OF THE U N I VLRS ITY or ILLI NOIS from Carl Sandburg's Library V.2 The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN MAR 10 1971 m 8 1383 m 1 0 1383 L161— O-1096 Old Time Notes of Pennsylvania A Connected and Chronological Record of the Commercial, Industrial and Educational Ad- vancement of Pennsylvania, and the Inner History of all Political Movements since the adoption of the Constitution of 1838 BY A. K. McClure, LL.D. Illustrated with Portraits of over one hundred distinguished men of Pennsylvania, including all the Governors, Senators, Judges of the Courts of to-day, leading Statesmen, Railroad Presidents, Business Men and others of note. VOLUME II Autograph Edition Philadelphia THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY 1905 Copyright 1905. BY THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO. CONTENTS. LIV. — Randall and Wallace. PAGE The Varied Careers of the Two Great Democratic Leaders in Pennsyl- vania for Nearly a Generation — Both Were Weakened by Lead- ing Opposing Factions Against Each Other — Leading Charac- teristics of the Two Men — Interesting Incidents of Their Factional Disputes — Wallace's Last Battle and Defeat Closely Followed Randall's Death. .; 17 LV. — BucKALEW Elected U. S. Senator. Democrats Elected Their State Ticket in 1862 and One Majority on Joint Ballot in the Legislature — A Bitter Struggle for the Senator- ship — Cameron Claimed the Support of One or More Democrats, and Received the Republican Nomination — Charles R. Buckalew Nominated by the Democrats — Democratic Apprehension of a Repetition of the Lebo, Maneer and Wagenseller Defection That Elected Cameron in 1857 — Organized Rioters Crowded the Capitol and Declared That Any Democrat who Betrayed His Party Would not Leave the Hall Alive — Open Charge of Corruption Made Against Democratic Representative Boyer — Buckalew Elected by a Strict Party Vote — His Career in the Senate 30 LVI. — Curtin Renominated for Governor. Curtin's Broken Health Made his Retirement an Apparent Neces- sity — Curtin Movement to Nominate General Franklin, a Loyal Democrat, to be Supported by Both Parties, Rejected by the Democrats — Curtin Tendered a First-Class Mission by President Lincoln to Enable Him to Retire from the Contest — Interest- ing Interview with Lincoln by Cameron, Forney and the Author — Republican People Refuse to Accept his Withdrawal, and a Number of the Leading Counties Instructed for Him — He Was Renominated on the First Ballot 41 (v) vi Contents LVII. — CuRTiN Re-elected Governor. I Justice George W. Woodward Nominated for Governor by the Demo- crats When Lee Was Approaching Gettysburg — From the Demo- cratic Standpoint He Was Their Strongest Candidate — The Union Victories of Gettysburg and Vicksburg Decided the Con- test of 1863 — Chairman MacVeagh's Adroit Handling of the Soldier Element — Soberness of Political Discussion in 1863 — Woodward Defeated and Curtin Re-elected — Woodward's Dis- tinguished Career LVIII. — The Great Conscription Battle. The Complete Story of the Efforts Made to Declare the National Conscription Act Unconstitutional by a State Court — Volunteer- ing Had Ceased and Conscription Was the Only Hope of Filling the Union Armies — Proceedings Instituted at Nisi Prius Before Judge Woodward, Who Summoned the Entire Court to Hear and Decide the Important Question — After Exhaustive Argument Decision Delayed Until After the Election — The Court, by Three to Two, Declared the Act Unconstitutional — Chief Justice Lowrie Was Defeated by Justice Agnew — On Final Hearing Justice Agnew, Successor to Chief Justice Lowrie, Reversed Preliminary Hearing and Declared the Conscription Act Constitutional LIX. — ^Lee's Invasion a Necessity. Hooker's Brilliant Strategy in Crossing the Rappahannock to Meet Lee When Hesitation Lost Him the Battle — The Story of Hooker's Wounds — Great Depression Among the Loyal People of the North — The Blunder of the Confederacy — The Northern Invasion Was Enforced with a Hope of Winning a Decisive Vic- tory over the Union Army, and Securing the Recognition of Eng- land and France LX. — Maneuvering for the Battle. Hooker's Suggestions Rejected by Lincoln — Hooker's Strategy De- feated Lee's Movement to Cross the Potomac near Washington — Meade Suddenly Called to Command — Large Emergency Force Called to the Field — Severe Discipline of Lee's Army — Jenk- Contents vii PAGE ins*s Raid into Chambersburg — Ewell's Requisition for Supplies Including Sauerkraut in Midsummer — Lee's Headquarters at Shatter's Grove 85 LXI. — Lee Defeated at Gettysburg. General Lee and His Leading Lieutenants in Chambersburg — Per- sonal Description of General Lee — Why Lee Moved to Gettys- burg — Remarkable Feats of Volunteer Scouts — Stephen W. Pomeroy Gave the First Word of Lee's Movement to Gettysburg — A Week of Appalling Anxiety at Harrisburg and Through- out the State — Lee's Retreat from Franklin County — Intense Passions That Denied Burial to a Confederate Soldier 96 LXII. — Pennsylvania's Lustrous Record. The Declaration of Independence Proclaimed in Pennsylvania — Washington Assigned to the Command of the Army — The Con- stitution Framed in Carpenter's Hall with Washington Presiding — Gettysburg, the Decisive Battle of the War, Fought in the State — General Meade of Pennsylvania the Victor — Reynolds Killed and Hancock Seriously Wounded — Gregg, Another Penn- sylvanian, Fought and Won the Great Cavalry Battle of the War — How Gettysburg Was Made the Battle Ground — Why Meade Did Not Pursue Lee — Lincoln Was Disappointed 108 LXIIL — The Senate Deadlock in 1864. General Harry White, a Republican Senator, in Libby Prison, Leav- ing the Senate with Sixteen Democrats and Sixteen Republicans — All Offers for White's Exchange Refused by the Confederate Government — Speaker Penny Retained the Chair — The Demo- cratic Senators Refused Him Recognition — General White's Father Delivers the Senator's Resignation to the Governor — Dr. St. Clair Elected at a Special Election Restoring the Republicans to Authority — The Movement to Care for the Soldiers' Orphans — Curtin's Extraordinary Efforts to Give it Success — Violent Partisan Legislation Governing Elections in the Field — Jerrie McKibben, One of Curtin's Commissioners, Imprisoned by Stanton — The Story of His Release 120 viii Contents LXIV. — How Lincoln Nominated Johnson. PAGE The Inner Story of the Sagacious Political Movements Which Nom- inated Andrew Jackson for Vice-President over Hamlin — How Lincoln Managed to Unite Pennsylvania for Johnson without His Movements Being Known — Cameron First in Lincoln's Con- fidence to Start the Johnson Movement — A Shade of Distrust Between Lincoln and Cameron — Why Lincoln Forced the Author to Become a Delegate-at-Large to the National Convention — How Cameron and the Author were Elected without a Contest — The Delegation Finally United on Johnson 133 LXV. — Lincoln Re-elected President. Pennsylvania Republicans Heartily United in Support of Lincoln — Cameron Made Chairman of the State Committee — Severe Re- publican Depression During the Summer of 1864 Because of the Failure to Achieve Victory in the Field — Lincoln Predicts His Own Defeat on the Twenty-third of August in a Note Sealed and Delivered to Secretary Welles — Pennsylvania Faltered in Her Republicanism at the October Election — The Author Called to Co-operate with Cameron in the November Battle — How Penn- sylvania Was Made to Vote for Lincoln on the Home Vote 146 LXVI. — The Burning of Chambersburg. Chambersburg Destroyed by the Brutal Vandalism of Hunter in the Lynchburg Campaign — Its Destruction Made Possible by Hunter's Military Incompetency — Reports of McCausland's Movement from Mercersburg to Chambersburg — The Vandalism of Many Intoxicated Confederates While the Town Was Burning — A Heroic Woman Saves One of the Author's Houses and Barn — Chambersburg Could Have Been Fully Protected by the State Force Organized by Governor Curtin, but It Was Sent to the Potomac to Save Hunter 158 LXVII. — The Border War Claims. James McDowell Sharpe and the Author Elected to the House to Secure Appropriation for the Desolated Town — How William Contents ix PAGE H. Kemble Became State Treasurer — Debate on. the Amendment to the Constitution Abolishing Slavery Forced Sharpe and the Author to Participate — Sharpe's Admirable Speech — Why the Relief Bill Failed — How the Appropriation of Half a Million Dollars Was Passed a Year Later 170 LXVIII. — The Political Struggle of 1865. Chambersburg's Midnight Jubilee over the Surrender of Lee — The Long Strained Border People Had Peace at Last — Peculiar Polit- ical Conditions — How Cameron Lost His Candidate for Auditor General by His Struggle to Obtain Control of the Party Organiza- tion — Senator Heistand Defeated When He Expected a Unan- imous Nomination — ^Hartranft Suddenly Forced to the Front — The Organization for Chairmanship of the Republican State Com- mittee Taken from the President of the Convention by Resolution of Stevens — A Sluggish Battle Resulting in the Success of the Republican Ticket 181 LXIX. — Geary Nominated for Governor. Cameron's First Complete Control of the Republican Organization of the State — Geary Bitterly Opposed by Prominent Republicans Because He Had Been Willing to Accept the Democratic Nomina- tion — Quay and Tom Marshall Among the Foremost Belligerents — Geary Visits the Author After His Nomination — All Personal and Factional Interests Forgotten to Elect Geary to Rebuke President Johnson's Apostacy — Clymer, the Democratic Candi- date, Made a Gallant Struggle and Fell in the Race — Interesting Sequel to Geary's Pledges to the Author 192 LXX. — Cameron-Curtin Senatorial Battle. A Majority of Republican Senators and Representatives Pledged or Instructed for Curtin — Cameron Adroitly Combined the Can- didates to Defeat Quay, Curtin's Candidate for Speaker — Stevens, Moorehead, Grow and Forney in the Field with Cameron — Governor Geary Aggressively for Cameron — Cameron Finally Controlled the Majority — Quay, After a Conference with the Younger Cameron and Curtin, Decided to Move the Unanimous Nomination of Cameron After He Attained a Majority — Quay's First Step Toward Affiliation with the Camerons — Republicans Lose the State in 1867 203 Contents LXXI. — CuRTiN Minister to Russia. PAGE Republican State Convention of 1868 Overwhelmingly Anti-Cam- eron — Curtin Presented as Pennsylvania's Candidate for Vice- President — The Author Chairman of the Delegation to the National Convention — How Grant Became Republican Candidate for President — Colfax Nominated for Vice-President — Why Wade Lost the Nomination — Curtin Pressed for the Cabinet — The Author's Interview with Grant on the Subject — Curtin Made Minister to Russia 213 LXXII. — ^JoHN Scott Elected Senator. The Senatorial Contest Shrewdly Managed by Colonel Thomas: A. Scott — When the Legislature Met No Contest for Senator De- veloped — John Scott Unanimously Nominated — Elected by the Solid Vote of His Party — Scott's Creditable Record in the Senate — Keeping Within Party Lines He Followed His Own Convictions — • Curtin Went to Russia Knowing that It was Polit- ical Banishment — Honors Showered upon Curtin before His Departure • • 224 LXXIII. — The Infamous Registration Law. The Defeat of City of Philadelphia Candidates in 1868 Made Mann Enforce the Enactment of the Registry Law — Wide Open Doors for Fraud under Color of Law — The Author's Earnest Protest Against the Movement — Mann Regained the District Attorney- ship Under It — Interesting Incidents in Halting Fraud at a Special Senatorial Election 233 LXXIV. — The Reign of Shoddy. Sudden Acquisition of Wealth Brought a Tidal Wave of Shoddy Ostentation — Precious Stones Flashed from Gaudily Dressed Shoddyites — Bewildering Extravagance Became Common in Hospitality — Ladies of Culture Abandoned the Display of Jewels — The Gorgeous and Vulgar Exhibition of Shoddy at the Great Ball Given to Grand Duke Alexis, Son of the Czar- The Satur- day Evening Club Orzanized to Halt the Shoddy Display of Profligacy in Entertainments — Political Demoralization Followed Contents xi PAGE the New Social Eruption — The Inevitable Revolution Came, and Many Shoddyites Died in Poverty 244 LXXV.— Robert W. Mackey. The Ablest All-Around Republican Leader of Pennsylvania — Quay His Promising Lieutenant — How Quay Made Mackey State Treasurer — Mackey the Master Leader of the Party for a Full Decade — His Method of Controlling Conventions and Legislators — His Close Relations with Both Wallace and Randall — How He Saved the Electoral Vote of Florida for Hayes — Mackey Saved Wallace in His Contest for Senator — How He Defeated Fusion and Elected Hoyt Governor 255 LXXVI. — Geary Re-elected Governor. The Curtin Element Decided to Defeat Geary Because the Whole Power of His Administration Had Been Directed to Overthrow Curtin — Chairman Covode's Conference with Mann and the Author — Benjamin Harris Brewster Retired from Attorney Gen- eralship — F. Carroll Brewster Appointed — This Change Saved Geary's Election — How the Border Relief Bill Made a Judge — Brewster and the Author Become Close Friends 268 LXXVII. — The Advent of Negro Suffrage. Negroes Vote in 1871 under the Fifteenth Amendment — Large Re- publican Element Opposed Suffrage for the Black Man — Demo- cratic Activity Quickened by the Issue — Colonel Mann Re-elected District Attorney — Bitter Feeling in the Sections of the City Where There Was a Large Negro Vote — Murderous Riots on Election Day, and Cato, Chase and Gordon Murdered on the Streets — None of the Offenders ever Brought to Justice — Im- mense Public Meeting Called for the Conviction of the Murderers — How the Negro Vote Was Demoralized 279 LXXVIII. — The McClure-Gray Senatorial Contest. Serious Revolt Against the Methods of the Grant Administration — Death of Senator Connell Made a Special Senatorial Election in January, 1872 — Republican Leaders Tendered the Place to the Author, But with Conditions That Could Not Be Accepted — Contents PAGE Interposition of President Grant Led to the Author's Final Ac- ceptance of the Candidacy — Colonel Scott Dined with President Grant and Cameron and Urged to Force the Author to Retire from the Contest — A Tempestuous Political Struggle of Ten Days — Nineteenth Ward Rounders Decide That the McQure Meeting Should Not Be Held — How They Were Finally Per- suaded to Peace 290 LXXIX. — The Contested Senatorial Election of 1872. The Author Returned as Defeated by 891 Majority — Protracted Struggle to Get a Petition for Contest before the Senate — Inter- esting Incidents of the Struggle — A Special Law Enacted to Try the Case — Plan of Leaders to Draw a Set-up Committee — Clerk Hammersley Refuses to Do It, and Informs the Author — A Democratic Committee Obtained — Appalling Fraud Developed in the Trial of the Contest — Jail Birds Hired to Swear Falsely That They Had Repeated for McClure — Colonel Gray Acquits Himself of the Frauds 302 I.XXX. — Grand Jurors Protect Ballot Thieves. Interesting Story of the Failure to Bring to Trial Parties Guilty of Open and Violent Frauds — District Attorney Mann's Honest Effort to Convict Two of the Guilty Parties — Two Grand Juries Set Up to Ignore All Bills — The Prosecution Delayed for One Term Hoping to Get a Better Jury — The Next Jury Worse Than the Last, and the Author Forced the Prosecutions, Knowing That the Bills Would be Ignored — The Testimony Taken before the Magistrate That Had Been Given to the Grand Jury Presented to the Court — Court Remands the Bill Back to the Grand Jury — The Bills Held Until the Last Day and Then Again Ignored — Henry C Lea Renewed the Prosecution, and the Next Grand Jury Ignored the Bill and Made Him Pay the Cost — Struggle in the Senate for a Better Election Law — The Party Leaders Decided to Have No Discussion in the Senate, and the Author's Bill Passed Unanimously — How Senator White Was Brought to Renew the Battle, and How the New Election Law Was Finally Enacted 3^5 Contents xiii LXXXI. — The Grant-Greeley Contest. PAGE Grant's Special Efforts to Harmonize the Curtin Elements in Penn- sylvania — The Author Twice Urged to Visit Grant with a View of Harmonizing the Party on a New Cabinet Appointment — Organization of the Liberal Republican Movement in the State — The Author Chairman of the State Committee, and of the Delegation to the Cincinnati Convention — Greeley's Visit to Philadelphia to Secure the Support of the Delegation for Presi- dent — Final Agreement on Davis for President with Greeley for Vice-President — The Brief Greeley Tidal Wave — Business Interests Aroused and Suddenly Halted It — The Sad End of the Life of the Great Philanthropist 327 LXXXIL — Democrats Nominate Curtin. Peculiar Political Complications in the Contest of 1872 — The Evans Scandal — Some $300,000 Awarded a Clerk for Collecting Govern- ment Qaims — Investigation Moved in the Senate — How It Ended — Hartranft and Buckalew Nominated for Governor by Their Respective Parties — ^ Curtin Nominated by the Liberal Re- publicans for the Constitutional Convention — Governor Bigler Retired from Democratic Ticket, and Curtin Taken in His Place — State Contest Unusually Desperate — Leaders Would Have Withdrawn Hartranft But for the Younger Cameron — Geary Forced to Grant Pardon to Yerkes and Marcer — Attempt of the Roosters to Make Cameron Pay for His Re-election — How the Governor's Salary Was Increased from $5,000 to $10,000 340 LXXXIII. — The Constitution of 1874 Adopted. Desperate Efforts Made to Defeat Its Approval by the People — Mayor Stokley Halts a Stupendous Fraud in Philadelphia When It Was Found to be Unavailing — Earnest Legislative Work to Carry Into Effect the New Fundamental Law — A New Liberal Salary Bill for City Officers Vetoed without Benefit to Those Who Accomplished It — Ballot Reform Accomplished, and Many Machine Leaders Overthrown 352 xiv Contents LXXXIV. — ^The Stokley-McClure Mayoralty Battle. PAGE Formidable Revolt Against Stokley's Administration — The Author Peremptorily Declines to Become a Candidate for Mayor — James S. Biddle Nominated by the Democrats, but soon Thereafter Declined — Democrats and Citizens Nominate the Author without Consulting Him — His Acceptance Seemed to Be an Imperious Necessity — Remarkable Galaxy of Republican Leaders Who Sup- ported Him — Interesting Episodes of the Campaign — The Author Advised Four Days before the Election of the Majority that would be Returned Aaginst Him — Stokley Returned Elected by over 10,000 Majority , 363 LXXXV. — Battle for the Great Exposition. Party Leaders Made the Issue of the Republican Centennial Mayor the Prominent One in the Contest — Democrats in the Legis- lature Provoked to Hostile Action against the Centennial Appro- priation — A Direct Appropriation Impossible — How an Ap- parent Appropriation of a Million Dollars Had Been Passed in 1873 — The Desperate Struggle to Obtain the Million Dollars Needed — Finally Saved by the Positive Intervention of Colonel Scott — The Financial Revulsion Keenly Felt and Private Sub- scriptions Retarded 376 LXXXVI. — Wallace Elected U. S. Senator. Republicans Lose the State at the First Election under the New Con- stitution — Wallace Carefully Organized the Democrats, and had a Large Majority of Friends in the Legislature — Nominated for United States Senator with But Few Dissenting Votes — Buckalew Hostile to Wallace, and Controlled Enough Votes to Defeat Him — Buckalew's Attempt to Deal with Mackey — Mackey Saves Wallace 387 LXXXVIL— The Philadelphia "Times." The Author First Purchased the Press from Colonel Forney — Con- tract Revoked — How the Times Was Founded — Personal Friends Take a Fourth Interest for the Author — Collins Gives Contents XV Instructions to the Editor — Final Success of the Newspaper — How the Original Partners Protected Collins in His Misfortune — Independent Journalism a Surprise to Philadelphia — Liberal Return to the Stockholders of the Newspaper — Personal Rela- tions of the Author with Political Leaders 398 LXXXVIII. — Venality in Legislation. Corruption of Legislators Practically Unknown until Half a Century Ago — The Original Old Time Lobbyist Who Never Debauched Legislators — The Struggle Between Ignorance and Prejudice on the One Side, and Progressive Elements of the State Looking to the Development of Wealth, Gave Importance to Venal In- fluences — The First Open Debauch in the Senatorial Contest of 1855 — Again Visible in 1858 in the Sale of State Canals to the Sunbury and Erie Railroad — War Brought Demoralization and Quickened Venality — Many Sternly Honest Legislators Sup- ported Measures They Knew to be Corrupt — Venality Largely Ruled in Legislation until the Adoption of the New Constitution — Political Power Largely Ruled Legislation, But Diminished Individual Prostitution 410 LXXXIX. — Hartranft Re-elected. Mackey and Quay Take Early and Vigorous Action to Retrieve the Defeat of 1874 — They Perfect the Republican Organization — Obtain Absolute Control of the Greenback and Labor Organiza- tions — Greenback Sentiment Very Formidable in the State — Hartranft Unanimously Renominated — A Protracted Contest for the Democratic Nomination — Judge Pershing Finally Chosen — The Labor and Greenback Parties Held from Fusion by Re- publican Leaders, and That Elected Hartranft by 12,000 Plurality — The Democrats Carried the Popular Branch of the Legislature — Hartranft's Creditable Career as Governor — Later Collector of the Port and Postmaster — Finally Suffered Financial Disaster, and Made Earnest but Unavailing Efforts to Save His Friends . . . 422 XC. — The Molly Maguire Murderers. The Most Appalling Chapter of Crime Ever Recorded in the Annals of Pennsylvania — History of the Molly Maguire Organization — The Outgrowth of the Ancient Order of Hibernians — Its Crim- xvi Contents inal Methods — Offensive Mining Bosses and Operators Murdered in Open Day — Political Power Contracted for Protection to Criminals — The Wonderful Story of James McParlan as De- tective Inside the Order — Gowan's Masterly Ability in Conduct- ing Prosecutions — Sixteen Molly Maguires Executed — Many Others Imprisoned, and a Dozen or More Fugitives from Justice. . 429 XCL — National Battle of 1876. Republicans Had Not Recovered from the Overwhelming Defeat of 1874 — Democrats Held the House Most of the Time for Twenty Years — Tilden Nominated for President — His Strength and Personal Attributes — Receives a Large Popular Majority for President — John 1. Mitchell Brought to the Front — Nominated for Congress to Defeat Strang — Senatorial Deadlock of 1881 Made Him United States Senator — Advised of His Selection by the Author in Washington — Made President Judge and Later Superior Judge — Retired for Physical and Mental Dis- ability 441 XCII. — Anarchy Ruled in 1877. The Darkest Year in the History of Pennsylvania — Culmination of the Revulsion of 1873 — Business Depressed and Working Men Without Bread — Anarchy First Asserted Its Mastery in Pitts- burg by Destroying Several Millions of Pennsylvania Railroad Property — Took Possession of All the Railroads of the State, and Generally Throughout the Country — Governor Hartranft Absent in the West — Adjutant General Latta Rendered Timely and Heroic Service — Appalling Condition in Philadelphia — Mayor Stokley Calls for a Committee of Safety — The Author a Member — Interesting Incidents in Preserving Peace in the City — Stokley's Magnificent Administration to Preserve Peace — Exceptional Military Service Rendered by Col. Bonnaffon's Regi- ment 453 XCIIL— The Great Oil Development. The Humble Beginning of a Trade that has Risen to Hundreds of Millions— Professor Silliman's Chemical Investigation of Petro- leum—Colonel E. L. Drake Sank the First Oil Well — His Difficulty in Raising One Thousand Dollars to Start the Oil De- Contents xvii velopment — He was More than a Year in Getting His Well Completed — Representative Rouse Regarded as a Hopeless Crank by his Fellow Legislators in 1859 — The Tidal Wave of Specula- tion in Oil Companies, Resulting in Sweeping Disaster — Des- perate Battles of the Oil Men to Reach Markets — The Annual Oil Product Now Over One Hundred Million Barrels — At First Worth Twenty Dollars a Barrel; now Worth One Dollar or Less 465 XCIV. — James Donald Cameron. Became Prominent National Political Leader in 1876 — Member of the Grant Cabinet — He Forced the Struggle that Made Hayes President After an Overwhelming Popular Defeat — Hayes Re- jected Cameron for a Cabinet Office — His Father Resigned His Place in the Senate and the Younger Cameron Elected — Cam- eron Power Supreme in Pennsylvania Authority — ^Both the Cam- erons Four Times Elected to the United States Senate — How Governor Pattison and Secretary Harrity Saved Cameron's Fourth Election in 1891 — Marvelous Record of Political Achievement by the Two Camerons in Pennsylvania — The Younger Cameron's Dominating Influence in Tranquillizing South Carolina and Other Southern States — His Personal Attributes 475 XCV. — HoYT Elected Governor. The Democratic Victory of 1877 — How Trunkey was Made Supreme Judge — Trunkey Defeats the Late Chief Justice Sterrett — Patti- son's First Victory by Election to the Controllership — Quay and Mackey Reform Their Lines for the Election of Hoyt — Notable Contest for Supreme Judge Between Chief Justice Agnew and Judge Sterrett — Quay Side-tracks the Greenback Party Against Fusion, Then Declares for Sound Money — Hoyt Elected by 22,000 Plurality with Over 80,000 Greenback Votes Side-tracked — Death of Mackey, Leaving Quay Supreme Party Leader 487 XCVL — Political Events of 1878-9. Quay Makes Himself Recorder of Philadelphia with Large Com- pensation — Locates in Philadelphia at Eleventh and Spruce — Chairman of Republican State Committee — Succeeded by David H. Lane as Recorder — The Office Finally Abolished — Quay xviii Contents Becomes Secretary of the Commonwealth Under Hoyt — The Pittsburg Four Million Riot Bill — Defeated After a Bitter Con- test — Convictions Followed for Legislative Venality — Quay Nominates Butler for State Treasurer — Serious Hitch When Butler Assumed the Office — How the Treasury Deficit was Cov- ered — Cameron and Quay Make Earnest Battle for Grant's Nomination for a Third Term 498 XCVIL — Political Events of 1880. Quay and Cameron Call Early State Convention, and Declare in Favor of Grant for a Third Term — Cameron Chairman of National Committee — Ruled Strongly in Favor of Grant in Preliminary Proceedings — Reluctant Support Given to Garfield — Blaine's Appointment as Premier Offensive to Quay and Cameron — State Offices Filled at the Election — Memorable Speeches in National Conventions by Ingersoll, Conkling and Dougherty 509 XCVIII. — Senatorial Battle of 1881. Galusha A. Grow Made an Active Canvass for Senator — Henry W. Oliver the Organization Candidate — Serious Revolt Against Quay-Cameron Rule — Forty-seven Republican Legislators An- nounce Their Refusal to Enter the Caucus — Oliver Nominated on Second Ballot — Received a Majority of the Entire Republican Vote of the Legislature — Senator John Stewart Leader of the Revolt — Oliver Withdrew and General Beaver was Made Organ- ization Candidate — February 23d Both Factions United on Con- gressman John L Mitchell — He Received the Full Republican Vote and Was Elected — Wolfe, Independent Candidate for Treasurer 520 XCIX. — Pattison Elected Governor. The Independent Republican Revolt — Davies Defeated for State Treasurer — This Led to Full Independent State Ticket in 1882 — Futile Offers of Compromise — Pattison Nominated for Govern- or by the Democrats — Senator John Stewart as the Independent Leader — Character of the Campaign — The Democratic Ticket Elected by Independent Republican Votes 53^ Contents xix C. — Governor Pattison's First Term. PAGE An Administration of Both Successes and Failures — Appoints Lewis C. Cassidy Attorney General — Pattison Assailed on Account of Cassidy — Attacks that Forced Cassidy to Accept — A Legis- lature Divided Against Itself — Futile Efforts at Reapportionment of the State — Except as to the Judiciary — An Extra Session of the Legislature — The Governor Became Unpopular on Account of This Session — How He Lost His Mastery of the State — The Election of 1884 — Pennsylvania Heavily Republican, though Cleveland Elected President 542 CI. — The Great Steel Industry. Steel Was Used Wholly for Edge Tools a Generation Ago — Struc- tural Steel Practically Unknown and Steel Unthought of for Rail- ways — Disston Developed American Steel for His Saw Works ; for Many Years Had to Stamp Them as English — America Now Produces the Finest Steel in the World — Colonel Wright's View of the Helplessness of the South — Believed War Impossible in 1861 Because the South Could Not Tire a Locomotive — Advent of Andrew Carnegie — Started at Five Dollars a Week Under Colonel Scott — Became the Great Genius of the Steel Trade — Raised Up Half a Score or More of Multi-Millionaires — He Is Now Among the Half-score of Richest Private Citizens in the World — His Gifts of Millions to Libraries and Education — His Thorough Self-reliance — He Alone Directed the Movements Against the Great Homestead Strike of 1884 — The Monuments Reared by Scott and Carnegie 553 GIL — Quay Elected Senator. Quay's Senatorial Battle Begun in 1885 — His Earlier Political Re- lations and How He Stood toward Senator J. D. Cameron — Quay's Candidacy for State Treasurer — His Turning Down of McDevitt of Lancaster — His Cleverly Managed Campaign and Election — The State Battle of 1886 — General Beaver, Who Had Been Defeated in 1882, Easily Chosen Governor — Quay Before the Legislature of 1887 — Triumphantly Chosen as U. S. Senator — Soon Becomes a Great National Leader — His Relations to Blaine — State Offices Filled in 1888 — How a Democrat Reached the Supreme Bench — The National Campaign of 1888 558 XX Contents cm. — Quay and Wanamaker. PAGE Aftermath of the 1888 Election — How Wanamaker Became a Great Political Factor — Personal Choice of President Harrison for Postmaster General — Appointment Distasteful to Cameron and Quay — His Masterly Administration — He Acquires Powerful Influence in State Politics — The Contest for Governor in 1890 — Delamater Made the Republican Nominee — Pattison Renom- inated by the Democrats — Ex-Senator Wallace and W. U. Hensel — Hensel's Important Position — Pattison Re-elected — Harrity and Hensel in Pattison's Cabinet — J. D. Cameron Re-elected to His Last Term in the Senate — The Bardsley Defalcation — How Quay Counteracted Its Effects 570 CIV. — Pennsylvania Politics, i 892-1 895. Quay and Cameron not Heartily for Harrison — But He Was Re- nominated — Cleveland a Presidential Candidate for the Third Time — Tammany's Intense Opposition to Him — Local Penn- sylvania Interests — Quay's Second Election as U. S. Senator — General Hastings Elected Governor in 1894 — His Relations with Quay not Very Cordial — Democratic Opposition not Formidable — Old-Timers Recalled to Public Life, Especially Galusha A. Grow — Governor Hastings and the State Committee — Organized Action Against Quay in Philadelphia — Penrose Sacrificed for Mayor — Creation of the Pennsylvania Superior Court 583 CV. — Wanamaker versus Quay. Wanamaker's Ambition to Be U. S. Senator — Aspiration Hopeless Without Quay's Aid — Negotiating With Quay — An Agreement Reached — How a Rupture Came — Wanamaker as an Open, Aggressive Candidate — The Contest for the Party Nomination — Penrose Nominated and Elected — The National Politics of 1896 — Gubernatorial Battle of 1898 — Quay Forced to Accept William A. Stone as Candidate — The Wanamaker Opposition of That Campaign — The Battle Fought in the Legislative Districts — Quay Prosecuted for Misappropriating State Funds — Fight for U. S. Senator in the Legislature — The Famous Deadlock of 1899 — Quay Acquitted in Criminal Trial and Appointed U. S. Senator by Governor Stone 595 Contents CVI. — Quay Re-elected U. S. Senator. PAGE The McCarrell Bill of 1899 and the Quay Trial — Democrats Divided by Bryanism — A Faction of Them for Quay — Quay Appointed Senator by the Governor, but the Senate Refused to Admit Him — The Grounds for His Exclusion — A Memorable Political Controversy — Senator Hanna's Position — A Great Humiliation to Quay — The State Convention and the Quay Battle in 1900 — Wanamaker in State Politics — Overwhelming Republican Triumph — Quay Re-elected by the Legislature of 1901 — A Famous Declaration by Him — Death Ends His Career Before His Term Expires 608 CVIL — Republican Revolt in 1901. Political conditions in Philadelphia started an Aggressive Revolt — Rothermel Rejected by the Party Leaders Because Fugitives, Charged With Political Crimes, Could Not Return While He Prosecuted — Formation of the Union Party — Judge Yerkes, Democratic Candidate for Supreme Judge, Endorsed by the Union Republicans, and Representative Coray Nominated for State Treasurer — The Violent Contest in the City — Colossal Frauds Practised in Philadelphia — Rothermel Returned as Defeated — Potter and Harris Elected by a Large Majority — The Revolt of 1901 Made Quay Crucify Attorney General Elkin and Nominate Pennypacker for Governor 621 CVIII. — After Quay the Deluge. Quay Died Just in the Omnipotence of His Political Power — His Death Developed Antagonistic Party Elements — The Struggle for United States Senator — Offered to Ex-Senator Cameron, Who Suggested A.ttorney General Knox — All finally Agreed to Sup- port Knox, and the Governor Withheld Proclamation for Extra Session — Knox First Appointed and Then Elected by Unani- mous Republican Vote — Revolution Developed in Philadelphia — Estrangement of Mayor and Party Leaders — Independent Ticket Elected in the City — Democratic State Treasurer Elected by Over Eighty-eight Thousand — Comparative Vote of 1904 and 1905 — Justice Stewart Received a Unanimous Vote 625 ILLUSTRATIONS. Volume II JAMES G. BLAINE Frontispiece State Legislator, Congressman, United States Sen- ator, Secretary of State and Candidate for Presi- dent in 1884. FACING PAGE SAMUEL J. RANDALL 24 State Senator, Congressman, Speaker and Father of the House, following William D. Kelley, and died as such in 1890. CHARLES R. BUCKALEW 32 State Senator, United States Senator, Congressman and Candidate for Governor. GEORGE W. WOODWARD 56 Common Pleas Judge, Supreme Judge, Chief Justice and Congressman. SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 64 SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA . 80 GENERAL GEORGE G. MEADE 96 Commander of Union Army in Decisive Battle of tlie War, Gettysburg, July 1-3. 1863: died 1872. Illustrations PAGE GENERAL JOHN F. REYNOLDS 112 Opened Battle of Gettysburg and Killed on the Field, July i, 1863. GENERAL DAVID M. GREGG 116 Major-General Cavalry, Defeated Stewart at Gettys- burg. HARRY WHITE 120 State Senator. Prisoner in Libby and Anderson- ville for a Year. Congressman. Common Pleas Judge. WILLIAM D. KELLEY 152 Common Pleas Judge, Congressman, Father of the House; died 1890. J. McDOWALL SHARP 176 State Representative and Member of Constitutional Convention, 1873-4. JOHN CESSNA 184 State Representative, Speaker and Congressman. THOMAS M. MARSHALL 192 Aggressive Campaigner Who Never Accepted Office. JOHN SCOTT 224 State Member of Legislature and United States Senator. Illustrations PAGE ROBERT W. MACKEY 256 State Treasurer and Great Party Leader. BENJAMIN HARRIS BREWSTER 272 Attorney-General of Pennsylvania, and of the United States. NEW STATE CAPITOL BUILDING 296 HENRY W. GRAY 304 Candidate for Senator at Special Election of 1872; Memorable Contest for His Seat. HENRY C.LEA 320 Prominent Philadelphia Publisher, and One of the Earliest Reform Leaders. WILLIAM H. ARMSTRONG 352 State Representative, Congressman and National Commissioner of Railroads. WILLIAM S. STOKLEY 368 City Councilman, Mayor of Philadelphia, 1870-79; Director of Public Safety, 1887-91. JOHN WELSH 384 President of Centennial Exhibition and Minister to England, 1877-79. Illustrations PAGE WILLIAM A. WALLACE 392 State Senator, United States Senator. FRANK MCLAUGHLIN 400 Founder and Publisher of " The Philadelphia Times." CYRUS L. PERSHING 430 State Representative, President Judge Who Con- victed " Molly Maguires." JOHN I. MITCHELL 441 State Representative, Congressman, United States Senator, Common Pleas Judge and Judge of the Superior Court. SYLVESTER BONNAFFON 456 Raised Regiment of Veterans in Two Days, 1877; Last Troops Discharged after Riots ; Cashier of Customs in Philadelphia. EDWIN LAURENTINE DRAKE 465 The Man Who Bored the First Oil Well in Penn- sylvania. J. DONALD CAMERON 480 United States Senator Four Times, and Secretary of War Under President Hayes. Illustrations PAGE HENRY M. HOYT 488 Governor, 1879-83; Soldier and Judge. ANDREW H. DILL 496 State Representative, Senator, Candidate for Gov- ernor in 1878, and United States Marshal. HENRY W. PALMER 504 Attorney-General and Representative in Congress. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK 512 Major-General Who Received Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg; Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army, and Candidate for President in 1880. Died in 1886. HENRY W. OLIVER 520 Leading Manufacturer, Pittsburg. Republican Nominee for United States Senator in 1881. GALUSHA A. GROW 528 Congressman, Speaker During First Congress of the War. Recalled to Congress after a Long Interval and Closed his Service Fifty-tv^o Years after his First Appearance. Illustrations PAGE ROBERT E. PATTISON 544 Comptroller of Philadelphia, and Governor of Penn- sylvania, 1883-1887, 1891-1895. LEWIS C. CASSIDY 560 Assemblyman, District Attorney and Attorney-Gen- eral, 1883-86. ANDREW CARNEGIE 568 Master of the Steel Industry of the World. MATTHEW S. QUAY 576 State Representative, Secretary to Governor Curtin, Military State Agent at Washington and United States Senator, three times ; died 1904. JOHN WANAMAKER 580 Prince of Merchants, Postmaster-General and Can- didate for Governor and United States Senator. WILLIAM F. HARRITY 584 Secretary of Commonwealth, 1891-95 ; Postmaster of Philadelphia, 1885-89, and Chairman of Demo- cratic National Committee, 1892. W. U. HENSEL 588 Attorney-General, 1891-95. President of the State Bar Association. Illustrations PAGE DANIEL H. HASTINGS 593 Adjutant-General and Governor from 1895 to 1899. BOIES PENROSE 600 State Representative and Senator, United States Senator, elected 1897 and re-elected 1903. WILLIAM A. STONE 608 Congressman and Governor, 1899-1903. CHRISTIAN L. MAGEE 612 City Treasurer of Pittsburg, and State Senator. SAMUEL W. PENNYPACKER 616 Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge and Governor, 1903-1907. HARMAN YERKES 624 State Senator, Common Pleas Judge of Bucks County, Candidate for Supreme Judge. PHILANDER C. KNOX 628 United States Attorney-General and since 1904 United States Senator. LIV. RANDALL AND WALLACE. The Varied Careers of the Two Great Democratic Leaders in Pennsylvania for Nearly a Generation — Both Were Weakened by Leading Opposing Factions Against Each Other — Leading Characteristics of the Two Men — Interesting Incidents of Their Factional Disputes — Wallace's Last Battle and Defeat Closely Followed Randall's Death. EIGHTEEN hundred and sixty-two brought to the front the two ablest of the Democratic leaders that Pennsylvania had for a full quarter of a century, after they became recognized Democratic factors in the politics of the State. These men were Samuel J. Randall, of Philadelphia, and William A. Wallace, of Clearfield. Wallace was elected to the senate in the fall of 1862, defeating Senator Louis W. Hall, of Blair, who had been elected in the same dis- trict three years before by a decided majority. Wallace served continuously in the senate for twelve years, when he resigned to accept the United States Senator- chip, to which he was elected in the legislative session of 1875. Soon after he entered the National Senate he was recognized by the Democrats as their leader of the body. After he had served his full term in Wash- ington he returned to the State senate, where he served until 1886, making sixteen years' service as State senator, and six years as United States Senator. Randall had served in the city councils, and was chosen in 1857 to fill an unexpired term in the State senate. I was first elected to the house the same year, and, although on opposing political sides, our acquain- tance of that session ripened into a friendship that lasted until he died, the father of the National House of 2— a (17) i8 Old Time Notes Representatives. He was chosen to Congress in 1862 from the First district of Philadelphia, composed of the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eleventh wards, defeating Webb, the Union candidate, by 1,447 majority. Randall and Wallace were equally able in the varied political conflicts they had to accept, but they were unlike in temperament and in method. Wallace's finely-chiseled face, surmounting his symmetrical, manly form, always appareled in scrupulous neatness, would attract the attention of any one meeting him; while Randall's strong face, of heroic mold, with his often-careless dress and shuffling step, might pass through the multitude without special observation, but those who took a careful view of his features would see determination and self-reliance very clearly portrayed. Of the two Wallace was much the greater organizer; indeed, for a quarter of a century after his entrance upon the political stage of Pennsylvania the Demo- cratic party had no leader who equaled or even approached Senator Wallace in the power of organiza- tion, while Randall was a fighter rather than a strat- egist. Wallace would methodically and in detail plan a battle and then fight it to a finish, while Randall was always ready for battle regardless of method or preparation. Randall was impulsive, while Wallace's Scotch-Irish courage was greatly tempered by dis- cretion. Both were fast friends and implacable ene- mies, and the greatest misfortune that befell these two men during nearly a quarter of a century of varying triumphs and defeats was the fact that they speedily became rival leaders, and their best energies were often entirely and desperately directed to the over- throw of each other. Each aimed at the mastery of the Democracy of Of Pennsylvania 19 the State, and great as they were, neither was great enough to understand that the State was quite great enough for two such men, and that they could and should be in harmony with each other. I served with both of them in the Legislature, and, regardless of all the mutations in political conflicts which at times made me support and at other times oppose them in their political struggles, the closest friendship was ever maintained between both of them and myself. I enjoyed the confidence of both, and in their many fac- tional conflicts both conferred with me with absolute freedom. On several occasions when they were about to engage in a factional struggle I brought them together in my oflice face to face, and appealed to them to pool their issues and cease their factional warfare. In every instance they left me after agreeing to do so, and in every instance the agreement, was broken within a very few days, and each accused the other of precipitating the breach. In point of fact they, like all factional leaders, had dependent followers who hoped to profit by the triumph of their chief, and harmony would have lessened their importance. A pointed illustration of the difiiculty of reconciling opposing factions was given in 1884, when Randall had wrested the control of the party from Wallace, and had made himself so strong as a candidate for the Presidency that Wallace was powerless to oppose hifn with any measure of success. W. U. Hensel, later attorney general under Governor Pattison, was then chairman of the Democratic State committee, and a short time before the Democratic State convention met at Allentown, in 1884, Randall and Hensel were in my editorial office discussing the situation, and I proposed to Randall that he should, without consulting Wallace, or asking any pledges whatever from him, place him 20 Old Time Notes at the head of the Randall delegation to the National convention. Randall's belligerent qualities asserted themselves with some violence at the suggestion, but Hensel heartily seconded the proposition, and Randall finally agreed that he would consider the matter fully and meet us again at dinner the same evening to decide it. Randall was very positive in the conviction that he should place his most devoted friends at the head of the delegation, but after discussing the matter he finally yielded reluctantly to the positive advice of Hensel and myself, and assented to Wallace as the head of the delegation. The plan was that it should be done without approaching Wallace on the subject, as even Randall had to confess that if Wallace accepted the position, as he certainly would, he would feel that his personal honor and manhood required him to make exhaustive effort for Randall's nomination. Wallace happened in my office on the following day. He spoke with some bitterness of the fact that the coming State convention would not be at all in sym- pathy with him. When I told him that he had been determined upon by Randall and his friends for the head of the Pennsylvania delegation to support Ran- dall for President, Wallace, on the impulse of the mo- ment, said it would be impossible for him to accept, but after a brief discussion of the matter he realized that it would be a high compliment to himself, and that in no way could he show his greatness more distinctly than by accepting the trust without condition and dis- charging his duties with the utmost fidelity. He left my office much gratified, but within forty-eight hours I received a curt letter from him stating that it was evidently meant to crucify him at Allentown by pre- senting and defeating him as a candidate for delegate- at-large, and advising me that the incident was closed. Of Pennsylvania 21 I wrote him in reply not to bother himself about the Allentown convention, for he would be unanimously elected, and that I knew he would be highly gratified not only at the expression of confidence from the con- vention, but by the manly performance of his duty as chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation. He was iinanimously elected, and I saw him at almost every stage of the conflict in Chicago, where he seemed to have but one inspiration, and that was to promote the nomination of Randall. His speech presenting Randall's name to the convention was one of the great- est and grandest of his life. When the delegates met at Chicago and were lined up on the Presidency, it finally became evident that Randall could not be nominated, as his views on the tariff were not acceptable to a large majority of his party. I doubt not that Wallace shed no tears over the failure to nominate Randall, but in every public and private effort relating to the nomination he was tireless and earnest in support of Randall. It would naturally be assumed that these two great leaders, when they were brought into such close rela- tions in 1884, would have ceased to be opposing fac- tional leaders, or at least had their factional hostility greatly tempered, but such was not the fact, and while Randall fully appreciated Wallace's manly exhibition of fidelity at Chicago, the battle of factions went on and continued until Randall's death on the thirteenth of April, 1890, when new political conditions arose over which neither could have exercised a mastery, and only a few months after Randall's death Wallace was defeated for Governor in the Democratic State conven- tion at Scranton. It was the final defeat that comes to almost every great leader, but he did not appreciate it fully until, after the election of Pattison, his successful competitor 22 Old Time Notes for the nomination, he found it impossible to command the attorney generalship of the State for himself. He was then broken in fortune, and his home, that he ever appreciated as the most sacred altar of his devotion, had long been shadowed by a most accomplished and beloved wife and mother groping her way through life by his side in the starless midnight of mental infirmity. Randall and Wallace had little opportunity for successful State leadership, as they came into political control after the Democratic party had committed the fatal mistake of a doubtful or hesitating attitude in support of the war, and the only hope of Demo- cratic triumph in the State was by defection in the ranks of the majority party. Wallace was for a number of years chairman of the Democratic State committee. He struggled against fearful odds to maintain a hopeful Democratic organi- zation. In the United States Senate he was soon accepted as altogether the ablest of the Democratic Senators in defining the policy of the party on all important questions, and he fully sustained the repu- tation he achieved. Randall became Speaker of the House after having first suffered a defeat at the open- ing of the session. With the aid of Wallace, then a United States Senator, Kerr, of Indiana, triumphed over Randall in the caucus, but Kerr died a few months thereafter and Randall was then successful, and he was twice re-elected to that responsible position. Randall was a thoroughly loyal Democrat during the war, and was in the three months' service with General Patterson as a member of the Philadelphia Troop. He ever exerted a most wholesome influence in restraining his party from its general trend to array itself in opposition to the war, and his devotion to a liberal protective policy that cost him the nomination for the Presidency in 1884, twice defeated his party Of Pennsylvania 23 in earnest efforts to return to a revenue tariff. After his retirement from the Speakership in 1880, he was made chairman of the committee on appropriations, where his strong integrity commanded the confidence and respect of all parties. His severe economy was often criticised, as he resolved all doubts against appro- priations and saved the Government many, many millions by his tireless efforts as watch dog of the treasury. It was chiefly through his efforts in the very closing hours of the session of Congress that General Grant was restored to the roll of the army as General, retired. Mr. Childs had been to New York and learned for the first time the exact character of the malady from which Grant was suffering, and that his life could not be pro- longed beyond a very few months at the most. It was just about the close of the Congressional session, and Mr. Childs urged me to proceed to Washington at once to present the matter to Randall, as without his aid it could not be accomplished. I hastened to Washing- ton, Randall took hold of it without delay and forced its passage through the House, and nearly, if not quite, the last act that President Arthur signed in the Execu- tive office, where the President usually attends at the close of Congress, was the act restoring Grant to the army roll, and the last communication sent to that Congress by President Arthur, even after the hour of adjournment, when the clock had been halted in mark- ing the flight of time, was a message sending Grant's nomination to the Senate, which was promptly and unanimously confirmed. Randall never enjoyed fortune. He lived most frugally on his salary as a member of Congress, but his services were so highly valued as a Philadelphia Congressman that a few business men, headed by Drexel and Childs, provided all the political expenses 24 Old Time Notes for his district from year to year, and when a fund was raised by Childs and Drexel just before Randall's death, to give a ver}^ moderate income to his family, he refused to assent to it, and I was again sent to Wash- ington by Mr. Childs to insist that he should not inter- pose against a gift to his wife and children, who would be left dependent. He was then on his deathbed with only a few days of life before him, and it was my last meeting with Randall until I stood beside his lifeless body at the tomb. He finally consented that, as the gift had no relation to public affairs, it might be carried into effect. The money was invested by Drexel to yield an annual income of $2,000, and, since his death, when some of the investments proved unfortunate, the full value was restored by the original contributors. The one impassable chasm between Randall and Wallace was the fact that both could not be President of the United States. Both were very earnest candi- dates for that position for a number of years, as I know from very many conferences with them on the subject, and each was constantly in conflict to repress the other. After Wallace retired from the United States Senate, Randall won the control of the party and became chair- man of the State committee. He held the position for several years, but he was not an organizer. He was a political fighter rather than a manager, and defeat came to him as it had come to Wallace, although Randall narrowly escaped the Presidential nomination in 1880 at Cincinnati. The convention was held in the balance for two days awaiting the final decision of Tilden, who would have been nominated by the con- vention had he not decided to withdraw. After delaying quite too long he sent a declination and advised the nomination of Randall, but it was too late. Of Pennsylvania 25 The Hancock feeling had been well managed and reached a tidal wave, and Randall fell through the indecision of his friends. Wallace never was presented for President by his State, as Randall was in 1884, but for fifteen years before his retirement from active participation in politics he always looked hopefully to his election, to the Presidency. Had Wallace been for Randall in 1880, as he was in 1884, Randall would have been nomi- nated and might have been elected, as Hancock was crucified by Tammany. Thus, in striving to accomplish the great ambition of their lives, the only thing that they accomplished in that line was to hinder the advancement of each other. In 1886 Wallace had retired from the United States Senate, only a few years before, and had decided to become a candidate for Governor. He explained his purpose to me, and I well understood that his chief inspiration in the movement was to obtain such posi- tion in the party as would indicate his continued mas- tery in the State. I suggested to him that there was no reason why he and Randall should be at war on the subject, and proposed that they should meet in my office together, and in a few days they were there to confer on the subject. Like all intensely inflamed factional leaders, they did many childish things in factional warfare, but I had a very plain talk with both of them, reminding them that they were lessening their own manhood and political importance by political conflicts, and I sug- gested to Randall that he should declare in favor of Wallace for Governor, to which he assented, and then, for the first and only time, as they shook hands at parting, I supposed the factional fight was ended, at least for a season. 