The things that you mention are inaccurate and/or basically meaningless. A Cherokee 140 has a stall speed of 48 knots when the flaps are down and a Cessna 172 has a stall speed of 48 knots when the flaps are down, so which one flies slower? The pilots view of the terrain ahead is approximately the same when coming in for a landing. And the gear sticking down below the fuselage on a high wing aircraft means you are much more likely to turn the the higher centered gravity on its nose when those little tires hit rough terrain.
I suppose that we could go round and round on this type of meaningless argument. Cherokees have approximately the same safety record as Cessna 172s when compared with pilots of similar levels of experience.
The one with the higher payload when flown lightly loaded.
A 172N stall with flaps is 4 knots slower than your 140 at gross, and you can hold the nose up longer. I would much rather take a 172 into a soft field over a 140, any-day.