Page:The Pacific Monthly volumes 1-3.djvu/223

 Joseph Simon,

Oregon's Junior Senator.

THERE is not in the political history of the state of Oregon a more unique and interesting figure than that of the Hon. Joseph Simon who was recently elected to the United States senate by the legislature of his own commonwealth.

Perhaps no one man, since the territory of Oregon was admitted to state- hood, has exercised so strong an influence, has played so important a part, or has shown so masterful a hand in shaping the political destinies of this quiet and conservative corner of the world as the subject of this brief sketch.

Born on German soil, but so early an adopted son of America and American institutions that it is not possible he remembers his mother country, this man exemplifies the irresistible power of silence, of the subtle energy that moves unseen and unheard, acting with thought directed force upon the minds and matters of men, compelling co-operation and obedience. Even his enemies, and the man of political strength must have many, admit his astuteness, recognize his ability and accord full measure of admiration to his extraordinary foresight and executive adroitness.

"He sits in his office and men go to him, but he goes not to any man," remarked one of the disappointed, commenting upon the results of a recent campaign in local politics. "He understands human nature, and he knows every man's weak spot."

It is this knowledge, this understanding, rather than a happy combination of circumstances that has helped him on to success. An ability to grasp the meaning of a situation in its entirety, to mold men to his will, and the material at hand to meet the exigencies of the hour, this con- stitutes no small factor in the upward progress of the man of public affairs. That Senator Joseph Simon possesses this ability is not doubted by either friend or political opponent.

As years count Senator Joseph Simon is still a young man, having first seen the light of day in 1857, in the town of Bectheim in Germany. He had been in this world little over a twelvemonth when his parents brought him to Amer- ica to become in all essential things an American. He was elected to the state senate in 1880, and served continuously in that body for 18 years. In 1888 he was made secretary of the state repub- lican committee of Oregon, and in a short time the entire management of local political campaigns was left in his hands.

The story of his career, if written out in full and up to date, would read like a romance, and it would, further, embody a large share of the political history of Oregon for the last twenty-two years. For since his first appearance in the arena in 1877, when he was elected to the city council of Portland, his finger has apparently never left for a moment the political pulse of his all but native state. From the city hall to the state house, from the state house to the senate chamber, it has been a careful, a thought- fully considered and uninterrupted prog- ress, illustrative of the thoroughly dem- ocratic possibilities of the institutions of this great American republic.

It may be claimed with perfect truth of Senator Simon that he is almost wholly a self-educated man. Leaving school at the age of 14, he assisted his father in business for a few years, but his inclinations were not toward a com- mercial career. He had other tastes and ambitions, and when he was 19 years old he began the study of law in the office of Mitchell and Dolph, becoming in 1873 a member of the firm of Dolph, Bro- naugh and -Dolph, Hon. John H. Mitchell having retired upon being elected to the United States senate from Oregon. In 1883 the election of J. N. Dolph to the same high place made yet