26 Old Time Notes But within ten days, doubtless because of the vio- lence of the followers of both the party leaders, Ran- dall conceived that he had good cause to break the com- pact, and he fought out at the State convention at York one of the bitterest struggles of his life, where he succeeded in defeating Wallace for Governor and nomi- nating Chauncey F. Black. Wallace was greatly mortified at his defeat, and intensely embittered against Randall, but his own senatorial district, after his defeat for Governor, gave him a unanimous nomination, and next to a imani- mous re-election to the State senate. Important incidents in the lives of public men best illustrate their qualities. When Randall transferred his force and thus assured the nomination of Cleveland for President, in 1884, it was understood, if not more formally agreed to, that Randall should control the patronage of the administration in Pennsylvania if Cleveland succeeded, and as his friends and the friends of Wallace were at daggers' points in every locality, Randall was naturally inclined to appoint his friends and Oifend his Democratic opponents. He at first carried this policy to such an extent that a tempest of protest reached the President, and a somewhat tempered line of policy was accomplished by a rather interesting incident. He had recommended for post- master of Huntingdon a devoted follower of his against the candidate presented by ex-Congressman Speer and Senator McAteer, whose political control of the Democracy of the county was absolute. Randall succeeded in having Postmaster General Vilas endorse his candidate to the President. Speer called upon me and made an earnest appeal to save him if possible from such a fearful humiliation in his own home, that would practically destroy his usefulness in the party. I told him that I would give Of Pennsylvania 27 it immediate and earnest attention, as Randall's affront to Speer and McAteer was unpardonable, although forced upon him by his factional supporters. It happened that Randall was in Philadelphia on the day that Speer visited me, and called to see me early in the evening. I said nothing to him about Speer 's complaint, but asked him whether he would do me the favor to deliver a letter to the President in person as soon as he returned to Washington. He answered that he would certainly do so promptly. I wrote a brief letter to the President, stating that Randall had ad- vised the appointment of a postmaster in Huntingdon who was opposed by ex-Congressman Speer and Senator McAteer, the absolutely controlling leaders of the Democracy in both the town and county, and that if the appointment was made neither Randall nor Cleve- land would be likely to carry a delegate in that section of the State for some years. After writing the letter I said to Randall that I thought I should read it to him before it was given to him for delivery in person, and I read it. The masterful combativeness of his character was instantly exhibited in his strong face, but he made no other reply than that he would deliver the letter as he promised, and nothing further was said on the subject. Immediately on his return to Washington he called upon the President and delivered the letter. Natur- ally, the President was greatly surprised at its contents, and turning to Mr. Randall he inquired whether the statements were true. Randall said that he was not prepared to dispute them, to which the President answered that the contest for postmaster in Hunt- ingdon might be considered as settled, and Speer 's man was appointed. Wallace made his last battle in 1890, and his old rival was borne to his grave in the early part of the 28 Old Time Notes year. Wallace then believed the field to be clear for him, and in his methodical way he arranged to have Wallace men elected delegates in a majority of the counties of the State. He had little hope that he might be elected, but a nomination for Governor would rein- state him as the leader of the party. He many times visited and conferred with me on the subject, and was quite confident of success, but the granger movement then developed in huge proportions, the hayseeds of the rural districts stormed the Democracy, and a month before the meeting of the convention at Scran- ton it became evident to all but Wallace himself that even the tried followers of Wallace elected as delegates could not adhere to their chief and sustain themselves at home. Three weeks before the convention met I ventured to tell Wallace that he could not be nominated. He retorted angrily that he had a Wallace convention, and that no human power could take it from him. I said to him that I did not believe his success was possible, and I begged of him to make careful investiga- tion when the convention was about to meet and ascertain the precise situation. If he saw that defeat confronted him, I entreated him to enter the conven- tion as a delegate, nominate Pattison himself, and let the convention unanimously nominate him for United States Senator, as there was one to be elected. If the Democrats carried the Legislature he would be the Senator; if not, he could certainly be the attorney general. He dismissed the proposition summarily, and I did not see him again until the week before the election, when he returned from Europe and delivered his only address in the campaign in Philadelphia. Instead of facing and bowing to the situation at Scranton, he stood his ground sullenly, accepted defeat, and sailed for Europe a few days thereafter. When Of Pennsylvania ^9 abroad he was advised of the progress of the campaign and the probabiHty of Pattison's success. He returned just in time to deHver a single speech, and at a httle supper party after he had spoken, he stated to me his embarrassed financial condition, and expressed the earnest desire that he might be made attorney general ; but his opportunity and his power had passed away, and a few years later, when Randall and Wallace had struggled in ceaseless conflict for nearly a generation to climb the treacherous heights of political mastery, they ''sleep the'gither at the foot." 30 Old Time Notes LV. BUCKALEW ELECTED U. S. SENATOR. Democrats Elected Their State Ticket in 1862 and One Majority on Joint Ballot in the Legislature — A Bitter Struggle for the Senatorship — Cameron Claimed the Support of One or More Democrats, and Re- ceived the Republican Nomination — Charles R. Buckalew Nominated by the Democrats — Democratic Apprehension of a Repetition of the Lebo, Maneer and Wagenseller Defection That Elected Cameron in 1857 — Organized Rioters Crowded the Capitol and Declared That Any Democrat who Betrayed His Party Would not Leave the Hall Alive — Open Charge of Corruption Made Against Democratic Repre- sentative Boyer — Buckalew Elected by a Strict Party Vote — His Career in the Senate. THE election of 1862 was the first triumph the Democrats had achieved in Pennsylvania for five years. They had elected Packer Governor in 1857 with an overwhelming majority of the Legislature, but they were defeated in every con- test thereafter, until they won out in 1862, electing Slenker auditor general and Barr surveyor general by about 4,000 majority. The Unionists, as the Republicans were then called, had accumulated a very large majority in the senate, and held control of the body by nearly two to one even against the adverse vote of 1862. The Legislature stood 21 Republicans in the Senate to 12 Democrats, giving a majority of 9 to the Republicans, and the house stood 55 Democrats to 45 Republicans, giving the Democrats a majority of 10 in that body, and a majority of one on joint ballot. A United States Senator was to be elected and the closeness of the Legislature again brought Cameron into of Pennsylvania 31 the field, as he was a master manipulator of close or tangled Legislatures, having elected himself to the Senate to succeed Buchanan in 1845 as an Independent Democrat with the aid of the Whigs and bolting Cameron Democrats, and re-elected himself in the Democratic Legislature of 1857, when he defeated Forney by the votes of Lebo, Maneer and Wagenseller. David Wilmot had been elected to the Senate to succeed Cameron when Cameron retired from that body in 1 86 1, having two years to serve, and as he was the ablest of the Republican leaders, it was at first expected that he would receive the nomination of his party for re-election; but Cameron called a number of the Republican leaders in council and he informed them that if he received the Republican nomination and the solid Republican vote, he could command one or more Democratic votes and thus assure his election. Wilmot, who was above all things manly and frank, said that he could not be elected ; that he knew of no Democratic votes he could command, and did not believe that any Republican could break the Democratic lines. He stated, however, that he would not interpose his interests to embarrass Republican success, and if the leaders believed that they could elect a Republican Senator by taking Cameron, he was entirely satisfied that they should do so. The result was that Wilmot was retired from the contest; Cameron became an aggressive candidate and received the Republican nomination, and many believed he would be elected. The factional bitterness between the Curtin and Cameron wings of the party had not been in any degree tempered, and at an informal conference of four of the leading anti-Cameron members of the Legislature, which I was invited to attend, the whole matter was fully discussed and the four members declared that they had fully decided not to vote for Cameron and 32 Old Time Notes bring upon the party the stain of a corrupt election to the Senate if Cameron controlled one or more Demo- cratic votes. Two of those men, Thorne, of Philadel- phia, and Laporte, of Bradford, who were prominent among the Republican leaders, had organized the revolt and declared that the policy was to give no sign of their purpose to vote against Cameron imtil the roll was called for the election of Senator. With four members of the house thus positively and voluntarily pledged to defeat Cameron, his success was made abso- lutely impossible. Doubtless more could have been added to this list, but it was not deemed expedient to have it discussed, and the whole arrangement was made under a sacred obligation to secrecy. I doubt whether Cameron ever knew that such a movement had been consummated to defeat him, as the men who had decided to carry out the programme never discussed it outside of their own circle. There was no visible defection against Cameron in the Republican ranks, and Cameron threw himself into the contest, and exhausted his vast and varied powers of control to command one or more Democratic votes. The assertion was openly and positively made on every side by his friends that he had the necessary- Democratic support assured, and it soon became whis- pered that the Democratic vote upon which he relied for his election was that of Representative Boyer, of Clearfield, Boyer was silent on the subject for some time after his position had become discussed as a pos- sible or probable supporter of Cameron, but a condition speedily confronted him v/hich compelled him to define his position, and he finally did so by declaring that he had been offered a large sum of money, vari- ously stated at twenty or twenty-five thousand dollars, to vote for Cameron for Senator, and that he had apparently entertained the proposition solely, as he of Pennsylvania 33 alleged, to prevent Cameron from debauching other Democratic members of the Legislature; but the friends of Cameron, and those who had conducted the negotiation with Boyer, boldly declared that he had willingly entered into the compact, and would have executed it but for the fact that his life would have been imperiled if he had voted for Cameron. I do not assume to decide which of these explanations is the true one, but it was generally accepted at the time by those who viewed the conditions intelligently and dispassionately, that Boyer did not thus expose him- self to public scandal and general distrust simply to prevent Cameron from dealing with some other Demo- cratic member of the Legislature. It is due to Boyer to say that, thirteen years later, when Wallace was elected to the United States Senate, leaving an unex- pired term of one year in the State senate, Boyer was elected as his successor. The Democrats were greatly inspired to energetic action by the triumph they had achieved in the State after a series of defeats, and they well remembered how Cameron had been elected in a Democratic Legislature only six years before by diverting the votes of Lebo, Maneer and Wagenseller to the support of the Repub- lican caucus candidate; and at the first whisper of Cameron entering the field they assumed that their slender majority of one in the Legislature made the battle an inviting one for Cameron. There were a number of Democratic candidates for the Senatorship, but Charles R. Buckalew had so strongly entrenched himself in the confidence and respect of the Democrats of the State by his thoroughly honest, able and wise leadership in the senate, that he easily distanced his competitors, and was made the Democratic candidate for Senator with the hearty support of the entire party. There were no wounds within the Democratic house- 2—3 34 Old Time Notes hold, such as had been caused by the forced nomina- tion of Colonel Forney in 1857, and there was no shadow of excuse for any Democrat to desert his party. The Democratic leaders took time by the forelock, and long before the Legislature met the most emphatic declarations were made in every section of the State demanding that there should be a united party for Senator, and that if any Democratic senator or repre- sentative deserted his party to elect Cameron, he should be driven from the State, or made a stranger in his commtmity. In Philadelphia the expressions were even more belligerent, and as the reports came from Harrisburg after the Legislature met that Wilmot had been forced to yield the field to Cameron because Cameron had given assurance of commanding Demo- cratic votes, the more violent elements of the party were inflamed to revolutionary action, and meetings were held in Philadelphia where it was openly declared that no Democratic member of the Legislature should be permitted to escape from the hall of the house alive if he cast his vote for Cameron. This was not mere bravado; it was deliberately planned, and I speak advisedly when I say that it would have been executed regardless of consequences. A week before the day fixed for the election of Senator it was well known to all that a Democratic vote for Cameron would mean a violent death for the man who cast such vote. All professed to deplore violence in or about the hall of the Legislature, but fair-minded men could not but feel that the Democrats were not wholly to blame for resolving to gain the fruits of their ad- mitted victory in the State, or leave a bloody land- mark to deter all future Democratic apostates. I was in Harrisburg at the time, and was the senior military officer on duty as assistant adjutant general of the United States, but was engaged chiefly, if not wholly, Of Pennsylvania 35 in closing up the complicated affairs of the State draft that had been made several months before. I have seen many bitter conflicts in the Pennsylvania Legis- lature, but none that equaled the Cameron-Buckalew contest of 1863. Cameron's friends did not doubt that they had his election secured if their Democratic friends could be protected in deserting the party, but they also well understood, what was an open declara- tion on every street corner, that any Democrat who voted for Cameron would imperil his life. It was not only known that the Democrats meant to kill in the hall of the house any Democrat who voted for Cameron, but they knew that several organized bodies of men from Philadelphia, who had been assigned to the task, had accepted it and were more than ready for its execution. Such was the condition of affairs when Boyer made a public statement that he had been in apparent negotiation with the Cameron people for the sale of his vote, but that he had never intended to desert his party. A few days before the election of Senator, Governor Curtin had been called to Pittsburg in the performance of important public duties, and he sent for me before he left for Pittsburg, and informed me that he was advised of the purpose of Cameron's friends to call upon him and demand that he protect the Legislature by a military force. He told me that he would not be back in time to dispose of the proposition, and it would naturally come to me, as I was the military command- ant of the city. He asked my views on the subject, and I promptly answered that if a military force was to be thrown in and about the Legislature, he would have to summon the militia to perform that duty, as I would not permit any military force that I could command to commit such a violent exercise of military power. The Governor was entirely satisfied with my answer, 36 Old Time Notes and as he knew that I was quite wilHng to accept the responsibihty, he was content that the issue should be left to be disposed of by me from a military standpoint. Cameron called upon me and informed me that he could be elected United States Senator if the members of the Legislature were protected in voting as they wished to vote. I, of course, knew that he had no chance whatever of election, even if he obtained two or three Democratic votes, but I could not give him any information on that point. He made a most earnest appeal to me to assent to the announcement that a military force would protect the members of the Legislature in voting for United States Senator and protect them also from violence after they had left the hall. I answered Cameron, as I had answered the Governor, that I would never permit the gleam of the bayonet in the legislative halls to intimidate or protect legislators in the discharge of their duties, and that such an atrocious violation of the fundamental prin- ciples of civil government was not a question even to be discussed. There was no bitterness exhibited by either in the full discussion of the question, but he was most persistent in urging me to assure his election by order- ing the military force to take possession of the Capitol. I knew how hopeless the effort was, even under the most favorable conditions, as he viewed it, but I was not at liberty to express any views as to the defection in his own party. He undoubtedly believed that a military force to protect all who entered the hall of the house would assure his election, and it was only natural that he should feel greatly disappointed and grieved at my refusal to assent to his programme. After a conference of more than an hour Cameron left me without any exhibition of temper, but he certainly felt then that I was the one insuperable obstacle to his election to the Senate. Of Pennsylvania 37 It was known to all the next day that the civil authority of the State would not be put under any restraint or offered any protection in the election of the Senator, and that practically ended the contest. Until then Cameron's friends were all absolutely certain that he would win. Several hundred men from Phila- delphia had come to Harrisburg solely for the purpose of making it impossible for a Democrat to vote for Cameron, and when they found that there would be no interference by the military, declarations could be heard in any of the hotels or on any of the street comers that the Democrat who voted against his party would never emerge from the hall of the house alive. The declarations were not only made, but the men who made them meant just what they said. The Demo- crats had control of the house, and with the officers of the body subject to the orders of Democratic leaders they had absolute control of the spectators to be ad- mitted to witness the Senatorial election. It is need- less to say that the ''killers" and ''bouncers" from Philadelphia were given the advantage of positions in the house, and they were very earnestly determined on the immediate death of any Democratic member who voted for Cameron. They knew that Boyer would vote for Buckalew, but they remembered that, when Cameron was elected over Forney, Lebo, Maneer and Wagenseller were not even suspected by the Democrats until they cast their votes on the ballot for Senator. They had no knowl- edge of the determinedly organized opposition to Cam- eron within the Republican lines; they assumed, as they had every reason to assume, that Cameron would receive the united Republican vote, and they were apprehensive that the Cameron Democratic vote might come from a wholly unexpected quarter. It would have come, I did not then doubt, and I do not now 38 Old Time Notes doubt, but for the fact that every Democratic member of the Legislature well knew that he could hope to live over the day only by voting for Buckalew. The hall was crowded to suffocation, but the Demo- cratic officers of the house had taken care that sufficient of the Democrats who might be needed in an emergency should be admitted. George V. Lawrence, of Washing- ton, was speaker of the senate and presided over the joint convention, and by his side, on the speaker's stand, was John Cessna, Democratic speaker of the house. Lawrence was an accomplished parliamentarian, and heartily supported Cameron. He doubtless completely iinderstood the situation, and knew when he called the convention to order that Cameron's election was im- possible solely, as he believed, because the Democrats who would be willing to vote for Cameron could do so only at the sacrifice of their lives. There was profound silence in the hall when the clerk of the senate began the roll call of the members, and it continued unbroken as the clerk of the house proceeded to call the roll of representatives. There was not an expression from any one until the name of Representative Schofield, of Philadelphia, was called. He was a fearless and rather dramatic character, and he responded by rising in his place and saying that in the face of an offer of $100,000 to vote against his party, he cast his vote for Charles R. Buckalew. Thome and the other Republi- can members of the house who had made the compact to defeat Cameron's election voted for him, as they knew that no Democrat would support him, with the exception of Bartholomew Laporte, who had become so thoroughly disgusted with the Cameron contest that he voted against him. After roll call the vote was tabulated and Speaker Lawrence announced that Charles R. Buckalew had received a majority of votes and was elected United States Senator. As soon as Of Pennsylvania 39 the election of Buckalew was announced the crowd broke out of the hall of the house, and from that time until long after the midnight hour the roystering Dem- ocratic element that had come to Harrisburg expecting, and rather wishing, to carve out a record that would make future Democratic apostates impossible, made their cheers echo throughout every part of the city. Charles R. Buckalew was one of the ablest men of the Democratic leaders of his time. He was not an organizer, he had little or no knowledge of political strategy, and was entirely unfitted for the lower strata methods of modern politics. He came to the senate in 1852 hardly known outside of his own district; he was singularly quiet and unobtrusive in manner, and never in any way sought to exploit himself. He won his position in the party solely by the great ability he possessed, his practical efficiency in legislation, and the absolute purity of his character. He was ordinarily a cold, unimpassioned speaker, but eminently logical and forceful. Only on a very few occasions did I ever see him aroused to the exhibition of emotion in public debate. He took the floor only when there seemed to be a necessity for it, and always brief and incisive in the expression of his views while presenting his arguments. Had he entered the National Senate under different conditions he would have made a more creditable record in that body, but during his entire six years of service his party was in a pitiable minority, and with his old-school Democratic ideas he could not advance with the new revolutionary conditions which surrounded and overwhelmed him. Buckalew was an old-time Democratic strict con- structionist, and he had no sympathy with the violent advances precipitated by war or the overthrow of slavery, by methods as violent in politics as were the 40 Old Time Notes deadly struggles in the field to sustain it. He com- manded the universal respect of his Republican asso- ciates in the senate, and the unswerving confidence of his own party in State and country. In 1872, when the Democrats had every prospect of electing a Gover- nor, because of the Liberal Republican movement, they nominated Buckalew without a serious contest, and that meant that the party wanted Buckalew rather than that Buckalew wanted the ofhce. He was not capable of manipulating the nomination for himself, and he was made a candidate solely because the party preferred him and presented him as the strongest and cleanest standard bearer that could be offered to the people. He accepted the nomination and spoke in a number of the leading centers of the State, but did not attempt a systematic canvass. The collapse of the Liberal Republican and Democratic coalition at the October elections is well remembered, and Buckalew fell in the race. Later he was elected to Congress, where he served two terms, and that ended his public career. In both the National Senate and House he seldom participated in debate, but was a most faithful and efficient practical worker in all matters relating to legislation. Soon after his retire- ment the work of a highly honorable and useful life was ended, and he crossed the dark river to the echoless shore beyond. of Pennsylvania 41 LVI. CURTIN RENOMINATED FOR GOVERNOR. Curtin's Broken Health Made his Retirement an Apparent Necessity — Curtin Movement to Nominate General Franklin, a Loyal Democrat, to be Supported by Both Parties, Rejected by the Democrats — Curtin Tendered a First-Class Mission by President Lincoln to Enable Him to Retire from the Contest — Interesting Interview with Lincoln by Cameron, Forney and the Author — Republican People Refuse to Accept his Withdrawal, and a Number of the Leading Counties Instructed for Him — He Was Renominated on the First Ballot. AS SOON as the desperate contest for the United States Senator had ended in January, 1863, the consideration of the gubematorial con- test was the absorbing topic in political circles. It was not doubted at any time that Governor Cartin could command a renomination from the Republican party regardless of the opposition of Cameron, but two very important considerations made him and his friends take pause. He had been suffering for m.ore than a year from a malady that required severe and exhaus- tive surgical operations, and his devotion to his exacting political duties never gave him opportunity to regain his strength. In the spring of 1863 there was every indication of a general and final breakdown of his physical system, and all felt that it was not possible for him to assume the responsibility and labors of another State battle for the Governorship. It would not have been possible for him to make a canvass of the State, and the general conviction of his friends was that if he accepted the nomination and attempted to make the fight, he would not survive the struggle. 42 Old Time Notes The other consideration was one that was also a very grave one for himself and his friends to consider. Even with a thoroughly united party he could hardly hope to command success, and with Cameron's implaca^ ble hostility there was no reasonable prospect of his re-election. Our soldiers were disfranchised unless they could be furloughed home to vote, and with 75,000 Pennsylvania soldiers in the field, a very large majority of whom would support Curtin, and denied the right of suffrage, the contest appeared to be utterly hope- less. Curtin fully realized the gravity of both con- siderations, which forbade an acceptance of a renomina- tion, and he was very earnestly desirous to be able to retire from office at the end of his term and have a successor who would be thoroughly loyal in his devo- tion to the cause of the government in its struggle against armed rebellion. He felt that the question of placing Pennsylvania in the attitude of giving the highest measure of moral and material support to the government was paramount to all party interests, and had the Democrats of Pennsylvania accepted his sug- gestion, they would have had a Democratic Governor as his successor, and the party would have been planted on a platform of unquestioned loyalty to the Union. General William B. Franklin had won distinction in the army as a corps commander under McClellan. He was a native of Pennsylvania, a pronounced Demo- crat and earnestly loyal. When the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps was organized in 1861, Curtin first offered the command of that corps to General Mc- Clellan, who was then employed as a railroad engineer in Ohio, but on the very day that Curtin 's invitation had reached him, the Governor of Ohio had asked him to accept a major generalship and take command of a number of Ohio regiments then just organized, and the Legislature had in a very few minutes passed an Of Pennsylvania 43 act making him eligible, notwithstanding he was not a citizen of the State. McClellan had given his con- sent to accept the Ohio command, and was thus com- pelled with great reluctance to decline the command of the Reserve Corps. Curtin then offered the command to Franklin, who had just been promoted to a colonelcy in the regular army, but as the government had refused to accept the Reserves in immediate service, Franklin felt compelled to decline it, as it would retire him from active operations in the field. The command was then given to General McCall. When the question of Curtin 's candidacy was being very carefully considered by himself and his friends, I received an urgent despatch from him to come to Harrisburg, and I arrived at the Executive mansion in the evening. He told me that his purpose in sending for me was to inaugurate a movement for the nomina- tion of General Franklin as a candidate for Governor on a non-partisan platform. He believed that as there was no question of Franklin 's devotion to Democ- racy the Dem.ocrats would be glad to accept him, and Curtin 's plan was that the Republicans should endorse the nomination, and thus bring the two great parties in Pennsylvania to the support of the war in solid phalanx. It was a grand, patriotic conception, and one that I believed, as Curtin did, the Democrats would be williiig to accept, and there would have been no serious difficulty in securing for Franklin the endorse- ment of the Republicans. Franklin would have made a model Governor, and his election would have relieved the Democrats of the last vestige of disloyalty and greatly strengthened them for future contests. It was decided to call into private consultation a number of the Democratic leaders, and if possible get them enlisted in the Franklin movement, but we were both surprised at the opposition at once developed 44 Old Time Notes throughout the Democratic circles. The Democrats believed that they could elect the next Governor, because of the absence of the soldiers from the polls, and there were a number of earnest candidates, embrac- ing Judge Woodward, of the supreme court ; ex-Speaker Hopkins, of Washington; ex-Speaker Cessna, of Bed- ford ; Senator Clymer, of Berks, and half a dozen others who were most prominent on the surface. I was utterly amazed to learn that not one of the potential leaders of the party was willing to accept Franklin, and the chief objection to him was that his views on the war did not accord with the dominant sentiment of the party. It was a great opportunity for the Democracy of Pennsylvania, but the Democracy that had favored and prosecuted every war in which the country was engaged, and boasted that it was the war party of the country, was greatly demoralized and weakened in its most vital quality, and it could not throw its powerful energies into the support of the war for the maintenance of the Union. Its great leadership was dwarfed and paralyzed, and a very large proportion of even the more intelligent Democratic people of the State be- lieved that the war must finally be ended by compro- mise, as the South could not be conquered into sub- mission to a reunion of the States. I conferred with Cassidy, who was then a great power in the Democratic organization of the State, and who was thoroughly up-to-date, not only in polit- ical management, but in complete knowledge of his party. His answer was very significant, as he said that the Democrats would not accept Franklin solely because it was the wise thing for them to do. He declared that the Democratic leaders had lost their power and were political suicides. In conference with Cessna he admitted the force of the argument in favor of Franklin, but as Cessna had been pronounced in his Of Pennsylvania 45 loyal support of the Government, and as the Governor- ship was the one dream of his life, he was unwilling to retire from the contest in favor of Franklin, when, as he put it, his own election would be just as pro- noimced a victory for loyalty as that of Franklin. It soon became evident that the Franklin scheme must be abandoned, and he was dropped out of the contest without his name ever having been in public discussion as a gubernatorial expectant. Franklin had no knowl- edge of the movement until after it had been abandoned. He told me later that he would have accepted the position because of the high honor it brought to him, but that personally he was very glad he would not be called from active service to civil life. After the Franklin episode it was evident to all that the battle for the next gubernatorial election would be a square struggle between the two parties in the State, and Curtin was very anxious to find some method by which he could retire without discredit. The delegates were being elected from week to week, and in most instances were instructed for him, but he still hoped that some conditions would arise by which he could escape the responsibility and labors of the campaign. Soon after Franklin's name had been dropped I received a message from Mrs. Curtin to come to Har- risburg at once, and I was with the Governor and his family the same evening. I was surprised to learn from Mrs. Curtin, the first opportunity she had to inform me on the subject, that she had sent for me without the knowledge of the Governor, and that she wished to have a talk with me alone. When an opportunity presented she said that she had viewed with great anxiety the efforts made to have the Governor retire from the gubernatorial contest, but now she saw that his nomination was almost certain to be made, and that he would not decline it even though he felt that it 46 Old Time Notes would be likely to cost him his life. He was in a very feeble condition, and Mrs. Curtin said it would not be possible for him to accept the struggle of another cam- paign and survive. She pleaded with me with tears scalding her cheeks to find some method by which the Governor could be at once relieved from his position as a candidate, as it was a constant source of vexation and aggravated his illness. Later in the evening I had opportunity to confer with the Governor alone and told him frankly what Mrs. Curtin had done and said, and I added that she was entirely right, and that he must in some way be retired from the field as a gubernatorial candidate. He suggested that if a foreign mission were tendered to him it would be a plausible excuse for his retirement in view of broken health, and added that I might find some way of bringing that about. I said to him that I would go to Washington at once, and did not doubt it could be accomplished if he would permit me to do it in my own way. He agreed to leave the matter entirely in my hands, and I went to Washington on the night train. I had no settled plan of action until I reached Washington. I had decided to confer with Forney, through whom I hoped that Cameron could be brought into co-operation with the arrange- ment. If I had intimated to Curtin that I contem- plated any relations with Cameron, he would have for- bidden it. I called at Forney's private office in the old building on Capitol Hill, where he often entertained friends, and where Cameron often went for a rest in the afternoon, as the relations between Cameron and Forney were then very friendly. I told Forney of my mission, and the necessities which had inspired it. It was necessary for Curtin to be retired, first, because he could not survive the battle, and second, because his election seemed doubtful in view of the Pennsyl- Of Pennsylvania 47 vania soldiers in the field and the factional hostility that would be arrayed against Curtin. Forney was very warmly attached to Curtin and very cordially assented to the suggestion that he should be retired by the offer of a mission, and thus harmonize the party on a candidate who would not be offensive to any fac- tional interests in the State. I suggested that I be- lieved Cameron would favor the movement, as he woiild be gratified to have Curtin out of the Governorship, and also gratified to have him out of the State. Forney responded that Cameron would doubtless approve of it, and said that he could be called at once, as he was lying down upstairs in one of his rooms. Cameron was sent for and appeared in a few minutes. The matter was presented to him by both Forney and myself, and he said that he very heartily approved of the suggestion. I said to him frankly that he wanted Curtin out of the field because he was not his friend, and that I wanted him out of the field because I was his friend, and asked him to go with Forney and myself at once to the President and present the matter to him, to which both Forney and Cameron assented. Forney ordered a carriage and we went directly to the White House, where we found Lincoln alone. He was quite amazed to see Cameron, Forney and myself come together, as it was seldom that we were entirely in accord on any of the many political disputes which were before him. I stated the situation in Pennsyl- vania to the President with entire frankness, telling him that Curtin was too ill to survive the struggle, that his election was certainly doubtful because of the political conditions in our State and the absence of the soldiers from the polls, and that if he could tender Ctirtin a mission at the end of his term, so that public announcement could be made of it, it would entirely eliminate him from the race, and the factional bitter- 48 Old Time Notes ness of the State would not enter into the contest. Lincoln had a very high appreciation of Curtin and thoroughly understood the conditions. He said of course he would not offer Curtin anything but a first- class mission, to which Cameron replied that a second- class mission would serve the purpose, but I answered Cameron by stating that if a second-class mission was to be considered for Curtin, the conference was ended. Lincoln's face brightened as it always did when his love of humor asserted itself, and he said that he had but four first-class missions, all of which were filled by men who very much wanted to remain in them, and he added that he was much in the condition of Sheridan, the celebrated Englishman, whose rakish son had brought scandals about himself and his father. The father remonstrated with him about his life and in- sisted that he should take a wife, to which the young rake answered: "All right, father, but whose wife shall I take?" He said he wanted a mission, but whose mission should he take? After some further conversation on the subject, Lincoln said that we could consider the suggestion as accepted and it would be carried out. He said that he did not yet know in what form he would put it, but if I would call back again in the morning he would give a formal answer that would be satisfactory to all. We retired soon after, and the next morning when I called on the Presi- dent, he handed me a letter in his own hand-writing to be delivered to Governor Curtin. The letter was as follows: Executive Mansion, Washington, April 13, 1863. Hon. Andrew G. Curtin: My Dear Sir: — If, after the expiration of your present term as Governor of Pennylvania, I shall continue in office here, and you shall desire to go abroad, you can do so with one of the first-class missions. Yours truly, A. Lincoln. Of Pennsylvania 49 I returned to Harrisburg by the first train and delivered Lincoln's letter to Curtin. He was greatly delighted, and at once had me prepare a statement for the Associated Press announcing that the President had tendered to Governor Curtin a first-class mission at the expiration of his term; that he had notified the President of his acceptance of the position, and that he would not, therefore, be a candidate for re-election as Governor. The announcement was a regular bomb- shell to the earnest Republicans of the State, who were enthusiastically devoted to Curtin, and, to the surprise of both Curtin 's friends and foes, within a few days thereafter half a dozen of the leading Republican coun- ties of the State, including Lancaster and Chester, elected their delegates and instructed them to support Curtin for Governor regardless of his announced retirement. At the meeting with the President the question of who should take Curtin 's place as the Republican candi- date for Governor was freely discussed by Lincoln, Cameron, Forney and myself, although I did not intro- duce the subject. Forney suggested that John Covode would be the most available candidate, to which Cameron cordially assented, and after considerable discussion all agreed that the nomination of Covode would be almost certain to be generally accepted. I had informed Curtin on my return of the views ex- pressed as to Covode, and he at once said that he had no objection whatever to Covode 's candidacy, and would heartily support him. Senator Ketchum, of Luzerne; ex-Congressman Henry D. Moore, of Phila- delphia; Senator John P. Penny, of Allegheny, and several others were at once pressed into the field by their friends, but the Republican counties continued to demand Curtin 's nomination, notwithstanding his definite announcement that he was no longer in the race, and the pressure became so urgent for Curtin 's Old Time Notes acceptance that the several opposing candidates for the place could make no progress. Large committees were appointed in many of the counties to visit the Governor in person at Harrisburg and demand his acceptance of the nomination. Curtin repeated his declarations that his condition of health forbade him accepting further contests, but to all his protests the Republicans of the State turned a deaf ear, and within ten days of the meeting of the convention it had become evident that Curtin would be nominated in disregard of his public declination. He came to Chambersburg to spend a day or two with me and decide in what manner he should meet the new emer- gency that confronted him. He was entirely convinced that he ought not to accept the nomination, because his defeat would be quite probable, and because his health was such that he would be compelled either to let the contest go by default or sacrifice his life in the struggle to save himself and the party; but he was profoundly appreciative of the sentiment that demanded his nomination after he had publicly declined and in a manner that should have been entirely satisfactory to his personal friends. The question then to be decided was whether, after the convention had nominated him, he would answer with a peremptory declination, or bow to the judgment of the party and accept the issue with all its seriously threatened consequences. I very earnestly urged him to announce that he could not, under any circum- stances, accept the nomination, as I believed that he owed it to himself, his family and his friends to do so, but he did not reach a final decision until within an hour before he left me. We had sat up until after the midnight hour, going over every phase of the question, and while at breakfast he announced that he had reached a definite conclusion, and that if nominated, Of Pennsylvania 51 he could not reject such a generous expression of devotion from the people of the State. Our county delegation had been chosen soon after his declination, and I had declined to serve as a dele- gate. I told him that I would obtain a substitution from one of our delegates and attend the convention, which I did. The convention met in Pittsburg, the hotbed of opposition to Curtin, and it was intensely inflamed by the old railroad war and Curtin 's approval of the repeal of the tonnage tax. It was publicly announced that if Curtin 's name was presented to the convention in Pittsburg it would be hissed and jeered by the galleries, and the statement was not entirely unwarranted. It was an unusually able convention with Mann, MacVeagh, Dickey, Judge Maxwell, Tom Marshall, Lawrence and many others who stood in the front of Republican leadership, and the opposition to Curtin, although a scattered and feeble minority, was intensely bitter in the struggle. At the first session of the body when Curtin 's name was mentioned it was hissed and jeered, but Tom Marshall, himself a delegate from Pittsburg, arose and apologized for the black- guards who had, in some way, found their way into the lobby, and gave notice that if there was any repetition of insult to the convention when any name was men- tioned he would at once move to have the gallery cleared, as a matter of justice to Pittsburg. There were no more offensive demonstrations from the gallery. Curtin 's friends had scrupulously avoided all provoca- tion and reached a ballot as speedily as possible. Covode, seeing that his case was hopeless, did not per- mit the use of his name, and the ballot resulted in 90 for Curtin, 18 for Moore, 14 for Penny, 3 for Brewster and I for Moorehead. The opposition moved for the unanimous nomination of Curtin, and it was received with the wildest enthusiasm. UNIVERSITY OF flLflVmr 52 Old Time Notes LVII. CURTIN RE-ELECTED GOVERNOR. Justice George W. Woodward Nominated for Governor by the Democrats When Lee Was Approaching Gettysburg — From the Democratic Standpoint He Was Their Strongest Candidate — The Union Vic- tories of Gettysburg and Vicksburg Decided the Contest of 1863 — Chairman MacVeagh's Adroit HandHng of the Soldier Element — Soberness of Political Discussion in 1863 — Woodward Defeated and Curtin Re-elected — Woodward's Distinguished Career. THE issue of the memorable gubernatorial con- test of 1863 was irrevocably decided by the repulse of Pickett's charge and the retreat of Lee's army from the battlefield of Gettysburg. It was not fully understood at the time, nor indeed at any period during the contest, that the mandate for Curtin 's re-election came from the decisive battle- field of the Civil War, but it was none the less the truth. Had Lee's campaign in Pennsylvania been crowned with any important measure of success it would have been accepted very generally in the North that the war was likely to be indefinitely continued, with none able to foretell the final result with any degree of certainty; but when, on the Fourth of July, 1863, General Meade announced the retreat of Lee's army, and General Grant announced the surrender of Vicksburg, the con- fidence of the loyal people of the country was greatly strengthened, and the feehng was very general that the military power of the Rebellion was broken, assuring the overthrow of the Confederacy. The readers of the present day who did not live during the appalling trials of the war can have no just concep- tion of the dark clouds of doubt and despair which Of Pennsylvania 53 hung over the North until after the victories of Meade and Grant in 1863. The Army of the Potomac had fought battle after battle, and suffered defeat in every struggle, with the single exception of the drawn battle of Antietam, and Grant had been twice repulsed at Vicksburg when he had attempted to carry the enemy's works by assault. So strong was the feeling in some of the great centers of the North that New York city was plunged into bloody riots, with anarchy reigning for days because of the attempt to enforce the National conscription law, and the Mollie Maguire combination in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania was not entirely alone in the disposition to resort to revolutionary measures against the further prosecution of the war. When the enemy was on the border, with a large army threatening the invasion of the North, I saw regiments march away from the front to enforce submission to the law in the Schuylkill region. Congress had just enacted an effective National conscription law, and that was an invitation to all who were willing to accept violent measures against the government to precipitate their action. In fact until the defeat of Lee at Gett3^s- burg, and his retreat to his old battle lines of Virginia, there did not seem to be a ray of hope for the election of a Republican Governor in Pennsylvania with 75,000 Pennsylvania soldiers disfranchised. The Democratic State convention met in Harris- burg when the thunders of Lee's guns were heard on the border in the Cumberland Valley. It was a great opportunity for the Democrats to give General Frank- lin a unanimous nomination, as it would have empha- sized the attitude of the party and relieved it of the crushing millstone of actual or apparent disloyalty that always more or less hindered Democratic success. It was one of the ablest conventions the Democrats ever held in the State, and it is safe to say that nine- 54 Old Time Notes tenths of the delegates cherished the conviction that the Union could not be restored by force of arms. They believed the abolishment of slavery by Lincoln's emancipation proclamation was an utter impossibility, not only because it did not abolish slavery, but also because they regarded it as a brutum fulmen, entirely without constitutional or legal warrant. They well understood that they could not put them- selves in the attitude of open hostility to the war and the soldiers engaged in it, and they gave a diplomatic deliverance declaring in favor of the maintenance of the Union, with emphatic protest against the lawless war policy of the government. They believed that peace would come in the end only by a union based on compromise, or by the absolute severance of the South as an independent government. It was only natural and logical that such a conven- tion, with such convictions and environment, would call for the ablest representative of the Democratic party of the time as the candidate for Governor, and in that position George W. Woodward, of Luzerne, then a justice of the supreme court, stood foremost of all the Democratic leaders of the State. He was nominated for Governor, receiving 75 votes to 53 for Heister Clymer and 5 for Nimrod Strickland, and every member of the convention confidently expected him to be elected by a large majority. He was chosen because he was confessedly among the ablest, if not the ablest, of the Democratic jurists of the State, as it was believed that when the period of the close of the war was reached the gravest constitutional and legal questions would be presented to him for solution, and Judge Woodward was regarded as the man of all others in the Democratic party to meet such emer- gencies. When the Democratic leaders had decided not to Of Pennsylvania 55 unite with the Republicans and make common cause with the loyal supporters of the government, Judge Woodward was altogether the strongest candidate that could have been presented. He was a man of most imposing presence, his symmetrical form and finely chiseled face towering above his associates, sternly honest alike in conviction and action, genial in intercourse with others, the peer of any in judicial or political disputation, and accomplished in all the graces of a gentleman. Such was the candidate pre- sented by the Democrats of Pennsylvania to succeed Curtin in 1863, and the two distinguished competitors for the highest trust of the Commonwealth most clearly and distinctly represented the opposing political convictions of the people. The leaders of both sides fully appreciated the fact that the judgment of Penn- sylvania between the two great parties in 1863 would be decisive as to the dominating political power of the State for years to come. The victories of Vicksburg and Gettysburg had re- inspired the Republicans of the State to confidence in the final success of the war for the restoration of the Union, and they at once rallied with earnest and often desperate energy for the great battle that was before them. To Wayne MacVeagh, of West Chester, since foreign minister and National cabinet officer, was assigned the responsible task of chairman of the Republican State committee. His appointment was at first ridiculed by the Democratic leaders as the advent of a sophomoric political amateur, but he proved himself to be more than equal to the vast re- sponsibilities imposed upon him. Instead of being the figurehead that his opponents had declared him to be, he at once settled down to hard work and soon had the party of the State under the highest organization and discipline. His familiarity with the public men 56 Old Time Notes of the political centers of the State made him a master in directing the details of the struggle. He was aided by