar." He proceeded to read extracts from the speech of Senator Johnson, which he had before him. One extract from the speech was In these exact words: "Before, they (referring to colored persons) were not citizens because of slavery- Slaery abolished, why are they not Just as much citizens as they would have been if j"avcry had not ex isted? My opinion is they have become citizens." Johnson arose very much excited and floundered around like a harpooned whale and tried to say that his speech from which extracts had been read was In ref erence to some other bill, but Senator Trumbull nailed him by saying: "I desire ( simply to remark that the epeech from i which I have quoted, made by the Senator from Maryland, was made upon this very f bill. It was in reference to this bill that ; he was speaking when he laid down the I proposition that every person born in the United States since the abolition of slav ery was & citixen of the United States, and If there was any doubt about It. It was proper for us to declare them so, and not only proper but our duty to do so, and to make the matter more specific the HofteraWe Senator, with 3ft other Senators, vote for the prepocitioa which I will new " 'All per bom In tHe United States &4 Mt mtsject t any foreign pwr. ex dtidlag IntHtuw not taxed, Kre hereby Picker. "Thorn B. Davis. Wt VI rclnU : From Kail war laborer to MlIlleBalrr. officer, prothonotary, court clerk and city cleric The schoolmasterahlp, next after the at torneyship, was the opening through which the next greater number of these boys passed, on toward success. One out of five taught school In his early day, and thus served his apprenticeship in leadership of fellow-man. To a consider able number the schoolroom was but a vestibule to the law office. Some read law while teaching, others taught to save enough money for a college course. As to the remaining vocations that ;erved as ''steps upward we find that of financier figuring in 16 cases: farmer In 14, merchant In 11. soldier and journalist In 6, manufacturer in 5, mineowner In 4, physician and railroad man In 3, druggist, patent medicine manufacturer, fruitgrow er, lumberman and day laborer in 2, stone dealer, nurseryman, milliner, drug clerk, bookkeeper, carpenter, slate picker, car riage builder, carriage painter and black smith, each 1. A very large majority are married, a datum to be well digested by those pestered by the Congressional bee. Six are foreign born, and over thrce ourths were born In the states which they represent. Thus- the old adage about the rolling stone would appear to apply to "the young man ambitious for Congress rather than that concerning the prophet in his own country, especially so In coun try districts where the populace seems to show preference for leadership to him who has grown up among them. As to age. we find only one of these new repre. pontatives In his 70s, four Jn their 60s. 21 In their 50s, 23 In their 40s. 23 In their 20a, and but one in his 20s. In other words, the man In his 40s appears to the mass of the people as best primed for entering upon a Congressional career. Thus we have drawn certain averages, deduced certain rules- for the purest road to Congress. But we now must glanco at somo men who have transcended rules, have Ignored averages, have, by force of various circumstances, taken the hardest road and conquered In spite of obstacles; or at others upon whom success has de scended like lightning out of a clear sky. Sewer Laborer to Congressman. On "Washington's birthday. 1S74. the stork descended at a lonely spot among the snow-clad fields of Hancock County. In diana, and deposited in the humble home of Alfred Bivcs. a poor Hooslcr farmer, a walling cherub, whose only future, as the neighbors saw It. was a monotonous life among tho furrows oX the field the career of the man with the hoe. He was christened Zcno Hives and he pottered about the little farm until 6. when his declared to be citizens of the United States, without distinction of color. " I have never witnessed a more complete and crushing overthrow than the Senator from Maryland suffered In this debate, Johnson Grows Angry. When Trumbull had resumed his seat, Mr. Johnson, instead of replying to him, came over to me. his face red with rage, and in an audible whisper said: "I sup- pwc you think you did something smart, don't your which caused a ripple of laughter among the Senators around me. CAUSE OF Iaxr one of a family of two girls and one boy and my parents are both wealthy. In particular my father, says a writer In the London Mall. A man proposed to me six months ago. and with the consent of my parents we became engaged. My fiance and I are anxious to marry soon, and so the other day my fiance approached my father upon the subject of Mttlements. and met with the response that bcyond'a pittance of 73 per annum my pin money, that Is to say which my father proposes to continue to allow me. he will make no monetery settlement upon me nor permit my mother to do so. My father told my fiance that upon hie death I sbouM be -a rich woman, but that until that event I smuM have from him only what he had wli Uba Iearnig this my fiance told my father la se may worsto that wen an arrange meat not KOi eunuch for Mm. My father wm afbMt. He 4M art utttrstaad the point Mlchalck the Grocer. Illlaol-: Yessrwt Member. parents moved across tho line to Litch field. 