The Life and Public Services of James A. Garfield. E. E. Brown
is a little singular that he should have filled in Congress the very seat left vacant by the death of Joshua R. Giddings, his boyhood's hero. Did the mantle of this brave Elijah fall upon him, too, I wonder?
Upon his arrival at Washington, Garfield, with his characteristic energy and perseverance, began a thorough course of study upon all topics with which he might have to deal, giving especial attention to commerce, manufactures, finance, the tariff, taxation, and international law. Every spare moment was turned to the best account; an intimate friend says he was seldom seen without a book in his hand, or in his pocket.
Both by nature and education, Garfield seemed specially endowed for the office of a public speaker. He had a ready flow of language that practice in debating clubs, the teacher's desk, at the bar, and in the pulpit had rendered apt, pointed, and polished. His tall, massive figure, powerful voice, and dignified manner gave additional weight to every word that fell from his lips, while his fine scholarship, extensive reading and wonderful memory furnished an inexhaustible "reserve fund" of illustration and imagery. But above all and through all, was the vital power of a warm, sympathetic, generous heart.
"His moral character," writes President Hinsdale, "was the fit crown to his physical and intellectual nature. No man had a kinder heart or a purer mind. Naturally, and without conscious plan or effort, he drew men to him as the magnet the iron filings."
He had been the youngest man in the Ohio senate, the youngest brigadier-general, and now, at the age of thirty-two, he was found to be the youngest member of the House of Representatives. To make his mark among so many brilliant intellects, so many fine orators, so many old and well-tried statesmen, as graced the legislation halls of the nation at that critical period of our history, required in the young and then almost unknown congressman "a peculiar combination of strong talents and intellectual acuteness."
One secret of his success lay in his "genius for hard work." He was not one to take ideas at second-hand; he was never satisfied until he had sifted the subject in hand to the very bottom, and when once assured of the truth and right of any matter, no power on earth could move him.
"Comparatively few men or women," he said one day to a friend, "take the trouble to think for themselves. Most people frame their opinions from what they read or hear others say. I noticed this in early life, but never saw the evil of it until I went to Congress."
From the very first, Garfield made his influence felt in the Hall of Representatives. He was strong enough to break over the bars that usually restrict the new and younger members of Congress, and soon took up the gauntlet with debaters like Thaddeus Stevens, N. P. Banks, Roscoe Conkling, and other old leaders in the legislative halls.
It was a tumultuous period in our national history; the War of the Rebellion had brought to the surface many questions of debate that required the utmost thought and deliberation, and upon whose decision hung the weightiest of results.
But Garfield as some able writer says, was "a man who was always equal to the greatest opportunity; often surpassed it. He was great on great occasions, because in temperament, intelligence, enthusiasm, and eloquence, he rose, like air, to its highest limit."
The first speech he delivered of any length, was on January 28th, 1864, and was a reply to his Democratic colleague, Mr. Finck. It was in favor of the confiscation of rebel property, and the following passage will give an idea of his style of argument in those early days:—
"The war was announced by proclamation, and it must end by proclamation. We can hold the insurgent states in military subjection half a century—if need be, until they are purged of their poison and stand up clean before the country. They must come back with clean hands, if they come at all. I hope to see in all those states the men who fought and suffered for the truth, tilling the fields on which they pitched their tents. I hope to see them, like old Kaspar of Blenheim, on the summer evenings, with their children upon their knees, and pointing out the spot where brave men fell and marble commemorates it."
His answer to Mr. Long, in the campaign of 1864, when McClellan was proposed as the Democratic candidate, will never be forgotten. It was delivered on the impulse of the moment and excited the wildest applause throughout the House. The older members began to realize what a growing power they had in their midst, and were not slow to seek Garfield's assistance when they had some pet measure to bring forward.
As the time drew near for holding the Congressional Convention of 1864, in the Nineteenth District, a report was circulated in the Western Reserve, that Garfield was the author of the famous Wade-Davis manifesto.
The convention wished to nominate him, but hesitated. Would he not come forward and explain himself?
Now this was just what Garfield was longing to do. With a firm step he walked up to the platform and in a brief, trenchant speech, declared that although he had not written the Wade-Davis letter, he was in sympathy with the authors. If the Nineteenth District did not want a representative who would assert his independence of thought and action, it must find another man. Having stated his conviction of the truth in the plainest, strongest terms, he came down from the platform and quietly left the hall. A great noise from the building greeted his ears as he turned the street-corner. He thought they were having an indignation meeting, and he fully expected to be apprized of his rejection.
To his astonishment, however, he learned that the noise he had heard was the cheering of the people upon his nomination.
The convention had been taken entirely by surprise. Before any of his opponents had had time to say a word, an Ashtabula delegate had risen to his feet and declared that "a man who could face a delegation like that, ought to be nominated by acclamation." Then, the popular feeling expressed itself freely, and Garfield was renominated with great applause.
"It was a bold action on my part," he said afterward, "but it showed me the truth of the old maxim that 'Honesty is the best policy,' and I have ever since been entirely independent in my relations with the people of my district."
Ben Wade, the "old war-horse," was greatly touched by Garfield's championship.
"I shall never forget it, never, sir, while I live on this earth!" he exclaimed as he held the hand of the young statesman in his iron grasp.
Garfield was elected by a majority of twelve thousand, and on his return to Congress the second term, the secretary of the treasury requested that he might have a place on the Committee of Ways and Means.
From his entrance into Congress, Garfield had made a special study of finance and political economy. He was therefore, well equipped for this new position, and nothing could move him from the firm stand he had taken in favor of specie payments and the honorable fulfilment of the nation's contract.
"I affirm," he boldly declared before the House, "against all opposers, that the highest and foremost present duty of the American people is to complete the resumption of specie payments; and first of all, because the sacred faith of this republic is pledged to resumption; and if it were never so hard to do it, if the burdens were ten times greater than they are, this nation dare not look in the face of God and men, and break its plighted word.
"It is a fearful thing for one man to stand up in the face of his brother-man and refuse to keep his pledge; but it is a forty-five million times worse thing for a nation to do it. It breaks the mainspring of faith. It unsettles all security; it disturbs all values; and it puts the life of the nation in peril for all time to come.
"I am almost ashamed to give any other reason for resumption than this one I have given. It is so complete that no other is needed; but there is another almost as strong. If there were no moral obligations resting upon the nation, if there were no public faith pledged to it, I affirm that the resumption of specie payment is demanded by every interest of business in this country, and so imperatively demanded that it can be demonstrated that every honest interest in America will be strengthened and bettered by the resumption of specie payment."
Garfield's fidelity to conviction was strikingly shown in a case at this time when in some of the states there were conflicts between civil and military authorities. He was too well versed in law to follow blindly the opinion of the majority.