experienced men of tireless energy, and the organi- zation of the party in every township of the State was speedily accomplished. It required little more than intelligent and judicious direction, as never in any political contest that I recall were the people of both parties so soberly earnest in political effort. When the home organization was thus perfected, a great work, and the only one that gave promise of success, was systematically undertaken and carried out with a degree of perfection that has never been surpassed in political management. The 75,000 sol- diers in the field were generally devoted to Curtin. They had learned to accept him and speak of him as the "Soldiers' Friend." Every Pennsylvanian in the field, however humble, who addressed the Governor on any subject, however trivial, received a prompt answer bearing the Governor's signature, and always heartily aiding the soldier's wishes or fully explaining why they could not be acceded to. The Pennsylvania soldier sick or wounded in a hospital, even though far off in the Southwest, felt the sympathetic touch of Curtin '.s devotion to the soldiers by the kind ministrations of the Governor's special agents assigned to the task of caring for the helpless in the field. He had announced his purpose to have the State declare the orphans of our fallen soldiers to be the wards of the Commonwealth, a promise that was more than generously fulfilled, and the Pennsylvania soldiers killed on the field, or dying from sickness or wounds, were always taken possession of by officials representing the patriotic philanthropy of the Governor, and their bodies brought home at the expense of the State, for sepulture with their loved ones at home. Thus had Curtin not only won the personal affection of Pennsylvania 57 of Pennsylvania soldiers by his practical devotion to their interests, but he was known to be in earnest sympathy with their cause, and even Democratic soldiers, of whom there were many, believed that the issue directly affected their attitude as soldiers and the care of the State for themselves and their families, and their party prejudices largely perished. These Pennsylvania soldiers were disfranchised when the "Soldiers' Friend" was upon trial before the people of the State for the continuance of his loyal and humane administration. The election was held early in Octo- ber, a period very favorable for military operations, and it was not possible to expect any considerable number of them to be furloughed home to vote. The great problem of the campaign that Chairman MacVeagh had to solve was how to bring the influence of the disfranchised soldiers in the field into practical effect upon the fathers, brothers and immediate friends at home. There were very few families in the State which were not more or less directly interested in individual solders in the field. Most of them had fathers, sons or brothers offering their lives in the flame of battle for the preservation of the Union, and the hearts of every one at home, of fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, were ever thoughtful of their friends at the front, and ready to do anything within their power to add to their comfort and strengthen their hopes of success. One of the duties performed by Chairman MacVeagh 's committee was to ascertain every Democratic family that was immediately represented in the field, and there were thousands of Pennsylvania soldiers, officers and pri- vates, who needed no special appeal to make them take up the cause of the ''Soldiers' Friend" in the contest. In their midst around the campfire the question was discussed by the Pennsylvania soldiers, and certainly 58 Old Time Notes three-fourths of them sent home the most urgent appeals to their fathers, brothers and friends to vote to sustain the patriotic and philanthropic Governor of the State as a matter of duty in support of the sol- diers' cause. Not only did the soldiers appeal to the members of their immediate families, but to their many personal friends whom they knew at home, and the result was a mute but omnipotent expression from our soldiers in the field to their relatives and friends at home, that turned the scales and made Pennsylvania, with not less than 30,000 majority of Democratic voters at the polls, re-elect Curtin by over 15,000 majority. Curtin had also strengthened his cause with the soldiers by pressing upon the Legislature of 1863, that had adjourned before he was renominated, an amend- ment to the State Constitution, authorizing the soldiers to vote in the field, and it had been passed by both branches, but without cordial support from the Demo- cratic party. It was well understood that if the Re- publicans carried the Legislature at the election of 1863, the new Legislature, to meet in January, 1864, would pass the proposed amendment the second time, as re- quired by the fundamental law, and thus bring about the right of the soldiers to vote in the field. The Re- publicans carried the Legislature along with Curtin; the proposed amendment to the Constitution relating to soldier suffrage was promptly passed and a special election called by the Legislature for its ratification by the people in midsummer, so that at the Presidential election of 1864 the soldiers were given the right of stif- frage in the field. Governor Curtin was physically unable to make a general campaign of the State, but he made a few brief speeches, and the desire to see and hear him was such that when an appointment was announced for him in Of Pennsylvania 59 any part of the State, the people as a rule came regard- less of party, and his broken health, that was so visible to all, aroused his friends to tireless action in his behalf to relieve him as far as possible from the necessity of exhausting his enfeebled powers in the contest. Judge Woodward made few deliverances in the campaign, and they were always of the most dignified and cour- teous character. He avoided discussion of some of the vital issues pressed by his opponents because of his position as a judge. The constitutionality of the National conscription law had been brought before the courts, and the case of Kneedler vs. Lane was pending in the supreme court, of which he was a member, and it had been argued by able counsel on both sides before the October election. The fact that the decision of the supreme court was delayed until the 9th of Novem- ber, a month after the October election, made the ques- tion of sustaining the National conscription act a vital one on the side of Curtin and his supporters, and Wood- ward was silent on the subject, as he was a sitting judge who had heard the case, and must join in delivering final judgment upon it. Had the supreme court decided the conscription act to be unconstitutional before the election, as it did on the 9th of November, a month after the election, that decision alone, if supported by Woodward, would have defeated his election, and the fact that the decision was held until after the election became an important factor in hindering Woodward's success. Additional embarrassment was given to the Democrats by the fact that Chief Justice Lowrie was the other candidate on the Democratic State ticket, he having been renomi- nated to succeed himself. Thus the two leading mem- bers of the supreme court who held the constitutionality of the conscription act in their keeping, and failed to announce a judgment before the election, were aggres- 6o Old Time Notes sively antagonized on the conscription issue, as it was well understood that without a National conscription act the armies could not be maintained in the field, and both from their judicial position were compelled to maintain silence, v/hile their party leaders could not assume to speak for them. In all my long participation in and observation of political campaigns in Pennsylvania I can recall none that approached the contest of 1863 in impressive soberness. The wide-awakes and the marching clubs which made the air ring with hearty hurrahs in i860, were imfelt as a factor in 1863. There were marching clubs, of course, but they were not the rollicking, shout- ing, caped and lanterned boys who had enlivened the Lincoln campaign three years before. The hurrah speeches of ordinary political campaigns would have jarred harshly upon the sensibilities of the political audiences. The people came to hear words of truth and soberness; they came to unite soberly and ear- nestly for political action, and their convictions and their earnestness of purpose were ever with them. It was a struggle eye to eye and face to face, not for the triumph of a party, but for the triumph of a sacred principle involving the life of the Republic. Such were the convictions which ruled the contest, and they were universal. Never were so few doubtful voters returned by political committees; never did positive and aggressive conviction assert itself with so little ceremony and ostentation. The vote polled was the largest ever cast in the State, considering the absence of 75,000 soldiers, as is shown by the fact that while Lincoln received 268,930 votes in i860, giving him some 50,000 majority over all, Curtin in 1863 received 269,506 votes, giving him a majority of over 15,000. I met Judge Woodward frequently during the cam- paign, and, like all who knew him, I cherished not only of Pennsylvania 6i the highest respect but a strong personal affection for him. He was a man of strong partisan prejudice, resulting from the fact that he was a Democrat of the old school, a strict constructionist and sincerely con- vinced that there was no safety to popular govern- ment in the revolutionary innovations which are ever precipitated by civil war. He regarded coercion as imwarranted by the Constitution, and logically held that the Emancipation Proclamation was an act of Executive usurpation. On a journey one afternoon from Philadelphia to Allentown, where I was to deliver an address for Curtin in the evening, Judge Woodward was my companion on the train, and we discussed the political situation and the war with entire freedom, and, of course, with the utmost courtesy. He expressed his views very earnestly, because on all the great ques- tions of the day his convictions were as earnest as they were sincere. As we approached Allentown I asked him in a jocular way whether he would permit me to declare to the audience I was to address that evening the views he had expressed on various subjects relating to the war, to which he answered that "a conversation in the free intercourse common among gentlemen is of course not for public criticism." He knew of course that I was incapable of violating the sanctity of casual intercourse among friends I reminded him that he had two sons in the army who had won distinc- tion and stood among the heroic soldiers of the State, and asked him whether he or I in the opposing positions with the soldiers was best supporting the cause of the soldiers in the field. He answered with visible pride that his sons were soldiers, and as soldiers they would do their duty. His defeat was not only a great disappointment, but a severe humiliation. By the retirement of Chief Justice Lowrie, who was defeated at the same election. 62 Old Time Notes Woodward succeeded to the chief justiceship, and he was one of the few members of our supreme court whose judicial deHverances ranked as approaching the abihty of Gibson as a jurist. After his retirement from the supreme court, his taste for poHtical hfe that had brought such keen disappointments in his defeat by Cameron for Senator in 1845, and his defeat for Governor in 1863, made him willing to accept a nomina- tion for Congress, and he was twice elected. In the House he at once took high rank as one of the ablest of the Democratic leaders, but entirely tinskilled in the political strategy that often makes men of moderate intellectual force the masters of intellectual giants in legislation. During his service in Congress he was prominently discussed as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency, but his political life was ended, and he never was formally presented as a candidate by his State. He had roimded out his patriarchal years, and he turned back to his first love, the court of common pleas, and announced his willingness to accept the nomination from the Democracy of Luzerne for that position, intending to end his career in the calm and quiet of local administration of justice. He was promptly nominated,, but those were times when local and general political tempests were common, and to the surprise of friends and foes, and to the fearful humiliation of the great jurist himself, he was largely defeated by the Republican candidate. Soon thereafter he went abroad, where his culture could find pleasant enjoy- ment, and on the nth of May, 1875, "^^^^ swift message that traverses the seas with the rapidity of the lightning flash, told the story of his death. The supreme court was sitting at Harrisburg, and a case was on for hearing in which I was to make the closing argument on the following morning. The cable despatch was received Of Pennsylvania 63 announcing his death just a few minutes before the period of adjournment. Soon after the adjournment I was notified by the chief justice that I should deliver my argimient in the pending case the next morning, and when it was concluded, announce the death of Chief Justice Woodward to the court, and then move adjournment. The next morning I delivered my argument on the pending case, and when through with it announced the death of Chief Justice Woodward in a brief address, of which the following was the con- cluding paragraph: And now in the fullness of his days, ripe in years and wearing the chaplet of honors that even malice would not dare to stain, he has passed away. The fitful clouds and angry tempests of prejudice and passion, which 9.t times obscure the attributes of greatness, have long since vanished like the mists of the morning, and in the calm, bright evening time, he who so justly j udged between man and man appears before the great Judge of all the living. But his blameless life, his pure example, his reverenced judgments remain, and like the beautiful dream of the departed stm that throws its halo over the countless jewels which soften the deep lines of darkness, so will his lessons of wisdom and honesty illumine the path of public and private duty for generations to come. In respect to his memory I move that the court do now adjourn." 64 Old Time Notes LVIII. THE GREAT CONSCRIPTION BATTLE. The Complete Story of the Efforts Made to Declare the National Con- scription Act Unconstitutional by a State Court — Volunteering Had Ceased and Conscription Was the Only Hope of Filling the Union Armies — Proceedings Instituted at Nisi Prius Before Judge Wood- ward, Who Summoned the Entire Court to Hear and Decide the Im- portant Question — After Exhaustive Argument Decision Delayed Until After the Election — The Court, by Three to Two, Declared the Act Unconstitutional — Chief Justice Lowrie Was Defeated by Justice Agnew — On Final Hearing Justice Agnew, Successor to Chief Justice Lowrie, Reversed Preliminary Hearing and Declared the Conscription Act Constitutional. THE most momentous question ever submitted to the supreme court of Pennsylvania for its arbitrament arose in 1863, and was doubly momentous because of its immediate bearing upon the gubernatorial contest of that year, and also upon the power of the State to furnish its quota of troops to the Union army. The case is known to the profession as Kneedler vs. Lane (9 Wright, 238), but there were really three plaintiffs m the case J as three conscripts joined in the legal proceeding to restrain the provost marshal from forcing them into the military service of the government. The parties to the action were Henry S. Kneedler vs. David M. Lane, Charles S. Bar- rett, J. Ralston Wills, Isaac Ashman, Jr. The second was Francis V. Smith, against the same defendants. The third was William Francis Nickells vs. William E. Lehman, N. N. MarselHs, Charles Murphy and Eben- ezer Scanlan. Lane and Lehman were provost mar- shals under the conscription act, and their associate defendants were the men who made up what was called Of Pennsylvania 6s the enrolling board, of which there was one in each congressional district. Volunteering had ceased, and it became a necessity for the government to fill up the ranks of its armies by conscription, or permit the Union to be overthrown by armed rebellion. Congress responded to this con- dition by passing ''An act for enrolling and calling out the National forces, and for other purposes, ' ' that was approved March 3, 1863. The plaintiffs received notice that they had been drafted into the military service of the United States, and that from the time of receiving such notice they were under military regu- lations and subject to military rules, although not yet mustered into the service, and if they failed to report for duty at the time and place specified, the act pro- vided that they should be ''deemed as deserters and subject to the penalty prescribed therefor by the rules and articles of war." In those days one member of the supreme court usually was assigned to sit at nisi prius, and the plaintiffs filed bills before Judge Woodward asking that the defend- ants be restrained from forcing them into military service, and that they be discharged. The im.portance of the case made Judge Woodward decide that it should be heard by a full court, and he fixed the 23d of September, 1863, for the plaintiffs and defendants to be heard by counsel before a full court in Philadelphia. On the day named all the judges of the supreme court were present, consisting of Walter H. Lowrie, of Alle- gheny, chief justice, with George W. Woodward, of Luzerne; James Thompson, of Erie; William Strong, of Berks, and John M. Read, of Philadelphia, justices. The political complexion of the court was four to one Democratic, Justice Read being the only Republican. George A. Coffee, United States district attorney; John C. Knox and J. Hubley Ashton, who were tinder- 66 Old Time Notes stood to be associated with the district attorney in the case, were notified by the court of the time and place of hearing, but when the case was called no counsel appeared for the defendants, and George M. Wharton, Peter McCall, Charles Ingersoll and George W. Biddle appeared for the plaintiffs. The court re- fused to proceed with the case until furnished proof of ample notice to the counsel who represented the defendants, and a special messenger was dispatched by the court to ascertain whether such notice had been received, but the only answer given was that the defendants would not be represented by counsel in the proceeding. I do not doubt that political considerations had something, perhaps very much, to do with the failure of the defendants to appear by counsel. The Repub- licans assumed that the supreme court of the State had no authority whatever to pass upon the constitu- tionality of a National law, and the fact that Justice Woodward had entertained the proceedings and sum- moned the entire court to hear the case within two weeks of one of the most important elections ever held in the State, when Chief Justice Lowrie was the nom- inee of his party for re-election and Justice Woodward the nominee of his party for Governor, gave the Repub- licans what they regarded as an opportunity to em- phasize their aggressive hostility to such interference by the State judicial authority to obstruct the execu- tion of a National law that was the government's sole dependence in filling up our depleted army in the field. The case was ably argued chiefly by Mr. Wharton and Mr. Biddle, and the decision was withheld until the 9th of November, one month after the October election, when Chief Justice Lowrie had been defeated by Judge Agnew, and when Woodward had been defeated for Governor by Curt in. of Pennsylvania 67 This case entered into the State campaign at an early stage, and it hung Hke a shadow over the loyal men of the Commonwealth, as they feared that a court com- posed of four Democrats with only one Republican might decide to declare the conscription act unconsti- tutional, and thus not only hinder the reinforcement of our armies, but bring the State into actual conflict with the National authority. The Republicans were tirelessly aggressive in assail- ing the Democrats and the court, of which both of the Democratic candidates on the State ticket were mem- bers, as interposing to prevent the government from preserving its own life, and it was the common theme of every Republican orator on the hustings. The Democrats could only answer that the case was before an able and upright court, whose decision they were prepared to accept, and that it was not an issue for popular discussion in the campaign. It was not then known, but Curtis' ''Life of Buch- anan" brings out the fact, that ex- President Buch- anan felt that the issue was one of such magnitude that he departed from the generally uniform rule of his life, and wrote an earnest personal letter to Justice Woodward, urging him to sustain the constitutionality of the National conscription law as the only means of safety, alike for' the nation and for the party. Long before the battle ended it became whispered in political circles that Justice Strong was quite likely to sustain the conscription law. He had always been an earnest Democrat, had represented the Democrats of Berks in Congress, and was elected to the supreme cotirt in 1857 along with Judge Thompson. The law then provided, as it now does, that when two supreme judges are elected at the same time they must decide by lot which shall receive the senior commission and thus become chief justice. Judge Thompson drew 68 Old Time Notes the senior commission and roimded out his highly creditable judicial career by four years' service as chief justice. When Thompson became chief justice in 1867, Judge Strong resigned, chiefly because there was no hope of him obtaining the highest judicial honors of the State, and he located in Philadelphia to resume the practice of law. The position occupied by Judge Strong was one of peculiar embarrassment. He had represented the Democratic party in high civil positions, both political and judical, and he certainly cherished the highest personal respect for his associate. Justice Wood- ward, who was the Democratic candidate for Governor; but he felt that the issue was so grave, and his duty so clear and imperative, that he voted against his friend for Governor, and when the supreme court gave its decision in Pittsburg, on the 9th of November, 1863, Strong wrote an able and earnest dissenting opinion. The question was considered of such exceptional importance that each member of the court filed an elaborate opinion. Chief Justice Lowrie delivering what was given as the decision of the court. The opinion of Lowrie is temperate in tone. He opened with an expression of regret that the defendants had not been heard by counsel, to which he added: "For want of this assistance I cannot feel such an entire conviction of the truth of my conclusions as I would otherwise have. I cannot be sure that I have not over- looked some grounds of argument that are of decisive importance, but the decision now to be made is only prehminary to the final hearing, and it is to be hoped the views of the law officers of the government will not then be withheld." This declaration of the chief jus- tice, who delivered the opinion of the court, becomes specially important when it is read in connection with the final dissenting opinion of Justice Woodward. Of Pennsylvania 69 Chief Justice Lowrie declares that the decision is only preliminary to the final hearing, while Woodward declares that it was the final judgment of the court in the case. The chief objection presented by the three judges, who declared the conscription act iinconstitutional, was that while Congress had power to raise and support armies, it was required to call out the militia of the several States to execute the laws, to suppress insur- rection or to repel invasion. The conscription act did not call for the militia of the several States, although it called upon precisely the same men who constituted the militia of the Commonwealths, but they all agreed that if Congress did possess the power to call upon the men composing the militia of the State to reinforce the armies, the method of executing the law was entirely imwarranted. The opinion of the supreme court, as delivered by Chief Justice Lowrie, concluded with the order dated November 9, 1863, granting a preliminary injunction in each of the cases, but requiring the plaintiffs to give bond with approved surety in the sum of $500, and the injunctions refused for any other purpose. Justice Woodward in his opinion was much more emphatic in his condemnation of the National conscrip- tion law. He denied that Congress had the power to draft the militia into the service of the government when engaged in a foreign war, and he added that ''the power of draft to suppress insurrection is not to be employed, since another mode of suppressing insur- rection is expressly provided.'* Again he said, ''The great vice of the conscript law is that it is designed on the assumption that Congress may take away, not the State rights of the citizen, but the security and founda- tion of his State rights, and how long is civil liberty expected to last after the securities of civil liberty are 70 Old Time Notes destroyed?" Justice Thompson's opinion was quite as elaborate as the others, in which his constitutional objections to the conscription laws are stated in the most dignified and courteous manner. He insisted that the act ''plainly and directly destroys the militia system of the States as recognized in the Constitution. " While thus denying the right of Congress to reinforce our armies under the provisions of the conscription law, he expressed himself with great emphasis in favor of suppressing the Rebellion. He said : " There is nothing on earth that I so much desire as to witness the sup- pression of the unjustifiable and monstrous Rebellion. It must be put down to save the Constitution, and the constitutional means for the purpose I believe to be ample, but we gain but little if in our efforts to preserve it from assault in one quarter we voluntarily impair other portions of it." The dissenting opinion of Judge Strong attracted very general attention not only in the State, but throughout the country, as he was known to be trained in the same Democratic school with Judges Lowrie, Woodward and Thompson, and had worn Democratic honors. He sustained the constitutionality of the act in all its details, and Judge Read delivered a more elaborate dissenting opinion broadly sustaining the National law and refusing an injimction for the pro- tection of the plaintiffs. As previously stated, both Chief Justice Lowrie and Justice Woodward had been defeated for supreme judge and Governor just a month before the preliminary injunction had been granted, and less than three weeks before the retirement of Chief Justice Lowrie to be succeeded by Justice Agnew. On the 12th of December, 1863, when Agnew had taken the place of Lowrie in the court, Judge Strong was holding court in nisi prius in Philadelphia, and Of Pennsylvania 71 ex- Judge John C. Knox appeared before him for the defendants in each of the several cases, and appealed to the coiirt to dissolve the injvinctions which had been granted. Judge Strong received the motion and appointed the 30th of December for their hearing, and, as in the former case, requested his brethren to sit with him so that the case might be heard by a full court. On the day named a full court appeared in Philadel- phia, and the case was fully argued by Knox for the defendants and by Biddle, McCall and Ingersoll for the plaintiffs. On the 1 6th day of January, 1864, the final decision of the court was rendered, Justice Strong writing the opinion, which was concurred in by Read and Agnew, and dissented from by Woodward and Thompson. The order of the court was as follows: '*And now, to wit, January 16, 1864, it is ordered by the court that the orders heretofore made in all these cases be vacated and the motions for injunctions are overruled." The concluding sentence of the opinion of the court, delivered by Judge Strong, is in these words : "I am satisfied that the bills of the complainants have no equity and the act of Congress is such as Congress has the constitu- tional power to enact." Justices Read and Agnew also delivered separate concurring opinions. Justice Read's opinion concludes in these words: ''The armies of the Union are not fighting for any single State, but they are fighting for their common cotintry, the United States of America, as Americans, and those who have perished in this con- test for the preservation of the Union have died under the National flag which, I trust, will soon wave over the whole undivided territory of our glorious and once happy Union." Justice Agnew delivered his first opinion in this case, and he approaches the important duty of reversing a former judgment of the same court 72 Old Time Notes in a somewhat apologetic manner. He referred to the fact that the claim was made that a new member of the court was bound by the rule of stare decisis. He said he bowed to that doctrine as a safe maxim wherever it applies, but he added: I must decide as my views and conscience dictate, and why not now? I find the case before me and I certainly cannot decide it against all my convictions of law, duty and patriotism." His opinion is the most elaborate of all those delivered by the court. Chief Justice Woodward, who had succeeded to the head of the court by the retirement of Lowrie, delivered a most vigorous dissenting opinion, in which Chief Justice Thompson concurred. He declared the pro- ceeding to be extraordinary, as the decision given on the 9th of November, at the preliminary hearing, ''was as regular, fair and solemn a judgment as this court ever rendered.'' He insisted that it was final, and it was not within the power of the court to reverse it, even though the personnel of the judges changed. Chief Justice Woodward was a man of strong and earn- est conviction, and his elaborate dissenting opinion in the case bristles with fearless criticism of the action of the court in permitting a change of judges to change its judgment, and also with the most pronoimced expres- sions against the power of Congress to enforce such a conscription law. I have given in brief the story of the National con- scription crisis that convulsed the State in 1863. The three Democratic judges, Messrs. Lowrie, Woodward and Thompson, who decided against the constitution- ality of the conscription law, were bitterly denounced at the time for disloyalty to the government and unfaithfulness to their high judicial ofQce, but as the intense passions of fratricidal war and of the partisan strife that was accentuated by it have gradually per- Of Pennsylvania 73 ished, all have accorded to those three great judges the credit of sincerity in the exercise of the highest judicial qualities in rendering the decision. They had been trained in the political school that accepted the resolu- tions of 1798, which came from the great political teachers — Jefferson and Madison — and with their long judicial experience and the isolation it involved from the world's progress it is not surprising that they revolted against the violent, indeed revolutionary, methods which become imperious when grave peril confronts the government. They were simply unmind- ful that ''uncommon things make common things forgot," and that revolutionary perils often demand revolutionary protection. The considerate judgment of the State and of the country to-day is that their judgment was erroneous, but all of them retired from the judicial position that they had adorned without public or private blemish, and they are all named to-day among the men who have added to the luster of the first judicial tribunal of the State. 74 Old Time Notes LIX. LEE'S INVASION A NECESSITY. Hooker's Brilliant Strategy in Crossing the R^appahannock to Meet Lee When Hesitation Lost Him the Battle — The Story of Hooker's Wounds — Great Depression Among the Loyal People of the North — The Blunder of the Confederacy — The Northern Invasion Was Enforced with a Hope of Winning a Decisive Victory over the Union Army, and Securing the Recognition of England and Franc©. THE struggle between the legions of Caesar and Pompey on the Plains of Pharsalia was not more decisive of the destiny of Rome than was the battle of Gettysburg in deciding the destiny of the Confederacy. Many bloody battles were fought thereafter between the Union and the Confederate armies before the war ended, solely because the most earnest and most heroic of all the peoples of the world were engaged in fratricidal conflict, and suiTender was unthought of while battle could be waged. After all the bloody conflicts between the armies of Grant and Lee, and Sherman and Johnson, in 1864, Appomattox was simply the echo of Gettysburg. To reach an intelligent understanding of the battle of Gettysburg and its decisive judgment against the Con- federacy, the whole situation from military, political and material standpoints should be well considered. Much discussion has been inspired and many con- flicting views presented as to the considerations which decided the Confederate leaders to inaugurate the fatal Gettysburg campaign. The people of the North were greatly discouraged by the failure of the Union armies to achieve the victories so confidently expected. The North had overwhelming numbers in the field, but their Of Pennsylvania 75 different armies were operating in an enemy's country with long lines of supplies which greatly reduced the effective fighting force, and they had the generally more serious disadvantage of being compelled, as a rule, to attack the enemy in chosen positions where his inferior numbers were more than atoned for by strictly defensive strategy and tactics. Hooker had opened the campaign of 1863 by moving out with his grand Army of the Potomac to attack Lee south of the Rappahannock. He was a magnificent specimen of the American soldier, a born fighter and possessing absolute faith in his ability to march the Army of the Potomac to Richmond, or to any other points in the South. I saw him in the war office a fortnight before he made his movement, and he was a most interesting study. His handsome features, with a complexion as silken as a woman's, and his bright blue eyes gi^andly reflected the enthusiasm of the new commander. He conversed with great freedom on the campaign he was about to open, and I well remember his answer to my question as to the sufficiency of his force to meet the enemy in chosen and fortified posi- tions. He said he would cross the Rapidan without losing a man, which he did, and that he could then march the Army of the Potomac from the Rappahan- nock to New Orleans. To use his own Westemism, for he was among the Forty-niners" in California, he told me that when he crossed the Rappahannock he would take the enemy ''where the hair is short." His march until he crossed the river is admitted by all experienced military men of the coimtry to have been a masterly strategic movement, but when he was face to face with the enemy, then for the first time his limitations were exhibited. If he had marched directly from the Chancellorsville house, with Lee's command immediately in his front, and forced the battle, his 76 Old Time Note. overwhelming numbers could hardly have failed to break Lee 's army in the center, and he then could have defeated it in detail; but he hesitated, and his hesita- tion was fatal. While standing on the veranda of the Chancellors- ville house, a solid ball from the enemy's artillery struck one of the pillars of the house, split a large piece from it that was hurled with great violence upon Hooker and struck him squarely on the breast. He fell insen- sible and remained so for a half hour or more. Stimu- lants were applied, and, when he was restored to con- sciousness, his first utterance was a command that no movement should be made by the army until he gave the orders himself. General Couch, senior officer of the army next to Hooker, was present, and greatly to his regret he was thus forbidden by his commander to make any movement. It was this hesitation and this accident, and this order from Hooker, that enabled Jackson to divide Lee's army in front of Hooker, make his rapid detour and strike the right of Hooker's army on front and flank, defeating and routing Howard's corps and compelling the final retreat of the army back to the northern side of the Rappahannock. This disaster to Hooker's right wing deprived General Sedgwick, commander of the left wing, then occupying Fredericksburg, of the support he had been promised and confidently expected, and an overwhelming force of the enemy attacked him and compelled him to retreat with very serious loss. Such was the impromising opening of the third year of the war, and the patriotic sentiment of the North was greatly chilled by our multiplied disasters. Gen- eral Grant was then besieging Vicksburg, and he had twice attempted to carry the enemy's defenses by assault, but was repulsed with heavy loss, and very grave doubts were cherished as to his final success in Of Pennsylvania 77 winning that Confederate stronghold, the final capture of which, as Lincoln so well expressed it, enabled the Father of Waters to ''again go tin vexed to the sea." The military situation vintil the Fourth of July was such as to offer little encouragement to the North to hope for substantial victories over the Confederate armies. The government had exhausted its resources and energies to create an ironclad navy. It was the con- struction of the little Monitor by Captain Ericsson in its battle with the iron-mailed Merrimac that revolu- tionized naval warfare in a day, and we had in the early part of 1863 an iron-clad fleet that was regarded by many as invincible. It was believed quite capable of fighting its way into Charleston, and capturing that city, the fountain of rebellion, and it was decided that the despair of the people over military failures should be dissipated by a triumph of our ironclads in Charles- ton. The ironclad fleet was concentrated and hastened to the South Carolina waters. There was no secrecy in the movement, and it became generally known that on a particular day the fleet would be there and fight its way into the harbor and capture the forts and city. The loyal North turned to this expedition as the one movement that was certain to turn the tide of battle and inspire the North by a substantial victory in the one place in the South that was regarded as most responsible for the fratricidal conflict. I accompanied Governor Curtin to Washington the day before the attack was to be made, and we spent the entire day and night until long after the midnight hour waiting for news at the Navy Department, but none came. Greatly disappointed, we returned to our hotel and were back in the White House immediately after break- fast, and found President Lincoln in the office of his secretary. He informed us that no news had yet been 78 Old Time Notes received from the fleet. I have many times heard him discuss the sorrows and sacrifices of war when his great sympathetic heart poured out upon his sleeve the sorrow that he keenly shared of those who suffered from war, but I never heard him discuss the war as earnestly as he did on that occasion. He knew that the loyal North was struggling on in despair, and he felt that if Hooker's disaster at Chancellorsville and Grant's repulses at Vicksburg were followed up by a repulse of our fleet at Charleston, the effect would be most serious. Suddenly the door opened and the face of Secretary Welles was partly thrust in as he beckoned the Presi- dent from the room. The moment we saw him all knew that he had no welcome message to bring. The President left, asking us to remain, as he would return as soon as he could give definite information. In half an hour he came back with his sad face deepened in sorrow as he told us that the fleet had been repulsed, and that the attempt to capture Charleston was abso- lutely hopeless. Such was the military situation in June, 1863, when the Confederate government committed the fatal error of transferring the war to the North by the invasion of Pennsylvania, whereby Lee's army, that was always outnumbered in men and guns by the Union army, gave up the advantages of defensive campaigns in which the strength of the enemy could be neutralized, and marched into Pennsylvania, weakening his army as he moved by the necessity of protecting his lines of supplies, and challenging the Union army to battle where its largest numbers could be best concentrated. The movement was entirely at variance with Lee's military policy and certainly never was advised by him as a desirable movement from a military stand- point. Viewing the Gettysburg campaign from the surface as presented by history, it will be pronoimced of Pennsylvania 79 by all as a blunder worse than a crime, but when the facts are carefully winnowed out from the chaff of conflicting disputation it is not difficult to imderstand why the invasion of Pennsylvania was decided upon by the Confederate government. I have had many opportunities of conversing with the leading Confederate officials of that time, including such as President Davis, Vice-President Stephens, Post- master General Regan, Senator Orr and others, and with such military chieftains as Johnson, Longstreet, Beaure- gard, Pemberton, Hamilton, Fitzhugh and Custis Lee, Imboden, Chief of Staff Taylor, Alexander, and many others, who were well informed on the subject. During a visit to Jefferson Davis, at his home in Mississippi, some ten years after the war, where he received me most hospitably, he spoke with great free- dom on all matters relating to the war, after exacting the assurance that no publication should be made of his utterances without his approval. I asked him why he had decided to send his army far from its base to meet an army that largely outnumbered it, in the enemy's coimtry. His answer was that the move- ment was a necessity; that it v/as believed that Lee's army could defeat the Army of the Potomac wherever they might meet, and that such a victory won on Northern soil was most important to the Confederacy. I asked him distinctly whether General Lee had advised the Gettysburg campaign as a wise movement from a military standpoint, and he answered evasively by saying that it would not have been undertaken if he had not approved it. General Longstreet has criti- cised this statement when I gave it in another place, and declared that General Lee advised the Gettysburg campaign and that he had personal knowledge of the fact. General Longstreet stated what he believed to be the exact truth, and what was the truth at the time 8o Old Time Notes had he conferred with General Lee on the subject, but no one who appreciates Lee's consummate mihtary abihty and discretion will ever assume that he advised the invasion of Pennsylvania simply as a desirable military movement. It had become a military neces- sity; all questions of the expediency of the movement were silenced and Lee bowed to the inevitable. The one paramount reason for the Gettysburg campaign was the necessity for the Confederacy to gain the recognition of England and France, and the Gettys- burg campaign was solely the result of that imperious necessity. Lee had then the largest Confederate army that ever was formed in line of battle, but he well knew, as did the Confederate authorities, that the supply of men was almost entirely exhausted, and that the South could not stand the strain of a long-continued war. If the recognition of the Confederacy by France and England could have been accomplished, it would prac- tically have ended the Vv^ar, as the North would have been unable to maintain the conflict with such odds against it. The campaign was most carefully planned, and it was expected that Lee should cross the Potomac east of the Blue Ridge, defeat the Union army in battle, and thus open the way for the speedy capture of Balti- more and Washington. Could that have been achieved there is little doubt that England and France would have promptly recognized the Confederacy and thus established it permanently among the nations of the earth. But while the question of winning recognition from England and France made an aggressive movement necessary on the part of the Confederacy, there were other reasons which, in the opinion of the Southern leaders, fully warranted the belief that the chances were largely in favor of the complete success of such a campaign. The officers and men of Lee's army of Pennsylvania firmly believed that they could defeat the Army of the Potomac wherever they might be brought face to face in battle. They greatly underestimated the valor and fighting qualities of the Northern troops, who had been compelled to fight Lee's army in chosen positions which often largely outweighed all of the Union army's advantage in numbers. A considerable portion of Lee 's army during the invasion was in and about Chambers- burg for a week, and conversed freely with our people. Some of them doubted the expediency of an aggressive campaign in the North, but all felt absolute confidence in achieving victory over the Army of the Potomac whenever and wherever they should meet in battle. In addition to the confidence that the Southern leaders all felt in the success of Lee's army in any battle with the Army of the Potomac there was, in the judg- ment of most of them, a strong incentive to a campaign of invasion in what they regarded as a divided senti- ment in the North that would be developed into revo- lutionar}^- action by the success of Lee's army in a battle on Pennsylvania or Maryland soil. General Lee himself refers rather vaguely to this condition, which certainly was regarded as one of the strong argu- ments in favor of the movement in his official report of the Pennsylvania campaign. After stating the military reasons for the movement, he adds : "In addition to these results, it was hoped that other valuable results might be attained by military success. ' ' Congress had enacted a National conscription law that was approved on March 3, 1863, and a large draft had been ordered by the government. There were murmurs of revolutionary opposition to the draft in some sections of the country, notably in New York city, where fearful riots were the result of the enforce- ment of the conscription act, and in the anthracite regions of Pennsylvania, where the MoUie Maguires, 2 — 6 82 Old Time Notes who had many sympathetic followers, were in open rebellion, and in Indiana, v/liere powerful secret organi- zations were maintained to hinder enforced military service. It was naturally believed by the Confederate gov- ernment and b}^ General Lee himself that if he suc- ceeded in defeating the Army of the Potomac on North- ern soil, and captured Baltimore or Washington, not only the recognition of the Confederacy by European governments would follow, but that the North, in the face of such a hopeless conflict, would be precipi- tated into open rebellion against the war. The National conscription act was assailed before the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and the issue of its constitutionality was pending at the time of Lee's invasion, with the general belief that the decision of the court would be adverse to the validity of the law. Strong reasons were thus presented to both the civil and military authorities of the Confederacy in favor of the inva- sion of the North, and there is little reason to doubt that had success crowned Lee's struggle at Gettys- burg, and the capture of Washington or even Balti- more accomplished, the recognition of the Confederacy by foreign governments would have been prompt and general and the success of the Confederacy assured. Jefferson Davis and Alexander H. Stephens, Presi- dent and Vice-President of the Confederacy, with their trusted advisers in the administration of their govern- ment, had very carefully planned in all details the dip- lomatic aid that was to be given to the Gettysburg campaign in forcing the recognition of the Confederacy by European governments. None of them seemed to entertain any doubts as to the victory of Lee over the Army of the Potomac wherever he might happen to meet it on Northern soil, and a very important part of the great scheme was to have the government at Of Pennsylvania 83 Washington refuse to receive Vice-President Stephens on a peace commission. It was believed that with the Union army defeated in Lee's campaign of invasion, and the Washington government rejecting peace pro- posals coming directly from the President of the Con- federacy, England and France would at once lead the way in recognizing the Confederacy. ^ This is clearly established by a letter addressed to Vice-President Stephens by President Davis, dated Richmond, July 2, 1863, when the battle of Gettysburg was in progress, and when the only information from the field told of the overwhelming triuraph of the Con- federates in the first day's conflict. In this letter President Davis prepared very careful instructions to Stephens, who was to proceed to Washington as mil- itary commissioner under a flag of truce. The letter was given to Stephens in duplicate. One was signed by Davis, as President of the Confederacy, but assum- ing that such a letter would not be received, because of the refusal to recognize such an officer of the Confed- eracy, the duplicate letter was signed by Davis as com- mander-in-chief of the military forces of the Confed- eracy. Of course, Davis well knew that President Lincoln would admit no Confederate commissioner with a peace proposal involving the perpetuity of the Confederacy, and in order to put the Washington gov- ernment in the position of having even refused a military commissioner to confer on matters relating to the conduct of the war, the duplicate letters were written. The Davis letter was written with scrupulous care, not for the purpose of instructing Stephens, who needed no instructions on the subject whatever, but to present the strongest possible case against the Washington government when it refused to receive the Southern commissioner after Lee had defeated the Union army 84 Old Time Notes on Northern soil. In point of fact, it was a very shrewdly devised movement to force the Union gov- ernment into the attitude of going somewhat beyond the mere recognition of the belligerent powers of the Confederacy or refusing to hear peace proposals. It was a paper most adroitly framed to inspire prejudices abroad to aggressive action in recognizing the South- ern government, and Stephens proceeded at once on his mission, hoping that by the time he reached the Union lines he would learn of a decisive victory gained by Lee over the Army of the Potomac; but when he reached Fortress Monroe, and made his application for permission to proceed to Washington under a flag of truce as a military commissioner of the Confederacy, Pickett's charge had been repulsed and Lee was retreat- ing with a defeated army, and the officers of Fortress Monroe were promptly instructed from Washington to refuse Stephens permission to visit the Capital, or to enter the Union lines. Mr. Pollard, in his " History of the Civil War, who was often the severe critic of Davis, but always the ardent supporter of the Confederate cause, states that Stephens, by verbal instructions, was ''fully empow- ered, in certain contingencies, to propose peace; that President Davis had sent him on this extraordinary visit to Washington anticipating a great victory of Lee's army in Pennsylvania, but the real design of the commissioner was disconcerted by the fatal day at Gettysburg, which occurred when Stephens was near Fortress Monroe," and that it was ''in the insolent moments of this Federal success that he was sharply rebuffed by the Washington authorities. ' ' Thus is the evidence cumulative from every side that the Gettysburg campaign was dictated solely by the inex- orable necessity of gaining the recognition of foreign governments for the Confederacy. Of Pennsylvania 85 LX. MANEUVERING FOR THE BATTTLE. Hooker's Suggestions Rejected by Lincoln — Hooker's Strategy Defeated Lee's Movement to Cross the Potomac near Washington — Meade Suddenly Called to Command — Large Emergency Force Called to the Field — Severe Discipline of Lee's Army — Jenkins' Raid into Cham- bersburg — E well's Requisition for Supplies Including Sauerkraut in Midsummer — Lee's Headquarters at Shetter's Grove. FTER the defeat of Hooker at Chancellors ville the opposing armies fell back to their former positions, and remained there until the Getty s~ btirg movement began. On the 2d of June Lee's army was encamped on the south bank of the Rappahannock, near the city of Fredericksburg, and Hooker's army was on the north bank of the same river among the Stafford Hills and nearly opposite that city. Hooker's army consisted of eight corps, commanded by Rey- nolds, Hancock, Sickles, Meade, Sedgwick, Howard and Slocum, with Pleasanton's cavalry corps, and Lee's army consisted of four corps, commanded by Longstreet, Ewell, and A. P. Hill, with Stuart com- manding the cavalry. There has been much dispute as to the strength of the two armies which met at Gettysburg, but after a careful investigation of all the varied statements on the subject, I think it safe to assume that Lee's army numbered 80,000, and that Meade's army, as stated by himself in his testimony before a committee of Congress on the conduct of the war, numbered 95,000. His precise language was that his "army numbered a little imder 100,000, probably 95,000." They were nearly or quite equal in artillery and cavalry, and Lee's army, flushed with repeated 86 Old Time Notes victories, was entirely confident that it could defeat the Army of the Potomac on any field where they might meet. Hooker was reinforcing and reorganizing his army. It had become greatly demoralized by Bumside's fail- ures, and the open quarrels forced upon him by his subordinate commanders. Hooker had reorganized the commissary and quartermaster departments, getting ample supplies, and