111. There the lad attended the pub lic school for a time, but soon money ran short and all .plans for further educating the child had to be put aside. He was found a job as keeper in a car foundry, but this not paying enough, he took an other as common laborer on a sewer The sewer being built, he found other work digging in the street. Later he became a bran packer In a flour mill, an engine wiper in a roundhouse. When 2( years old he had enough money to cease this com mon labor and enter upon the study of law. In three years more he had been admitted to tho bar. That was four years ago last October. Fifteen "months later he was elected City Clerk of Litchfield. In a year more he was nominated for Con gress. He was then 99 years old and with in the past few weeks he has taken his seat in the Federal House of Representa tives. He won his seat without even making a campaign of bis district. It is said that he allowed bis present constitu ents to vote as they pleased, without one argument from him. He was convinced his hope was but forlorn, because his op ponent was a man who had been repeat edly elected before. Another handicap had been a contest for the nomination with a member of 6ls own party. Entered Politics to Advertise Store. In the Spring of 1STS a ship came to this country, bearing among other Immigrants a poor Bohemian named Mlchalck. his wife and their 2-months old Infant son, Anthony. They found their way to Chi cago, where the father got work and where Anthony, as soon as he was old enough, entered the public schooL He studied bookkeeping in a business col- lege, and later opened a general store In the stockyards section of the Western metropolis, "When the last campaign came round there was no Republican who wanted tho nomination in the dis trict, which Includes not only the stock yards, but the Ghetto of Chicago. It had always been heavily Democratic, and what was the use of being a- party martyr? After pier Jing with many other Republicans., the leaders came Into young MIchalck's store and asked him if he would accept the nomination. He was then but 26. He spoke not only Bohemian and English, but Yiddish, and was just the man to bring out the many Jews of the ghetto. The young man considered. "Of course, I shall be snowed under." he said to himself, "but I will at least get a good bit of advertising for my store." Mlchalck consented, but with a stipula tion. "Whenever my name is mentioned in speeches or In campaign literature It must be as 'Mlchalck. the grocer." said The veto was defeated In the Senate by t a vote of 33 to 15. and in the House by a ! vote of 122 to 41. It " was repeatedly I stated by Senator Trumbull and well un- denttood that this bill did not confer upon J negroes the right to vote. Senator Sauls- bury, hoping to create a prejudice agalnrt J the bill, contended in a perfunctory speech that It gave the right of suffrage J to negroes, but it was evident to every- I WlWfWVW M-iTlft4 Hfm-T LATE MARRIAGES of view taken by ray fiance In the least, and despite the pains with which he tried to put the situation from his standpoint before my father, my father remained so hurt and vexed that he ended the inter view stormily and refused to listen to a renewal of the subject. Gets Her Motlicr's Ideas. After making a futile attempt to open cp the subject with my father, who speed ily suppressed any discussion with the re mark that It was not my business to talk about matters I could not understand. I went to my mother aa threshed out the subject with her. As It happened, during our ceaverMtlM aa aunt of mine, who is a tharewgk nman of the world and my father's sister, made her ajipearance. Her views sad Umtc of my mother are HHrteaHjr opposed, and I think it will he found imsrcettng if I note town here oth Htj of the ,(xed natation. My mother argitet;'! daresay, it exactly the Tem that has Wen laid down for her Zeno Hire, lliiaels; Termer Sewer Laborer. he. It was agreed, and after the vote had been counted in the stockyards district the most surprised citizen of Chicago was MIchalek. the grocer. He Is the youngest member of the Housa and the first man of Slavonic blood who