Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1756-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities external link and the Library of Congress. Learn more
Image provided by: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL
Newspaper Page Text
TTTTP. ATlOns SATUKBiY4 FKRRUARY 0. 1909. I NC O ILN AM ED liSBBipil-' t r n ? - ' ' - : .- . . . g..- wr i ,..;rr TTnf r airy- 6DVk,, -mO- j JT --z: . ' ONIfED'STATJS SENATE sV I MOST ot the notable people who lived in the time of Lincoln when he was pass Ins through 'his trials and tribulations survived him. They lived to hear his name glorified by a grate ful country and to see the work which be began well on its way. Stephen A. Douglas, the first .to measure lances . with the country lawyer, died a few months after he had held the hat of Lincoln when the Ham 11. Sewaril. iivui uimiuj. convention that nanfed Lincoln later by Lincoln as his premier; Salm on P. Chase, of the cabinet that met on so many dark days in the coun try's history, afterward of the supremo bench; Charles Sumner, " to whose giant intellect .Lincoln .was an unend ing study; George Bancroft, the his torian.' ' who watched the times and recorded what took place; John M. Palmer, commissioned from Illinois for in tut out nis appeal for more help from the 1 tl tee , tho nation's, representative at St.' head and heart which did so much to community from chosen; people. All lived to mourn his death. I James. Is still living in the citv where . bring about what the others lived to man was' "makin Andrew Johnson, vice president in ; nis great father was nominated for : see and enjoy were hurried uway at the second administration of Lincoln, president latter was Inauguratea president But j the field by Lincoln; Leonard Swett. the others whose names will .be re-1 counselor and friend: Norman li. called In the observance of the Lin-1 Judd. whom Lincoln loved; Shelby M. coin centennial, Feb. 1Z, lived to share ! Cullom. who saw Lincoln entombed had scarcely taken his place before the fatal shot fired" in Ford's theater called him to the White House. While opin ion is divided and always will be as to Johnson's administration, it Is con ceded by conservative politicians that In the first stages of his administra tion Johnson endeavored to follow ; twenty-eight years after Lincoln was Lincoln's policy. ' . . i dead. ". Mrs. Davis, who was the social Mrs. Lincoln, who was a part In that; head ' of the Confederacy, a brilliant life which was not open to all. grieved ; woman, has been 'dead only a few the moment when their work was On the other-side the leading spirits 1 done. who opposed Lincoln and gave him i It Is Interesting at this time to re such concern that he carried with him! call some of the incidents that oc more' signs of sorrow than sunshine curri between Lincoln and his con lived to see his triumph. Jefferson ! temporaries. Davis, the president of the Southern '; As Douglas was the first eminent Confederacy, did not die until .1889. ; man' with whom Lincoln came bi-fore the public, Lincoln s first Impression of the "Little Giant" is worth retelling even at this distant day. Lincoln had been elected to the Illinois legislature. He wore a new suit something un- I for him for vears and nassed awav i years.'- Robert E. Lee. the crreat run.' In the .honors bestowed by the nation; Grant, Sherman and Shnridan, mill-I'not entirely conscious of what he wa j tain of the cause that was lost did not usual with him at that time. When he on its first martyr. . , j tant trio, all of whom talked with the j or what she had been to him. One i pass . away until after he had seen arrived at the state' capital he mixed Some of these, now gathered to the; gre.-.t chief in his hours when he need-! child of the household grew to man- peace return to the land and witnessed with the crowd. Among the men who .'fathers, -were Hannibal Hamlin, vice ed strength; Julia Ward Howe, who hood and has been honored by his fa- the dawn of that prosperity of which were pointed out to him was a young f president of the administration; Wil- became inspired when Lincoln sent ther'n country. Robert Lincoln, one the south Is a beneficiary. The great man who had recently come into the Lincoln and Stanton met for the first, time In Cincinnati in 1857. It was In a lawsuit Both were on the same side. The clientwas a resident of Chicago, an(L-fee"lcnew Lincoln. Stan-, ton represented the eastern Interests of "tho client "When the time came to submit argument Lincoln and Stanton conferred as to who should have the honor. , By a .rule of the bar Lincoln had precedence. ' As a matter of cour-; tesy he asked Stanton If he would not' prefer to make the argument, and., much to the surprise of Lincoln, Stan ton accepted. The Incident caused Lincoln to have a "case of blues," and' as he was leaving town he said to his hostess. "I hope I shall never see Cin cinnati again." Stanton had said to a brother lawyer that Lincoln was a long, lank creature from Illinois, wearing a dirty linen duster for a coat on the back of which the per spiration had splotched wide stains that resembled a map of the conti nent" Lincoln heard of the remark after he returned home. For some ' time he was more melancholy than usual. He became