the steady stream of reinforce- ments that came more than filled the places of many thousands whose term of service expired. Although he had suffered a disastrous defeat at Chancellorsville, the army had confidence in him, as he was known to be one of the best fighters among its officers. The crippled condition in which his army was left after the defeat at Chancellorsville, and by the expiration of the term of service of a large number of his troops, required that he should have time to get his army restored alike in numbers and efficiency. Lee was also largely rein- forcing his army, and when he started in his campaign of invasion he commanded the largest Confederate army that ever appeared on a battlefield. For several weeks the two opposing armies remained inactive on the opposite sides of the Rappahannock, near Fredericksburg. Lee knew that it would be some time before Hooker could take the field in an aggressive movement against him, and he had ample time to perfect his plans and complete his preparations for the Gettysburg campaign that had come to be recognized as an inexorable necessity, regardless of the fact that it had to be planned and executed in opposition to the accepted military laws which usually govern armies in the field. The Confederacy could not survive without the recognition of foreign governments, and it was finally accepted by the Southern leaders, and doubtless in Of Pennsylvania 87 accordance with the most reHable advices from their friends in England and France, that the transfer of the war to Northern soil, the defeat of the Union army and the capture of Baltimore and Washington would at once command the recognition of the Confederacy and end the war. While Hooker could make no mxovement against Lee in Fredericksburg, he kept very close watch upon Lee's movements, and as early as the 28th of May he was fully convinced that Lee had decided upon the invasion of Maryland or Pennsylvania, and so wrote the Presi- dent. His information given to the President was fully vindicated, as on the 2d of Jmie Lee's army com- menced its movement by E well's corps advancing to Culpeper Court House. This was followed by Long- street's corps and General Lee himself on the 3d, and by the 8th of June all of Lee's army, excepting Hill's corps, that remained at Fredericksburg to watch Hooker, was concentrated at Culpeper Court House. Hooker was very anxious to attack Lee's rear at Fred- ericksburg, and suggested it to the President, who promptly disapproved of the plan as he would have to attack the enemy in entrenchments, and, to use Lin- coln's own language, ''so man for man worse you at that point, while his main force would in some way be getting an advantage of you northward." Hooker's next suggestion takes high rank in heroic purpose, as he urged the President to permit him to let Lee move northward while he would make a forced march upon Richmond, to which Lincoln replied: ''I think Lee's army and not Richmond is ^rour sure objective point." At that time Lee's araiy was stretched out with its rear between Fredericksburg and Chancellors ville, and the head of it at Martinsburg, and Lincoln made this quaint but incisive suggestion to Hooker: '* If the head of Lee's army is at Martinsburg and the rear of it on the 88 Old Time Notes plank road between Fredericksburg and Chancellors- ville, the animal must be very slim somewhere; could you not break him?" On the 5th of Jtme Hooker began a movement to keep in touch with Lee and gradually advanced his different corps to hold the interior line between Lee and the Capital, and also between Lee and the Poto- mac. He had a very efficient cavalry force, and kept it constantly employed in reconnoissance to ascertain the movements of the enemy. On the 8th of Jtme Hooker had his cavalry corps making a reconnoissance in force south of the Rappahannock. Pleasanton's cavalry crossed the river at night and, protected by a heavy fog, struck the main force of Stuart's cavalry corps, compelled it to retreat, and came into possession of Stuart's headquarters, in which Stuart's important papers were captured, including Lee's orders outlining his movement into Maryland and Pennsylvania. A heavy infantry force came to the support of the Con- federate cavalry, and the purpose of the reconnoissance being fully accomplished, Pleasanton retired, but that cavalry conflict, and the information derived from General Stuart's orders received from Lee, defeated one of the most important features of Lee's plan. Lee's purpose was to move along the east base of the Blue Ridge, cross the Potomac near Washington, where he could operate on an interior line. Hooker's army was promptly hastened forward and Lee was compelled to make his invasion by first entering the Shenandoah Valley, thus greatly lengthening his Hne, and making Baltimore and Washington, his objective points, twice or thrice the distance from him after he crossed the Potomac that they would have been if Hooker had not discovered his plans and compelled him to change them. If he had crossed the Potomac in the neigh- borhood of Poolsville and the Monocacy as was indi- Of Pennsylvania 89 cated in his instructions to Stuart, he would have been saved long marching to the upper Potomac and back again to Gettysburg, and could have delivered his decisive battle certainly ten days sooner with less depletion of his army because of a shorter line from its base. On the 2ist of June Hooker had his army so placed that every approach to Washington south of the Potomac was completely guarded, and Lee was in the Shenandoah Valley and tmable to obtain information of Hooker's movements. Hooker's strategy in meeting Lee's movements was masterly, and when he found that Lee was certain to cross the Potomac he was moving with his army in Maryland extended on a long line north and south to enable him to concentrate speedily against Lee whether he moved by the Susquehanna or the Potomac line toward Washington. He urged that Milroy, who had some 8,000 men at Winchester, should evacuate that place, retire from the valley and join his command. General Schenck, with headquarters in Baltimore, in whose department Milroy was operating, ordered Milroy to retire from the valley, but Milroy was a soldier with more courage than discretion, and begged to be permitted to remain, declaring that he would defeat any force of the enemy that could be brought against him. Schenck, unfortunately, left the question to the discretion of Milroy, and the result was that Milroy 's 8,000 men were defeated, routed, several thousand of them captured, along with vast stores of guns and supplies, and that entire force was lost to the Army of the Potomac. It became known throughout Pennsylvania early in June that Lee's movement was reasonably certain to lead to the invasion of the North, and the government at Washington created two new military departments in Pennsylvania — that of the Monongahela, with head- go Old Time Notes quarters at Pittsburg, assigned to Major General W. T. H. Brooks, and the Department of the Susquehanna, with headquarters at Harrisburg, assigned to Major General D. N. Couch. On the 12th of Jtme Governor Curtin issued a proclamation to the people of the State warning them of the danger of invasion and calling for volunteers to meet the emergency, but as the peril was to the National cause quite as much as to Pennsylvania, President Lincoln on the 15 th called upon the States of Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Ohio and West Virginia to funish 120,000 of their militia for temporary service. The Governors of the States seconded the call of the President ; but there was then hardly any organized militia remaining in the States, and the response was 25,000 from Pennsylvania, 1 5,000 from New York, 5,000 from Maryland, 3,000 from New Jersey, 2,000 from West Virginia, making a total of 50,000. Most of them reported at Harrisburg, and General William F. Smith, better known as ''Baldy" Smith, and General Dana were each given a division under General Couch. This emergency militia gave no aid to the Army of the Potomac in the battle of Gettysburg, but it is probable that the presence of General Smith's division at Harrisburg prevented General Rhodes, who occupied Carlisle and whose pickets were at one time within a few miles of Harris- burg, from capturing the State Capital. Beyond that the militia rendered no service whatever. It was not the fault of the emergency troops, as they did all that was in their power. They were hastily thrown together, without discipline, quartermaster or commissary organizations, and when marching through the Cumberland Valley lived upon the coimtry and were vastly more destructive foragers than were the Confederates. Lee's army was imder strict dis- cipline and also under severe orders against the need- Of Pennsylvania 91 less destruction of private property. E well's corps occupied the 200-acre field on my farm, at the edge of Chambersburg. The middle fences had all been de- stroyed by military visitors, and more or less of his corps remained there for a week. His 22,000 men did less injury to private property in a week's occupation than did one regiment of New York niilitia in a single day when it made its camp in the same field. General Jenkins, with a large cavalry force, led the advance of Lee's invasion, and he crossed the Potomac at Williamsport on the evening of June 14. The peo- ple in the Cumberland Valley had notice of the ap- proach of the enemy by the scattered fragments of the Milroy forces which covered all the highways reaching north in squads of ten, twenty or more, thoroughly demoralized, and well calculated to terrorize the com- mimity. On the 15 th of June the people of the border commenced a general exodus northward with their live stock, and the wildest excitement prevailed. Mer- chants hurried their goods away to points in the East, banks shipped all their money and families sent their valuables, while all the roads were crowded with fleeing, terrorized people, driving their stock away from the enemy. There was no military force whatever to impede the advance of Jenkins, and early in the even- ing of the 1 5 th it was known in Chambersburg that his force was rapidly advancing upon the town. He reached Chambersburg about eleven o'clock at night, took possession of the town without a conflict, passed through the main street leaving a strong guard in the town, and made his camp on my farm, as did all the armies of both sides in their valley campaigns during the war. He made his headquarters in my comfortable farmhouse, and used the large bam as a hospital, where Mrs. McClure provided the sick soldiers with all the necessaries, including medicines. I was impressively 92 Old Time Notes reminded of this fact thirty years after the war, when, on a visit to Montgomery, Ala., while a guest of the hospitable Governor of the State. Notice was brought to the Governor that a man at the door specially de- sired to see me. The Governor did not recognize the name, but invited him to join us. When he came into the room he apologized in his awkward way for his intrusion, and said that having heard that I was visit- ing the city he had walked a number of miles that morning to meet me, and thank me personally for the kindness he received from my family when, as one of Jenkins' privates, he was on the sick list and was cared for in my barn. It seems like the irony of fate that this same command, under the lead of McCausland, who became its commander after Jenkins fell, burnt the town of Chamber sburg only one year later, includ- ing the barn where its sick had been ministered to, and the house where Jenkins received generous hospitality while he made it his headquarters. Jenkins' command did not destroy much property. There was little left in the country that was useful to the army, as stores were empty of goods, banks without money, and farmers generally without horses or cattle. His first order required all persons in the town possess- ing arms, whether guns or pistols, to bring them to the front of the court house within two hours, and the penalty for disobedience was that all who refused would expose their houses to search, and make them lawful objects of plunder. A number of guns and pistols were brought and delivered to him, but few of them were considered of sufficient value to be retained by the soldiers. Early in the morning of the 17 th of June Jenkins ordered the stores and shops to be opened for two hours to enable his men to purchase such goods as they desired, all of which were to be paid for, but, of course, of Pennsylvania 93 in Confederate money. The order was obeyed to the extent of opening the stores and shops, but as most of them were nearly or entirely empty, there was little traffic. There were odds and ends of valueless stock not deemed of sufficient value to ship away, but the Confederate customers cleaned out the remnants and paid liberal prices in Confederate mpney that was printed by the army as it moved along. Jenkins then withdrew his force and fell back to Greencastle, and spent four days in that rich portion of Franklin County, gathering in all the property that could be made useful to the army. On the 2 2d Jenkins' raid ended, and on that day he rejoined the advance of Lee's infantry between Greencastle and Hagerstown, when the inva- sion of Lee's army in force began. About ten o'clock on the morning of the 23d, Jenkins' cavalry returned to Chambersburg as the advance of the infantry that was closely following him. Ewell's corps was in the advance, and made liberal requisitions upon Greencastle on the 23d, and on the 24th it entered the town of Chambersburg to the music of the Bonnie Blue Flag." Many requisitions were made by Ewell upon the citizens of Chambersburg, all of which were impossible of fulfilment, as all valuables that could be removed had been sent away. One of the most amusing features of his several requisitions was a demand for the immediate delivery of nine barrels of sauerkraut. He knew that sauerkraut was regarded as a very valuable antiscorbutic, and as some of his troop suffered from scurvy because of their unwholesome rations, he assumed that sauerkraut would be an invaluable remedy for those who were threatened with that malady. He was quite incredulous at first, when informed that sauerkraut was a commodity that could not be kept in midsummer, and that such a thing was 94 Old Time Notes unknown even in the German communities where sauerkraut was one of the great staples of the table. If there had been a barrel of sauerkraut in Chambers- burg in midsummer he could have scented it any place within a square, and he finally abandoned that feature of the requisition when told that it was not an article that could be concealed in hot weather. Ewell paid me the usual compliment of all command- ers of both armies who visited Chambersburg, of taking possession of my large field for his camp and of a nearby Dunkard church for his headquarters, while subordinate officers occupied my house. During the week or ten days in which a portion or the whole of his command was there encamped, the most scrupulous care was taken to prevent the destruction of any private prop- erty whatever. Lee issued a general order forbidding that any private property should be taken by the army, excepting by an authorized officer, and loose foraging was not only forbidden, but severely punished. It is due to General Lee and his army to say that the order against the wanton destruction of property was gener- ously obeyed by his infantry. An interesting incident occurred that showed how Lee himself was inclined to temper the sorrows and sacrifices of war. Chambersburg depended wholly upon the surrounding country for its daily supplies of flour, vegetables and meats, and as all teams had been sent away and no supplies could be brought in, it required only a very few days to bring the people of the town to a state of starvation. The mills were all in the possession of the enemy and run to their utmost capacity to furnish supplies for the army, and Mrs. William McLellan, whose husband was one of the leading members of the bar and my law partner, decided to make a personal visit to General Lee, who had his headquarters in Shetter's woods, only several Of Pennsylvania 95 squares distant from Mrs. McLellan's residence. She was promptly admitted to his presence and appealed to him to permit supplies to be brought in to the people of the town without being seized by his army. Lee promptly arranged with her to have sufficient supplies of flour furnished to the people, and after his generous order she thanked him and asked him for his autograph, to which he replied : Do you want the autograph of a rebel?*' Mrs. McLellan said: "General Lee, I am a true Union woman and yet I ask for bread and for your autograph.'* His answer was: **It is to your interest to be for the Union and I hope you may be as firm in your purpose as I am in mine." He gave her the autograph and Mrs. McLellan brought bread to her starving neighbors, and among her most cherished relics during her life was her autograph of Robert E. Lee. Old Time Notes LXI. LEE DEFEATED AT GETTYSBURG. General Lee and His Leading Lieutenants in Chambersburg — Personal Description of General Lee — Why Lee Moved to Gettysburg — Re- markable Feats of Volunteer Scouts — Stephen W. Pomeroy Gave the First Word of Lee's Movement to Gettysburg — A Week of Appalling Anxiety at Harrisburg and Throughout the State — Lee's Retreat from Franklin County — Intense Passions That Denied Burial to a Confederate Soldier. ON MONDAY, June 29, 1863, General Lee, with the largest Confederate army that ever en- gaged in battle, had his entire command within the limits of Pennsylvania, with his headquarters at Chambersburg, and General Meade, who had just been assigned to the command of the Army of the Potomac, had his somewhat larger force on the line north and south in Maryland and Pennsylvania, with his head- quarters at Frederick City, ready to concentrate against Lee whether he moved eastward by the line of the Susquehanna or on the more direct line to Balti- more and Washington. Lee himself, with his staff, entered Chambersburg on the 26th, accompanied by General A. P. Hill. When they reached the center square of the town Lee and Hill, moimted on their horses, conferred alone for some time, and they were watched with great interest by the citizens, who were intensely anxious to ascertain the line upon which Lee would advance. After the consultation it was with a measurable sense of relief that they saw Lee turn east- ward on the Gettysburg pike. He proceeded to the little grove known then as Shetter's Woods, just out- side of the borough, where he made his headquarters, of Pennsylvania 97 and remained there until he started to Gettysburg on the 31st of June. The most careful and dispassionate observer among the people of Chambersburg of the movements of Lee's army was Mr. Jacob Hoke, a prominent merchant, and his " History of the Great Invasion of 1863," a voliime of over 600 pages, is the most complete and accurate in all details of the Gettysburg campaign that has ever been presented. He witnessed the entrance of Lee and Hill into the town, and thus describes Lee on page 167 of his admirable work: General Lee, as he sat on his horse that day in the public square of Chambers- burg, looked every inch a soldier. He was at that time about fifty-two years of age, stoutly built, medium height, hair strongly mixed with gray, and a rough gray beard. He wore the usual Confederate gray, with some little ornamentation about the collar of his coat. His hat was a soft black without ornamentation other than a military cord around the crown. His whole appear- ance indicated dignity, composure and disregard for the gaudy trappings of war and the honor attaching to his high station." Lee's army was then located as foUov/s: Of Swell's corps, Earley's division was at York, Rhodes' division at Carlisle, Johnson's around Shippensburg and Jen- kins' cavalry was at Mechanicsburg, less than ten miles from the State Capital. Of Hill's corps, Heth's division was at Cashtown, with Pender's and Anderson's be- tween Fayetteville and Greenwood, both in Franklin County and west of the South Mountain. Of Long- street's corps, McLaws and Hood were in the neigh- borhood of Fayetteville, Pickett's division was near Chambersburg to cover the rear of the advancing army ; Imboden's cavalry was at Mercersburg and Stuart s cavalry was in the neighborhood of Union Mills, Mary- land, north of Westminster. Lee was greatly em- a— 7 98 Old Time Notes barrassed for two days at Chambersburg in deciding upon what line he should move, as he had no knowl- edge of the movements of the Union army. Stuart, who should have been between Lee and the Union army, and giving information to Lee of its move- ments, was driven from his course by the Union cavalry in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and it was not until Simday night, June 28, that a scout reached Lee's headquarters and gave him the first information that the Union army had crossed the Potomac and was concentrated, with Frederick as its center, ready to unite against Lee whether he should march by the Sus- quehanna or the line of the Potomac. This information quickly decided Lee to move to Gettysburg, and orders were sent by swift messengers, as all telegraphic communication was interrupted, to Earley and Rhodes and all the other outposts to con- centrate as speedily as possible at Gettysburg. The celerity with which Hooker had moved his army across the Potomac on a line that always gave the fullest protection to the Capital, and compelled Lee to cross the Potomac west of the Blue Ridge, decided Gettys- burg as the great battlefield of the war. Had Lee crossed the Potomac east of the Blue Ridge, as he originally intended, or had he been advised of Hooker's crossing the Potomac two days earlier, his army would have been far east of Gettysburg by the time that the battle was fought, and he would have escaped the fatal necessity of fighting the Army of the Potomac in probably the strongest natural position it could have found between Williamsport and Washington. The only opposition that Lee's advance met with in the Cumberland Valley was an occasional feeble skirmish with the undisciplined militia commanded by General Knipe, of Harrisburg, who, being unable to give battle to the overwhelming ntmibers of the enemy that always Of Pennsylvania 99 confronted him, discreetly retired down the valley until he landed in Harrisburg. Such was the attitude of the two opposing armies immediatel)" before the battle of Gettysburg began. The entire Cumberland Valley was isolated from Har- risburg, as all communication by railway or telegraph was broken up, and every highway in the valley was covered by Lee's troops. My experience in enter- taining the Confederate officers in 1862, who had orders to take me as a prisoner to Richmond, but who waived their knowledge of my personality because of the hospitality they requested and received, taught me that it would not be discreet for me to remain at home to entertain our Southern guests. I went to Harrisburg on the last train that passed through the Cumberland Valley before the battle, and remained there until Lee's retreat from the great struggle that inexorably pro- noimced the doom of the Confederacy. The more active men of Chambersburg well knew how important it was for information to reach Harris- burg of the movements of Lee 's army, and scouts were sent out every day and night when any movement of importance was made. It is marvelous how quickly the young men of the town and neighborhood developed into the most daring and skillful scouts. The most prominent of them were Shearer Houser, Benjamin S. Huber, J. Porter Brown, Anthony Hollar, Sellers Mont- gomery, T. J. Grimeson, Stephen W. Fomeroy and Mr. Kinney. The only way that they could reach Harris- burg was by getting out on the northwest toward Stras- burg, and iDy climbing several spurs of the moimtains into Tuscarora or Sherman's Valley, and reach the Pennsylvania Railroad at Newport, in Perry County, or Port Royal, in Juniata County. When the concen- tration toward Gettysburg began scouts were sent out generally Vfith information written out by Judge 100 Old Time Notes Kimmell on tissue paper either sewed in their garments or carred in a pocket where they could be promptly fingered into a little ball and swallowed in case of capture. The movement of the infantry toward Gettysburg was sent out at once, but was not regarded as decisive of Lee crossing the moimtain to Gettysburg until on the night of the 29th, when the wagon train of the army was hurried through Chambersburg on the way to Gettysburg. It was then accepted as conclusive that the battle center of the campaign was to be transferred from the Cumberland Valley to the line between the South Mountain and the Potomac, and it was con- sidered of the utmost importance to have the infor- mation sent speedily to Harrisburg, as the only way to reach the Union commander. Among the young men who happened to be in the town was Stephen W. Pomeroy, of Strasburg, whose father had been an associate judge with Kimmell on the bench, and Kim- mell knew that he would be one of the safest who could be trusted with such a mission. Kimmell prepared a despatch without date or signature, briefly telling of Lee's movements, and the certainty of his concentra- tion on the Potomac line. This despatch was carefully sewed inside the lining of the buckle -strap of Pomeroy 's pants, and he was hurried off on his important mission. He went on foot to his father's home in Strasburg, where he managed to find a horse, and hurried across the moimtain spurs into Path Valley and to Concord at the head of the valley where the motmtain gap opens into Tuscarora Valley. He secured a fresh horse there, and rode rapidly down the Tuscarora Valley, exchanged horses again with an acquaintance near Bealtown, and he reached Port Royal on the Pennsylvania Railroad, between two and three o'clock in the morning, after hav- ing walked nearly twenty miles at a rapid gait and ridden Of Pennsylvania lOT over forty miles. He walked up to the telegraph oper- ator and delivered his despatch, but he was in such an exhausted condition that he did not think of the necessity of signing it, or indicating in some way from whom it came. I was one of the most anxious party in the Gover- nor's room at Harrisburg waiting for some information of the movement of Lee's army, and not Icnowing at what hour Lee would swoop upon Harrisburg and hoist the Confederate flag over the Capitol. For three days we had no information, excepting that furnished by scouts, and while it was at times important, all of the reports received up to that time gave no information as to Lee's purpose to deliver battle in the Cumberland Valley or south of the South Moimtain. There had been no sleep, except broken naps forced by exhaus- tion, and not one of the Governor's circle had been in bed for three nights. The whole State was simply paralyzed by the appalling situation, and one of the aggravating features of it was that no information could be obtained of Lee's movements or pur- poses. Colonel Scott was present, but rarely left the little room in which was the telegraph battery. About three o'clock in the morning of the ist of July, Scott brought into the Executive chamber an tmsigned despatch dated at Port Royal, telling that Lee's entire army was marching toward Gettysburg, and that the wagon trains rapidly followed, to which the operator had added that the messenger had left Chambersburg the day before and reached Port Royal through Path and Tuscarora Valleys, but no information was given as to his identity. The operator at Port Royal closed his office immedi- ately upon sending the despatch, and all efforts to get him for further explanation failed. General Couch, who was present, finding that in no way could the I02 Old Time Notes account be verified by reaching the messenger, at once crossed the river and advanced a strong picket force toward CarHsle, and early in the forenoon he discovered that Rhodes had withdrawn from CarHsle, and moved directly toward Gettysburg, and he at once advanced his force up the valley that was then entirely free from the enemy and re-established telegraph and railroad communication. As soon as the unsigned despatch was received, it was repeated to Washington, and General Meade received it probably within less than an hour after it reached Harrisburg. It was the information given by this despatch that prompted General Meade to order Reynolds to make his reconoissance in force to Gettysburg, resulting in the first day's battle disastrous to the Union army, and the death of Reynolds. Events of overwhelming moment multiplied so rapidly upon the worn-out men at Harrisburg that the question of the author of the despatch giving the im- portant information was forgotten, and it was not until twenty years later that Governor Curtin, or any of those about him at the time, discovered who the mes- senger was. The Presb3rterian synod was meeting in Belief onte, and Governor Curtin was entertaining several of the ministers. At the breakfast table one morning the Governor mentioned the remarkable oircimistance of the important information received about Lee's movement to Gettysburg, and that he had never been able to learn who the scout was who brought the message. One of his guests, Rev. Stephen W. Pomeroy, a member of the synod, then told them for the first time that he was the scout, and at Curtin 's request wrote out for him a detailed account of his journey. News from the battlefield was awaited with the wild- est interest, but none came until the morning of the second day, when the information of the death of Rey- Of Pennsylvania nolds and the overwhelming defeat of the two corps engaged, with the capture of some 4,000 prisoners, reached the North through Baltimore, and the first authentic account of the battle was brought by Major Rosengarten and Captain Riddle, of Reynolds' staff, who brought the body of their fallen chieftain to sleep with his kindred. During all of the second of July many bloody conflicts occurred on the Gettysburg field, and there was continued uncertainty and fearful apprehension as to the final issue of the conflict. Gen- eral Meade had communication with Washington so that any important event could be ascertained. The most hopeful view that could be taken of the reports of the second day's conflict was that it was without special advantage to either side, and all of the night of the second, and the morning and day of the third passed with the most painful uncertainty prevailing at Harrisburg. Wayne MacVeagh was among the men who gave anxious days and sleepless nights to the occasion, and he spent most of his time close to the tick of the telegraph. About five or six o'clock in the after- noon he rushed into the Governor's chamber, and with a wildly tremulous voice read out Meade's despatch announcing the repulse of Pickett's charge. All knew that such a charge was the last desperate effort of Lee to win at Gettysburg, and that his defeat was almost absolutely assured. It was the first moment of relief or anything approaching repose the worn-out men at the Capitol had been able to welcome for fully a week. Some immediately sought their beds for rest, while within half an hour there were many sleepers in the chairs and on the sofas of the Capitol rooms. Curtin, because of his feeble condition, was forced home to take his bed and remain there several days with the assurance that he would be notified of any new peril that arose. I04 Old Time Notes The following morning, the natal day of the Repub- lic, the sun arose to spread its refulgence over a cloud- less sky, and the first news received from the battle- field was that Lee's trains were retreating toward the Potomac, and later came the message from Grant telling of the surrender of Vicksburg. The people of Pennsyl- vania not only felt that they had been rescued from invasion and the desolation of war upon their own soil, but they knew that the military power of the Confed- eracy was broken, and the dark cloud of uncertainty verging on despair, that hung over the great State for nearly a fortnight, speedily gave way to the strength- ened conviction and delightful hope that the Union could be restored by the valor of our arms. The sudden change made by the report of Lee's defeat and the capture of Vicksburg was visible on every face, old and young. The terrible strain was ended, the invasion was repulsed, and the many thousands of people in the Cumberland Valley, scattered all through the interior and eastern part of the State, with their stock and other valuables, began a general movement homeward. Many of the farmers had left their golden wheat fields ready for the reaper, but fortimately the Confederates expected to occupy the valley and harvest it, and no destruction of the grain fields was permitted. Most of the crops were thus saved, and in a few weeks industrial operations in the shops and valleys were very generally resumed. General Couch moved his forces forward through the Cumberland Valley and rapidly repaired the railway and telegraph lines, and by the loth of July he established his headquarters at Chambersburg. A large portion of Milroy's command had scattered off through the mountains in squads of half a dozen or more, and in the general demoralization foraged upon the country recklessly and often destruc- tively. It required nearly two v/eeks to get them re- Of Pennsylvania united. They were scattered along the Juniata Valley and in the mountains as far west as Altoona. Most of the people as they returned to their homes were amazed to find their property in comparatively well-preserved condition, as Lee's orders against the wanton destruc- tion of property were scrupulously enforced by the infantry. The last echo of Lee 's army in the Cumberland Valley came from his immense train nearly twenty miles long, that left Lee at Gettysburg on the 4th and led the advance of the retreat. To escape the dashes of the Union cavalry, this immense train recrossed the South Mountain and turned southward at Greenwood to the Potomac along the unfrequented road on the mountain base, and where only the two small villages of New Guilford and New Franklin witnessed it. The wa,gons of this train were largely filled with the severely wounded, and accompanying it were all the wounded who were able to travel on foot. This train was thirty- four hours in passing a given point, and General Imbo- den, who had charge of it, and whose cavalry command protected it, stated in an article contributed to the Annals of the War that v/hen compactly in line the train was seventeen miles in length. The number of wounded in the wagons and walking was not less than 10,000 or 12,000, and many of those who attempted to walk with the train fell by the wayside. These were gathered up and brought to Chambersburg, where a Confederate hospital was improvised, but the intense passions inspired by civil war made the people of even so intelligent and Christianlike a community as those of Chambersburg at first withhold kind ministrations to the wounded of the enemy. Dr. Senseny, my own family physician, was in charge of this hospital, and in the multiplicity of cares that crowded upon my return to Chambersburg I had given no attention to it. io6 Old Time Notes After these wounded Confederates had been in Cham- bersburg for a week Dr. Senseny called upon me, and made a personal appeal to inaugurate a movement to give much-needed relief to many of the suffering. It would not have been discreet for any other than a pro- nounced loyal citizen to take the first step toward relief for these sufferers, but my attitude was not one that could be questioned, and Mrs. McClure at once went with the doctor and visited all of the sufferers personally. That movement made an open door for all, and thereafter they had even more generous ministration than most of them could have obtained at home. A message was brought to me by Dr. Senseny from Colonel Carter, I believe a native of Tennessee, but then a resident of Texas, who had no hope of recovery, and had appealed to the doctor to bring him some one who would give him the assurance of Christian burial. I called at once and found the sufferer, an imusually bright and handsome man, calmly watching the rapid approach of death. With beseeching eyes that would have melted the sternest enemy, he begged of me to give him the assurance that his body would receive Christian burial, and when he was told that I would personally execute his request, he reached out his trembling hand and gave most grateful acknowledg- ment. A few days thereafter he died, and I at once applied to the authorities of the Presbyterian church, of whose congregation I was a member, for permission to bury him in the cemetery, but it was promptly refused. A new cemetery company had been organ- ized a short time before, of which I was an officer, and I applied to that company to sell me a lot for the burial of the Confederate soldier, but that was refused. I then announced that I would set apart a lot on the comer of my farm on the public highway, and dedicate it by deed as the resting place of Colonel Carter. The incident Of Pennsylvania 107 caused very general discussion, and finally several prominent members of the Methodist church decided that it was un-Christian to refuse burial to a fallen foe, and they permitted his body to be interred in their cemetery. Such were the appalling estrangements caused by civil war that a community noted for its intelligence and Christian character hesitated to give even decent sepulture to one who had fallen in the battle as conscientious in his convictions as were the brave boys who vanquished him in the conflict. io8 Old Time Notes LXII. PENNSYLVANIA'S LUSTROUS RECORD. The Declaration of Independence Proclaimed in Pennsylvania — Wash- ington Assigned to the Command of the Army — 'The Constitution Framed in Carpenters' Hall with Washington Presiding — Gettj^sburg, the Decisive Battle of the War, Fought in the State — General Meade of Pennsylvania the Victor — Reynolds Killed and Hancock Seriously Wounded — Gregg, Another Pennsylvanian, Fought and Won the Great Cavalry Battle of the War — How Gettysburg Was Made the Battle Ground — Why Meade Did Not Pursue Lee — Lincoln Was Disappointed. PENNSYLVANIA furnished the most lustrous chapters in the annals of the achievements of the Republic, not only in creating free govern- ment for the -united colonies, but also in preserving it when it was assailed with monstrous power and deadly purpose. It was in Pennsylvania that Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, and it was in Inde- pendence Hall that Jefferson's immortal declaration was unanimously adopted and proclaimed to the col- onies and to the world on the Fourth of July, 1776. It was in Pennsylvania that Washington was called to the command of the army, and it was in Pennsylvania that the Constitution, framed by a convention that sat in Carpenters' Hall, with Washington presiding, framed what was generally accepted as the grandest fundamental law ever prepared by any country of the world. It was in Pennsylvania that sad records of Washington's winter in Valley Forge were written, when even the stoutest-hearted of the patriot leaders were trembling on the verge of despair, and it was in Pennsylvania that Washington started to cross the Of Pennsylvania ice-bound Delaware to turn the tide of battle on New Jersey plains and give renewed hope to the cause of independence. Just three-quarters of a century after the inaugura- tion of constitutional government the decisive battle that halted the dismemberment of the Republic was fought on the hills and plains of Gettysburg. It was the final arbitrament of the sword proclaiming the inex- orable judgment that ''government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth. ' ' The battle of Gettysburg was not only fotight on Pennsylvania soil, but in no other important battle of the war was Pennsylvania heroism so generally and so conspicuously displayed. General Meade, a Pennsyl- vanian, was suddenly thrust into the command of the Army of the Potomac only three days before the battle of Gettysburg began, and he was the chieftain who won the greatest of all the Union victories in the fratricidal strife. Reynolds, another Pennsylvania soldier, was charged by Meade with the responsible duty of making the reconnoissance in force that precipitated the battle on the imdulating plains between Gettysburg and Cashtown, where the heroic Reynolds fell early in the action when his single corps was driving the enemy. Hancock, another Pennsylvania general, was hurried to Gettysburg by Meade after the report of the defeat and death of Reynolds, and authorized to decide whether the discomfited corps at Gettysburg should fall back upon Meade's line or whether Meade should advance the entire army. It was Hancock's command that received and repulsed Pickett's charge with the Philadelphia brigade in the Bloody Angle. Hancock lay on the field severely wounded until he was able to send the cheering report to his chief that the final charge of the enemy not only resulted in failure, but no Old Time Notes in the almost annihilation of the charging columns. Sykes, another Pennsylvania soldier, commanded his corps and performed heroic service in the many con- flicts of that memorable field. Birney, another Penn- sylvania soldier, commanded Sickles' corps after Sickles had fallen in the bloody conflict in the Peach Orchard, and the last clash of arms at Gettysburg was made by part of the Pennsylvania Reserves, led by the heroic McCandless, who closely followed Pickett's retreat, and who recovered the position the enemy had won from Sickles the day before, with many prisoners and 5,000 stand of arms. Armistead, the only officer of Pickett's command who successfully crossed the stone wall into the Union lines with a number of his followers, was struck by the Sixty-ninth Pennsylvania that forced them to accept surrender or death, and it was there that Armistead, the hero of the gray, and Gushing, the hero of the blue, made the high- water mark of American heroism for the entire Civil War. Thus, four Pennsylvania sol- diers — Reynolds, Hancock, Sykes and Birney — com- manded corps in the great decisive battle of the war, and to these must be added the gallant Gregg, the Pennsylvania trooper, who met the attack of Stuart's whole cavalry force as more than 10,000 cavalrymen made the hills tremble in the shock of battle, and won a victory quite as important to the Union cause as was the repulse of Pickett's charge. No half-dozen other States of the Union furnished such a galaxy of chieftains as did our grand old commonwealth in the desperate and bloody conflict that decreed the contin- ued life of the greatest republic of the world's history. George G. Meade was suddenly and entirely unex- pectedly called to the command of the Army of the Potomac just on the eve of battle, and every move- ment of his army from that hour until Lee recrossed the Of Pennsylvania III Potomac into Virginia was directed by him. He fought what is now accepted in history as the decisive battle of the RebelHon, and had he achieved such a victory for any other country in the world the highest honors and ample fortune would have been cheerfully awarded him. Had he won such a victory for England, he would have been a peer of the realm with abimdant wealth to maintain his title, but the only immediate recognition he received was promotion to the rank of brigadier general in the regular army. Later he was promoted to the position of major general, when Grant was commander-in-chief, and it was Grant's suggestion that his commission as major general of the regular army should date from the battle of Gettysburg. I have already referred in detail to the masterly strategic movements of Hooker after Lee commenced his march northward, by which he not only held the interior line between Washington and the Potomac, thus fully protecting the Capital, but forced Lee to cross the Potomac west of the Blue Ridge instead of only a short distance above Washington. Hooker was never in favor with Halleck, who was then commander- in-chief with headquarters at Washington, and when Hooker was about to cross the Potomac to give battle to Lee, he asked that General French, who then occu- pied Maryland Heights with 10,000 or 11,000 men, be ordered to abandon the Maryland Heights and fall back to join the Army of the Potomac. General Halleck refused to order the evacuation of Harper's Ferry. Hooker then, on June 27, sent a despatch to General Halleck, of which the following is the full text: "My original instructions required me to cover Harper's Ferry and Washington. I have now imposed upon me in addition an enemy in my front of more than my numbers. I beg to be understood respect- fully but firmly that I am unable to comply with this 1I2 Old Time Notes condition with the means at my disposal, and earnestly request that I may at once be relieved from the position I occupy. ' * Hooker's request to be relieved of the command of the army was promptly acceded to, and on Sunday, June 28, Colonel Hardie, of the War Department, reached Frederick with the official order relieving Hooker and placing Meade in command of the Army of the Potomac. Meade had on several previous occa- sions peremptorily refused to permit himself to be con- sidered for the command of that army, but he was a true soldier, and with imconcealed regret at the neces- sity that compelled his advancement, he accepted the gravest responsibility assigned to any Union officer from the beginning to the close of the war. No braver and no more conscientious soldier than General Meade ever wore his country's blue. I first met Meade at the camp of the Pennsylvania Reserves on the day he first wore his brigadier 's star and came to take command of a Reserve brigade. He was an unusually modest man under all ordinary con- ditions, but he was the fiend of battle and regarded by all as the fiercest fighter of all the corps commanders. He was not at all elated by his promotion to the com- mand of the army, nor did he permit himself to be depressed by the terrible responsibility that had been thrust upon him. He felt that the safety of the Cap- ital, and indeed the safety of the Republic, were com- mitted to his keeping, and soldier-like he did not shrink from the appalling duty that had been assigned to him. He was compelled to take command of a widely-scat- tered army, wisely placed to be able to concentrate against Lee either on the Susquehanna or the Poto- mac line, nor did he even know where the different corps of his army were posted. He knew that he must meet Lee in battle, and he never thought of fighting of Pennsylvania 113 any other than a defensive battle, as Lee would be compelled to attack him in his advance on Philadelphia or Baltimore. Assuming that Lee was likely to cross the South Mountain and follow the line of the Potomac to keep in closer touch with his base of supplies, Meade ordered General Humphrey to choose a position for defensive battle in the vicinity of Emmittsburg, resulting in the selection of the general line of Pipe Creek, where Meade expected to accept battle if Lee should move toward Gettysburg. So careful was he to prevent confusion in the movements of his army that he issued an order to the several corps commanders informing them of the line chosen for defense, and defining the position each corps should assume if ordered to that position. Gettysburg was chosen by neither commander; it was controlled by inexorable events. When informed of Lee's positive movement toward Gettysburg by the dispatch sent by Governor Curtin about three or four o'clock on the morning of July ist, he immediately ordered Reynolds to take his own and the Eleventh corps and make a reconnoissance in force, resulting in the death of Reynolds and the disastrous battle of the first day. As soon as advised of the result of the first day's battle, Meade ordered Hancock to the front to take command of all the forces there, and to advise whether the army should be concentrated at Gettys- burg or fall back to Pipe Creek. In the meantime all the different corps had been ordered to make forced marches toward Emmittsburg. Hancock arrived on Cemetery Hill during the night after the first day's battle, and after a careful examina- tion of the position sent an urgent request to Meade to accept battle there, and Meade himself came upon the field early in the morning of the 2d. One of his first acts after deciding upon his new battle line was to issue 2—8 114 Old Time Notes an order that has been very justly criticised. He knew that the issue of the battle was not free from doubt, and he exhibited the highest soldierly qualities in issuing the order that has made many underestimate his soldierly qualities. His order to the several corps commanders was practically a repetition of his order to them notifying them of the line on Pipe Creek, simply adding that if for any reason it should be deemed necessary for the army to retire from the Gettysburg field, the corps should proceed at once to the locations assigned for each. It is only the foolhardy soldier who neglects his lines of retreat under any circum- stances, but General Meade carefully considered the possible enforced retirement of his army from Gettys- burg and fully fortified himself against a disorderly retreat. Every corps commander, if ordered to retire from Cemetery Hill, knew precisely where he should take up his line on Pipe Creek, where Meade himself, an accomplished engineer, had chosen a favorable position. The Army of the Potom.ac was severely exhausted before it engaged in the battle of Gettysburg. The corps of Reynolds and Howard, which had fought all of the first day and suffered severe loss, were illy fitted for battle on the following day, and the several corps which arrived during the night and on the fol- lowing morning had come by forced marches when they should have been in bivouac and at rest. It was not until late in the evening of the 2d that Sedgwick's corps arrived on the field after a forced march of nearly thirty miles on that day. Such was the condition of Meade's army when it was plunged into the flame of battle, while Lee's army had made no forced marches and was in superb physical condition, and little or no rest was allowed during the two days in which both armies faced each other. They were fighting most of Of Pennsylvania the day, and instead of resting at night the Union troops were busily engaged in strengthening their defenses. Meade narrowly escaped a serious disaster on the afternoon of the second day when Sickles ' corps arrived with orders to take position on the left center. Whether or not the orde£was so indefinite because of the peculiar formation of the ground that Sickles did not under- stand it, he advanced his corps far beyond the pre- scribed lines intended by Meade, and before he could get his command even in complete position, Longstreet attacked him, and the bloodiest conflict of all the many struggles in the Gettysburg battlefield followed. Sickles' corps was overwhelmed, and Meade appeared in person and had to bring up additional corps to enable Sickles to be retired to the line. General Sickles has always earnestly defended his movement as dictated by sound military discretion, but Meade regarded it as a most unfortunate movement, and one that might have been very serious in its results. It was the one distinct defeat that any part of the Union army suffered on Cemetery Hill. Sickles fell early in the fight, having been severely wounded, and had a leg amputated on the field. Meade was naturally in great suspense on the morn- ing of the third day, as Lee's army was intact in front of him, and no movement was made to assail the Union army until after noon, when all of Lee's nearly 300 gims suddenly opened and continued an unbroken fire for nearly two hours. The Union guns replied for a short time, but it soon became evident that Lee's desperate artillery fire must be the prelude to an attack on some part of the Union lines, and General Hunt, chief of artillery, soon ceased firing and began to place his guns and replenish the caissons so that they could be concentrated on any line of assault. Finally the thunders of Lee's artillery suddenly ii6 Old Time Notes ceased and Pickett's division emerged from the woods and formed in line for its desperate charge upon the nearest point of the Union Hne. A clump of small trees just behind the Bloody Angle made an objective point for the assailing forces, as the stone wall behind which the Union troops were defending at that point extended out a considerable distance, making the angle that is now known in history as the "Bloody Angle" of Gettysburg. Pickett's division was compelled to march three-quarters of a mile over an ascending plain, and the two fences which lined the Emmittsburg road. From the moment that they formed in line in the open field and commenced the advance they came under the fire of 150 Union guns, which not only struck them in front, but enfiladed both flanks, and when they crossed half the distance a hail of infantry bullets met them. There was not a single general officer in the charge who did not fall either killed or wounded, and a divi- sion of some 5,000 men retreated with the broken fragments under the command of a lieutenant colonel. Meade reached the battle near the Bloody Angle before the final repulse of Pickett's men, and personally witnessed the strangely heroic sons of the South who had fought their way through such a hurricane of death and crossed the stone wall to die or surrender in the Union lines. Thus late in the evening of the third day of the battle Meade had repulsed what he had reason to believe was, and what proved to be, the final charge of Lee's army, and he has been criticised because he did not immediately take the aggressive and assail Lee's broken columns. Lee's entire command was in strong position with Seminary Hill as its center, and if Meade's army had even been fresh and ready for exhaustive effort, it would have been midsummer madness for him to take the aggressive. If he had done so he would simply Of Pennsylvania 117 have imitated the error of Lee in Pickett's charge, and the fruits of Meade's victory might have been measur- ably or wholly lost. Meade's entire army had been engaged in forced marches, repeated battles and severe labors to strengthen entrenchments, with nearly one- fourth of its number killed, wounded or captured, and it was not in a condition for aggressive movement, and Meade profited by the severe lesson that Lee had been taught. He held the safety of Washington and Baltimore in his hands, when the loss of either might have decided the issue of the war by the recognition of the Confederacy abroad, and I accord him the highest measure of heroic soldierly qualities in deciding to hold his defensive position of safety. On another occasion Meade exhibited a degree of heroic soldierly qualities that not one commander in a hundred would have had the courage to exhibit. Late in the fall of 1863 he discovered that Lee's army was divided, and he made a sudden movement to Mine Run to strike Lee's forces in detail, but a mistake in the movement of one of his corps advised the enemy of the approach, and when Meade reached Mine Run he found Lee's united army entrenched in an invul- nerable position. At a council of war it was decided to make an assault, and on the morning just before the assault was to be made, Meade personally inspected the position of the enemy and was brave enough to order his army to fall back without firing a gun. If Meade could have taken position in advance of Lee's retreating army, he could have greatly impeded it and made it suffer serious loss in the many motmtain ga:ps and ravines through which it was compelled to pass, but if Meade had attempted to pursue, there were many passes where a brigade could have held a corps at bay, and fight under every possible advantage. Knowing this, Meade moved by the more open route ii8 Old Time Notes to the Potomac, and at Williamsport Lee was in posi- tion where, if Meade had attacked him, Lee would have had every advantage that Meade had in Lee's attack on the hills of Gettysburg. Lincoln was greatly disappointed that Lee left Gettysburg and crossed the Potomac without being forced to give battle again, and he never fully justified Meade's failure to take the aggressive. I saw him soon after the battle, and as Gettysburg was in my senatorial district, and I understood the highways and mountain passes, he made very minute inquiry as to the roads. I said to him that he did not seem to be entirely satis- fied with what Meade had done, to which he answered in these words: ''I am profoundly grateful to Meade, down to my very boots, for what he did at Gettysburg, but I think if I had been Meade I would have fought another battle. ' ' While Grant and Meade were never in open or actual discord during the campaign of 1864, I speak advisedly when I say that Meade did not ap- prove of giving battle in the Wilderness, where the army suffered such frightful loss without seriously injuring the enemy. Some time after Grant's election to the Presidenc3^ and before he was inaugurated, I was a guest at a dinner given to Grant by John Rice, Twenty- first and Walnut, Philadelphia. There were forty or fifty guests, and my seat happened to be by the side of General Meade, who was not very far from the guest of honor. In the course of our conversation I made some inquiry about the Wilderness campaign, and, to my utter surprise, Meade became much excited and spoke in terms of the strongest condemmation of the wanton sacrifice made by the army in that campaign. He said that if his suggestions and reports in relation to that campaign ever reached the public, the movement would be severely criticised. He spoke with so much feeling that I had to quietly remind him that he might Of Pennsylvania 119 be heard by Grant himself. It is not surprising, therefore, that when Grant came to appoint a Heu- tenant general to succeed Sherman, he preferred Sheridan, whom he loved, to Meade, for whom he cherished no kindlier feeling than respect for him as a soldier. The nation has not justly appreciated and honored the incalculable service rendered by General Meade at Gettysburg, but in Pennsylvania, the grand old Com- monwealth that was his home, and where he now sleeps in the City of the Silent, his name should ever be lisped with reverence and affection. 