ever sat In Con gress. Fifty years before this young man's birth In far-away Bohemia thero first saw light of day In Baltimore Thomas, the son of Caleb Davis, a veteran of tho war of 1812. This was In the year 1S2S. The Baltimore & Ohio railroad bad Just com menced to lay Its tracks, upon which cars propelled by sails and horsepower treadmills were soon to ply. Caleb Davis and his family soon after this bought a farm near Baltimore and took heavy con tracts for construction work on the new railway: but In a few years he fell 111 and died, leaving a penniless widow and five orphan children to shift for themselves. By dint of hard work she fed and clothed her little ones until one by one the boys could commence to earn a pittance for themselves. She had a sister living In the same county who later became the mother of Arthur Pue Gorman, today leader of tho Democratic party In the Senate of tho United Stales. The boy Thomas had, a brother, Henry Gassaway Davis, who also came to the Senate In later years, and who. in the last campaign, became a candidate for Vice-President. The Davis boys followed the plow and did various chores about the farm. Free schools were then unknown in their county, and they learned their "three Rs" at their mother's knee. But when they had grown to be youths strange Iron horses began to snort on the B. & O., and every boyish heart was longing for a career on the ralL Henry became a freight brakeman, and finally his little brother Thomas got soma less responsible work to do on the road. Later they both got positions with the company at Piedmont, "W. Va., whither also went their brother "William. The three brothers now began a private busi ness by shipping coal and buying up cheap timber lands. In four years all three were devoting their exclusive attention to these enterprises. They set up stores, opened a bank, bought at small prices land under wlUch they later dug coal and finally commenced the building of railroads through the rich regions of "West Virginia, which they bad opened. Today the three Davis brothers -are multimillionaires. Thomas never held a political office until 1S3S, when he was 70 years old. Then he entered the State Legislature. "When he took his scat the other day along with the other "Congressional kids" he was in his TSth year. He Is not only the eldest member of the new "freshman class" of the House, but the wealthiest, by far. Although he had a half century's one who heard him that he did not be lieve a word he said. I was of the opin ion that the emancipated black? were citizens without any legislation by Con gress to that effect, but to be a citizen without civil rights I little better than to be a slave. Frredom to the negroes without the right to make contracts, buy and sell property and protect themselves in the courts was a shame and a mockery. Xegrocs Denied Civil nights. That the negroes In many places In the South did not have these rights was a fact that could not be successfully con Youth of by my father, against ' my sweetheart's course of action. She says she does not see why her daughter should not begin life as she did that is to say. as the wlfo ' of a man with bis way to make in the world and with a small Income at the out- set ot his career. . The conduct of my fiance In asking for j money with me my mother stigmatized as f unworthy of him. She said that had she t not known and admired him she would I have set him down as a fortune-hunter I and nothing more. She added that she j thought my father was very generous to I allow me my pin money after my mar- j riagc . Fiance a lOHtir Doctor. At this point my aunt, who had been listening attentively ts what we were saylmr, asked if she micht. cxpre her views upon the subject. . She said that she quite understood the paeltkMi taken by my fiance- He bs x yotmg- dnetor who means to de weft In Ms profssstsn. He in clever and feel that ba 'ha' a xreat fu ture before htm; but, argued, toy aunt, l M. E. start of Mic'ialek. the grocer, they both reached the House on the same day. Another self-made man among the new members. Is Duncan McKinlay. born In Orilla, province of Ontario, in 1S62. He at tended the common schools of this Cana dian village until 12. when he learned the trade of a carriage painter, crossing the frontier to Flint. Mich., after he had passed his apprenticeship. "When -he be came of age he moved "West and con tinued to paint carriages at San Francisco for a year, then at Sacramento, for an other year, and finally at Santa Rosa. By tha time he had settled at the latter place he had enough put by to study law. "When 20 he was admitted to the bar, and four years later was made an elector-at-Iarge on the first McKInley ticket. Five years more and he was assistant United States Attorney at