president Stan ton was his secretary of war. Forming the First Cabinet It will interest new politicians to know that Mr. Lincoln was In favor of giving the south a place In his cabinet He named three who would be acceptable to him. These were Botts of Virginia, Stephens of Geor gia and Maynard of Tennessee. If he could have had his way, what untold sorrow might have, been avoided! He could not bring himself to believe that the routh would attempt to overthrow I the government Finally the cabinet was framed. There is authority for the statement that it was largely the work of Lin coln himself. Probably no presiden tial cabinet was ever constructed un der such difficulties. It Is a curious political fact that the cabinet as orig inally framed was subjected . to only two chr.nges. The "called" were not assigned to any portfolio. That was to be an after consideration. The names selected were Seward, Bates, Dayton. Judd. Chase. Blair and Welles. Seward the Premier. Necessarily the president and Sec retary Seward were much more fre quently In conference than were the other members. It was no news to the east when the story was on Its legs that Seward was to be de facto presi- dent Whether Seward ever aspired to such an attitude is not certainly I known, but if he ever did It Is .the i opinion of politicians that he modified his intentions. Magnanimous to Chase. The magnanimity of President Lin coln to Chase stands as an evidence that Lincoln knew how to forgive. A4 ! is well known. Chase In his ambition ! to be president had criticised the ad i ministration of which he was a part When the time came to appoint a suc cessor to Chief Justice Taney, Sena tor Sumner and other friends o& Chase asked that Chase be made chief justice. The president listened: then he told the senator and his party all that he had heard about the criticisms of Chase. The party left the White Vermont. The young ! House feeling that their mission, had himself noticed." .i la"eu- "f and this attracted the attention of the , -"ase s " "" backwoods legislator. He inquired J confirmed as chief justice. who the sprig was and was told that ! The adolescent In politics is remlnd he was Stephen A Douglas. After : that Danie Webster and Abraham Lincoln had heard Douglas talk in theiLincoln were m congress at the same crowd he said. "He. is theeast man 1 1 time, the former m the upper house, have ever seen." Subsequent events ; the latter in the lower branch, repre changed Lincoln's views to some ex- ' senting a district in the southern part of Illinois. Lincoln was onjy an "aye" and "nay" factor in the bouse, but when he ' went to his hotel and tilted his long figure on a chair against the wall and told "reminders", he always had an audience. One of his most appreciative listeners was that "lion of the north," as somebody so aptly called the great senator from Massachusetts. FRANK H. BROOKS. tent but the fact remained that In de bate Lincoln always worsted his ad versary. 1 No man In the administration gave Mr. Lincoln more cont'rn than Stan tort They 'never understood each other, notwithstanding Stanton's pe culiar fitness for the, place he held In the - cabinet First impressions are frequently misleading, and uearly al ways they leave some sort of scar. Samuel Gompers a pel Battles For .abor SINCE the conviction and sen- tence of Samuel Gompers. president of the American Federation of Labor; John 'Mitchell, "vice president and Frank i Morrison. secretary, " in December 1908,. foi-refusing to heed the injunc tion in the Buck's Stove and Range I case.', the federation made its first move in the matter early in the month j of January of the current year. . The sentence. Imposed- by Justice! Wright of the supreme court of the District of ; Columbia . was twelve months In Jail for" Gompers. ; nine for Mitchell and six for Morrison. The sentence war for contempt of court in '.violating the order enjoining, the de fendants from placing on the "unfair" or ''we don't patronize" list the Buck's i Stove and -Range, company of; St.j Louis. " ; . J The defendants took an appeal nnd'j were' released under, bonds. Six ; months wyi . elapse before the case is j passed upon by the court of appeals. If. the sentence Is upheld by that court the case" may be taken to "the j supreme court . of: the , United States, i Cases trJce their turn in the courts of j the District of Columbia Just as they . do elsewhere, so that Gompers. Mitch - i ell and Morrison will not be hurried ' In their preparations for Jail, even IC, the last court should decide against them. i The sentence has attracted more than ordinary attention. The history, of the case is Interesting. There are two stages In the litigation first the proceedings to enjoin the boycott pro-, nounced by the Federation of Labor; against the Buck's Stove company; ; second, the proceedings to enforce that! injunction by punishing the defendants : for contempt of court in violating It ! The facts In the first stage as In-! terpreted by,. the decision of Justice Wright are these: The -Federation of, Labor pronounced a boycott against: the Buck's Stove, company In March. ' 107, and published ' Its name In the 'unfair" list and the 'Mrs don't pat-: ronlze" list of Its official organ. It proceed d in addition to prevent tradesmen from buying the Buck's stoves and ranges and to prevent in-divld-ia' customers from buying of tradesmen who dealt in the stoves and ranges of the Buck's company. : . pers Suit was brought to enjoin them from continuing the boycott. No in-, .'unction in this suit was issifed until1 after a hearing. It was. then Issued; by Judge Gould of the supreme court : of the District of Columbia on the; ground .that such a boycott" was in it- ' self a violation of law. Fince Judge! Gould's decision was rendered the su preme court of the United States has ; decided unanimously that boycott Is ; also, a violation of the Sherman antl- j trust-law, because, it is "an action in; restraint of trade. The injunction was Issued Dec. . 