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��LEVI W. BARTON.
��couraging them to embark on that sea without a shore ; as an advocate, he is eloquent, zealous, bold and persistent. In the preparation and trial of causes, he has few equals and no superiors at the Sullivan county bar. His faithful- ness and devotion to the interests of his clients, appear in an unusual de- gree. Hon. Edmund Burke who has been opposed to him in many hard contested cases, has been heard to say to the jury that his "brother Barton's clients, in his own estimation, were al- ways right and his witnesses always truthful, in fact, his geese were always swans. "
Mr. Barton's first election to the House was in 1863, during the war of the Rebellion. Political feeling ran high. The Democracy were represent- ed by their ablest men and best parlia- mentarians, skilled in all the rules and modes of procedure, which make mi- norities formidable. Never was a mi- nority abler led by adroit leaders. Al- though Mr. Barton was a new member, unused to the rules of the House, still, he almost at once became the acknowl- edged leader of the majority. No other man was so much relied upon to meet the attacks of the opposition, and none did it with greater effect. Re- turned to the House in 1864, his posi- tion was the same as that in the former year. He urged the passage of the law allowing soldiers in the field the right to vote, and openly denounced the ac- tion of Gov. Gilmore in relation to the bill, though he well knew that it would cost him, as it did, his re-appointment to the office of solicitor.
In 1875 an d 1876 he was chairman of the Republican legislative caucus, the labors of which were both extreme- ly difficult and important. As to the manner of treating the Senatorial ques- tion then before the legislature, the Re- publicans were divided. Mr. Barton at once took his position and could not be turned aside. While he believed that Messrs. Head and Todd were en- titled by right to their seats in the Sen- ate, he did not believe it advisable un- der the circumstances, and looking to the final results, to insist upon these
��rights. Looking at the results which followed, who can now doubt the wis- dom of the course pursued? Comment- ing upon the case at the close of the session, the Free Press remarks : "The cool course pursued is due in a great measure to Mr. Barton, sustained by the Governor. We think it will stand the test of time and recommend itself to all fair thinking men as the wisest course that could have been pursued under the ciscumstances. " The Inde- pendent Statesman, in commenting on the Free Press article, says : " It is no doubt true that the course of Mr. Bar- ton, sustained by the Governor, was what decided the matter. It turned the scale before hanging in the bal- ance. .-, In this they followed their convictions of right, and all the glory as well as the responsibility is theirs."
In the sessions of 1876 and 1877 his attention to business was such as to give him a commanding influence in the House. Always in his place, he was ready to lend a helping hand for any needed work. His large experience had made the various steps of legisla- tion familiar to him. And the writer may be pardoned if he here adds the following as expressive of the views of those competent to form an opinion from actual observation. At the close of the session of 1877, the correspond- ent of the Manchester American, an able and sagacious observer of men and* things, says :
" Barton of Newport is a man who brought with him an established repu- tation, and who has been one of the most prominent members of the House. He is a ready debater, quick to see a point and take it, popular with his ac- quaintances, and has had a large legis- lative experience, which gives him the full measure of his ability. He was the most prominent champion of the prison bill, which he managed with great tact and carried to victory, against odds which threatened at one time to defeat it. He has also been an active advo- cate of the various farmers' bills. If Sullivan county is permitted to name the successor of Col. Blair, an honor which her reliable Republican majority
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