Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 4.djvu/241

 for six years. During his long service in the Senate Mr. Harlan became one of the foremost leaders of the Republican party. Serving during all of the years in which the momentous issues of slavery, secession, rebellion and reconstruction were absorbing the profound attention of the ablest statesmen of America, he was called upon to assist in solving the most difficult problems that have arisen since the formation of our Government and was equal to the occasion. How wisely and ably he and his colleagues guided the Nation through its imminent dangers is recorded in history. Among the foremost statesmen of that period the name of James Harlan will always stand conspicuous. During the administration of President Grant, Senators Sumner and Schurz, who were among the great leaders of the Republican party for many years, became alienated from the President and organized an opposition in the Senate which assailed the Administration and its chief measures, with great bitterness. President Grant had negotiated a treaty with the government of San Domingo, by which that island desired to be annexed to the United States on favorable terms to our Nation. Sumner, Schurz and a few other Senators dominated by their influence, formed a combination which was strong enough to defeat the ratification of the treaty. In a studied speech Sumner assailed President Grant personally in one of the most abusive speeches ever delivered in the Senate, in connection with this treaty. Senator Harlan in a calm, able and statesmanlike address, made a masterly reply in vindication of President Grant and his patriotic services to the country in civil and military affairs, and the wisdom of the policy that would have given to the Nation one of the most important and productive islands of the West Indies. This speech of the senior Iowa Senator made a profound impression upon the country and Europe and placed him in the front rank of patriotic American statesmen. As his third term drew to a close, a powerful movement was organized by the northern half of the State (which had long been unrepresented in the Senate) to secure the election of a member living in that section. William B. Allison was the candidate united upon and in the Republican caucus he was nominated over Mr. Harlan and elected. Senator Harlan had for nearly eighteen years served as the colleague of such eminent statesmen as Seward, Douglas, Sumner, Fessenden, Edmunds, Bayard, Jefferson Davis, Mason, Grimes and Henry Wilson. He was a trusted adviser of Presidents Lincoln and Grant. His knowledge of the affairs of government was unsurpassed. As a public speaker he was calm, deliberate, logical and impressive. After his retirement to private life, Mr. Harlan was, from 1882 to 1885, the Presiding Judge of the Alabama Claims Commission. He was one of the commissioners who erected the Iowa Soldiers' Monument. His last act in a public capacity was presiding at the laying of the corner-stone of the Iowa Hall of History, May 17, 1899. He died at Mount Pleasant on the 6th of October of the same year.