San Francisco, from which office he now comes to Congress by dlnt of economy and untiring energy. The typical leap from plowboy to Con gress was made by a number of the new Representatives, notably Frank B. Klep per and "William T. Tyndall. both of Mis souri. Both grew to manhood In the fields, taught school and studied law at spare hours, the former reaching; Con gress by way of a Prosecuting Attorney ship and the latter a postmastership. As a manual laborer their colleague. Cassius M. Shartel. earned his money to go to school and become a teacher, and as a teacher he earned enough to enter the law. "White practicing he built up a good clientele in tho farm loan business, and at the age of 45 he now comes to the House without having held any previous political office. Rocky, indeed, was the road over which Thomas E- Scroggy. new member from Xenla, O.. reached the goal. From plow boy he became carriage builder at 13. At IS he. with his five brothers, enlisted in the Civil War as a private, was promoted to Corporal, then wounded through tho right shoulder and lung at Nlckajack Creek. Forty-two pieces of bono were then extracted from his body, all told, and he returned home to open a grocery Then he branched out into millinery, and while selling groceries and bonnets put In his spare time at reading law, becom ing Justice of tho Peace, City Clerk, City Solicitor, Common Pleas Judge; and. after a contested nomination, Representative in Congress. How a Moravian Immigrant Climbed To the Moravian colony at Bethlehem. Pa., la 1S64. there came over from Neusalz one Schneebell. a Prussian, with his wife and 11-year-old son. Gustav Adolph. Tho little family were of the Moravian faith, and after remaining a year at Bethlehem troverted. Different localities had differ ent regulations upon this subject. The authorities of the towns and cities were the chief offenders. Some of their regu lations were to this effect: Negroes were not allowed to buy, rent or lea so real estate. Minors might be taken from their parents and bound out to planters. Negroes not contracting to work for a year might be taken up as vagrants. Negroes on the streets after 10 o'clock P. M. without a written permit were to be arrested. They were not allowed to rent or keep a house In the town and were forbidden to reside in town if not in the regular employment of some white person. Meetings, religious or otherwise, not to be held without permit. Negroes were not allowed to preach without a written permit, nor to trade or traffic without written permit from employer. In some places the amount of wages to be paid negroes for their labor was fixed by ordinance, and the amount of meat and meal they should be allowed to consume each day. These are some of the conditions that evoked the civil rights bill. These facts did not come to the knowledge of Congress from gossip or rumor, but from records and documents officially certified. Veto Message a Mass of Verbiage. President Johnson's veto message was a mass of verbiage permeated with preju of Both Sexes Hold Off for Adequate Income Standard Life Has Risen Since Present Generation Grew Up. he marries, and it Is generally considered a good plan for a youns doctor to marry, and settles down as a general practitioner he may and probably will make a. fairly good Income, but never anything very great because of the hampering condi tions of poverty-stricken matrimony. It Is not unnatural, therefore, that he should wish his wife to have a sufficient dowry to enable him to rise above the petty trials ot working for her bread and butter and instead devote herself, heart and soul, to the massing of knowledge In the particular branch of surgery that he means to make bis own. Proceeding with the setting forth of her ideas my aunt pointed out to my mother that the poeltloa of affairs is much changed since the time she and sty fathep were married. House rents have considerably rieefi and rate and taxss' have fotle-wed. suit. The. nroftiPnfoanl man nwt StthaMt a pood nenee m a good nehrhssrhoed. par tkninriy If he is to he. a wenlthy doctor, for only there can he expect gsod fees, and Ms wife must niay her part la the XJUej. reanwlTanla: Tie Bkcksmkh Ceaxreftsmaa.. moved over to Nazareth, nearby, where the father found better work. Here the boy Gustav went to school, then entered a store, then was sent to Reading to rep resent a big woolen firm. Learning- this business and now having money of his own, ho returned to Nazareth, established a knit-goods factory of- bis-own. added to this a lace factory; became also a banker and a trolley magnate. He says that he comes to Congress: "with the- distinction of never having previously held any polit ical office whatsoever' Slate-Picker, Drug Cleric, Doctor. From slate-picker