Gazing at the marvelous statue of Senator Zachariah Chandler housed in Constitution Hall in Lansing, Michigan- one can’t help but think of how important he was to Michigan-and to the nation. There was a book produced from the dedication ceremonies-compiled by the Joint Committee on Printing in 1914. The book contains various speeches by politicians who were very familiar with his work. A portion of the speech delivered by Edward L. Hamilton is provided below for a sample of what was of thought of Chandler at the time:
“Chandler led the fight for Lincoln in Michigan in 1860, and Michigan gave Lincoln a majority of more than 23,000 over Douglas. Forty-eight hours after Lincoln was elected President the Legislature of South Carolina called a State convention which voted South Carolina out of the Union, and the newspapers of South Carolina began to publish news from the rest of the country under “Foreign intelligence.” As our Republic had widened westward under the Constitution as it was before the arbitrament of war had been framed into constitutional amendments, it had become more and more apparent that no arbitrary line of latitude could permanently define the frontier between right and wrong within an undivided nation.
No doctrine of the rights of States, no Missouri compromise, no Clay compromise, no Dred Scott decision could quiet in the minds of men the eternal, daily question of human rights…”
“Chandler was a member of the Committee on the Conduct of the War, and was one of Lincoln’s friends and advisors when he was “carrying the Constitution through the wilderness of fear” without precedent or parallel to govern or direct him. When the whirlwinds of passion were turned loose and the clouds that lowered over the Republic were red with the flames of war he never thought to compromise. Compromise had no place in his temperment. He never admitted the possibilty of defeat. He denounced every suggestion of peace except the peace of an undivided Nation swept clean of slavery.
He visited the sick and the ounded in the hospitals, and no soldier in trouble ever applied to him in vain. Chandler was at the meridian of his mental powers when Lincoln died and the war ended. He lived 14 years after that in the constant service of his country.”
Source: Statue of Zachariah Chandler Erected In Statuary Hall Of The United States Capitol By The State of Michigan: Proceedings In Statuary Hall, In The Senate, And The House Of Representatives Of The United States, Upon The Unveiling, Reception, And Acceptance Of The Statue Of Zachariah Chandler, From The State Of Michigan, Washington Government Printing Office, 1914.
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