120 Old Time Notes LXIII. THE SENATE DEADLOCK IN 1864. General Harry White, a Republican Senator, in Libby Prison, Leaving the Senate with Sixteen Democrats and Sixteen Republicans — All Offers for White's Exchange Refused by the Confederate Govern- ment — Speaker Penny Retained the Chair — The Democratic Senators Refused Him Recognition — General White's Father Delivers the Senator's Resignation to the Governor — Dr. St. Clair Elected at a Special Election Restoring the Republicans to Authority — The Movement to Care for the Soldiers' Orphans — Curtin's Extraordinary Efforts to Give it Success — Violent Partisan Legislation Governing Elections in the Field — Jerrie McKibben, One of Curtin's Commis- sioners, Imprisoned by Stanton — The Story of His Release. THE re-election of Curtin in 1863, with 75,000 disfranchised soldiers in the field, and the leading Cameron men sincerely anxious for his defeat, gave Curtin a position of apparent political omnipotence in the State that would have made almost any other than General Cameron despair of being able to wrest the control of the party from the Governor, but Cameron was not only one of the most sagacious political leaders of this or any other State, but he was a man of tireless energy and would rise up from defeat after defeat to renew his battle for the mastery. He had taken no part in the gubernatorial contest until a short time before the election, when the intensity of patriotic sentiment in the State made it necessary for him to show his hand distinctly in favor of Curtin. A Republican mass meeting was called in Harrisburg to be addressed by General Ben Butler, at which Cameron presided, and declared himself with emphasis in favor of the success of the party candidate. Of Pennsylvania 121 It was not then expected that Curtin was likely to live to complete his second temi. Although he took little part in the campaign because of his greatly en- feebled condition, it was, nevertheless, very exhausting because of the anxiety naturally felt, and the constant pressure upon his time by political as well as official duties. He was confined to his room for a week or more after the election. Although the severe strain was over, the reaction greatly prostrated him, and his family and friends were very apprehensive of an early collapse. He frequently appeared at the Executive office, but avoided all official duties which could be transferred to any of his subordinates. With all the care that he exercised for the restoration of his health, as the time approached for the meeting of the Legislature, to be followed soon by his second inaug- uration, there was no perceptible improvement in his physical vigor. I saw him at the Executive mansion on Friday, when his inauguration was to take place two weeks from the following Tuesday. He was quite feeble, and spoke about the difficulty of undertaking his inaugural ad- dress, saying that he had put it off from day to day until it had become a source of v/orry to him. I asked him to come to Chambersburg the next day and stay with me over Sunday, adding that I would help him out with the inaugural, to which he answered: " Well, if you will write an inaugural for me and have it ready when I come to Chambersburg to-morrow evening, I will dismiss the subject and join you to rest over Sun- day." I told him I would have it ready. I returned home that evening and before retiring to bed wrote the address. I met the Governor at the depot the next evening and his first question was: Well, is the inaugural ready?" To which I answered that it was. He seemed delighted that the inaugural was disposed 122 Old Time Notes of and he never made any allusion to it, nor any inquiry as to what it contained, until Sunday evening, when I suggested that as he was to return to Harrisburg the next morning it would be well for him to look at the draft of the inaugural I had prepared, and handed him the manuscript. He read it carefully, without remark, until he was through, when he said : That's all right.'* He folded it up and put it in his coat pocket. No change was made in the draft I gave him, excepting the addition of the last two paragraphs, which were added by Attorney General Meredith. It must not be inferred from this statement that Curtin relied largely upon others for the preparation of his important State papers. If he had been enjoying a reasonable degree of health he would have prepared his second inaugural as he did his first, and all his other important State papers, excepting only such as involved legal questions, which were written by the attorney general. No Governor of the State ever was called upon to present so many important official State papers as were called for by the varied emergencies which arose during Curtin 's administration, and with the few exceptions I have stated, he always prepared them himself. While Quay was his private secretary, he usually dictated and Quay would take it down in abbreviated notes, and as he was a master in the use of the best English, he always presented the copies to Curtin in faultless style. When dictating on a subject of special importance he was always on his feet, walking leisurely back and forth in the room with his sntiff-box in hand, and when warmed up on his subject he was liberal in the use of the snuff. Curtin was unusually fluent in speech and when writing became irksome he soon learned to dictate with ease without impairing the vigor of his composition. After Curtin 's second inauguration it was decided Of Pennsylvania 123 by his physicians that he must take a season of abso- lute rest, notwithstanding the presence of the Legis- lature. They declared that he could not survive a winter in Harrisburg with the constant pressure that would be upon him even with the exercise of the great- est care. His system seemed to be entirely broken and his recuperative powers exhausted. President Lincoln had Secretary Welles tender him a government vessel to take him to Havana, where it was decided that he should spend part of the winter, and I well remember how despair was pictured upon the faces of his many friends who bade him farewell in Philadelphia when he started on his cruise for the South. Not one of us believed that we would ever see him again alive, but in Cuba his health improved rapidly, and by the middle of March he was back again in the Executive chamber enjoying a degree of vigor that he had not possessed for more than a year. There was then no Lieutenant Governor and the speaker of the senate could exercise executive powers only in the event of the death or resignation of a Governor. Thus Pennsyl- vania was for more than a month without an executive officer, which did not embarrass legislation, excepting that it saved the Legislature from the veto power of the Executive, as all bills passed by the senate and house became laws at the expiration of ten days after received in the Executive office, without the signature of the Governor, unless within that time the Governor exercised the veto power. It happened, however, that there was little or no legislation during the Governor's absence, as the senate had sixteen Democrats and sixteen Republicans, with Senator Harry White, of Indiana, in Libby Prison. He had been captured in Milroy's retreat from Win- chester, and it became known to the Confederate authorities at Richmond that as long as White was a 124 Old Time Notes prisoner the Republicans, regarded by the South as the war party of the North, could pass no legislation. Liberal offers were made for the exchange of Senator White, but they were stubbornly refused, and the deadlock was finally broken by White's resignation and the prompt election of his successor. Many amusing incidents occurred in the senate dur- ing the deadlock. Partisan prejudice was then at its zenith and it was at times difficult for even grave sena- tors to maintain the courtesies which were always expected in the first legislative tribunal of the State. The Constitution was silent, and there was no law as to the particular method of organizing the senate, although it had been uniformly accepted by both parties that the senate was always an organized body, as the speaker was chosen at the close of every session to serve during the recess and take the office of Gover- nor in case of a vacancy. The uniform custom, how- ever, had been for the speaker who served during the recess to allow the clerk of the Senate to call the body to order, instead of the speaker taking the chair him- self, and call the roll of senators to elect a speaker. In point of fact, and I doubt not equally in point of law, Senator Penny, of Allegheny, who had been chosen speaker at a previous session to serve during the recess, was the speaker of the body imtil a successor was chosen, or his term as senator expired, but there had been no occasion for a speaker of the senate to exercise such authority, and it had never been done. The house was called to order by the clerk, because there was no other official of the body competent to exercise any authority until a speaker was chosen. Of course, the Republicans well knew that they could not elect a speaker with sixteen Democratic and sixteen Republican senators, and the distempered con- dition of political affairs at that time made it impossi- Of Pennsylvania 125 ble for the two parties to reach a compromise organi- zation that would have been easy to accompHsh imder ordinary conditions, as the leaders of the two parties could have harmonized by a division of offices and committees. Such a solution of the problem, how- ever, was unthought of on either side in January, 1864, when the Legislature met and the Republicans decided in caucus that the senate was always an organized body and that Senator Penny should take the chair and continue to preside until his successor was chosen. To the surprise of the Democrats, when the senate met. Speaker Penny took the chair and called the body to order. He was one of the ablest lawyers of the State and a man so blameless in his public career that even his bitterest political enemies found it difficult to assail him. The Democrats refused to recognize him as speaker, and exhausted their ingenuity to embarrass him in the position he assumed, but he m.aintained himself with imbroken dignity during the long weeks through which the deadlock continued. The Demo- crats asstimed that the senate was not an organized body and, therefore, incapable of any legislation. No matter what proposition was presented, the Democrats uniformly voted against it on the ground that the senate was incompetent to consider the question, and as the Republicans were powerless to legislate they exhausted their ingenuity in making the Democrats vote against the divinity of the Bible, the Declaration of Independence and nearly every other vital feature of Democratic faith. Finally the elder Judge White, the father of Senator White, brought into the Governor's office Senator White's resignation, written on tissue paper that, as the father reported it, had been concealed in the Bible of an exchanged prisoner. The genuineness of the resignation was very generally questioned by the 126 Old Time Notes Democrats, while the Republicans were quite willing to accept it without inquiry. It was promptly ac- cepted by the Governor, a writ issued for a special election to fill the vacancy at the shortest possible notice, and Dr. St. Clair, Republican, was chosen and entered the senate the morning after his certificate was received, when Senator Penny was promptly elected speaker and legitimate legislation began. The Legislature of 1864 inaugurated the Soldiers' Orphan School system of the State, but in a most hesitating and grudging manner. When on his way to church on Thanksgiving Day, of 1862, Governor Curtin was met on the street by two children begging alms. His sympathetic nature was attracted to the children, and he stopped to inquire into their condition. The first answer that came to him touched his heart. It was in these words: ''Father was killed in the war." He promptly gave them a liberal contribution and passed on to church, but he was so profoundly impressed by the pathos of the remark made to him by the begging children that he gave little attention to the Thanks- giving sermon that grated harshly on his ears as he was called upon to give thanks for the prosperity and happi- ness the cotintry enjoyed when the orphan children of fallen soldiers were begging on the streets. A few weeks after the Legislature of 1864 met, and in his annual message, he said: "I commend to the prompt attention of the Legislature the subject of the relief of the poor orphans of our soldiers who have given, or shall give, their lives to the country during this crisis. In my opinion their maintenance and education should be provided for by the State. Failing other natural efforts of ability to provide for them, they should be honorably received and fostered as the children of the Commonwealth. ' ' The Pennsylvania Railroad Company had contrib- Of Pennsylvania 127 tited $50,000 to be used by the State authorities in any way deemed best to aid in the prosecution of the war, and the Governor recommended that this $50,000 be made the nucleus of a fund for the care of the orphans of our fallen soldiers, and a bill was introduced on the 8th of April, 1864, when the Governor had returned from his visit to Cuba, prepared by Professor Wickersham, at the request of the Governor, providing for the ap- pointment of a superintendent of schools for orphans, with authority to select from any of the schools estab- lished by the Commonwealth a certain number adapted for the use of schools and homes for the orphans. The Legislature hesitated to adopt a measure that would bind the State to the probable expenditure of millions of dollars, and finally passed a substitute bill simply authorizing the Governor to accept the $50,000 con- tributed by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for the education and maintenance of the soldiers' orphans in such manner as the Governor might deem best. The Legislature of 1864 was severely criticised for its alleged want of liberality in dealing with the soldiers' orphans, but it must be remembered that in 1863 the financial condition of the State was not such as to warrant any severe extra strain upon it. The Gover- nor was greatly disappointed at the action of the Legis- lature, and decided to inaugurate the system with the $50,000 at his disposal and he appointed Thomas H. Burrowes as superintendent of soldiers' orphans, who placed a large number of children, from six to ten years of age, in the charitable institutions of the State. The first institution to accept and heartily second the movement was the Northern Home for Friendless Children, in Philadelphia, and it was the first soldiers' orphan home established in the State. The Governor felt assured that the system once wisely inaugurated would be heartily maintained by Old Time Notes the people, and at the close of the year 1865 there were eight schools for the older and seventeen homes and asylums for the yoimger children, making a total of 1,329 pupils, but the only additional appropriation the Governor was able to obtain was $75,000. When the Legislature met in 1866 the Governor stormed the Legislature into hearty accord with the soldiers' orphan system by inviting 345 pupils of the soldiers' orphan schools of McAllisterville, Mount Joy and Para- dise, and asked permission of the house of representa- tives to have them appear in the hall. They came in the uniform of the schools, and Governor Curtin, in the presence of the members of both branches of the Legislature, an inspiring spectacle with the orphans clustered around him, delivered an appeal to the Legis- lature that silenced the opposition, and thereafter the soldiers' orphan schools were liberally supported by the State — supported, in fact, in later years to an extent that justly invited criticism. The system is still maintained under the steady enlargement of its aims until over $12,000,000 have been expended by the Commonwealth in obedience to Governor Curtin 's command that the orphans of our soldiers and sailors who fell or were disabled in military service should be made the wards of the State. No other State of the Union approached Pennsylvania in the care of the children of its fallen heroes, and with all the abuses which have crept into it long after Curtin 's control had ceased, it stands to-day as one of the grandest monu- ments of the beneficence of a great Commonwealth. Another very important act of the Legislature of 1864 was the final passage of the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the State authorizing the sol- diers in the field to vote in their camps at all Pennsyl- vania elections. In order to make the amendment effective in the Presidential election of 1864, it was of Pennsylvania 129 necessary to call a special election to enable the people to vote on the amendment, as required by the Constitu- tion. A special election was fixed for early in August, and the amendment was sustained by an overwhelming majority. It was well known that the amendment would be ratified by the popular vote, and the Legis- lature of 1864 had a most bitter struggle in the passage of an elaborate election law providing for holding elec- tions and certifying returns by soldiers in the field. Partisan bitterness was then at what might be called high-water mark, and even the legislators who, under ordinary conditions, would have been conservative and just in framing an election law, were driven by the intensity of partisan prejudice to support an election law that practically gave the whole election into the hands of politicians, with little or nothing to restrain them in the perpetration of the most flagrant frauds. I was not then a member of the Legislature, but was requested by the Governor to join him in an earnest effort to temper the violent partisan features of the proposed measure, and secure an election law that would be accepted as at least reasonably fair to all. The bill as reported by the committee, and generally accepted as the party measure, bristled with invita- tions to fraud and opened the widest doors for its perpetration. I was present in the Executive chamber with Curtin when he had summoned ten or a dozen of the prominent Republicans of both senate and house and made a m.ost earnest appeal to them to maintain the integrity of Pennsylvania elections by framing a perfectly fair bill to govern soldiers' elections in the field. AH admitted the justice of the Governor's appeal, but none had the courage to brave the tidal wave of partisan passion that ruled. The result was that the Pennsylvania statute was a dishonor to the Commonwealth. Among other pro- 2—9 Old Time Notes visions it authorized the Governor to appoint State Commissioners to be present in the field on election day, but without power beyond the right to report irregularities or frauds. The bill was passed very late in the session, and the Governor could not withhold his approval. I urged him to appoint a number of Democrats of high standing among the State commis- sioners to vindicate his own sense of fairness, but his answer was: Where can I find Democrats who will go?" I replied that we could certainly find half a dozen or more who would accept the Governor's com- mission, and among others I named Jerrie McKibben, of Philadelphia, and he was appointed along with several other Democrats. I notified McKibben of his appointment, and requested his acceptance, but his answer was that he couldn't accept, as Stanton would have him in Old Capitol Prison in three days. I told him that Secretary Stanton would not attempt to imprison an ofiicer holding a commission from the State of Pennsylvania unless he committed some flagrant wrong, and that as I knew he was too discreet to undertake to interfere with the election in any way whatever, he was entirely safe from the Secretary. He did accept, and in three days after he joined the army, then aroimd Petersburg, he telegraphed me to come to Washington at once, as he was in Old Capitol Prison. I hastened to Washington, reaching there about nine o'clock in the evening, and proceeded directly to the White House to present the matter to the President. I told him that several Democrats had been persuaded reluctantly to accept these commissions with the full knowledge that they would perfomi no official duties beyond delivering election papers committed to their charge, and that they had been appointed by Governor Curtin solely to give some semblance of fair- ness to the elections in the field. He at once sent to Of Pennsylvania the War Department for the papers on which the arrest had been made, and when he received them, in five minutes he saw that the order of arrest was made on the ground that he had deHvered fraudulent election papers, although he had delivered precisely the same papers prepared by the commissioners of Philadelphia that had been delivered by the Republican commission- ers. A typographical error that could not in any way affect the election had been overlooked by the com- missioners, and McKibben was held responsible. Lin- coln pronounced the arrest '*a stupid blunder," and told me that he would at once discharge McKibben. He said he thought it was due to Stanton, who had ordered the arrest, to release McKibben on parole, to which I answered that McKibben could be at once released on parole and that I would call at the Presi- dent's room at ten o'clock the next morning, where I hoped Stanton would be present, and would have McKibben absolutely discharged. The President wrote out himself the order for McKibben 's release, and I hastened to Old Capitol Prison and supped with him at the hotel. I called at the White House the next morning at the appointed hour, but Stanton had not appeared. A few minutes later he came in. He entered the room in a violent passion and his first remark to me was: " Well, McClure, what damned rebel are you now trying to get out of trouble?" I told him that he had im- prisoned McKibben, whom he hated for no other reason than that McKibben 's father and family had been his friends in Pittsburg when he greatly needed friends, and that if he had looked for a moment at the papers he could not have committed such an outrage as to order the imprisonment. Stanton was flagrantly offensive in all he said, and refused to order McKibben discharged from parole, but said a formal application 132 Old Time Notes should be made which he would consider. I told him that I did not know what Jerrie McKibben would do, but that if Stanton committed the same outrage upon me, as there was a God above I would not leave the city until I cropped his ears. Stanton made no reply, but after rushing back and forth several times across the room, he suddenly left the Executive chamber and slammed the door violently after him. Lincoln said nothing during this belligerent interview, but after Stanton left, in his quaint way, he remarked that I had not been very successful in persuading the Secretary of War. He added, however, that the incident was closed, that McKibben was free and that his parole was a matter of no moment. I filed a formal application for McKibben 's release from parole, and after a week received a formal notice, all in the bold scrawl of Stan- ton's handwriting, stating that the subject of the parole of McKibben had been fully considered and that the interests of the service required that it should not be granted. The result was that Jerrie McKibben died a prisoner on parole some fifteen years later, and nearly ten years after the great War Minister had gone to his final account. Of Pennsylvania 133 LXIY HOW LINCOLN NOMINATED JOHNSON. The Inner Story of the Sagacious Political Movements Which Nominated Andrew Johnson for Vice-President over Hamlin — How Lincoln Managed to Unite Pennsylvania for Johnson without His Movements Being Known — Cameron First in Lincoln's Confidence to Start the Johnson Movement — A Shade of Distrust Between Lincoln and Cameron — Why Lincoln Forced the Author to Become a Delegate - at-Large to the National Convention — How Cameron and the Author were Elected without a Contest — The Delegation Finally United on Johnson. THE political condition in Pennsylvania at the opening of 1864 was anything but serene. While the Republicans generally accepted and sincerely desired the renomination of President Lincoln, he was very earnestly and even bitterly opposed by some of the ablest leaders of the party, and among them Thaddeus Stevens, then the commoner of the House, who was violent against the policy of the Presi- dent, while such distinguished leaders as Chase, Wade, Siimner, Chandler, Henry Winter Davis and others openly proclaimed their purpose to make exhaustive effort to retire Lincoln. The Republicans at that time were in the attitude toward Lincoln that the Demo- crats were toward Cleveland in 1892. In both cases the people of the party were absolutely and earnestly in support of the candidates, while the leaders of the party were largely against them. The Republican people had absolute faith in Lincoln as the Democrats in 1892 had in Cleveland, and Cameron saw his opportunity to gain power and prestige by taking the lead in an aggressive movement in favor of Lincoln's nomination. 134 Old Time Notes Curtin and his friends were as sincerely in favor of Lincoln as was Cameron, but soon after the Legisla- ture convened m January, Cameron made a quiet combination by which a paper strongly recommend- ing the renomination of Lincoln was signed by every Republican senator and representative at Harrisburg. It was known that the relations between Lincoln and Cameron had been severely strained by Cameron's enforced retirement from the cabinet in the early part of 1862, and his open advocacy of Lincoln's renomina- tion was not only in accord with the general sentiment of the Republican people, but it had all the marks of a chivalrous act on the part of Cameron. Cameron had not been forced from the cabinet by Lincoln him- self, but by conditions which made it necessary for Lincoln to retire him. He was unfortunate in having a host of friends who were most importunate in demand- ing official plunder from him, and while his official record in the War Office was free from the stain of cor- ruption on his part, political necessities forced him to give promotion and contracts to men who abused the trust he reposed in them and brought reproach upon his department and the government. Cameron knew that the pressure was very strong upon the President to retire him, and whenever the movement assumed some measure of importance he notified the President that his resignation was at the disposal of the President at any time for his accep- tance. The culmination came when a committee of financial men found it next to impossible to maintain the credit of the government, and one of the many grave obstacles in the way was the alleged profligacy and corruption in organizing, equipping and main- taining the army. The committee called upon the President and informed him that it would be impossible to negotiate further loans without a change in the War of Pennsylvania 135 Department that would emphasize the purpose of the government to have it administered in severe integ- rity and economy. Lincoln had Cameron's distinct authority to accept Cameron's resignation at anytime, and thus retire him from the cabinet, and without consulting Cameron or Stanton, or any others, he wrote a brief letter to Secretary Cameron, simply stating that he had decided to nominate Cameron to the Senate as Minister to Russia, and Edwin M. Stanton to succeed him as Secretary of War. This letter was given by the President to Secretary Chase with instructions to deliver it to Cameron in person, but Cameron dined with Colonel Forney that evening and Chase did not find him until ten o'clock at night. Colonel Thomas A. Scott was then Assistant Secretary of War, and I happened to be in Washington that day and spent the evening with Colonel Scott at his oftice in the War Department. About eleven o'clock Secretary Cameron entered Scott's office quite abrviptly and betrayed a very unusual measure of excitement for one of Cameron's equable temperament. He came up to the table where Scott and I were sitting and laid down the President's letter. He spoke with great feeling and in a tremulous voice, with tears scalding his cheeks, he said that the President certainly meant to accomplish his destruction. He said to me that, while we had not been political friends, he certainly would not sanction any measure that meant my per- sonal destruction, and he confidently expected that I would not sanction such a measure against him. Scott, who was wonderfully fertile in invention, told Cameron to sit down and talk the matter over. He said he knew that the President did not intend to offer any personal affront to Cameron, or to destroy him personally or politically; that Lincoln had doubtless written the letter in the curt form it appeared simply 136 Old Time Notes because of the terrible pressure that was upon him. He proposed that Lincoln should be seen the next morning, and he assured Cameron that Lincoln would permit Cameron to antedate a letter of resignation and Lincoln write a kind acceptance. Scott saw the Presi- dent early the next morning, and Lincoln readily- agreed to Scott's suggestion, resulting in the with- drawal of the original letter from Lincoln to Cameron and the substitution of the correspondence embracing Cameron's formal resignation and Lincoln's formal and very kind acceptance. Stanton had no knowledge that he was considered for the cabinet until he was notified that his nomination had been sent to the Senate for the Secretaryship of War, nor did any mem- ber of the cabinet know of the changes made. Even Chase, who delivered the letter to Cameron, had no knowledge of its contents. It is only just to Cameron to say that when a reso- lution of censure on his administration of the War Department was adopted by a Republican House, President Lincoln sent a brief special message to the House stating that the censure of Cameron was not wholly just, as in many things for which he was cen- sured the President himself was equally responsible, and a few years later the resolution of censure was rescinded by the House and expunged from its record. While the relations between Cameron and Lincoln were somewhat strained by Lincoln's method of retir- ing Cameron from the cabinet, Cameron did not hesi- tate to take advantage of the opportunity presented in the early part of 1864 to throw himself into the breach and become the ostensible leader of the move- ment to sustain Lincoln in Pennsylvania. The action of the Legislature that was inspired by Cameron brought out a very hearty and generally cordial response from the Republicans of the State in favor of Lincoln, and Of Pennsylvania 137 from that time until the meeting of the State con- vention there was practically no Lincoln issue in the Republican politics of the State. I was then enjoying at home a season of relief from public care, and trying to give some attention to private affairs. My devo- tion to Lincoln made me desirous to go as a delegate to the National convention from my ow^n congressional district, and I was chosen by the unanimous action of the different counties without the formality of a conference. A few weeks before the meeting of the convention the President telegraphed me to come to Washington, and, notwithstanding the fact that at that time more than a majority of all the delegates to the National convention were positively instructed for him, without serious opposition to him in any of the States, I was surprised to find Lincoln apprehensive that he might not be renominated. He knew that a considerable number of very able men were earnestly against him, and when I told him that it was not pos- sible for him to be defeated with a majority of the delegates instructed for him, and nearly all of the remainder pledged to /him, his answer was: ''But I don't forget that I was nominated for President in a convention that was two-thirds for the other fellow. ' ' He surprised me by saying that he had sent for me for the purpose of having me made one of the delegates- at-large from Pennsylvania. Considering that I was already a member of the delegation, in which a man's usefulness was measured entirely by his ability and influence and not by the distinction of a delegate-at- large over a district delegate, I could not but regard the proposition as absurd, besides being, as I then believed it to be, entirely impossible. I told the Presi- dent that I could not, with any decency, appeal to the State convention to elect me a delegate-at-large when I was already unanimously chosen a delegate from 138 Old Time Notes my district ; but Lincoln was persistent to an extent that I could not understand, and I finally asked him what he meant b}^- asking m.e to attempt so imgracious and, to my mind, impossible a thing. He informed me that he had a letter from General Cameron, who said he would be a delegate-at-large from Pennsylvania, and he added that while he had no question of Camer- on's fidelity, he thought it most desirable that if Cam- eron was a delegate-at-large I should be one with him. He was most importunate on the subject, and finally said: I think you can accomplish it, and I want you to try. ' ' I told him that if opportunity offered I would accomplish it, but that I had not the remotest idea that it was within the range of possibility. I knew enough of Lincoln at that time to know that he had a settled purpose in view, but what it was I could not conceive, nor would he explain. He knew that my election as delegate-at-large could not, in any way, influence the action of Cameron, but he made it a command and I told him that I would see if it could be accomplished. On my return from Wash- ington I stopped over at Harrisburg without any definite purpose, and dropped in to see George Berg- ner, who, while a warm personal friend of mine, was a devoted follower of Cameron. Cameron v/as anxious to be a delegate-at-large and could not have been defeated, but his great desire was to be elected by an overwhelming vote, and he knew that could be accom- plished only by the concurrence of the Curtin people. After a few minutes' conversation with Bergner he remarked that we were now all for Lincoln, and there ought not to be any division in the party at the next State convention; that there was no State ticket to nominate and only electors and delegates-at-large to be chosen. He then broke the ice by stating that "the old man,*' meaning Cameron, wanted to be a of Pennsylvania 139 delegate-at-large and hoped there would be harmony in his selection. For the first time I saw a glimpse of an opening to accomplish what I had been instructed to do, and I answered Bergner by saying that certainly there should be no division in the convention as we were all for Lincoln and that Cameron and Curtin should be made delegates-at-large by a unanimous vote. I knew that Cameron would object to Curtin as they were not on speaking terms, and Bergner promptly answered that *'the old man" and Curtin couldn't get along together, but he added: "Well take you and Cameron. " I asked him what assurance he had that Cameron would assent to the arrangement, and he informed me that if I would wait twenty min- utes he would see Cameron in person and bring me his assurance. He was delighted, of course, at the pros- pect of getting Cameron the support of the Curtin element. He rushed around to Cameron's home, came back in a short time and stated that every friend of Cameron in the convention would heartily support me. I informed Curtin of the situation and he insisted that the plan should be carried out. The result was that Cameron and I were elected delegates-at-large by a practically unanimous vote on the first ballot, and John Stewart, my law partner, now justice in the supreme court, was chosen to fill the vacancy in the district delegation. What special purpose Lincoln had in view in urging me to an effort that only by the merest accident could be accomplished, I could not understand, but three days before the meeting of the National convention that was held in Baltimore in June, the President telegraphed me to come to Washington ; and then I dis- covered for the first time his masterly political strategy. He startled me by stating that he desired m^e to stipport Andrew Johnson for Vice-President. I had no par- I40 Old Time Notes ticular affection for Hamlin, but had not thought of voting for any other, and I especially distrusted John- son, whom I estimated as a very able and danger- ous demagogue. I did not then know that Cameron had been taken into the confidence of Lincoln several months before ; that Cameron was present when it was finally decided by Lincoln to make Johnson the candi- date for Vice-President, and that Cameron, at Lin- coln's request, had made a personal visit to General Butler, then commanding the Army of the James, to confer with him on the subject of nominating a War Democrat such as Butler, Holt, Dix, Dickinson or Johnson for the Vice-Presidency. Cameron was accom- panied on that visit to Butler by William H. Armstrong, the Republican leader of the House in the early part of the war, later a member of Congress and National Commissioner of Railways, and yet living in Philadel- phia. Lincoln doubtless knew that I would readily accede to his request to vote for Johnson, and as the movement I required the severest discretion, he permitted no one i of those to whom he confided his purpose to know of I others whom he had consulted. He knew that Cam- I eron was for Johnson at the time he insisted upon me ! becoming a delegate-at-large, and knowing that I would readily accept his advice, he logically argued that with Cameron and myself delegates-at-large representing the two great factions of the State, / enlisted in the support of Johnson, the entire delegation ' would be certain to follow, and it did follow precisely as Lincoln had planned it. So cautious was Lincoln in the movement that Cameron did not know of my position on the Vice- Presidency, nor did I know what Cameron's was. Soon after I reached Baltimore to attend the conven- tion Cameron came to my room, where the present Judge Stewart was chatting with me. Cameron Of Pennsylvania 141 pulled the bell, ordered a bottle of wine for the room and informed me that he had come to discuss the ques- tion of the Vice-Presidency. His first proposition was that the Pennsylvania delegation should tmite and give a complimentary vote to himself, which he knew I would object to. I told him that we had a very important duty to perform and that we would settle down at once, without playing marbles, to decide what the delegation should do. Cameron said that he was very friendly to Hamlin, but was entirely satis- fied that H^amlin could not be renominated, in which I conciirred. He next stated that he was inclined to favor Johnson, of Tennessee, in which I also concurred. He next proposed that, as he was somewhat embar- rassed by his personal relations with Hamlin in the Senate, we should line up both sides of the delegation, cast a imanimous vote for Hamlin when the State was called, and at the end of the roll call before the vote was computed, change the vote of the State to a imanimous vote for Johnson, to which I readily con- curred. Then, for the first time, Cameron knew that I was to support Johnson, and I, for the first time, knew that Cameron was-to do the same . The delegation lined up on our programime to a man on both sides, with the exception of Thaddeus Stevens, who sat by my side in the delegation conference. When I voted to have the delegation give a solid support to Hamlin first and next to Johnson, Stevens turned his cold, gray eye upon me with an expression of profound con- tempt, and said: Can't you get a candidate for Vice- President without going down into a damned rebel province for one?" Stevens saw that he stood alone, however, and he permitted the vote of the State to be cast in accordance with the programme. After the death of Hamlin, a score or more years later, in an editorial review of his life I referred to the 142 Old Time Notes fact that Lincoln had accomplished the nomination of Johnson over him in 1864, and it was fiercely and insolently contradicted by Mr. Nicolay, who was Lin- coln's private secretary, and who gave the Associated Press a statement that I had misrepresented Lincoln's attitude, as Lincoln was heartily in favor of Hamlin's renomination. Quite a controversy ensued, and I gathered the overwhelming evidence proving Lincoln's position and efforts entirely outside of my own state- ment. Mr. Nicolay was a very faithful secretary; but I never met or heard of him in consultation with Lincoln in any matter, political or otherwise. He honestly believed that he knew what Lincoln was doing about the Vice-Presidency, and as he had stated in his ''Life of Lincoln" that Lincoln was favorable to the nomination of Hamlin,, his sensitiveness led him to commit the error of assuming and declaring that I had stated a palpable falsehood, as it could be no less if I was in error in declaring that I had voted for John- son in obedience to Lincoln's request. Most of those who had any inner knowledge on the subject have passed away, but there are yet enough living in Pennsylvania to fully establish the fact that Lincoln nominated Johnson over Hamlin for Vice- President in 1864, outside of my own testimony. Mr. Armstrong was with Cameron on his mission to Butler, sent by Lincoln to arrange for the nomination of a War Democrat. Judge Stewart, who succeeded me as district delegate, and knew all that transpired at Balti- more, is also cognizant of the fact that both Cameron and myself obeyed Lincoln in the matter. Ex-Con- gressman J. Rankin Young, still living in Philadelphia, some years after the war prepared an interview from General Cameron on the subject that was carefully revised by Cameron himself, and published in the New York "Herald," telling how he had co-operated Of Pennsylvania 143 with Lincoln in tliQ early part of the year in a move- ment for the nomination of Johnson. Lincoln was nominated on the first ballot, receiving the full vote of every State but Missouri, whose dele- gation was instructed for Grant, but it promptly changed to Lincoln before the vote was annoxmced, making his nomination iinanimous. On the roll call for Vice-President, Johnson received 200 votes, Ham- lin 150, Dickinson 108, with 61 scattering; but before the vote was announced Pennsylvania changed from Hamlin to Johnson and other changes followed rapidly, making the final announcement of the first ballot 494 for Johnson, 17 for Dickinson and 9 for Hamlin. Lincoln was not influenced by prejudice or resent- ment in opposing the nomination of Hamlin. The reasons he gave me in support of the nomination of Johnson were so logical and conclusive that I would have voted for Johnson as a matter of duty to the party and to the couatry, regardless of my willingness to accede to the wishes of the President. They were: First, that the nomination and election of a Vice-Presi- dent from a reconstructed State in the heart of the Confederacy, who was a distinctly representative man, and had filled every office in the gift of the State, would add more strength to the friends of the Union in England and France, who were strnggling against the recognition of the Confederacy, than could be accomplished in any other way, save by the complete overthrow of the Confederate military power. Second, the strong political necessity for nominating a distinc- tive War Democrat not then connected with the Republican party, to bring to the support of the administration the many thousands of War Demo- crats who were followers of men like Johnson, Dickin- son, Butler, Dix, Holt and others; and, third, the nomi- nation of Johnson, would desectionalize the Republican 144 Old Time Notes party. Recognition of the Confederacy was yet a fearful peril to the Union cause, and the nomination of Johnson demonstrated that substantial progress was being made in the restoration of the Union by the accomplished reconstruction of the State in the inner circle of rebellion. The convention met in Baltimore on the 7th of June, and I never saw a more hearty welcome given to any man in a public assembly than was given the Rev. Robert J. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, when he was made temporary president of the body. It was a brave act for any man from the South to confess him- self a Republican, but when a man of the high char- acter and intellectual and moral attitude of Dr. Breck- enridge took the chair in the Republican National con- vention, it gave courage and hope to scores of thou- sands in the Southern States. Governor Dennison, of Ohio, was made permanent president, but the con- trolling mind of the convention was that of Henry J. Raymond, who acted in closest confidence with Lin- coln. He not only withdrew his State from the support of Hamlin, but was compelled to sacrifice Dickinson, another War Democrat, whose friends felt that he should be preferred to Johnson. He wrote the plat- form, became chairman of the National committee, wrote the campaign life of Lincoln, and he was, in fact, the "leader of leaders" of that great contest. There were many inharmonious elements in the con- vention. All felt that we were then approaching the period when the military power of the Confederacy would be overthrown, and the grave problem of recon- struction would be presented for solution. On that question there could have been no common ground of agreement in the National convention of 1864. There were many who, like Stevens, demanded the severest punishment of the officials who engaged in rebellion, of Pennsylvania 145 the confiscation of their property, and the absolute denial of citizenship, while a majority were in favor of various shades of generous methods to accomplish reconciliation and reimion. While there was a general feeling of confidence in the re-election of Lincoln, the more intelligent of the leaders knew that they had a severe battle before them and most careful methods were developed to guard against disaster in November. It was known that General McClellan would be the opposing candidate; that he had many sincere sup- porters in the army and that the conservative elements of the country had absolute confidence in him, while all the shades of the entire anti-war elements would be certain to support any candidate nominated by the Democrats. The Republican leaders did not asstime that their victory was assured, and many grave con- ferences were held on the various subjects which might have a bearing on the conflict. It was a convention of great force, and it was most judiciously guided by wise leadership to place the party in the best atti- tude for a desperate conflict. The student of to-day, who looks over the history of that campaign, will naturally assume that Lincoln was re-elected without a struggle, as the vote appears to be overwhelming; but all who were at the Baltimore convention, and all who actively participated in the struggle, will remem- ber the gloom that hung over the Republican party during the summer months, and how triumph was finally decided by the victories of Sherman in Atlanta and Sheridan in the Valley. 