1907.- .The Interim vas occupied by; Mr, Gompers in printing and mailing; copies of -a pamphlet In"; which the; Buck's Stove company appeared on the ' "unfair" list, the objct being, It'ts'al-; leged. to get the copies Into the mai! ; before the Injunction was Issued. The more distant copies did no,t .reach their destination untl after the Injunction ' was Issued.- Judge Wright holds that.; although mailed before-the Injunction, by mailing them Mr. Gompers Violated ' " the Injunction. - . In his decision' Justice Wright on this point said: "The mails were his (Gompers') agents, chosen by him a:i the medium for delivering to distant ' points, and if. after the injunction be came operative, he violated It through the Instrumentality- of his own hand? . or through the instrumentality of an-' other medium of his own preference. Is all one." There are other Instances of viola - j tlon with which ' the defendants are ' charged, but the two mentioned above ; constitute the charges upon which thi ; defendants were sentenced.' j Appeal Decided by Council. ' V .' ';' The executive council of the Amerl-I can Federation of Labor met In Wash- ; Ingto'n Jan. 12. and discussed the situa- j tlon. - " Mr. Gompers made a -comprehensive statement covering the perl1 from the close of the convention of the Federation of Labor held at Denver In November. 130S Dealing vylth the de cision of Justice Vright '.Mr. Gom- said: e.x- "We have practically hausted nil of our available funds. Tliymoney In the defense fund undt-r article 13 of thp constitution of tho federation Is absolutely unavailable, not even if we desired, and I take It that we have no'-desire to touch on dollar aye. even one penny of that fund for any purpose other than that for which the members of our -directly affiliated local unions have paid It." The council at once decided that "an appeal for funds to press the case In the Interests of tho defendants should be made Judge Alton R Parker was Instructed to begin the preparation of the appeal. Samuel . Gompers Is. an interesting figure any way he is considered. He has been the president of the .Ameri can Federation of Labor twenty-five years of Its twenty-six years of exist- m rv jv.r m . n -m i ' m .-.. - ..... ii m Tin i m dm m jrJ y i. . v 1 1 a - nil e tm ar fA -jKawm ' - w - .-"WM - - in II- - , wJ' H :-sf ViKM , WW - .'W. 4!?r& I lis1; 1 J L : . k - .-.'Jt w. sar.- 4B .f T v Sin . y 4 ' m 9 1 fV 'v v A MES. SAMUEL GOMPEKS, MISS SADIE JULIAN GOMPEI,?. ence. He Is thus the head of mora - tlinn 9. flan HO ft nnln hian In V. t aa.i try.' He was born in London Jan. 27, 1850. As a boy he began as a clgar i maker. He helped organize the Cigar makers' International union. His home is In Washington. The family comprises his wife, daughter, married son and one unmarried. It is a unit ed household. When Mr. Gompers la absent as he Is most of the time, hla married son is the head of the family.. The 'daughter is a young woman of: I beauty and is on the stage as a con-; i cert singer. She has a well trained: j voice and has been successful. Mrs.1, j Gompers Is a loyal supporter of the ln- j terests which her husband represents.' i The Man and the Leader. J The leader of the great federation Is i optimistic in his Ideas concerning or ! ganized labor here. In a recent lnter I view on this point he said: "Labor j conditions now are better by far than ' they , were three decades ago. In the i future they will be Just as much bet- ter In proportion. By combination of ; capital, by new inventions and a bet ; ter organization of material forces, we j shall, age by age and year by year.' reduce the amount of manual . labor Required to the minimum and at the ' same time advance the reward there- for to the maximum." J The secret of Mr. Gompers success ; In his work lies In the fact that he la j devoted to It He has been offered J office which would have paid him mora , than he ever can expect to get -where ! be s and which would hay given ! him more time to himself and his i family. He has declined every proffer, j He has taken Into bis counsels men j-whom he ccfuld trust men who. Ilka 'j himself, could., not be swerved from : the cause of . labor by any present or future emolument. He owns no real ; estate, no bonds, no carriage or anto- SAMUEL GOHPEfcS. - I moblle. Re does not abstain from i these luxuries on account of any false I pride, but because be has no time to indulge In suqh comforts. He believes that the comfort of bis people should 1 come first ' ; AMOS FOX,