to Congressman Is the record of another new Pennsylvania, mem ber, E. "W. Samuel. His parents, poor 'English immigrants, came over to this country in 1S59, the future Representative being then a robust tot of two years. They settled in the coal mining town of Ashland, Pa., where, at the age of eight, the lad started his career ag a slate picker In a coal breaker. His youth was spent doing various chores about the an thracite mines during the Summers, and at school during the "Winters, until, at the ago of 17. he became a drug clerk. While learning the drug business he put by suf ficient money to enter the Jefferson Medi cal College. Philadelphia, where he was graduated at tho age of 22. Returning to Mount Carmel ho hung out his shingle, built up a large practice, financed a drug business on the side, and now comes to Congress at the age of 4S. Blacksmith, Lawyer. As a blacksmith Mial B. Liliey, new Representative from Towanda, Pa., com menced his career. He was a Pennsyl vania boy. born In Canton. Bradford County, and after attending the county schools for awhile decided that the village smithy was to be his future field of action. The Civil War had begun when he was a lad of 11, and now In early manhood ho often paused at the forge to read of the rebuilding of the Nation, the need of strenuous men to take the places of the thousands mowed down in battle. One day, with sufficient savings to warrant the risk, he hung up his sledge and en tered a law office. After being admitted to the bar he had the confidence of the poor as well as the rich, and became the chairman of his county committee. Xater he became prothonotary and then Assist ant United States District Attornej-", from which office he comes to the House. Such are the boys, of these four-score and two, whose pilgrimages to the. Con gressional goal were made through by ways far out of the beaten trail. JOHN" ELFRETH WATKIN'S. dice and glaring misstatements. The whole drift of it was to. keep the colored people of the South as nearly as possi ble in a condition of slavery without the name of slavery. He contended, though free, they ought not to be citizens of the United States. After trying to show that tho negroes were too Ignorant to be citi zens, he goes on In this way: "The white race and the black race of the South have hitherto been together under the relation of master and slave, capital owning labor. They stand now each master of Itself each has equal pow er in settling the terms, and If left to the laws that regulatecapltal and labor, it is confidently believed that they will satis factorily work out the problem." This In answer to a bill that the negroes should have the right to make contracts, buy and sell property, and go Into court for the protection of their rights. Again he said: "Tho bill In effect nr poses a discrimination against a large number of intelligent, worthy and patri otic foreigners and in favor of negroes, to whom, after long years of bondage, the avenues of freedom and intelligence have been suddenly opened," as though men born In and who had always lived In the United States ought not to be citizens because foreigners had to be naturalized. This was a pitiful piece ot demagogism unworthy of a President. He further said: "In fact, the distinc tion of race and color is by the bill mads to operate In favor of the colored and against the white race" This was not only untrue, but- absurd Thomas Jefferson. In writing the Decla ration of Independence, said: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; -that they are en dowed by their Creator with certain In alienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit ot happiness." The object of the civil rights bill was tc make this doctrine practical among all classes and In all parts of the United States- GEORGE H. WILLIAMS. scheme ot affairs by dressing well and entertaining welL My aunt is strongly of opinion that one reason why young men of this generation do not marry until they are well over 38 is that they cannot face life on smalt in comes with the equanimity their fathers did. It is generally supposed that ex travagance, selfishness and a. desire for luxury prevent .early marriages, but sho says that she thinks this Is not at all the case, but that ambition Is quenched by early marriages unless there Is plenty of money to make the husband's mind easy upon the score of his wife and chil dren's comfort and happiness. Make marriages a business affair, said my aunt be-Idly, and you will face the matter in the proper spirit. A cowiniunloathw reiva hy "London firm xead: "I bee te fefrm you ,tftet, Mr. Jse4 a war ytray ac "the MqMet' . Pierre IMSc. a Trench Catan.whs -has n vtating- Paries ate. ,46 Vottett ftngg- at a attttnc recently, is .order t win a -wsnrJ