146 Old Time Notes LXV. LINCOLN RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT. Pennsylvania Republicans Heartily United in Support of Lincoln — Cam- eron Made Chairman of the State Committee — Severe Republican Depression During the Summer of 1864 Because of the Failure to Achieve Victory in the Field — Lincoln Predicts His Own Defeat on the Twenty-third of August in a Note Sealed and Delivered to Sec- retary Welles — Pennsylvania Faltered in Her Republicanism at the October Election — The Author Called to Co-operate with Cameron in the November Battle — How Pennsylvania Was Made to Vote for Lincoln on the Home Vote. WHEN the Republican State convention met at Harrisburg in the early spring of 1864 there was a very general feeling of confidence that the Republicans would have little more than a picnic in the struggle for the Pennsylvania Presidential elec- tors. Curtin had carried the State the year before by over 15,000, with 75,000 soldiers disfranchised in the field, and as the army vote was certain to be added in 1864, by a special amendment of the Constitution, the State was accepted as anchored in the Republican column without any special effort. I was not a mem- ber of the convention and had no thought of being in any way responsibly involved in the contest, as I shared the belief that the State was entirely safe for Lincoln. Entirely without my knowledge, a paper was prepared by some members of the convention asking the president of the body to appoint me chair- man of the Republican State committee, and it was signed by two-thirds or more of the delegates. There were no State offices to fill that year, and the selection of the chaiiTnan of the State committee naturally of Pennsylvania 147 devolved upon the president of the convention. The paper was presented to the chair by Representative Oknsted, since senator and president judge of the Potter district. George V. Lawrence, who had served in the house and two terms in the senate, was president of the con- vention and a close friend of Cameron. He received the paper and announced that it would be given due consideration. When I was advised of the movement I refused to take any part in the struggle for the place, as every consideration of personal interest made it undesirable. Lawrence held the matter ostensibly iinder advisement a few days, and then announced the appointment of General Cameron to the position. No man in the State was better equipped for the manage- ment of a campaign than was Cameron, and as there were no factional divisions in the State, with only National candidates and interests before the party, there was no disposition on the part of Curtin's friends to complain of the appointment. Cameron saw what he believed to be an opportunity to achieve a great victory for the party without any serious effort or sac- rifice on his own part, and he committed the error of assuming that the campaign would manage itself and gave little thought or labor to the important task he had accepted. When Lincoln was renominated in June the Republi- can leaders had just begun to realize that they might have a desperate contest before them, as Grant had fought desperate battles with fearful sacrifice of men without attaining any material victories, and Sherman was struggling with Johnson in the Atlanta campaign, and grave apprehensions were felt that as he approached Atlanta and lengthened his line, and necessarily weak- ened his forces, he might fail in his movement for the capture of the city that was the gateway of the Con- 148 Old Time Notes federacy. Nor did political conditions improve during the Slimmer months, and I well remember that diiring August the gravest apprehensions were cherished by the Republican leaders as to the National verdict, but none had any doubt about Republican success in Penn- sylvania. Lincoln, who was a close observer of the campaign, finally became discouraged to the verge of despair. On the 23d of August he wrote the following memorandum : "This morning, as for some days past, it seems ex- ceedingly probable that this administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to co-operate with the President-elect so as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration, as he will have secured his election on such ground that he cannot possibly save it afterward." Lincoln sealed this paper and delivered it to Secre- tary Welles, with notice that it was to be opened only when the result of the election was known. I saw him about the middle of the same month and he was greatly depressed. He was human, as are all men, differing only in degree, and was naturally most solicitous for re-election to the highest civil trust of the world, but I believe that his anxiety for success in the contest was even greater for the preservation of the Union than for a mere individual triumph. It was then that he first startled me with the proposition to pay $400,000,000 to the South as compensation for their slaves if they would accept emancipation and return to the Union. Of course, the suggestion was made in the strictest con- fidence, because if it had been made public in the then high- water mark of sectional and partisan passion, even Vermont and Massachusetts might have been made doubtful ; but his reasons in support of the proposition were absolutely unanswerable. He said that the war was then costing about $4,000,000 a day; that none Of Pennsylvania 149 could hope to close it by battle within the next htin- dred days during which period the war itself would cost the full sum he proposed for compensated emancipa- tion. He did not doubt that the military power of the Confederacy would be broken, but he feared that with the generally impoverished condition of the South the Confederate soldiers would not return to their deso- lated fields and breadless homes, but would precipitate anarchy in that section. After his election and after his conference with Confederate Vice-President Ste- phens, he prepared a message to Congress urging that $400,000,000 be offered to the South for compensation if emancipation and reunion were accepted. He read it to the members of the cabinet, by whom it was nearly or quite unanimously disapproved, and Lincoln folded the paper and endorsed on the back of it that it had been presented to the cabinet and disapproved. The burning of Chambersburg on the 30th of July, by General McCausland's force, precipitated new con- ditions in my section of the State. Most of the resi- dents in the town were entirely homeless and business was suspended. An extra session of the Legislature was promptly called by Governor Curtin and $100,000 appropriated that was apportioned among the most needy. While nearly all the property destroyed was insured, the insurance was lost, as the destruction was caused by a public enemy. The people of Chambers- burg were, therefore, largely without capital or credit to resume their varied occupations, and despair very generally prevailed in all business and industrial circles. J. McDowell Sharpe, the leading Democratic member of the Chambersburg bar, was then a member of the house, and after various conferences on the subject, it was decided that I should accept the Republican nomi- nation for the house, with the general expectation that both of us would be elected, to have an active Demo- Old Time Notes crat and Republican in the next Legislature to secure a liberal appropriation from the State. The district was coraposed of Franklin and Perry counties, and a Democrat and Republican were nominated in each county. The district was naturally Democratic and the people of the smaller county of Perry were not greatly enthused by the undeclared but generally well understood purpose that Franklin would elect both the members of the house. It was a demand that I could not hesitate to obey, and as the National battle could be well fought between the October and Novem- ber elections, I remained at home and devoted my entire time to the care of the stiffering people of the town and to the contest in the district; but I was in constant communication with the leading men of the State, and before the October election I was well con- vinced that there was danger of the State being close or lost in October. Three weeks before the election I was in Washington and gave the President a statement of the unfavorable condition, and urged him to have Cam.eron appreciate the peril and make an aggressive campaign. He conferred with Cameron on the subject and Cameron assured him that the State would be Republican by a large majority. The result was prac- tically a Republican disaster. There were no State officers to lose, but a number of Republican Congress- men fell in the race who should have been successful. Sharpe and I were elected by the common interest felt by both parties in Chambersburg and generally through- out the county in favor of State aid to those who suf- fered from the destruction of the town, and the Repub- lican Congressmen in several districts were saved only by the army vote. The Presidential contest in Pennsylvania in 1864 presented some peculiar features which gave the Demo- crats positive advantage. McClellan was not only Of Pennsylvania the choice of the Democrats for the Presidency, but they were generally and enthusiastically earnest in his support and hopeful of his election. He was a native of Pennsylvania, and strong appeals were made not only to Pennsylvania pride, but to the soldiers of the State, most of whom held McClellan in high respect. The Democrats had delayed their nomination of a National ticket until the 29th of August, when they assembled at Chicago, and they were most unfortunate in not having delayed their convention at least a week longer. When Horatio Seymour arose as presiding officer to call that convention to order, he addressed one of the ablest representative political bodies that ever met in the country, and every member was entirely confident of the success of their candidate for Presi- dent. The campaigns of Grant and Sherman up to that time had brought nothing in return but reports of desperate battles and appalling sacrifice, and the feeling was very general among Democrats and largely shared by Republicans that the Union could not be restored at the point of the bayonet. It was this political condition of fore-shadowed Republican disaster that Lincoln recorded in the private memorandum, only a week before the convention met, that made the Democratic National convention commit the fatal error of declaring the war a failure and demanding the cessation of hostilities. The text of that portion of the platform was as follows: That after four years of failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, during which, under the pre- tense of military necessity or war-power higher than, the Constitution, the Constitution itself has been dis- regarded in every part and public liberty and private right alike trodden down, and the material prosperity of the country essentially impaired — justice, htimanity, liberty and the public welfare demand that immediate Old Time Notes efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities with a view to an vdtimate convention of the States, or other peace- able means, to the end that, at the earliest practicable moment, peace may be restored on the basis of the Fed- eral imion of the States." That momentous declaration at the time of its de- liverance honestly reflected the views of nearly the entire Democratic people of the country, and very many Republicans were profoimdly apprehensive that the declaration was only too true, but just when the convention had concluded its labors, the trained light- ning flashed the news to Washington from Sherman saying: "Atlanta is ours, and fairly won." The loyal sentiment of the country was at once inspired, and the Democrats' delegates returning to their homes found every center of population illuminated at night and full of waving flags by day, as the people hurled back upon them their fierce resentment at the declaration of the failure of the war and at the demand for peace by compromise with rebellion. Sherman's victory at Atlanta was supplemented by Sheridan's victories in the Valley, and Sherman and Sheridan, and they alone, were the great campaigners who gave victory to Lin- coln and to the Republican party in the great struggle of 1864. On the morning after the October election the Presi- dent telegraphed me to come to Washington, as the result in the State was humiliating in the extreme, when Ohio and Indiana, the other October States, had large Republican majorities. As my personal contest for the Legislature was ended, Lincoln asked me to join Cameron and co-operate with him in getting the State into position for the November election. He realized the fact that the friends of McClellan were greatly en- couraged, and entirely confident that they would give the electoral vote of Pennsylvania to the one they Of Pennsylvania 153 esteemed as Pennsylvania's great soldier. I reminded Lincoln that I could not maks such a proposition to Cameron, but that if Cameron desired it, I would be very glad to join him and give my entire time to the struggle. The day after my return home I received a letter from Cameron requesting me to join him, that had evidently been inspired by Lincoln himself, and I hastened to Cameron's headquarters at the Girard House, in Philadelphia, where I found Wayne Mac- Veagh, who had been Republican chairman the year before, and had also been sent for by Cameron, and whose political relations at that time with Cameron were about the same as my own. Cameron was greatly distressed as he realized that he was to blame for having assimied that the battle would win itself. An address to the people of the State, that was written chiefly by MacVeagh, was signed by Cameron and sent out before the first conference ended, and I informed Cameron that I would remain in the city imtil the election and would be subject to his orders at any time to aid him in the contest. I took a room at the Continental, as it was necessary that everything should be done in open and frank recogni- ton of Cameron as the head of the organization, and I advised Lincoln every night by letter of any changes in the situation. His election was not at that time in any degree doubtful, but the two most important States of the Union were admittedly trembling in the balance. New York had Seymour as Governor, and was so desperately contested by the Democrats that Lincoln carried the State only by 6,000 majority in a vote of 1,000,000. There was a reasonable possibility that McClellan might carry both Pennsylvania and New York, and although he could not even then ap- proach an election, the failure of the two greatest of the Northern States to sustain the administration Old Time Notes would have seriously weakened the power of Lincoln in prosecuting the war and attaining peace. It was of the utmost moment, therefore, that Penn- sylvania should be saved and by the home vote, as the vote in the army would be decried as a bayonet vote and would not carry the moral effect of a victory at- tained independently of the army. It was an absolute necessit}^, alike in the interest of war and peace, that Lincoln should carry Penns3dvania on the home vote as New York was considered more than doubtful. So anxious was Lincoln about the vote of Pennsylvania that he sent Postmaster General Dennison to see me privately at the Continental and go over the situation. He came and spent several hours with me and then returned to Washington the same night, without hav- ing seen any other person in the city. Abundant means had been supplied to Cameron to organize the party in view of the adverse current presented, and he doubtless made the best possible use of it, but I had to tell Denni- son that I saw no perceptible advantage that had been gained, as the Democrats were as earnest and active as we were, and had concentrated all their efforts to carry Pennsylvania for McClellan. I told him to say to the President that if matters did not materially improve in the next few days, I would visit him in Washington to confer on the subject. Two days thereafter I telegraphed the President that I would see him that evening, and reached the White House about nine o'clock. I told him that I saw no reasonable prospect of carrying the State on the home vote. While the ami};- vote would be reasonably cer- tain to give the electoral vote of the State to Lincoln, the moral force of the victory would be seriously im- paired. Lincoln was greatly distressed. He then expected to lose New York, and he felt that if Pennsyl- vania's home vote was in his favor, the power of his of Pennsylvania 155 administration would not be seriously impaired even with New York adverse to him. I told him that Penn- sylvania could be saved by the home vote if he was prepared to do it, and that he could do it without any serious interference with army movements. By fur- loughing 5,000 Pennsylvania soldiers home from the Army of the Potomac, then besieging Petersburg, and 5,000 soldiers from Sheridan's forces in the Valley, where fighting had been ended by the repeated defeats of Earley, he would be certain to have a home majority in the State. I knew that he had saved Grant when Congress and the country demanded that Grant should be crucified for the battle of Shiloh, and suggested to him that of course Grant would be glad to furlough the soldiers upon any expression of the President's that he diesired it done, but Lincoln, for some reason, hesi- tated to make such a communication to Grant. I then said to him that Meade was commander of the Army of the Potomac, a soldier and a gentleman, and that he certainly could send an order to him with the request that it be returned, and that the order would be obeyed. He did send a subordinate of the War Department that night to General Meade, who furloughed the 5,000 Pennsylvania soldiers home for the election, and per- mitted the order to be returned to the President. I asked him how it was with Sheridan, and Lincoln *s face brightened up at once as he said: ''Oh, Phil, he's all right." A like order went to Sheridan and 5,000 or more of his Pennsylvania soldiers came home to vote. The result was that Lincoln carried the State by 5,712 majority on the home vote, and that, with over 14,000 majority in the army, gave him the State by over 20,000. Never was a State more earnestly contested than was Pennsylvania between the October and November elections, in 1864. McClellan was personally popular, Old Time Notes was a man of the loveliest attributes and was univer- sally respected and generally beloved by all who knew him, while a large portion of the Democrats regarded him as the ideal soldier of the war. But for one grave political error that he committed the year before in the Curtin- Woodward campaign for Governor, I doubt whether he could have been defeated in the State by the home vote. Curtin had been his sincere friend, stood by him long after most of the Republicans had deserted him, and he had made earnest effort to have McClellan restored to the command of the Army of the Potomac when it was marching to Gettysburg, in which the leading business men of Philadelphia actively joined. McClellan was then at his home in Orange, New Jersey, awaiting orders where he had been since he was relieved from the command of the army in the fall of 1862. He was doubtless sorely pressed to make a declaration in favor of Woodward and against Curtin, and he hesitated long about acceding to the demand, but finally, just on the eve of the election of 1863, he wrote to a prominent Democrat in Pennsylvania for publication a brief letter urging the election of Wood- ward. That certainly lost him more than enough votes in the State to have given him the home majority. McClellan was then in politics without political train- ing, and his judgment and inclinations wer^ overruled when he gave the deliverance against Curtin. Grant, who was then at the head of the army and owed his position entirely to Lincoln, was severely discreet, and never gave an utterance during the contest bearing in any degree on the Presidential issue, but when Lincoln was re-elected he promptly sent him a generous con- gratulation. Lincoln was somewhat grieved at Grant because he had given no utterance at all during the con- test, and that was his reason for not sending to Grant Of Pennsylvania 157 his order or request for the furlough of Pennsylvania troops at the October election. I was much prejudiced against Grant when I found that Lincoln was unwilling to communicate his wishes to Grant while he did communicate with Meade. Some time after Grant's retirement from the Presidency I lunched with him at the invitation of Mr. Drexel and Mr. Childs, at Mr. Drexel's office, and in the course of conversation I led him back to that conflict and re- ferred to the fact that he had been discreetly silent. Grant's answer, which was doubtless the honest truth, was that he certainly could not inject himself into a political contest between the President, who had assigned him to the command of the army, and the general whom he had succeeded in the army. There never was a candidate nominated for President by so enthusiastic and confident a party as that which nomi- nated McClellan in Chicago, in 1864, who finally fell in such overwhelming and humiliating defeat, with a popular majority against him of nearly half a million, and receiving only twenty-one of the 233 electoral votes, from the States of Delaware, Kentucky and New Jersey. 158 Old Time Notes LXVI. THE BURNING OF CHAMBERSBURG. Chambersburg Destroyed by the Brutal Vandalism of Hunter in the Lynchburg Campaign — Its Destruction Made Possible by Hunter's Military Incompetency — Reports of McCausland's Movement from Mercersburg to Chambersburg — The Vandalism of Many Intoxicated Confederates While the Town Was Burning — A Heroic Woman Saves One of the Author's Houses and Barn — Chambersburg Could Have Been Fully Protected by the State Force Organized by Governor Curtin, but It Was Sent to the Potomac to Save Hunter. NEXT to the battle of Gettysburg, the echoes of the most thrilling event of the Civil War in the North come from the burning of Cham- bersburg on the 30th of July, 1864, by a Confederate cavalry force under the command of General McCaus- land, and it is only in vindication of the truth of his- tory that I state that the destruction of Chambersburg was chiefly, or wholly, provoked by the brutal vandal- ism of General Hunter in the Lynchburg campaign, and its execution was made possible by his military incompetency. Hunter succeeded Sigel in command of the Shenan- doah Valley in the spring of 1864, and was ordered by General Grant, then battling with Lee south of Spottsylvania, to advance upon Lynchburg and destroy the enemy's lines of communication and resources at that point. On the 5th of June General Hu.nter met a comparatively small force of the enemy at Piedmont, and defeated it, and after its retreat he formed a junc- tion with Crook and Averill at Staunton and marched toward Lynchburg by way of Lexington, where he arrived on the loth. Hunter lost his opportunity to Of Pennsylvania 159 capture Lynchburg by his delay at Lexington, where he was guilty of many brutal acts of vandalism, such as the burning of the private residence of Governor Letcher, the Military Institute, and taking away or destroying memorable statues connected with the university founded by Washing-ton and bearing his name. When Hunter arrived in front of Lynchburg, he found that General Earley had been ordered by Lee to make a forced march to meet him, and Earley occupied a position of such strength that Hunter declined to give battle. He explained that his failure to engage Earley for the capture of Lynchburg was his want of adequate ammunition, but if the statement is to be accepted as the true one, it simply proved the incompetency of a commander going into an enemy's cotintry, so far from his base, with an army helpless for want of ammunition. Hiinter retreated along the Gauley and Kanawha Rivers to the Ohio, and returned to his base at Harper's Ferry by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. His circu- itous retreat uncovered the valley, and enabled Earley not only to take possession of it, but to advance upon Washington, defeat General Lew Wallace at the Mon- ocacy on the gth of July, and compelled Grant to send W^right's corps from the Army of the Potomac to save the Capital. When Earley reached the outer defenses of Washington he found that General Wright was there with his corps, and that it was impossible for him to miake a hopeful assault upon the Capital. He hastily fell back and reached Martinsburg with a vast train of stipplies that had been gathered in his march. Hunter had arrived from the West when Earley reached Martinsburg, and he crossed the river and gave battle to Earley, but was defeated and compelled to recross the river and place his command in a defensive posi- tion between Hancock and Harper's Ferry. General i6o Old Time Notes McCausland's cavalry brigade was on Earley^s left, and General Averill's Union cavalry brigade on Hun- ter's right. On the 28th of July General Earley directed McCaus- land to take his own mounted brigade and the cavalry brigade of General Bradley T. Johnson, numbering in all nearly 3,000 men, and proceed to Chambersburg, where he was ordered to levy a tribute of $100,000 in gold or $500,000 in United States currency, and to bum the town if the requisition was not responded to. On the 29th McCausland crossed the Potomac at Cherry Run and McCoy's Ford, and advanced by way of Clear Springs and Mercersburg upon Chambersburg. The people of the town were advised by telegrams from Mercersburg of the advance of McCausland's command, and a scene of indescribable confusion ensued. The money in banks and as much of the property in stores as could be gotten away were hur- riedly shipped to distant points, but it was known that General Averill's command was somewhere near Ha- gerstown with railway communication, and General Couch, who was in command of the department with his headquarters at Chambersburg, confidently ex- pected to have General Averill's force there before McCausland could arrive, if he continued his advance toward the town. When McCausland started on his raid the enemy's division of Rhodes and Ramsler, and the cavalry brigade of Vaughan, crossed the river at Williamsport. Vaughan moved on as far as Hagerstown, Md. Averill was thus threatened on both flanks, and fell back into Pennsylvania, reaching Greencastle, only twelve miles from Chambersburg, by sundown of the day that McCausland marched from Mercersburg to Chambers- burg. Averill's command could easily have been brought to Chambersburg in two or three hours. of Pennsylvania When General Couch found that McCausland was con- tinuing his march to Chambersburg, having passed through Mercersburg to the Pittsburg pike, he sent three urgent despatches to Averill, at Greencastle, which were given to Averill 's own orderlies for immedi- ate transmission to him, but to these Couch received no reply, and near daylight, when McCausland had his command in line on Federal Hill, where his guns com- manded the town, Couch was compelled to hurry away in the last train held for the purpose, with his staff and a few orderlies, they being the only force he had in the place. He had a home guard in the town, of which I was a member, and we were sent out to picket the road along which McCausland was supposed to be advancing. As we were expected to hide in fence comers, I changed my dress for an old suit that could not be damaged by any amount of exposure, and left my watch, pocket-book, etc., in the bureau drawer at home. We remained out on the picket line for two or three hours, when General Couch sent word for us to return, as the enemy was approaching, and we should not be exposed to danger, as we could accomplish nothing. I went directly to the headquarters of General Couch, and remained with him imtil early the next morning, when McCausland 's command was within a few miles of Chambersburg. Couch had no force at Chambersburg beyond a little squad of less than twenty men under the command of an Irish corporal. They were sent out early in the day, and they advanced until they saw the signs of the enemy's approach, but they did not permit themselves to be seen, nor their presence made known to the enemy until after dark, when the gallant corporal so maneuvered his handful of men that McCausland supposed he was confronted by a regiment, and so stated in his official 2 II l62 Old Time Notes report. The corporal knew the roads perfectly, and he had his men scattered, and every now and then fired as the enemy appeared to be approaching. So admirably did he manage his little force that McCaus- land was not able to advance between Mercersbtirg and Chambersburg any faster than two miles an hotir. Toward daylight the corporal returned to headquar- ters and reported that the enemy's force was about 3,000, and was then within two miles of the town. As Couch could get no communication from General Averill, he was entirely helpless and notified his staff and the little band of men who had been fighting all night, that the train he had had in readiness for some time would leave in half an hour. I had left my home the year before, when Lee's army came, because of reliable admonitions that I should avoid capture, but as this was only a raid that could, at the most, last for a few hours, as we hoped to have Averill come to our aid at any time, I refused General Couch's earnest appeal to accompany him, and started out to my home, only to find my wife and family much more concerned about getting me away than about the advance of the enemy. Couch sent a staff officer to my house renewing the appeal for me to leave, and just then a close friend drove up in front of my house in a buggy, stopped and insisted upon me going with him. I accepted his invitation, as I hoped to be able to return to Chambersburg the following day, and we drove to Shippensburg, but before noon we had the first reports from Chambersburg that the town was in flames and vandalism running riot. In the evening my wife and family joined me at Shippens- burg and reported that only the family Bible had been saved from the house, as it was picked up by Mrs. McClure's mother as she took her departure, and an oil portrait of myself that hung in the parlor had of Pennsylvania 163 been hastily torn from the hook by Miss Reilley, who escaped with it through the back door. The Rev. Dr. Niccolls, then pastor of the Chambers- burg Presbyterian church, resided quite close to my home, and when he found the squad enter it he hastened to the house and gathered up a number of my clothes, but they were rudely taken from him and thrown into the fire. The work of burning the town was performed in the most hurried and brutal manner. Many of the command became wildly intoxicated from the liquors they found in the saloons and cellars, and while a large portion of the command revolted at the vandal- ism exhibited by many, they were powerless to prevent it, and for several hours the command was engaged in plundering and firing all the buildmgs in the center of the town. Bradley Johnson was the active commander, and he was most vindictive and merciless. He had left his home at Frederick, where he was a lawyer in good practice, to join the Confederacy, and when Lee's army marched through Frederick two years later, by Johnson's order his own home was burned, as he never expected to be able to occupy it again, and his lot was cast with the people who regarded all in the North as implacable foes. Fortimately, this burning of Chambersburg occurred in daylight of a simny midsummer day, and the sick and feeble were all removed from the peril of the flames. When the work of the destruction of the town had been well under way, two squads were ordered out to destroy the property that belonged to me on a fann at the edge of the town. Captain Smith, son of ex-Govemor Smith, of Virginia, headed the squad that burned my residence and bam. Mrs. McClure was ill, but able to be about in her room; and Captain Smith himself entered her chamber and notified her that she must be out of the house within ten minutes. She asked 164 Old Time Notes permission to take some valuable mementoes from the home, but it was rudely denied. She then reminded him that the same command, or part of it, had camped on the place under General Jenkins, who commanded the advance of Lee's army in the Gettysburg campaign, that the bam was their hospital, and that she herself ministered to them, and handed him a letter written to her by one of the sufferers when they moved toward Gettysburg; but in ten minutes both bam and house were enveloped in flames — the barn containing the entire crops from the large farm. Mrs. McClure and those with her walked several miles in the country, where they were finally taken charge of by a neighbor and driven to Shippensburg. On the southem end of the farm there was a brick residence and small bam, and Colonel Gilmore, of Baltimore, commanded the squad that was ordered to destroy the buildings. He rushed into the house and found Mrs. Boyd and her two children at break- fast. They were rudely and peremptorily ordered to leave the house at once, as he had orders to bum it and could not delay for a minute. She asked per- mission to finish her breakfast, but it was refused. She was a woman of heroic mold, and the wife of one of the most gallant troopers of the border, Colonel Boyd, later known in Philadelphia as connected with the publication of our ''City Directory." She arose from the table, bidding her children to prepare at once to leave, and while they were gathering their little belongings, she said to Colonel Gilmore: ''Do you know whose house this is?" To which he answered: ''Certainly, it is Colonel McClure 's," and Mrs. Boyd replied: "The house belongs to him, but it is now the home of myself and children, and of my husband, Captain Boyd, of the Pennsylvania cavalry, " to which she added that Colonel Gilmore could now proceed Of Pennsylvania to the destruction of the property. He at once Hfted his hat and answered that he would not bum the home of so gallant a soldier, and he made a hurried retreat from the place. Captain Boyd was the most notorious scouting trooper on the border, and his name was as familiar in Virginia as Moseby's was in Pennsylvania. Gilmore well knew that if he burned the home of Captain Boyd, a score or more of Virginia homes would pay the pen- alty. Fifty suburban houses were passed on the out- skirts of the town by the squad of burners to reach my home and destroy it, and a like number of suburban houses were not disturbed by the Gilmore party that went to destroy the improvement at the southern end of the farm. At eleven o'clock in the morning McCausland received word from the scouts that Averill was approaching, and he gathered up his force hastily, and moved rapidly across the North Mountain into Fulton County. Averill reached Chambersburg a few hours after McCausland had left the town, and he pursued McCausland, finally brought him to bay after three days of pursuit and defeated and scat- tered his command. He found in the enemy's camp many of the valuables which had been taken from the homes of Chambersburg. The actual losses sustained by the people of Cham- bersburg in the destruction of personal and real prop- erty were finally adjudicated by a State commission that gave $1,628,431.58 as the aggregate value of individual property destroyed. Such a loss in a town of 4,000 population made up entirely of residences and business places, without any large manufacturing establishments, plunged the entire community into the starless midnight of despair. Many were at once hopelessly bankrupted, many more struggled to rebuild their homes and places of business at a time when i66 Old Time Notes everything commanded inflated prices, and struggled for years to save themselves, but finally had to yield, as property depreciated while debts accumulated. The few who had wealth in country farms or securities could afford to rebuild their homes, but that number made up a very small percentage of the sufferers of the town. The burning of Chambersburg would have been utterly impossible if the steps the State had taken, imder Governor Curtin's earnest efforts to protect the border, had been allowed to serve their purpose. The Governor had a number of regiments organized solely for border defense within the State, but they were accepted in the military service of the government only on the very proper condition that in any emer- gency they should be subject to the orders of the gov- ernment. More than enough of these regiments than would have been needed to defeat McCausland in Chambersburg passed through the town within a few days before its destruction to reinforce Hunter on the Potomac, as he was then threatened by Earley, and Averill, whose force alone would have been sufficient to protect the town, was not at his headquarters near Greencastle when the despatches reached there, but was finally found, when too late to be of any service, sleeping alone in a fence comer some distance from his command, and his orderlies did not know where to find him. He was a gallant soldier, had been making forced marches to save his own command that he supposed was threatened on one flank by Vaughan, and on the other by McCausland, and he never dreamed of McCausland making the raid by Mercersburg to Chambersburg. He was doubtless exhausted, and thought that the only duty he could have for immediate performance was to save his command from destruction. I stated at the outset of this chapter thac the destruc- Of Pennsylvania 167 tion of Chambersburg was chiefly or wholly provoked by the vandalism of Hunter in his Lynchburg cam- paign, and that its execution was possible because of his incapacity. Already sufficient facts have been given in this statement to show that he was utterly incompetent to handle his army, not only up to the time when McCausland started on his raid, but if he had been equal to his important trust McCausland never would have been permitted to escape on any such mission. In his march through the Valley from Lex- ington to Lynchburg he had been guilty of the most flagrant violation of the rules of civilized warfare. He had burned the homes of Senator Hunter, of Charles- town, his own first cousin, and bearing the name of General Hunter's father; of Confederate Congressman A. R. Boteler, whose wife was a cousin of General Hunter; of Governor Letcher, then Governor of the State; of J. T. Anderson, connected with the great Tredegar Iron Works, in Richmond; of E. I. Lee, a leading private citizen of the State, and the Virginia Military Institute. All of these were grand old colon- ial homes, and they were destroyed without any war- rant or even decent excuse whatever. In addition to these, many private homes were gutted by his troops, their contents wantonly destroyed, and the historic statues at Lexington were broken or taken away. Of course, he destroyed all the mills and factories on the line, as is common when a movement is made to impair the resources of an enemy, but from the time he started on his campaign until he was driven into retreat by a circuitous route, there were unmis- takable marks of the most brutal vandalism along his entire track. Earley had driven Hunter from Lynchburg, where he retreated without accepting battle. With Lee's crippled condition in front of Grant, it was not possible i68 Old Time Notes for Earley to remain on the Potomac, and he gave the order to McCausland to proceed to Chambersburg and demand a ransom sufficient to cover the private prop- erty wantonly destroyed by Hunter in his raid, or faihng in that to inflict a like punishment upon Cham- bersburg. General Earley, in a pamphlet published some time after the war, entitled ''A Memoir of the Last Year of the War for Independence by the Confederate States of America, ' ' speaking of the burning of Cham- bersburg, said: ''For this act I alone am responsible, as the officers engaged in it were simply executing my orders and had no discretion left to them." In the same paper he recites in detail many acts of vandalism committed by Hunter in Virginia without excuse or provocation, and adds that it was necessary to carry the same method of warfare into the North to insure the safety of homes and properties in the South. While Earley does not give any special reasons for selecting Chambersburg on which to inflict this retribu- tion, it was well known then that throughout the South it was believed that John Brown made his base in Chambersburg, where he planned his wild raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859, solely because the people of Chambersburg were in sympathy with him. It was a natural supposition, but entirely untrue. There was not a single citizen of Chambersburg who knew John Brown as John Brown, during the six weeks or two months he made that town his residence. He was known only as Dr. Smith, and not a single resident of the place had any suspicion of his real purpose, as he announced to all that he was planning important mineral developments in Virginia. I saw John Brown a score of times or more during his stay there, conversed with him on several occasions, and never doubted that Of Pennsylvania 169 he was the man he represented himself to be; but the fact that Chambersburg was made his base created deep-seated prejudice in the South against the town, and it is more than probable that, but for the John Brown raid, Chambersburg might not have been decreed to crucification for General Himter's vandalism and incompetency. General Earley doubtless believed that he would halt the destruction of property in the South by the burning of Chambersburg, but from the 30th of July, 1864, tmtil the close of the war, not a single State in the South, where our armies penetrated, entirely escaped fearful retribution for the destruction of the old Cumberland Valley town. On the slightest pre- text the Union soldiers, then scattered all through the South, were urged to deeds of vandalism when some desperate leaders would give out the cry: " Remember Chambersburg. ' ' I met a Southern lady in Columbia five years after the war, whose home and all it con- tained were burned by Sherman's army. She told that the squad rushed into her home, ordered her to leave it, and to the cry: ''Remember Chambersburg," applied the torch and left it in ashes; and a hundred Southern homes were destroyed for every half-score that were destroyed in Chambersburg. It was a costly retribution to Chambersburg, but it was a twenty-fold more costly retribution to the South. Fortunately, before another year had passed away peace came at Appomattox, and the inmates of Southern homes no longer shuddered at the cry: ''Remember Cham- bersburg. " Old Time Notes LXVII. THE BORDER WAR CLAIMS. James McDowell Sharpe and the Author Elected to the House to Secure Appropriation for the Desolated Town — How William H. Kemble Became State Treasurer — Debate on the Amendment to the Con- stitution Abolishing Slavery Forced Sharpe and the Author to Par- ticipate — Sharpe 's Admirable Speech — Why the Relief Bill Failed — How the Appropriation of Half a Million Dollars Was Passed a Year Later. THE McCausland raid that destroyed the beauti- ful town of Chambersburg was the last visita- tion the people of that section had from the opposing arraies of our civil war. General Patter- son's army, the first to march against the South in the Shenandoah Valley, in the early spring of 1861, en- camped on my farm at Chambersburg, and made that his base for a week or more. That occupation saved me the trouble of harvesting luxuriant fields of clover and timothy, as all the fields in grass were occupied by the army and the crops destroyed. In 1862 Gen- eral Stuart made the first great raid of the war around McClellan's army after the battle of Antietam, and spent the night in Chambersburg, as I have already fully described, leaving me minus ten horses. His raid was followed by what were always the most destructive military movements in our valley, with the single exception of the burning of Chambersburg, the invasion of the militia or emergency men, sud- denly called out to protect the border, pitched together into companies and regiments without discipline, and hurriedly marched away without quartermaster or commissary resources. They practically lived on Of Pennsylvania 171 the country, and they were necessarily very costly visitors. In 1863 two-thirds of Lee's army had its base in Chambersburg for nearly a week, and E well's corps of over 20,000 men followed all previous military forces by camping on some 200 acres of level ground on my farm, with railroad on one side and water on the other. Lee's army, however, was under the strictest discipline, and E well's entire corps, or most of it, was on the farm for a week ; and the officers occupied my residence, but they did much less damage than a single regiment of New York volunteers encamped on the same place, who were the first to reach Chambersburg after the battle of Gettysburg. The middle fences had then been destroyed by both armies, and the only crop that I was enabled to gather from the farm during the war was a bountiful harvest in 1864, that was entirely destroyed in the barn a few weeks after its harvesting. The people of Chambersburg were left in a most destitute condition by the destruction of the town on the 30th of July, 1864. Nearly or quite two-thirds of the population were entirely homeless, without means and without the occupations which afforded them a livelihood. The people of the State responded very generously in sending supplies, but with more than 2,000 people entirely homeless and breadless there was often want in many family circles. I had a large com and potato crop that had escaped the vengeance of McCausland, and as rapidly as these crops matured sufficiently for family use they were delivered from day to day to the sufferers until the last pound had gone, beyond a scant allowance for my own household. Unfortunately, we were then in the high tide of war inflation, when a dollar of current money bought no more than two-thirds its face value in labor or neces- 172 Old Time Notes saries of life, but the business men who had means or credit hastily began the reconstruction of their homes and business places, costing them quite double what the properties commanded when many were forced to sell by the revulsion that followed. The people were inspired by the hope that the Leg- islature would come to their relief to a very generous extent, and, as I have explained in a former chapter, J. McDowell Sharpe, who stood at the front of the Chambersburg bar, and myself had been elected to the house and charged with the responsible duty of obtain- ing relief for our people who were struggling in the ashes of their desolated homes. Sharpe and I, of course, had but a single purpose in shaping our legislative actions, and that was to successfully perform the para- mount duty of obtaining relief for our neighbors. At the meeting of the Legislature on the first Tuesday of January, 1865, we agreed that we must subordinate all political efforts to the exceptionally grave duty im.posed upon us ; that we would take no part in polit- ical disputation; that our attitude on all legislative questions should be governed by the advantage we could command for the passage of the relief bill. The house was largely Republican, and of coiu^se Sharpe, being the leading Democrat of the body, was voiceless in shaping its organization; but Olmsted, of Potter, was made speaker without a contest by the Republican friends of the border claim giving him a united support. He was a man of the highest character, and all we asked of him was an entirely fair committee to pass upon our important measure, to which he readily assented and fulfilled his promise. He was not asked to pledge himself to support the bill, as such a propo- sition would have been offensive to one of his delicate appreciation of official pride, but we had the assurance of absolute fairness, and hoped to have him with us Of Pennsylvania 173 when the struggle came, although his constituents were very generally against us. Before the Legislature met distant portions of the State, which were at no time imperiled by the Civil War, were inflamed to a considerable degree against our relief bill by the united efforts of demagogues and lobbyists. It must be remembered that at that day the sum of $500,000 to be taken from the treasury for appropriation outside of the ordinary expenses of the State was a startling proposition, and candidates for the Legislature in very many of the districts openly pledged themselves against what they called the border raid bill, to secure their election in doubtful districts, or to assure their renominations where elections were not doubtful. The entire northern tier of counties, then almost wholly agricultural, and where extreme frugality was the rule of the every-day lives of the people, were appalled by the proposition to take half a million dollars from the treasury of the State. Their farms were then taxed to support the Commonwealth, and $500,000 at that time seemied to be a vastly greater svim than $5,000,000 would seem to-day. Pittsburg was then in the violent throes of the rail- road repudiation struggle that convulsed the people of Allegheny for many years, and their legislators had little sympathy with their brethren from the southern border, because their revolutionary movement had commanded little sympathy or support from any por- tion of the State east of the Alleghenies. Thus, a large portion of the members of the Legislature ap- peared at Harrisburg strongly prejudiced against any important border relief bill because of political or local interests, and the professional lobbyists of the State, who then embraced a number of able and unscrupu- lous men, aided systematically in prejudicing legis- lators against our measure, hoping to obtain a large 174 Old Time Notes corruption fund to be used by them in securing votes for the bill, with large profits to the lobbyists them- selves. When we appeared at Harrisburg to inaugu- rate the struggle for the relief of Chambersburg, we were amazed to learn that a decided majority of the house was not only not in sympathy with us, but positively against us, and many of the members very aggressively so. It was this condition that brought into political prominence William H. Kemble, as he was made State treasurer by a combination between his Philadelphia friends and the organized supporters of the relief bill. I had known Kemble in a casual way for several years, but never had opportimity to know him beyond the flippant surface that he so often maintained, hiding his very strong natural abilities from all but those who knew him most intimately. We had some twenty Republican members of the house who immediately represented the border people, or who were sufficiently interested in the work of furnishing relief, to make them cordially co-operate with any movement deemed necessary to promote the passage of a liberal appro- priation. Philadelphia representatives were nearly all Republican, and they had been thoroughly organized to make battle for the election of Kemble as State treasurer. His competitor was Dr. Gross, of Alle- gheny, who had served several sessions in the house, was a man of the highest character, of admitted ability, and universally respected by all who knew him. Under ordinary circumstances he would have been nominated for State treasurer, and would have filled the office with great credit, but the proposition came to us to give the support of the Republican representatives of Philadelphia for the border relief bill if we would imite with them to make Kemble State treasurer. Of Pennsylvania The proposition was first made to me by ex-Repre- sentative Thome, with whom I had served in the house some years, and who was a devoted personal friend. He came to Chambersburg and made the proposition that a combination be made between the border and Philadelphia Republicans to make Kemble treasurer and to pass the relief bill. I was greatly surprised when he named Kemble as his candidate, as I had only the merest superficial knowledge of the man, and when he first told me that the Philadelphians were unitedly and earnestly for him, and that we could not expect a general or cordial support for our relief bill from Phila- delphia without the border people supporting him, my answer was: Well, if you people can stand it, I can, " and the combination was made and carried out with absolute fidelity on both sides. But for this alliance with Philadelphia the Chambersburg relief bill never would have been permitted to appear even on the house calendar. I learned to know Kemble better after he came into the office of State treasurer, and to appreciate his exceptionally great qualities. He was at times impul- sive and indiscreet, but he discharged his official duties with great fidelity, and he started the imiportant tax reform relieving the farmers of the State entirely from taxation for State purposes and imposing it upon the then rapidly developing corporations. He became a recognized leader not only in State politics, but in finance, and was the chief author of the pecrmiary success attained by our various city passenger railways. He was the best equipped man in passenger railway business not only in Philadelphia, but in any other section of the country, and he was unfaltering in his fidelity to personal or political friendships. He was twice re-elected State treasurer by the Legislature, and left the ofhce at the expiration of three years with the 176 Old Time Notes credit of the State fully restored, and oiir general financial condition immeasurably improved. Never did two men more earnestly struggle for the relief of their constituents than did Sharpe and myself at that session of the Legislature, but before a month of the session had passed it became obvious to us that success was not within the range of possibility. The measure was assailed by a large number of the rural newspapers, and the powerfully organized lobbyists who then ckistered about legislative sessions were aggressively hostile because there was nothing in it for them. Sharpe and I made every combination within range to aid or hinder legislation if thereby there was a promise made for our single cause. Politi- cal disputation ran high in both senate and house, but we were stubbornly silent. As Sharpe was alto- gether the ablest member of the Democratic minority, his political friends complained somewhat that he was never heard in the political scraps that so often hap- pened in which he would have been their ablest cham- pion. Finally we reached the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States for the abolish- ment of slavery, and the debate on it was altogether the most embittered of the session. Just when it was at the high-water mark of partisan frenzy, the Demo- crats demanded that Sharpe should be heard, and I had been also urged to participate in the debate on the other side. I saw that the Democrats, where we had our largest support for the relief bill otitside of Phila- delphia members, were determined to have Sharpe speak, and I passed over to his seat and proposed that I would take the floor in support of the anti-slavery amendment, and that he should follow; that we would both deliver dignified addresses which would not be likely to call out violent inteiTuption or criticism, and that after the delivery of the speeches we would then of Pennsylvania 177 resiime owe attitude of absolute refusal to participate in political discussion. It soon became known that Sharpe and I had taken a temporary release from our bondage on political discussion, and, as the subject had already crowded the house with interested spec- tators, the senate soon adjourned for want of a quorum, and the Governor and heads of departments and senators crowded into the hail. Sharpe 's speech, although entirely spontaneous, was the ablest political address I ever heard him deliver, and his friends were greatly gratified. He was thoroughly familiar with the subject, as he had discussed the question very fully time and again on the stump, and he rose to the highest measure of his great ability on the sudden inspiration of a party call that he knew demanded of him an argu- ment fully worthy of himself. He was one of the few members of the bar who presented the uncommon quality of perfectly blending all the attributes of a great lawyer with all the attributes of a brilliant advo- cate, and he was one of the gentlest and most lovable of men. Hopeless as was the position of the Chambersburg measure, we could only struggle to the end, although it was during the last month of the session, simply the struggle of despair, and the Legislature finally ad- journed without any a'ppropriation whatever for the relief of the impoverished people of the burned town. While the leading men of Chambersburg were fully advised of the progress of the battle, and knew that the defeat of the bill was inevitable, the majority of the people in their extreme necessities, struggling like the drowning man grasping at the straw, hoped even against hope that they w^ould not be entirely abandoned by the State, and when the Legislature finally ad- journed without even seriously considering the relief measure their disappointment was as terrible as it was a — 13 178 Old Time Notes general. Sharpe and I were in constant intercourse with the leading men of the town, and they knew long before the session ended that $500,000 could not be taken from the treasury of the State, even for the most deserving charity, without passing through the slimy embrace of a powerful and unscrupulous lobby. There were many conferences after the adjournment of the Legislature between the active citizens of the town, which Sharpe and I attended, and we both stated frankly that the appropriation that was absolutely indispensable to Chambersburg could not be obtained by any combination of personal or political interests, and that it could be accomplished only by yielding to corruption that was then largely asserting its mas- tery in Pennsylvania politics, and especially in legisla- tion; and it was finally definitely decided to organize a movement at once to obtain the appropriation from the succeeding Legislature, and a dozen or more of those who had sustained the heaviest losses, and who, as a rule, could best afford to dispense with relief, should give their entire portion of the appropriation to promote its passage. The result was that new men were sent to the Legislature, and the battle for the relief of Chambersburg was made outside of the legis- lative halls. The measure passed both branches of the Legislature and was approved by Governor Curtin, and thus half a million came at last to the relief of the long-despairing sufferers of Chambersburg, less a con- siderable sum that Was filched from them by lobby extortion and Legislative venality. A number of the heaviest losers did not receive one dollar, and I not 'only received no part of mine, which was the largest claim in the entire list, but in a severe emergency in the progress of the conflict I gave $2,500 in addition, not a dollar of which was ever repaid, or expected to be repaid; but with all these resources, Of Pennsylvania 179 we were unable to meet the ever-increasing demand of organized corruption. Finally I presented the matter to Colonel Scott, then vice-president of the Pennsyl- vania Railroad, who was a native of Franklin County, and had great affection for the people of the desolated town. He understood the situation at a glance, knew the forces which surrounded and the obstacles which confronted it, and he gave a peremptory order to his representative at Harrisbiu*g to pass the Chambersburg relief bill tinder any and all circumstances. But for his timely and most generous interposition and sub- stantial aid, the relief bill would not have reached final passage. Beyond half a dozen men, who participated in the inner movements of the struggle, the people of Chambersburg received the liberal appropriation of the State without ever having heard the name of Colonel Scott mentioned as their chief benefactor. I should not have given any part of the inner story of the passage of the Chambersburg relief bill, but for the fact that it seems to be a necessity to maintain the truth of history, and in some future chapter I must discuss the question of corruption in Pennsylvania politics, especially in Pennsylvania legislation. I have given the facts in relation to the relief bill because it was an imperious necessity that the relief should be obtained, and a like imperious necessity that some should assume the responsibility of submitting to the demands of corruptionists to give success to a measure that was a naked charity. I served in nine sessions of the two branches of the Legislature, covering a period of sixteen years, and during the time that Leg- islative venality reached its high-water mark. I do not mean that Pennsylvania politics are any less corrupt now than they were then, but I think it is due to truth to say that the general individual venality in legislation these days does not approach the measure of venality i8o Old Time Notes that obtained during a portion of the time in which I served in the Legislature. There was then no such thing known as the power of party leaders to pass or defeat meastires of legisla- tion which were not political, and venality became so general because of the vast power of the Legislature to promote individual and corrupt interests by special legislation under the old Constitution. Private legis- lation was practically ended by the Constitution of 1874, and petty venality that had become so general under the former Constitution was largely dethroned. Now, measures of individual profit are scaled on an immense basis; they are passed or defeated in our Pennsylvania Legislature largely or wholly as party leaders command, and the petty Legislative specula- tions of a few hundreds of dollars which were common in early times have now given way to colossal specu- lations by political leaders, and a small portion of the profits is gradually filtered down to the followers to enable them to keep their positions. It is a sorry chapter to appear in the annals of our great Common- wealth, but the history of our political, industrial and financial achievements would be incomplete with its omission. of Pennsylvania i8i LXVIII. THE POLITICAL STRUGGLE OF 1865. Chambersburg's Midnight Jubilee over the Surrender of Lee — The Long Strained Border People Had Peace at Last — Peculiar Political Con- ditions — How Cameron Lost His Candidate for Auditor General by His Struggle to Obtain Control of the Party Organization — Senator Heistand Defeated When He Expected a Unanimous Nomination — Hartranft Suddenly Forced to the Front — The Organization for Chairmanship of the Republican State Committee Taken from the President of the Convention by Resolution of Stevens — A Sluggish Battle Resulting in the Success of the Republican Ticket. THE darkest hour is sometimes just before the break of day, and the people of smitten Chambersburg reaHzed the truth of the adage within a week or ten days after the adjournment of the Legislature that had refused them any measure of relief, leaving them to struggle with despair. About midnight on the gth of April, 1865, when the sorely-depressed people of Chambersburg were at rest, many of them in hastily-improvised homes, the bell of the courthouse that had been hastily rebuilt awaked the community from its slumbers as it rang out its loudest tones. The ringing was continued for a considerable time, and in a little while the bells of churches, which had escaped the torch of the vandal, joined in the welcome music. It was known to all that there was then no immediate danger of a raid from the enemy, and all understood that some cheerful news had come to the desolated town. I was waked from sleep in the little cottage formerly occupied by a colored house servant, that Captain Smith, in his haste, had neglected to bum. My first l82 Old Time Notes impression was that shared by nearly all when the first toll of the bell was heard, that some new danger threatened, but very little reflection made me under- stand that there could be no immediate peril to the community, and that the bells were ringing out the proclamation of some achievement toward peace. After a hurried and imperfect toilet I hastened toward the town and first heard the echo of cheers from the center of the village, and as I approached nearer I was finally enabled to distinguish the shouts which mingled with the cheers of the people, annoimcing that Lee had surrendered. The trained lightning had flashed the same message from Eastern to Western sea, and there was universal rejoicing throughout the entire loyal brotherhood of people, but in no one community was the news so profoundly appreciated, or so wildly wel- comed, as in Chambersburg and its beautiful and bountiful surroundings on the border. For four long years the people of Franklin County had been under the severe strain of border warfare. They had been raided in 1862 by Stuart, in 1863 by Jenkins, in 1864 by McCausland, who had levelled Chambersburg to ashes, and in addition Lee's army occupied the county for some days before the battle of Gettysburg. There was no time during those four years when Moseby, or any like commander of Southern raiders, could not have penetrated even as far north as Chambersbui'g in a single night, excepting only in the dead of winter. The people had not only suffered from actual raids, but by the appropriation of property alike by Union and Southern soldiers, and there was rarely a month during any of the four summers when they were not under the exhausting strain of appre- hension of raids or invasion from the South. To these long-suffering people, who had not only given their full quota of their fathers and sons to join in the flame of Of Pennsylvania 183 battle for the Union, but had suffered constant waste and terrible anxiety, the surrender of Lee meant more than peace to the nation, and the final triumph of the Union cause; it meant to them peace in their homes, protection against robbery, and safety in the pursuit of their daily avocations. I have many times seen aggregations of people ex- press enthusiastic delight, but never before nor since have I witnessed a mass of people express such whole- souled gratification. Not only those who rent the air with their cheers, and the many enthusiasts who shook hands and embraced each other in the fervor of their joy, but there were other hundreds of men and women whose mute but expressive eloquence told the story that at last relief had come to the long-fretted and plundered people. To them it was not only peace to State and Nation, but it was rest in the homes which had long been racked by constant apprehension. All who were able to leave their beds were on the street, and remained there until the light of another day broke in the east as the sun arose to shine upon the liberated people. The surrender of Lee that was soon followed by the surrender of Johnston, and later by every organized Confederate command in the field, at once brought the people of the North to face the new grave problems which confronted them.. The North had overthrown the military power of the Confederacy, and the Con- federacy itself was hopelessly destroyed, with its chief executive a prisoner at Fortress Monroe. General Grant, with all his heroic record, exhibited the highest heroism of his life when he dictated the generous terms on which the surrender of Lee's army was accepted. He was severely criticised by the more radical element of the Republican party, but the people of the country very soon learned to appreciate how grandly Grant had 184 Old Time Notes vindicated himself, and how, in defiance of well-known views of the cabinet, he had opened the door wide for the return of peace b}^ paroling General Lee and all the officers of his army, under the solemn assurance that they could return to their homes and remain unmolested as long as they obeyed the laws of the government in force in their respective localities. This condition, for which Grant was alone responsi- ble, mxade it impossible for the government, without violating its solemnly plighted faith, to persecute or punish any of the officers in Lee's army; and some months later, when President Johnson, in the floodtide of his vindictive assaults upon the South after he be- came President, decided to inflict some punishment upon Lee and other officers. Grant, then the General of the army, notified the President that he would be guilty of an act of dishonor in violating any of the terms of Lee's surrender, and stated distinctly that if the President attempted it the General could no longer, with self-respect, hold a commission in the army of the United States. That position assumed by General Grant, and that alone, saved Johnson from adding to his many other follies the prosecution of Lee's paroled officers and other Confederate generals. While all in the North had been for several years discussing the basis of peace with little agreement of public sentiment, Grant solved the problem himself by teaching the Nation that the way to peace was by the highest meas- ure of magnanimity to the vanquished. I honor Grant more for what he did at Appomattox than for any military achievement of his life. He not only heroic- ally blazed the way to peace, but his first thought after signing the surrender with I/ce, and voluntarily issuing an order for all of Lee's exhausted heroes to be bounti- fully fed from, the Union commissary stores, made him hurriedly start to Washington to take the promptest Of Pennsylvania measures for the reduction of the army to halt the appalHng expenses of the war. With all the enormous taxes gathered from the people to support the war; with the lavish expenditure for bounties that loaded not only cities and counties but townships with enormous debt, the debt of the nation was over two billions, and there were few, indeed, at that day who were hopeful that the National credit could be maintained. The government bonds were payable in coin, and silver was at a premium over gold, while in all the transactions of e very-day life among the people the currency of the nation was accepted as a legal tender enforced by law, when a dollar of the lawful money of the country did not purchase two- thirds of its face value in the necessaries of life. Had President Johnson at once planted himself on a peace platform with Grant after he had waded into the Presidency through the tears of a bereaved nation, there would have been less disturbance and imcer- tainty in the North, but he started out to pursue the leading men of the South most vindictively. He pro- claimed Davis and others as assassins of President Lin- coln, and his whole policy seemed to have but one aim and that to plunge the two sections, at the close of the war, mto an aftermath of even more fiendish hatred and brutality than war itself had given. Fortunately, he changed his attitude before the summer ended, but, like the violently-swung pendulum that had gone beyond its normal point, the swing of vengeance naturally exceeded the normal point of generous peace in its rebound. These conditions brought the Republican leaders of Pennsylvania to a sober realization of the new duties which had come upon the party. We had a National administration that was ostensibly Republican, and yet the new President had already taken two positions i86 Old Time Notes on the question of adjustment with the South so violently extreme and so violently opposing each other that the party was placed in a very embarrassing condition when the State convention of 1865 met at Harrisburg to nominate candidates for auditor general and surveyor general. The incumbents of those offices were Democrats, having been elected in the Republican break of 1862, caused chiefly by the Emancipation Proclamation, but neither Auditor General Slenker nor Surveyor General Barr was a candidate for renomi- nation. The Democrats were greatly encouraged by the varying radical policies of the President, and at the time their convention met they were hopeful, and with good reason, that Johnson would gradually, and at an early day, develop into a full-fledged Democratic President. They placed at the head of their ticket for auditor general the gallant Democratic soldier, General Davis, of Doylestown, who was not only distinguished as a soldier, but a gentleman of the highest character and admirable personal qualities. For surveyor gen- eral they nominated John Linton, of Cambria, who had been a Whig in the earlier days, and unusually strong in the interior of the State, and they made an earnest battle ; but public sentiment was easily aroused against placing the Democrats in power to make peace after four years of war, whose policy they had so generally opposed, and General Davis was defeated by over 20,000. The Republicans had every indication of a very peaceful convention. John A. Heistand, of Lancaster, then editor of one of the leading inland Republican papers of the State, who had served in both house and senate, was a candidate for auditor general. He was ranked as a supporter of General Cameron, but while he faithfully followed Cameron in every emergency that called for a rally of Cameron's friends, he maintained Of Pennsylvania 187 very friendly relations with Governor Curtin, and nearly or quite all the men around him. He knew that the friends of Curtin would be likely to control the con- vention, and he personally visited Curtin and others closely connected with him and appealed to them to assent to his nomination for auditor general and have the party with a united front and a candidate who would not be presented to the people by a faction. He was a jolly, genial fellow, was personally liked by all who knew him, and some time before the meeting of the convention Curtin and his people had all assented to the nomination of Heistand for auditor general. The convention was composed of a number of the ablest of the Republican leaders, including Thaddeus Stevens, who had consented to come as a delegate for Heistand; General Todd, of Carlisle, who was one of the ablest and boldest of leaders in the fight; John Cessna, of Bedford, ex-Democratic speaker, with many others of much more than ordinary ability and influ- ence. The convention was known to have a decided majority of delegates who were friends of Curtin, but as there was to be no contest on the nomination of Heistand, a follower of Cameron, for auditor general, it was accepted all around that there was little or noth- ing to do beyond the formality of making nominations. The morning session of the convention was devoted to the appointment of committees for permanent organi- zation, resolutions, etc., and after a brief session ad- joirmed to meet in the afternoon. Before the meeting of the afternoon session it became whispered around that Cameron, not content with getting the head of the ticket from the Curtin conven- tion, had manipulated the committee on permanent organization by compelling Heistand to give his two members of the committee from Lancaster County to the Cameron side, and thus nominate Johnson, a i88 Old Time Notes prominent and aggressive friend of Cameron, for president of the convention. Inquiry was at once made, and we ascertained that Cameron had forced Heistand to transfer the committeemen from his own county against their wishes to the Cam^eron candidate for president, and a murmur of indignation swelled up at once throughout the whole Curtin ranks, as Cessna was expected to be named without a contest. A hasty conference was called in which Stevens participated, as he felt that the transfer of the committeemen from his own county under Cameron's order was an outrage not to be pardoned, and we decided that instead of defeating the Cameron candidate for president of the convention, as we could have done, we wotild give him a imanimous election, and then when he entered the chair, and was presumably in possession of the power of the convention, we would publicly impale him. When Heistand was reproached for his perfidy to the Curtin people, he could do no more nor less than to admit that Cameron had demanded it of him, and in less than an hour the convention that was to nominate Heistand for auditor general unanimously, organized to defeat him, and then to strip the president of the convention of his power to appoint the chairman of the State committee. Stevens said that he would obey his instructions and vote for the nomination of Heistand, but insisted that he had committed an out- rage that should be resented, and he participated in the conference that decided who should be presented to defeat Heistand, and how it should be done. Cam- eron's purpose in forcing Heistand to betray his Curtin friends in the selection of the president of the conven- tion was to be able to name the chairman of the State committee, either for himself or for some one who would be distinctly in his interest, and with a Cameron man at the head of the ticket, a Cameron man president of of Pennsylvania 189 the convention, and a Cameron man chairman of the State committee, he would present the appearance of omnipotence in the State. I was one of three men assigned to the duty of con- fening with General Kartranft, who was present at tJie convention, but not a delegate, to ask him to accept a nomination for auditor general. I might here say that at that time General Hartranft was regarded by Curtin and his friends as their candidate for Governor the following year, 1866, and Hartranft, of course, had no thought of being auditor general, and reluctantly accepted it; but as the men who urged him to accept were the men upon whom he depended for the guber- natorial nomination, he finally yielded to their impor- tunities, and agreed that his name should be presented to the convention if we thought it best to do so. It was known that the Democrats would present General Davis, a distinguished soldier, for the office, and it was arranged that General Todd, who had a good military record, and who was a most eloquent champion of any cause he supported, should present the name of Hartranft to the convention, and demand his nomination as a matter of justice to the gallant soldiers of Penn- sylvania. John Cessna, who had been a Democrat, legislator and speaker of the house, and who had been slaughtered by Heistand, followed Todd in support of the soldier candidate, and several other able like appeals were made; and when the first ballot was footed up, Heistand was dumfounded to discover that he was largely defeated by Hartranft, who had been sprung upon the convention just on the spur of the moment. The convention made its record consistent by nominating General J. M. Campbell, another gal- lant soldier, for surveyor general, thus presenting a solid soldier ticket of candidates exceptionally strong. After the nominations had been made the work of igo Old Time Notes the convention was about to conclude, and Stevens rose in his place and offered a resolution that John Cessna be appointed chairman of the Republican State conamittee. The Cameron leaders at once saw that they had not only defeated themselves in the conven- tion for auditor general, but that their control of the president of the body was to bring them nothing but humiliation. They vainly urged that it was the im- memorial custom of the party to have the president of the convention appoint the chairman of the State committee in consultation with the candidates on the State ticket, but it was answered that the president of the convention of 1864 had appointed the chairman of the State committee against the expressed wishes of nearly three-fourths of the members of the body. It was a hopeless fight for the already-defeated sup- porters of Cameron, and the resolution was carried by a decided majority. Cameron not only thus lost his candidate for auditor general, who would have been accepted by the Curtin people, but he had an aggressive anti-Cameron man placed at the head of the organi- zation, instead of one reasonably acceptable to both sides, as would have been done if Heistand had not been compelled to violate his faith with his Curtin friends and defeat himself. It was a most unexpected and humiliating defeat for Heistand, but he realized that he had been forced wantonly to provoke the battle that unhorsed him. He was popular with his people, who later sent him to Congress for two terms, and closed his official career as naval officer of Philadelphia, a position with liberal salary and little or nothing to do. He enjoyed the navy office immensely, and frequently gave high encomiums to the genius of Alexander Hamilton, who had created one honorable and lucrative office with limited duties, which could be performed wholly by Of Pennsylvania assistants. Like many others, as age grew upon him he did not appreciate the celerity with which business conditions were advancing about him, and that jour- nalism was a most exacting mistress, and he went on in the good old quiet way until others outstripped him in his calling. Then broken health came ; his life-work was finished, and green memories come back to many in the gentle whispers from the tomb. 192 Old Time Notes LXIX. GEARY NOMINATED FOR GOVERNOR. Cameron's First Complete Control of the Republican Organization of the State — Geary Bitterly Opposed by Prominent Republicans Because He Had Been Willing to Accept the Democratic Nomination — Quay and Tom Marshall Among the Foremost Belligerents — Geary Visits the Author After His Nomination — All Personal and Factional Interests Forgotten to Elect Geary to Rebuke President Johnson's Apostacy — Clymer, the Democratic Candidate, Made a Gallant Struggle and Fell in the Race — Interesting Sequel to Geary's Pledges to the Author. WHILE the Republican victory of 1865 appeared to anchor Pennsylvania safely in the Republi- can column, the new political conditions which suddenly confronted the Republicans in 1866 threw a serious element of doubt into the important battle of that year that involved the election of a Governor. President Johnson had adopted a reconstruction policy of his own, and attempted to enforce it by the most violent and prescriptive political methods. Had it been merely a liberal reconstruction policy the Repub- licans could have been brought into its support, but his reconstructed Southern States, many of which elected governors, senators, congi'essmen and legisla- tures, adopted such harsh measures in the treatment of the emancipated slaves that Republican sentiment generally revolted against the whole scheme. As Johnson had been in the Presidential office for a year or more with nearly three years to wield the enormous power and patronage of the Government, he was an important political factor. The list of Federal officials in the State had been largely increased by the of Pennsylvanisl necessities of war, and while all of them were originally Republicans, most of them were tempered into sub- mission to the policy of the administration or passive approval. Johnson's policy appealed rather forcefully to the old war Democrats, who, while they ardently supported the Government on the question of defeating rebellion by military power, as a rule they had little sympathy with radical Republican views and aims. This political confusion presented an inviting field for the consummate political genius and energy of General Cameron. He kept himself in close touch with Presi- dent Johnson and soon became known as an important power in disposing of the President's patronage in the State. This power enabled him to wield considerable influence outside of his own formidable personal strength, in his struggle for the control of the State convention, and he won out completely. I was a delegate to the convention, as were Colonel Mann, Colonel Quay, Tom Marshall, Senator Finney, Senator Ketchum and a number of other active Curtin men, and we were greatly surprised to learn, when the convention met, that it was absolutely a Cameron assembly. He had, for the first time, won absolute mastery of the Republican State convention and the organization, and his candidate for Governor was General Geary, who was specially objectionable to the men I have named and many others, because, within three months of the meeting of the convention, he had written a letter to Mr. Maguire that was given to the public, assenting to the use of his name as a Democratic candidate for the same office. The Curtin men had no special candidate for Gover- nor. General Hartranft, whom they had expected to make their candidate in 1866, had been forced to accept the nomination for auditor general in 1865, and he was more than Vv^illing to remain in the auditor gen- 194 Old Time Notes erars office instead of taking the chances of the gu- bernatorial nomination and election. So general was the confusion in Republican circles throughout the State, because of the friction between the President and the party, that grave apprehensions were enter- tained as to party success, and Cameron alone under- stood the exact character of the convention before it convened. He had not only won the convention and named the candidate for Governor, who w^as nominated and elected, but his purpose was for the convention to give either a direct or a quasi endorsement of the John- son administration. Cameron believed that the party could be held intact even on such a platform and that he would thus have all the influence and patronage of the President to aid in his struggle for re-election to the Senate. Many conferences were held to form a combination by which a candidate for Governor could be presented with sufficient strength to defeat Geary, but the Cam- eron lines were invincible. The proposition to give some form of endorsement to the administration of President Johnson was not developed tmtil the con- vention met, and it had not been previously discussed in any section of the State. It startled the active men of the convention who were opposed to Cameron, and the final conference was held in my room the night before the convention met, attended by some thirty prominent members of the body, and after very careful review of the situation we decided that formal notice should be given to General Cameron early the next morning that if the convention in any degree endorsed the administration of President Johnson a large min- ority of the delegates would immediately retire, organ- ize a Republican convention and nominate a Republican candidate for Governor. One of the most active and earnest of the men in this Of Pennsylvania 195 movement was Colonel Quay, and he and Ketchum, of Luzerne, were charged with the mission of calling upon Cameron and informing him of the action taken at the conference. They waited upon Cameron early the next morning, notified him of the action of the confer- ence, and Cameron at once abandoned any endorsement of Johnson, and gave the assurance that it would not be attempted, although he believed that it would be good policy for the convention to do so. When the convention met the proceedings at once exhibited tinusual bitterness on the part of the mi- nority, and at every stage of the two sessions of the body the discussions were quite acrimonious. Tom Marshall was irrepressible, and he sent his pujigent broadsides into the majority with all his grand elo- quence and vehemence. I was suffering from chills and fever, and I do not recall many very amiable ex- pressions from me in the various spats we had as the work of the convention progressed. I followed Mar- shall, who had poured out a torrent of protest against nominating as the Republican candidate for Governor one who had a few weeks before declared his willing- ness to accept the Democratic nomination for the same office, and I did not conceal my distrust of a candidate whose political opinions were so loosely worn. Geary was evidently much disturbed by the aggres- sive attitude of those who opposed his nomination. He called at my room at nine o'clock the next morning, where I was detained in bed by a chill, to set himself right on the question of fidelity to the party. He gave the most positive assurances that if elected Governor he would not only make a straightforward Republican administration, but that it should be free from the in- fluence of faction. I told him frankly that I did not have abiding faith in his fidelity to the Republican cause, but thai lie need give himself no concern as to ig6 Old Time Notes the action of the minority members of the convention, as they would heartily support him, because his elec- tion was an absolute necessity to secure to the country the legitimate fruits of the civil war that had been fought for the maintenance of the Union. I did not tell him that at the conference held in my room the night before there was a strong disposition exhibited by a number of the parties present to openly revolt against the nomination. The question had been considered very fully, and Quay took the lead in declar- ing that the party could not survive the domination that Geary's election would bring, and he was most urgent in favoring revolutionary action; but better counsels prevailed, which finally decided that it was necessary for the Republicans to carry the State regardless of the candidate for Governor, and of any personal domination that might rule, as if the Demo- crats carried the State the reconstruction policy of President Johnson would be greatly strengthened and might be finally accomplished. Geary and I parted with our attitudes toward each other very well under- stood. He knew that I would heartily support him for reasons in no way relating to the candidate, and with that he was quite satisfied. He also knew that I distrusted his assurances that he would make a Republican administration and administer it on a plane above all factional interests, and as he never intended to give such an administration both of us knew that nobody was cheated. Although the election of Geary meant a State admin- istration with which I was likely to have little sym- pathy and no influence whatever, I gave nearly my whole time to the campaign, speaking with Geary at the opening of the battle at Shippensburg and respond- ing to the request of the State committee to go to different sections of the State until the conflict was Of Pennsylvania 197 ended. I regarded it as a most important political contest that was to settle, once for all, whether the logical fruits of the war for which so much blood and treasure had been given should be realized by the North. It is probable that the Republican Congress would have had the same conflict with Johnson if Penn- sylvania had voted Democratic in 1866, but that struggle was the crucial test of the willingness of the loyal States of the North to accept a policy of recon- struction that restored to full authority in the rebel- lious States those who had battled to destroy the Union, and who, in their efforts at reconstruction, had made the condition of the emancipated slaves even worse than it was in the state of slavery. As the campaign progressed the people who had sup- ported the war and who had given the lives of their fathers, sons and brothers with countless treasure to save the Union, were brought to a very sober appre- ciation of the great issue involved, and next to the campaign of 1863, when Curtin was re-elected, it was the most sober and earnest contest I have ever wit- nessed in the State. Geary, Cameron and Curtin and every personal interest were practically forgotten as the Republican people came face to face with what they regarded as the final verdict to be given by the great State for gathering the fruits which ripened at Appomattox. I had no personal interest in political affairs, having peremptorily declined to be a candidate for Congress, and confidently expecting not again to be a candidate for any political office, as broken fortune and an impoverished community that justly claimed my sympathy and aid made me most desirous to de- vote my whole time and efforts to private business affairs. The Democrats nominated Heister Clymer, of Berks, as their candidate for Governor, and he made a very Old Time Notes able and aggressive campaign. He was an accom- plished and impressive popular speaker, with graceftil manners, and one of the most genial and generally delightful of the many men I have met in legislative duties. We had served together in the senate, and while always on opposing political lines our personal friendship was never even strained in the many im- passioned conflicts we had during the war. I would gladly have welcomed him as the Governor of the State had it been possible to do so without a sacrifice that could not be measured in its far-reaching results in shaping the reconstruction of the dismembered States. He fought his battle boldly in support of the recon- struction policy of President Johnson, and until within a few weeks of the election he was confident that the Republican ranks would be sufficiently broken by the power of the National administration to enable him to succeed. He was heard in every section of the State, and certainly much to his advantage, and as the time for action came and the people of Pennsylvania were to decide on the question of the full fruition of the issue settled by the arbitrament of the sword, all individual, factional and partisan interests were entirely effaced by the paramount question that was squarely before the people, and demanded solemn and final judgment. Geary was elected by 17,178 majority, being some 5,000 less than the Republican majority of the previous year. Clymer was highly appreciated by the Democracy of Berks, and after his defeat for Governor he was chosen, practically without opposition, to four con- secutive terms in Congress, where he stood in the front of the leaders of his party. He came into the State senate just as the Civil War began, when partisan and sectional passions were greatly intensified. He and Welsh, of York, were the accepted leaders of the Demo- cratic minority of the body, numbering only six of the Of Pennsylvania thirty-three, when Clymer first appeared. The Repub- Hcans of the body decided that the utmost courtesy should be shown to the httle handful of Democrats, and an agreement was reached between Finney and myself on one side and Clymer and Welsh on the other, by which the previous question should never be called in the senate. The agreement obviated all necessity for call- ing the previous question, if accepted in good faith on both sides. The proposition made by the majority was that while in the extreme necessities of war it might be necessary at times to legislate with great promptness on most important subjects, there would be the fullest opportunity given to the minority to be heard in discussion of the question before the body. If the Democrats desired protracted discussion, after- noon and night sessions would be held, without limit as to time, so that there should be the fullest expression by the minority. That agreement was scrupulously maintained by both sides, and the previous question was never called in the senate of Pennsylvania during the two terms in which I served as a member, although I had seen it called seventeen times in one night session when I was a member of the house. On my return to the senate from Philadelphia, in 1872, the leaders of both sides readily agreed to the same condition as to the discussion of the passage of all important measures, and thus the necessity for the previous question was entirely obviated. There was no reason why a body of thirty-three men, regarded as the first legislative tribimal of the State, should summon the previous question to enable it to perform its legitimate duties. Clymer was a very ready debater, as was his associate leader, Welsh, of York, but neither of them was equal to the duty of realizing that old-time Democracy had expended its power, had exhausted its policy in sixty years of domination, and that it must accept new con- 200 Old Time Notes ditions in the wonderful progress of events to enable it to maintain its mastery. They were both resolute in their opposition to the great industrial and commercial development that began with our fratricidal conflict. It was a new era, an entirely new epoch, with absolutely new conditions, new aims and new duties. The Repub- lican party, being new, was born to the mission of the new departure, but it was hard for old Democratic leaders to understand that they must advance their standard or be passed in the race and left to lag in the rear of progress. It was a hard lesson for any man to learn who had been trained to the settled methods and boasted policy of Democracy that had triumphed with Jefferson sixty years before ; that had extended the flag first to Louisiana, thence to Florida, thence to Texas and then to the Rio Grande and the Pacific Coast. It was deemed the oracle of destiny, and it seemed to have proved its right to the title, but mutation is indelibly stamped upon the political affairs of all the peoples of the world, and when new and revolutionary advance became a necessity to Democratic leaders, they were imequal to the duty and the opportunity and they and their party fell in the race. The defeat of Clymer in Pennsylvania practically decided that the Democrats should be voiceless in the reconstruction of the dis- severed States. I did not meet Geary again imtil after the election, when he happened to enter a car at Harrisburg in which I was seated on my way to Philadelphia. He was most effusive in his expressions of thanks for the earnest efforts I had made to aid in his election and insisted that I should name one of his cabinet officers. I did not doubt then that, however sincere he might have been at the time he made the proffer, no man I would be likely to name for the cabinet would be appointed. I knew how strong Cameron was in the advantageous Of Pennsylvania 20I position he then occupied and how thoroughly he was skilled in all the methods of gathering the fullest harvest, and that fact precluded the possibility of Cameron's assent to any one I would have preferred for a cabinet position. Geary was persistent, however, and claimed that I did not appreciate his gratitude for the services I had rendered to him. It occurred to me, however, that a man who lived in my county, poor in fortime, with a large family dependent upon him, then held the position of messenger in the office of the secretary of the commonwealth that I had secured for him. The opportunity seemed to be at hand to save my messenger, and I said to the Governor-elect that I would appreciate it as a favor if he would have this man continued in his place, to which he replied that I should notify the man at once that his continuance in office was absolutely assured. I did not personally meet the Governor until long after he had been inaugurated, but I had a special reminder that he was Governor and in authority soon after he entered the office by the prompt dismissal of my messenger without any complaint whatever of want of fidelity to his duty. The cabinet was made by Cam- eron, whose close friend, Senator Louis W. Hall, of Blair, brought Cameron to favor the appointment of Francis Jordan, of Bedford, to the secretaryship of the commonwealth, and Benjamin Harris Brewster, of Philadelphia, was made attorney general. Jordan was one of the most competent and faithful men who ever filled this position. He was in the senate in 1855, was among the leaders in opposition to Cameron for senator, and most aggressive in his warfare upon Cam- eron politics. He was able, painstaking, thoroughly honest, and filled the position for six years without a blemish upon his record. Brewster was one of the most brilliant members of the 202 Old Time Notes Philadelphia bar, but an entire novice in politics. He had important professional relations with Cameron, was ardently devoted to Cameron interests, but he knew little about the public men of the State, and, un- fortunately, because of his inexperience or want of familiarity and general intercourse with men, he ac- cepted Cameron's friendships and hatreds to a very large extent in estimating the men of the State. In an interview that he gave to the public soon after he be- came attorney general he criticised me personally and politically in the keen invective he so readily com- manded, although it was entirely without provocation so far as I have any knowledge. I had met him only casually on several occasions, and he had no oppor- tunity whatever to estimate me from personal knowl- edge. How this conflict culminated in his removal from office two years and a half later and how we became devoted friends will embellish a later chapter. of Pennsylvania 203 LXX. CAMERON-CURTIN SENATORIAL BATTLE. A Majority of Republican Senators and Representatives Pledged or Instructed for Curtin — Cameron Adroitly Combined the Candidates to Defeat Quay, Curtin's Candidate for Speaker — Stevens, Moore- head, Grow and Forney in the Field with Cameron — Governor Geary Aggressively for Cameron — Cameron Finally Controlled the Majority — Quay, After a Conference with the Younger Cameron and Curtin, Decided to Move the Unanimous Nomination of Cam- eron After He Attained a Majority — Quay's First Step Toward Affiliation with the Camerons — Republicans Lose the State in 1867. WHEN the smoke of the contest of 1866 had cleared away, the leaders of both factions in the Republican party well understood the situation. Cowan's term in the United States Senate was about to expire, and his successor to be chosen. There was no misunderstanding as to who would lock horns in the contest for the Senatorship, as Cameron and Curtin, the leaders of the two factions, were by general consent accepted as the men who were to make the struggle. Curtin had the advantage of a much larger measure of strength with the Republican people of the State, and a clear majority of the Republican senators and representatives elected to the Legisla- ture were either instructed or distinctly pledged to support him for Senator. The Legislature had thirty- three Republican majority on joint ballot — nine in the senate and twenty-four in the house, and Ctirtin's friends were confident that they could hold the majority they had undoubtedly chosen. Cameron, however, in addition to his consvimmate 204 Old Time Notes skill as a political manager, had greatly strengthened himself by having the new Republican Governor, with his cabinet, and all the power of his administra- tion, ready to give the most aggressive support to Cameron in his battle against Curt in, and the power of the Geary administration was sensibly felt in the Curtin lines before the inauguration. As an illustration of the earnestness with which Geary supported Cameron, the case of James W. Fuller, of Catasauqua, may be cited. He had long represented at Harrisburg large iron, railroad and other corporate interests in the Lehigh region, which employed him simply to keep them thoroughly posted as to all legislative move- ments which affected their interests. His stated salaries at that time from these various corporations for his services at Harrisburg amounted to $17,000, and he had, by his long acquaintance with legislators and experience in legislative business, become one of the most important factors in all legislation. He was an earnest friend of Curtin, and would have been one of the most useful men in the State to Curtin in the struggle with Cameron, as Fuller thoroughly under- stood Cameron's methods, and knew better than any other how to counter against them. It was necessary for Fuller to have intimate friendly, if not confidential, relations with the authorities of the State to render the best service to the corporate interests he represented, and he was notified before the inauguration of Geary that if he wished to main- tain his old relations with the State authorities he must withdraw from the Curtin forces and aid in the Cameron contest. He presented the case frankly to Curtin, who told him that as it involved his usefulness to his friends and his means of livelihood, he could do no less than join the Cameron forces. He did so, and, while he was entirely faithful in all that he assximed to of Pennsylvania 205 perform for Cameron, he promptly notified Curtin of every Curtin legislator who had been wrested from the Curtin ranks, and just how, when and where it had been done. Curtin was thus advised promptly and accu- rately of the defection that began soon after the election of Geary, by which Cameron, with his own ability as a political manager and the power of the administration, was strengthening himself at the expense of Curtin. In this contest, that was one of the most memorable in the history of the State, J. Donald Cameron for the first time came to the front as a political factor. He had doubtless been an important aid to his father in many previous struggles, but when the Legislature met the younger Cameron openly assumed the leader- ship and managed the struggle for his father from start to finish. He had been little known or felt in politics, as he always avoided ostentatious participa- tion in anything, but he very soon exhibited the most skillful and heroic methods of manipulating the Legis- lature, and thus laid the foundation for his future triumphs when he succeeded his father in the Senate ten years later. Colonel Quay was Curtin 's leader in the house and v/as then serving his third term in that body. He was the logical Curtin candidate for speaker and as he had two years' experience in the house, and was intimxately acquainted with all the leading members of the body and of the party in the State, his election as speaker was regarded by Curtin 's friends as absolutely assured. He entered into the contest in Quay's usual heroic way visited prominent men in every section of the State, and had a clear majority of the Republicans of the house positively pledged to his election. Cameron saw that with Curtin gaining the speaker of the house in a man so able and skillful as Quay, it would be a serious if not a fatal blow to his Senatorial aspirations. He 2o6 Old Time Notes could not have defeated Quay single-handed. No one of the Republican members of the house ventured to make an earnest battle against Quay for the nomina- tion, but Cameron made the outside candidates for Senator, including Stevens, Moorehead, Grow and several others, agree to a combination to control the speakership of the house, and thus open the way for the defeat of Curtin. As Curtin was altogether the strongest candidate in the Legislature, the field naturally was ready to join in any movement to weaken him, each hoping that if Curtin v/as shorn of the power of the speaker, he might not be able to control a majority of the caucus, and that in the bitter fight that would follow he would be accepted to harmonize the party. This combina- tion was made in which Stevens played an important part. He had no love for either Curtin or Cameron, but cherished the hope that he would be finally united upon for the Senatorship. He visited Chambersburg a short time before the meeting of the Legislature and made an earnest personal appeal to me to aid in what he said was the great ambition of his life. The grand old Commoner was then in feeble health, and his death occurred some eighteen months later. He sent for me to come to his room at the hotel in Chambersburg, where I found him lying on the bed, too weary to sit up while pleading for a six years' term in the Senate that all knew he could not live to finish. I was very warmly attached to Stevens personally, and would have made great sacrifice if it had been in my power to serve him. He knew my relations with Curtin ; said that he did not expect me to favor him as against Curtin, but he believed that Curtin could not be elected as he knew the combination was then made to take the control of the house from Curtin 's friends, and wanted the assurance that if anything approaching Of Pennsylvania 207 a deadlock came about, he should be made the com- promise candidate. I appealed to him to dismiss the thought of being Senator; reminded him that any ordinary Congressman might reasonably be ambitious to reach the highest legislative tribunal of the nation, but for a man who was the confessed Commoner of the nation during the greatest period of its history, and who was tmdisputed and absolute leader, to accept a seat in the Senate, would be to give up the highest honors the nation can accord to any one, and descend to the position of a Senator, where he would be no greater than most of his fellows. I said that the position of Commoner was the only one ever attained by an American statesman that could be won solely by imiversally conceded ability and merit; that while all other great positions from President down were often filled by accident or fortuitous circumstance, the Commoner of the nation could reach his pre-eminence only by his confessed omnipotence in leadership. I had hoped thus to break the fall of Stevens in the Senatorial struggle, but the Senatorship was his dream by night and his thought by day, and candor com- pelled me to say to him that I did not have a ray of hope of his success. Stevens co-operated with Cameron to wrest the control of the house from Curtin, as he would have co-operated with Curtin to wrest it from Cameron had Cameron been the stronger of the two candidates for Senator, and the combination finally decided on Glass, of Allegheny, for speaker. Quay fought his battle with all the skill and courage that he ever exhib- ited when engaged in political conflict, but the com- bination was too strong for him and he was defeated. While the outside candidates for Senator supposed that they had won something in the skirmish for them- selves, Cameron well understood that the speaker was 2o8 Old Time Notes his own man, although taken from Moorehead's county, and when Glass was elected to preside over the house, with the power of appointing committees, and the general control of the legislation, the victory was a clean cut triumph for Cameron alone. The representative from my own county, although instructed to support Curtin by the Republican county convention with but three dissenting votes, and they were given to Grow, became an open supporter of Cameron before the caucus was held. Stevens con- fidently expected his vote, as he had large interests in the county in his Caledonia Iron Works, and had greatly aided our representative in his election, and he as confidently coimted on the support of the senator from our district, a resident of Gettysburg, who was a son of one of Stevens' early and most devoted friends, but he, too, was one of the earliest converts to Cam- eron's interests. Stevens was keenly wounded by the defection of the senator from his old home, and his comment, made in the grim bitterness that only Stevens could exhibit, was: ''He must be a changeling; his father was an honest man." While he had no sym- pathy with Curtin he was profoundly grieved that he had been misled into a combination on the speakership that had been planned wholly by Cameron and for Cameron, and that brought its fruits only to Cameron. The Senatorial contest convulsed the State for sev- eral weeks before the Legislature met, and during the two weeks between the meeting of the Legislature and the Senatorial election the struggle at Harrisburg was one of the most bitter and desperate I have ever witnessed. Curtin had able and efficient managers, but they were decidedly outclass-ed and were no match for the Cameron organization with Cameron and his son accepting the struggle as one of life or death. Cameron 's methods and resources vastly exceeded those of Pennsylvania 209 of Curtin. During the entire contest, that I watched day and night with intense interest, and was well advised of every change made in the lines, we did not succeed in making a single break in Cameron's thor- oughly organized forces, and each day would bring to us confidential reports of some defection in our own ranks. Several days before the meeting of the caucus Curtin and those who thoroughly understood the inside situation realized that Curtin was beaten, and beaten by Legislators who were openly violating their solemn pledge or positive instructions. It was this stage of the Senatorial battle of 1867 that led to the parting of the ways between Curtin and Quay. Quay was young, able, tireless and am- bitious, and the younger Cameron appreciated his possible future. I have already stated in a former chapter the details of Cameron's invitation to Quay to confer on the subject of the Senatorial election, re- sulting in Quay's agreement, with others, to move to make the nomination of Cameron unanimous after he had obtained a majority of the caucus. He decided to take this action after a conference with Curtin and his closest friends, who informed him that he could not render further service to Curtin beyond voting for him, and that he should decide for himself what his course should be after the nomination was made. Quay's decision to move to make the nomination of Cameron unanimous was not inspired in any degree by the desire or purpose to separate himself from Cur- tin or his friends, but it placed him in close friendly relations with the younger Cameron, and political events entirely beyond the control of Quay himself logically led him into closer relations with Cameron. Very early in the first Grant administration it became evident that all who hoped for political power or prefer- ment in Pennsylvania could command it only by co- 2— 1 4 2IO Old Time Notes operation with the Cameron power of the State. One of the first acts of President Grant was to send Curtin to Russia as Minister Plenipotentiary, where he remained for more than three years, and with Cameron in the Senate and omnipotent with the Grant administration, the young RepubHcans of the State of prominence had to decide between moving along with the Cameron pro- cession and accepting absolute retirement. It was thus that the way was opened for Quay to become one of Cameron's chief lieutenants within a very few years, resulting finally in Quay acquiring the legitimate succession to the Cameron power of the State, which he wielded with often severely challenged but unbroken omnipotence until his death. As Curtin joined the Liberal Republican forces against Grant in 1872, he practically severed his relations with the Republican organization of the State, and Quay, whose interests were bound up in the regular Republican organization, followed the party fiag. While he and Curtin were thus led into opposition lines in politics. Quay ever maintained his personal affection for Curtin, and when Curtin became the Democratic candidate for Congress in his district. Quay, who was then lead- ing the party organization, scrupulously avoided any conflict with the interests of Curtin in his district, and when Curtin contested the election after his first battle for Congress, Quay made earnest efforts, under cover, to have him admitted to the House. There was no element of apostacy or perfidy to Curtin in the action taken by Quay. The mastery of Cameron in Pennsylvania was proclaimed by the absolute control of the State admin- istration, and his election to the Senate by a Repub- lican Legislature commanding the united Republican support. He had patiently, tirelessly and always most sagaciously, struggled during the ten years of his connection with the Republican party to obtain the Of Pennsylvania 211 control of its organization and win the Senatorship. His struggle for political power stands single and alone in the annals of Pennsylvania politics, starting with little popular support and violent opposition, and suffering defeat after defeat, only to rise up ready for another battle. He had twice wrested the United States Senatorship from a Democratic Legislature, and now, after many humiliating discomfitures, he asserted his omnipotence in Republican leadership, and adorned himself with the jewel that had inspired him in every conflict. To say that Cameron's successes were the result of accidents which so often appear to control great politi- cal results, would be simply to confess ignorance of the truth or unwillingness to accept it. Only a great master could have achieved as Cameron did, and his plans were carried out successfully, not only in his own triumphs, but in making his son his successor. Many men who were accorded more ability in public affairs, and with a larger popular following, one by one fell in the race before him. Defeat would bring them despair, while to Cameron it only brought fresh inspira- tion for the struggle. He was re-elected six years later without a contest, and, after having served four years of his last term he resigned his high position and named his son, J. Donald Cameron, as his successor without a visible ripple on the political surface. Not only was Cameron four times elected to the Senate by the Pennsylvania Legislature, but his son, who succeeded him, was also four times elected to the same position, and the mastery that Cameron established in the Senatorial struggle of 1867 has never been broken in its omnipotence until the present day. That such political achievement could not be attained by any other than a master of masters in politics will hardly be questioned by any of ordinary intelligence. His 212 Old Time Notes aims and his methods were ever legitim_ate subjects of criticism, but history records the fact that he not only won the position for himself and his successors, but commanded the support of the people of one of the most intelligent States of the Union. The Republican people of Pennsylvania were not at once prepared to accept Cameron's leadership, and in the contest of 1867 that followed the electon of Cam- eron to the Senate the party was listless and refused to respond to the appeals of leaders to save the organiza- tion from disaster. There was only one State officer to elect in 1867, that of supreme judge, and Henry W. Williams, of Allegheny, who was then serving by appointment to fill a vacancy, was unanmously nomi- nated by the Republicans without any exhibition of factional feeling in the convention. Although not dis- turbed by factional strife, it was listless and perfunc- tory in its proceedings, and the Democrats strength- ened themselves by nominating Judge Sharswood, of Philadelphia, who stood in the forefront of the great jurists of the State, and the Republicans suffered defeat by a small majority, although they saved the Legislature. It was believed generally by the Dem- ocrats and by many Republicans that the turning point of Republican power in Pennsylvania had been reached, and that Cameron and the party he then controlled would be relegated back to the minority power of the State. The Republicans were disturbed, and to some extent disintegrated, by the reconstruction policy of Congress that led several of the Republican Senators to desert the party, including Senator Cowan, of Pennsylvania. The party was finally saved by General Grant consenting to become its candidate for President, and the war of factions was forgotten in Pennsylvania, as the people rallied to honor the Great Captain of our Civil War. Of Pennsylvania 213 LXXI. CURTIN MINISTER TO RUSSIA. Republican State Convention of 1868 Overwhelmingly Anti-Cameron — Curtin Presented as Pennsylvania's Candidate for Vice-President — The Author Chairman of the Delegation to the National Convention — How Grant Became Republican Candidate for President — Colfax Nominated for Vice-President — Why Wade Lost the Nomination — Curtin Pressed for the Cabinet — The Author's Interview with Grant on the Subject — Curtin Made Minister to Russia. CURTIN was greatly grieved and humiliated by his defeat for Senator in the Legislature of 1867, but he maintained himself with great dignity and submitted in silence to the wrong he believed he had suffered. He received Governor Geary as his successor in the Executive mansion with generous hospitality, although he knew that Geary was one of the important factors in accomplishing his defeat, and he retired to Bellefonte, where for a year or more he lived in the quiet enjoyment of his home and friends. Curtin possessed a most affec- tionate and sympathetic nature, and the people in whose midst he had been born and grown up to reach the highest honors of the State were those with whom he loved to dwell. He was offered important business positions, but, unlike most of the ex-Govemors of the State, he could not be tempted from the home of his kindred and friends. He and his brothers had inherited what in those days were regarded as large iron interests at his home, which had long been a source of embarrassment, but during the war they had become largely profitable; and he gave a portion of his time to business with his brothers in the man- 214 Old Time Notes agement of their works. He took no part in the con- test of 1867, as Httle interest was felt by the party generally, and few even of the most active leaders were heard on the stump. He reaHzed, as did all of those well informed as to the political situation, that there was great danger of the RepubHcan party being wrecked in the Presidential contest of 1868. Penn- sylvania had been lost to the Republicans in 1867 by the election of the Democratic State ticket, and the recovery of the RepubHcan mastery depended wholly upon the unshaped conditions of the future. The RepubHcan party was saved in 1868 by the quarrel between President Johnson and General Grant. General Grant was not a Republican; he had never voted the Republican ticket, and his last vote for President in i860 was for Breckenridge, the radical slavery Democratic candidate, although he was a resident of Illinois, the home of Douglas. He had never given any expression of his acceptance of the Republican faith, nor of his desire or purpose to act in harmony with it. He was stubbornly silent in politics, and the Democrats shrewdly decided to make him their candidate for President, feeling confident that with him as their standard bearer they could certainly win, and there is little reason to doubt that if Grant had accepted the Dem.ocratic nomination, as was at one time more than possible, he would have been elected and the Republican party overthrown. I do not suppose that he would have made a radical Democratic President, but he would have carried out the policy of reconstruction on the generous and chiv- alrous lines that he first taught the cotmtry in his terms accorded to Lee at Appomattox. He had decided, as he then believed irrevocably, never to accept a political position. He had no taste for civil duties, and little acquaintance with them. He held the highest posi- of Pennsylvania tion ever held by any one in the army, a rank at that time accorded only to Washington and himself, with the right to retire without diminution of salary; but Grant, like all other men, was human, and when the Presidency appeared to be clearly v/ithin his reach, even with all his general stability of purpose, he was unequal to the task of refusing the highest civil trust of the world. Had he done so he would have been the only man in the history of the Republic of whom such a story could be told. When Johnson decided to remove Stanton from the War Office in disregard of the tenure-of-office law, he called Grant to act as Secretary of War ad interim, fully confiding in Grant as Democratic in sympathy, and as certain to co-operate with the President. The President claimed that when Grant accepted the position he gave the assurance that if the Senate refused to assent to the removal of Stanton he would not surrender the office, but would require Stanton to fight his battle to regain the position from the out- side; but when Grant was officially notified that the Senate had refused to concur in the removal of Stanton and Stanton appeared to claim the office. Grant at once quietly gave him possession and returned to his army headquarters. The President was greatly in- flamed at the action of Grant, and publicly denounced him as having been guilty of perfidy in surrendering the office to Stanton, to which Grant made answer that he had given no such pledge, and that it was his duty as a soldier to obey the law. The controversy became exceedingly bitter, and the entire cabinet joined in a statement over their signatures sustaining the President, thus practically proclaiming Grant as guilty not only of violating his solemnly plighted faith to the President, but also of falsehood. The Republicans at once came to the support of 2l6 Old Time Notes Grant in the most aggressive manner, and it was during this tempestuous season, in which Grant was vindic- tively assailed by the administration and the Dem- ocrats, that he first entertained the proposition to accept the Presidency. He hesitated long before he gave his final consent. Many leading Republicans called upon him personally and urged his acceptance of the Republican nomination, but the man who finally succeeded in obtaining his consent to accept the Republican nomination for President was Colonel Forney. He had many conferences with Grant on the subject, but he finally obtained from Grant the positive assurance that he would not decline the Repub- lican nomination if tendered to him, making the con- dition, however, that, as he was giving up one of the most lucrative positions under the government that lasted for life, he should be accorded two terms of the Presidency. I had the details of these conferences from Colonel Forney himself, and he was greatly amused at Grant's appearance as a complete novice in politics by asking from Colonel Forney the assurance that he should have two terms of the Presidency — an assurance that no man or combination of men could reasonably give to a Presidential candidate under any conditions. From the day that Grant's acceptance of the Presi- dential nomination was announced, no other name was discussed in Republican circles, and the Republican leaders of the country at once organized the party, confident that with Grant they could surely win and restore Republican power in the Nation. Curtin was one of the first to come to the front in Pennsylvania to reinspire the party for a successful battle, and at an informal conference of a number of his friends held in Philadelphia early in the spring of 1868, it war. decided to bring him out as Pennsylvania's candidate of Pennsylvania 217 for the Vice-Presidency. Grant, the candidate for President, was from the West, from Illinois, and it was reasonable to assume that the second place on the ticket would be given to the East. The announcement of Curtin's name as a candidate for Vice-President called out the old-time earnestness and enthusiasm that he had inspired in his previous contests, and Cameron was also aroused to active hostility, as the presentation of Curtin for Vice-President would be a measurable vindication of him after his defeat for Senator the year before. The contest for the control of the State convention was most animated. Curtin's friends rallied to his support in the most aggressive manner, and soon had a tidal wave in Curtin's favor that defied all the efforts of Cameron to control. The Republicans generally felt that the State had been lost in 1867 solely by the fact that Cameron had become absolute master of the party organization, and with Grant as a candidate for President, whose election could hardly be doubted, they vv^ere earnest and enthu- siastic in the effort to regain Republican supremacy in the State, and to give the most complete vindication to Curtin. The State convention was held in Philadelphia in the Academy of Music, and was largely attended, out- side of the full complement of delegates. It was the last political State convention in which I served as a delegate. The opponents of Curtin were few in number but desperate in purpose. They exhausted their efforts to weaken in some degree the completeness of Curtin's nomination, but they were met defiantly and unhorsed at every step, resulting in a practically solid delegation to support Curtin for Vice-President. The opposition to Curtin did not present a Cameron man as his competitor, but gave their support to Galusha A. Grow, who was not a Cameron partisan 2l8 Old Time Notes and who afterward, by the action of the Curtin forces which controlled the convention, was made chairman of the Republican State committee. When it is stated that I was unanimously elected chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation to the National con- vention, it need hardly be said that Cameron's influence •was not then seriously felt at home, but he was in a position of great power and doubtless did much to prevent the support of Curtin by delegations from other States. He had been Senator and cabinet officer; had close relations with many of the Repub- lican Senators who could readily influence their States against Curtin; and when we reached Chicago and entered the struggle for the nomination of our candidate for the second place, we soon discovered that we were involved in a hopeless battle. The impeachment trial of President Johnson was in progress for some weeks before the convention met; and the judgment of the Senate acquitting him for want of a single vote to make two-thirds favorable to his conviction was announced to the Pennsylvania delegation when on its way to Chicago, and within a few hours of that place. It was confidently expected when the impeachment trial began that the President would be convicted and removed from office, and that Senator Wade, President pro tern, of the Senate, would become President for the period of eight months. Wade had lost his re-election to the Senate by the Democrats carrying his State the year before, and he at once became a candidate for Vice-President. He was a man of great individual strength in the Repub- lican party, and as it was believed that he would con- trol the entire patronage of the government for eight months before the new Republican President would come in, his nomination for Vice-President was accepted as certain. Had the Senate delayed its final judg- of Pennsylvania 2ig ment in the impeachment case a week longer, Wade would undoubtedly have been nominated for Vice- President, solely because of the power he was expected to wield for eight months as President. When the acquittal of Johnson was announced, Wade's candidacy suddenly became absolutely hope- less. He was not personally popular because of his brusque and often offensive methods of expression, and a large majority of those who supported him for Vice-President did it solely because he was expected to succeed Johnson as President. His friends made a gallant struggle for him, however, but his defeat was known to all as inevitable. He received 147 votes on the first ballot and rose to 206, but on the last ballot he fell to 38, when Colfax received 549. Curtin had little chance for gathering any strength from the sur- rounding States, as Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts; Senator Fenton, of New York; Speaker Colfax, of Indiana, with Wade, of Ohio, held all the States sur- rounding Pennsylvania as their local candidates. Cur- tin received 51 votes on the first ballot and fell to 40 on the third, when his name was withdrawn and his supporters generally went to Colfax. Colfax was in a fortunate position to be the second choice of a large majority of the delegates. He repre- sented the younger and more vital element of the party, and was one of the most genial and delightful of men and an eloquent and impressive speaker. His State was regarded as one of the debatable pivotal States of the Union, and he was entirely free from the opposition of faction at home or elsewhere. The nomination of Grant was made unanimously, of course, every vote in the convention being recorded for him when the roll was called, and when the result was announced a cur- tain was raised on the rear of the platform exhib- iting an immense full-length portrait of the great 220 Old Time Notes chieftain, which brought the convention and the large audience attending it at once to their feet cheering it to the echo. Curtin at once came to the front, and was conspicu- ous in the battle from the opening of the campaign to its close. He spoke in different sections of Penn- sylvania, and was called to Indiana and other States where special effort was needed, and Grant was known to cherish a very high appreciation of Curtin 's services. Pennsylvania, Indiana and Ohio were yet States which held their State elections in October, and the Presidential battle was fought in Pennsylvania and Indiana, as it always had been, on the State ticket in October, as the result at the State election decided the electoral vote of the State in November. General Hartranft, who was then auditor general of the State, was unanimously nominated by the Republicans for re-election. The Democrats nominated Charles E. Boyle, one of the ablest of their State leaders, as his competitor. The October States were earnestly con- tested by the Democrats. Their triumph in Pennsyl- vania the year before, and the nomination of Horatio Seymour as their candidate for President, who was admittedly one of their ablest and strongest men, made them hopeful that with the aid of the Johnson administration they could defeat Grant. Pennsyl- vania was contested with desperation, and the largest Democratic vote brought out that had ever been polled, but Hartranft was re-elected by nearly 10,000 majority. In Indiana the Democrats had their strong- est leader, Thomas A. Hendricks, at the head of their ticket, for Governor, a man who always could com- mand more than the distinct Democratic vote of the State. They confidently expected to carry Pennsyl- vania and Indiana in October, and thus forecast the election of Seymour in November, but with all the con- of Pennsylvania 2 21 fidence and well-directed and enthusiastic efforts that were made for Hendricks in Indiana, he was beaten for Governor by a little less than a thousand votes. Thus the pivotal October States, after the Democrats had exhausted their resources for the contest, declared for the Republicans, and there was practically little or no contest for the Presidency thereafter. The Dem- ocrats of New York determined to vindicate Seymour. He was their greatest and most beloved leader, and they gave him just even 10,000 majority in the State by an immensely developed majority in the city of New York. At the November election Pennsylvania gave nearly 30,000 for Grant, and Indiana came up with nearly 7,000 Republican majority, giving Grant a very large majority alike in the Electoral College and in the popular vote. Immediately after the election of Grant it was decided by a number of Curtin's friends to propose his appointment for a cabinet position. Curtin did not regard the movement with special favor, as he knew that if he entered the cabinet with Cameron in the Senate there would be a most unfortunate and contin- uous conflict to vex the administration in the dis- posal of Pennsylvania patronage; but without any concerted movement a number of the leading Repub- licans of the State strongly urged Grant to appoint Curtin as one of his cabinet advisers. Among them was Judge Read, of our supreme court, who called at my office in Philadelphia, where I had become a resi- dent in the latter part of 1868, and handed me a letter addressed to General Grant, requesting me to deliver it in person as soon as I could visit Washington. He did not state its contents, and a few days thereafter I was in Washington and called upon General Grant at army headquarters and delivered the letter. He received me very kindly, and, after a brief conversa- 222 Old Time Notes tion, without any reference to politics, I rose to take my leave. By the time I reached the door he had opened the letter, and saw that it related to Curtin's appointment as a cabinet officer, and he called me back. He in- formed me that the letter urged him to appoint Curtin to his cabinet, and he desired to say to me as one of Curtin's close friends, that, while he had a very high appreciation of Curtin's ability and character, he meant to appoint his cabinet officers entirely in con- formity with his own personal v^^ishes, as it was his official family, and he felt that he should be free to select men chiefly with reference to their acceptability to himself. I had heard that he meant to appoint Mr. Borie, of Philadelphia, to the cabinet, who was a most estimable gentleman, but an entire novice in political or official affairs, and would be practically valueless to the administration because of his want of knowledge of public men and public duties. I answered the General by saying that he certainly had the right to appoint a cabinet entirely acceptable to himself, but that he should remember that cabinet officers were representative public men, and that the success of his administration depended very largely upon their strength before the country. Grant then clearly had the idea that a political administration could be run like an army, by regulation orders, and I saw that he did not receive kindly the suggestion I made as to the necessity of strengthening his admin- istration by cabinet appointments, as he replied with evident feeling on the subject. I was greatly disappointed at this feature of Grant's idea of statesmanship, and with careful courtesy said to him that if I were suddenly called to the head of the army without military experience, I would realize that my first great need would be generals, and that Of Pennsylvania 223 it was no discredit to him when called to the highest civil position of the country without experience in civil affairs, to say that his great need would be states- men. Grant suddenly closed the discussion in evident irritation, and I never again visited him during his eight years of the Presidency. I had been compelled to change my residence from Chambersburg, where lingered the warmest affections and sympathies of my life, to Philadelphia, because I was utterly bankrupted by the destruction of the town, and I meant to devote myself strictly to my profession and take no further part in politics after the election of Grant. I had no political aspirations whatever, and as I felt that I could not afford to struggle for political promotion even if I desired it, I left the Presi- dent-elect with no regret that I had offended him by telling him the truth that he was unwilling to accept, but would be compelled to accept sooner or later. Curtin felt no disappointment when the cabinet was announced without his name being in its list; and he was confident from expressions received not only from Grant himself, between the period of his election and inauguration, but especially from assurances given by Representative Elihu B. Washburne, who was early announced as the premier of the new cabinet, that Grant would, in some way, emphasize his regard for Curtin, which he did among his first official acts after his inauguration, by nominating Curtin as Min- ister to Russia. I 224 Old Time Notes LXXII. JOHN SCOTT ELECTED SENATOR. The Senatorial Contest Shrewdly Managed by Colonel Thomas A. Scott — ■ When the Legislature Met No Contest for Senator Developed — John Scott Unanimously Nominated — Elected by the Solid Vote of His Party — Scott's Creditable Record in the Senate — Keeping within Party Lines He Followed His Own Convictions — Curtin Went to Russia Knowing that It was Political Banishment — Honors Show- ered upon Curtin before His Departure. IN the State contest of 1868 the Republicans carried both branches of the Legislature, but by somewhat reduced majorities. The senate stood 18 Republi- cans to 15 Democrats, and the Republicans had 24 majority in the house, giving them 27 on joint ballot. The term of Buckalew as United States Senator was about to expire, and there was very general surprise that the half dozen or more men who had so earnestly struggled for the coveted position two years before in the celebrated Cameron-Curtin contest, did not enter the race. True, Thaddeus Stevens, the ablest of them all, had crossed the dark river, and while a number were more than willing to make a contest for the Sena- torship if they could have met with any encourage- ment in doing so, it was very early discovered by all that the position was irrevocably disposed of before the Legislature met. Colonel Thomas A. Scott had then become an im- portant factor in both State and National politics, and was greatly interested in our transcontinental railway system. He had been for a period president of the Northern Pacific, and later had undertaken the Herculean task of constructing the Texas Pacific, Of Pennsylvania 22$ expecting the aid of a government subsidy such as had been given to the Central and Northern Hnes. He wanted a man of the highest character, abihty and integrity to represent Pennsylvania in the Senate, and one who would take an active interest in the devel- opment of the country. He, and he alone, accom- plished the election of John Scott, of Huntingdon, by the Republican Legislature of 1869. Although bearing the same name, there was no blood relationship between the families. John Scott was then confessedly the leader of the bar in interior Pennsylvania, and was connected pro- fessionally with the great railway line of the State. He was a man of admitted ability, tireless energy and unblemished reputation. Pie was not in any sense a politician, and knew little or nothing about the political methods by which men advance themselves to political distinction. Pie had been prominent in Pennsylvania politics as a Democrat, and was a dele- gate to the Democratic State convention of 1852, where he led the opposition to Buchanan's nomina- tion for President and was the author of the formal protest presented to the convention by nearly or quite one-third of the delegates, declaring against Buchanan's availability as the Democratic candidate for President. When the Civil War came he was a pronounced loyalist, and he accepted the Republican or Union nomination for the Legislature in Huntingdon County, in 1861, and was one of the half dozen War Democrats of the body who held the balance of power in the house during that session, and co-operated very cordially with the Republicans in support of the war. He did not, however, separate himself from his Democratic affiliations, and he was the unsuccessful candidate of that party for State senator in 1863; but in 1864 he joined ex-Speaker Cessna, of Bedford, the Rowes, 2—15 226 Old Time Notes of Franklin, General Hartranft, of Montgomery, and a number of other War Democrats in support of Lin- coln, and thereafter acted with the Republican party. Colonel Scott then understood the politics of the State of Pennsylvania better than any other one man in the Commonwealth. His great trunk line was extending its tributaries into almost every approach- able section of the State, with the very hearty co-opera- tion of the prominent men of all parties where important local improvements were to be made, and his relations with the controlling men of the State in both parties were such that it was not difficult for him to make John Scott the candidate for Senator and have his election assured before the Legislature met. John Scott was nominated by a practically unanimous vote, and there was not even the semblance of a battle against him. Fortunately, he possessed every quality essential for a man to fill a seat in the highest legis- lative tribunal of the nation, and while many of the more active politicians were greatly disappointed to find a man unanimously nominated for Senator who would have been easily defeated if left to his own political resources, none could question the fitness of the selection, and I cannot recall another instance in which the party electing a United States Senator created and welcomed its candidate with such entire unanimity and cordiality as welcomed John Scott, and his career in the Senate brought no disappoint- ment to his many friends. He was politician enough to know that party inter- ests had to be respected, and at times something yielded to political necessities, but no man ever served a term in the United States Senate with a cleaner record than that made by John Scott. When issues arose which appealed to his sense of justice, no political influence whatever could swerve him from his duty. of Pennsylvania 227 I heard him deliver his first speech in the Senate a very short time after his admission to the body, and it was a sore disappointment to some of the leaders of his party, who believed that the end always justifies the means in politics. A young Pennsylvania clerk had gone westward some years before to grow up with the country, and was successful in acquiring position and fortune. He wielded his power without regard to the lawfulness of his methods, and elected himself to the United States Senate, where he had served for one or more sessions. The Senate was petitioned to inquire into the integ- rity of his commission, but it was generally expected that it would be disposed of in some one of the regula- tion ways which had usually been adopted to avoid the expulsion of a Senator for improper methods in securing his election. It was this question that called out Senator Scott to make his first deliverance in the body, and although powerful influences had been employed to restrain him from aggressive attack upon the assailed Senator, he delivered an argument that was absolutely unanswerable, and was presented with such dignity and manliness that none attempted to dispute it. The result was that the assailed Senator, who until then confidently expected that the investigation into his case would be merely perfunctory, and that he would not be disturbed in his seat, resigned shortly thereafter and never again appeared in public life. General Cameron was then the senior Senator from the State, and he had very cordially co-operated with Colonel Scott in the election of Senator Scott. Cam- eron knew that Scott would not permit himself to be vexed about the patronage of the National administra- tion in Pennsylvania, as Scott had little acquaintance with the politicians or their respective merits, and had even less inclination to assume responsibility in the 228 Old Time Notes struggles of contending applicants for Federal positions. Scott's election to the Senate gave Pennsylvania an able, brave, conscientious and faithful Senator, and left the patronage of the Grant administration, that was then, as now, indispensable to maintain a party- organization, entirely to Cameron. When Curtin's nomination was sent by President Grant to the Senate for Minister to Russia, Cameron was anxious to defeat his confirmation, but while Scott knew that he was to some extent at least indebted to Cameron for his election, and was in no measure indebted to Curtin, who had simply been unfelt in the contest, he at once declared that a man of Curtin's ability and services rendered to the State should not be stricken down by a Republican Senate, and expressed his purpose to make an earnest battle for Curtin's confirmation if opposition developed. The result was that Cameron yielded to Scott and Curtin was unani- mously confirmed. Notwithstanding Senator Scott's service was during a period of unusual political activity, he never exhibited any interest in political manage- ment and never sought to shape political affairs in his State. He knew that it was a lesson he could not learn sufficiently to make him a leader in the rough-and- tumble struggle for mastery in State politics, and he was wisely content to perform his Senatorial duties with unbroken dignity and scrupulous fidelity. His disregard of political affairs and independent action on all occasions did not commend him to the politicians of his party in the State, and at the expira- tion of his six-year term, when the Democrats had possession of the Legislature and chose William A. Wallace as his successor, the State leaders denied him the empty compliment of a renomination, although no man v/ho had served Pennsylvania in the Senate for many years was more justly entitled to it. It was Of Pennsylvania 229 decided, however, that such men were not wanted in the political management that then prevailed, and Quay and the younger Cameron who then had abso- lute control of the organization, gave ex- Congressman John Allison, of Beaver, the honor of being nominated for United States Senator, only to be defeated by the Democratic candidate. Soon after Senator Scott re- tired from the Senate he located in Philadelphia and became general solicitor of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, a position that he held and filled with great credit until his death. The Democrats of the Legislature nominated William A. Wallace for Senator, although Buckalew had served six years with very general acceptability to the party, and he and his friends naturally expected him to receive the only endorsement that could be given to him in 1869, by casting the Democratic vote for him. Wallace had entered the senate in 1863, and soon became the confessed leader of the party in the Legis- lature. He was the most accomplished organizer the Democratic party developed in his day, and he decided to take the nomination for himself in 1869 to blaze the way for his election to the Senate some time in the future, when the Democrats might gain a majority of the Legislature. Buckalew and his immediate friends were not only greatly humiliated by this action of Wallace, but it caused a bitter estrangement that nearly accomplished Wallace's defeat in 1875, when the Democrats had the Legislature and Wallace was its nominated candidate for the United States Senator- ship. Buckalew appeared at Harrisburg and attempted to fight out the battle even by revolutionary methods to accomplish Wallace's defeat, but Buckalew was a novice in political management when forced to size up with Wallace in a struggle, and Wallace finally secured enough of the Buckalew men to accomplish 230 Old Time Notes his election. The estrangement between Buckalew and Wallace remained unreconciled until the grave extinguished their resentments. When Curtin accepted the position of Minister to Russia, he well understood all that it implied. He did not wish to go to Russia, although it was one of the only three first-class missions of the government. He understood that it was intended by the President to be a compliment for the services he had rendered the State and country and his support of Grant in the Presidential contest, but he well knew also that it was meant by others to retire him from the factional con- flicts of the party in the State. He knew that with Cameron in the Senate serving a term that would not expire until the end of the first term of the new Presi- dent, he could not hope to make a successful battle for the support of his friends with the President when every nomination of a friend of Curtin was certain to bring threatened and probable rejection in the Senate. For him to remain at home and battle against such fearful odds was simply to invite fretful struggles and repeated defeats, and to accept the position was the practical disintegration of the political organization he had in the State, and the elimination of himself and friends from mastery in the Republican organiza- tion. He was greatly gratified at Grant's courage in nominating him in the face of Cameron's protest, and after mature reflection he felt that it was his duty to accept the position and practically abandon all attempt to control the Republican organization of the State. His friends very generally approved of his decision, and when a large number of them accompanied him to New York and bade him good-bye on board the vessel when he was about to sail for St. Petersburg, all felt that they were no longer important factors in Of Pennsylvania 231 Pennsylvania politics. Most of them were not of the place-hunting class, and could do quite as well, or better, for themselves in private pursuits than in seek- ing or even gaining political honors, but they all felt keenly the turn in political affairs that had practically made Curtin and themselves voiceless in the great party they had earnestly and so successfully struggled to create, and whose earliest victories they had won following the tall plume of their beloved chief. Just before sailing for Russia he was, by the unanimous vote of both branches of councils, tendered a public reception in Independence Hall, and that was attended by many thousands, and a public dinner was given to him in the Academy of Music, with the largest attend- ance of prominent men ever witnessed at any public dinner in Philadelphia. The ablest Republicans from every section of the State were largely represented. Judge Thayer presided, and the career of the great War Governor was told in eloquent story by half a score or more of the leaders who had battled by his side, but a strain of sadness pervaded the raany fer- vent tributes paid to the man who was the greatest of all the popular leaders of the State, and whose record as the great War Governor stood out in matchless grandeur. The position of Minister to Russia was practically a sinecure. Our relations with that Power were of the most friendly nature, and during his more than three years of service as Minister to the Court of the Czar, he never had a single grave diplomatic problem to solve. His sunny, genial ways made him a great favorite at the Russian court, and he was accorded a degree of confidence in Russian royalty and diplomacy that probably no other Minister to the Czar ever enjoyed. He was a special favorite with Czar Alex- ander, the grandfather of the present Czar Nicholas, 232 Old Time Notes and the Czar commanded not only the earnest sym- pathy of Curtin, but the most sincere and earnest approbation of his freedom of serfs of Russia. So highly did the Czar appreciate Curtin as Minister that he specially sat to one of the great artists of Russia for a life-size portrait that was finished in the highest style of art, and personally presented to Curtin by the Czar himself. It yet adorns the Curtin home in Bellefonte. I was in constant correspondence with Curtin during his stay in London, and was one of the few to whom he expressed his views without restraint. He, of course, had many letters from his numerous friends throughout the State, and was fully advised of the progress of political events, and the gradual com- plete mastery of the factional power of the State that was implacably hostile to himself and his friends. He was greatly fretted as he learned from time to time that the open friends of Curtin, who entered the field for political preferment either in the State or in the National administration, speedily crossed the dead line and was mercilessly crucified, but he was powerless to aid them, and could only sit in the grandeur of Russian royalty and bow in sorrow to the sacrifice of those to whom he was so ardently devoted. At the end of the first year he decided to return home and share the struggle of his friends, but they with one accord advised him that it would be a hopeless conflict, and that every consideration of poHtical expediency dictated that he should remain. He was offered very large pecuniary compensation to become connected with business enterprises of Americans in Russia, which would have required his resignation as Minister, but he felt that as long as he remained abroad he would continue as Minister to the Russian Court. of Pennsylvania 233 LXXIII. THE INFAMOUS REGISTRATION LAW. The Defeat of City of Philadelphia Candidates in 1868 Made Mann Enforce the Enactment of the Registry Law — Wide Open Doors for Fraud under Color of Law — The Author's Earnest Protest Against the Movement — Mann Regained the District Attorneyship Under It — Interesting Incidents in Halting Fraud at a Special Senatorial Election. THE political conditions developed in Philadel- phia by the election of 1868 were well cal- culated to alarm the Republican leaders. With all the personal strength that General Grant brought to the party, the Democrats elected a majority of their ticket in the city, including mayor and district attorney, by majorities ranging from 1,000 to 1,900. Daniel M. Fox was the Democratic candidate for mayor, and General Tyndale his Republican opponent. Tyndale was opposed by severe churchmen, on the ground that he was not entirely orthodox in faith, and the official returns showed about 1,900 majority in favor of Fox, and Furman Sheppard was returned as elected district attorney by a smaller majority. Such a disaster coming in a Presidential year, when the full vote of the party was polled and the organization supposed to be complete, gave little promise of future Republican mastery in the city that was claimed to be the great loyal city of the nation. Colonel Mann had been nominated for district attor- ney by the midsummer convention of 1868, but a frac- tion of probably one-fourth of the delegates in the con- vention bolted, organized a separate convention, and nominated Isaac Hazlehurst, a prominent RepubHcan 234 Old Time Notes of the city, with the declared purpose of defeating Mann by revolutionary action. Mann had been assis- tant district attorney for two terms under William B. Reed. He was the Republican candidate in 1856 to succeed Reed, but the return was given in favor of Lewis C. Cassidy. Mann contested the return, and was awarded the position by the court. In 1859 he was re-elected with- out serious contest, and won out for re-election again in 1862 and 1865. From the time that he succeeded in entrenching himself in the office of district attorney he became the leader of the party in the city, and diiring his reign no one ever ruled with more complete omni- potence, but all such political power is certain to pro- voke factional hostility, alike from personal disappoint- ments and from those who sincerely protest against the autocratic political methods by which political masters are often compelled to execute their decrees. Mann was one of the most liberal and generous of political leaders, but the fact that he was omnipotent awakened formidable jealousies, and the additional fact that his political methods were at times necessarily arbitrary and unscrupulous aroused bitter antagonism, and when he was nominated for the fifth consecutive term, although the party organization was strength- ened by a Presidential contest, it became evident that he would be defeated. The Democrats nominated Furman Sheppard, who was confessedly their strong- est man. He was not only a man of great ability, but commanded the respect of the entire community, whether friends or foes in politics. After the nomina- tion of Sheppard, the Republican leaders saw that they were inviting a terrible disaster by permitting two candidates of their party to be in the field for dis- trict attorney, and Mann was finally induced to decline, as I have stated in detail in a former chapter. Of Pennsylvania 235 The disputing factions had agreed upon Charles Gibbons as the man upon whom all the Republican belligerents could be harmonized. Gibbons was one of the most brilliant of the old Whig leaders in Phila- delphia, and was elected from the city to the senate as early as 1844, where he stood confessedly as the ablest of the Whig leaders in the body, although then quite a young man. His fidelity to his own convic- tions led him to antagonize Philadelphia in the contest between the Baltimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania Railroad. He did not oppose the Pennsylvania enterprise, but he insisted that if the Baltimore & Ohio, that had first offered to construct the line through Pennsylvania to Pittsburg, was willing to complete a second road to the West, it should have the right to do so. It was then generally believed that two such lines could not be sustained in the State, and for his refusal to deny the franchise to the Baltimore & Ohio, that he had pre- viously earnestly supported when it was the only organization that promised to construct such a line, he was bitterly denounced at home and practically retired from politics for nearly a quarter of a century. He had not been involved in factional strife, as he took little interest in local politics, although an active mem- ber of the Union League and an ardent supporter of the war. He was not a man who had mingled with the people, and lacked in the important elements of per- sonal popularity, although his clean record commended him very generally to the voting public. A very earnest effort was made by the reunited party to elect Gibbons, but the majority was against him, and he proceeded to contest the return. The case was heard by Judge Brewster, a sincere Republican, and one of the ablest of our common pleas judges. After hearing the case very patiently he awarded the 236 Old Time Notes office to Gibbons by a small majority, and Sheppard retired, but upon a careful examination of the elab- orate opinion given by Judge Brewster, by which he figured out a majority in favor of Gibbons, Sheppard discovered that the judge had committed an error in his complicated computation, and that, figuring the result out upon the basis accepted by the court, Shep- pard was really elected. He petitioned Judge Brewster for a review of the case, and upon rehearing Judge Brewster reversed his own judgment and awarded the office to Sheppard. I had taken up my permanent residence in Phila- delphia in the summer of 1868, and in connection with Colonel Mann opened a suite of offices on Sixth Street near Walnut. While we occupied the same offices, there was no partnership in our professional engage- ments. We were naturally closely associated in politics and general affairs, as we had been for more than a decade of the past. The one position that he coveted was that of district attorney, and he immediately devoted himself to the task of accomplishing his return to that position. We had many and very earnest discussions on the subject. I believed that the Republican party could be restored to unity and success only by making its record command the approval of the intelligent and fair-minded people of Republican faith in the city, but he believed that the only way to defeat the Democrats in Philadelphia was to adopt Democratic methods, and improve on them. The portion of the city along the Delaware had long been a running sore of political debauchery, and at that time McMullen was in the zenith of his power and could make his own Fourth Ward and the adjoining wards return majorities for him to his own wishes with little regard to the votes cast. The old-time Anti- Masons and Whigs, under the of Pennsylvania 237 lead of Charley Naylor and others, had made the uptown wharf wards equally corrupt, and their major- ities at times depended wholly upon the interests of corrupt leaders in defiance of the ballots cast by the people. There was then no colored vote to stimulate commercial politics, nor did we have the low grade foreign element that has now become formidable in the city, and that is interested in politics only as voting to command cash or its equivalent, but the political debauchery of that day was at times even more boldly defiant of law than are the more modem and more colossal exhibitions of political debauchery which now stain the city of Philadelphia. It was this threatening political condition that made Colonel Mann and his close friends decide to enact a new election law that would give the Republican leaders not only the absolute control of every election board in the city, but that would also greatly eliminate the restraining power of the courts to prevent the con- summation of fraud. It was known as the ''registry law, " as it provided for registration entirely under the control of the Republican organization, and only those registered with their approval could vote. By this method thousands who were opponents of the Machine organization were practically disfranchised, and in order to control the returns in the event of failure to command a popular majority, the selection of even the minority members of the election board was made by the same power that appointed the majority. Thus in every election district in the city the Republican machine had the majority of the board and a minority of its own choice. In some instances the minority judges were chosen because of their utter ignorance, men who could be cheated before their eyes without understanding it, and in other cases Democrats were selected who could 2 38 Old Time Notes be corrupted by the majority. As an instance of the kind of minority election officers who were chosen, I recall the testimony of two such Democratic officers who testified in the contest I had for a seat in the senate in 1872. The registry law required that the vote of each hour should be proclaimed publicly from the win- dow, ostensibly for the purpose of detecting fraud, but, in point of fact, to give the leaders hourly informa- tion of the progress of the election and advise them in time of the necessity of resorting to desperate measures to create or increase a majority. These two Democratic election officers had voted for me at the special election for senator between one and two o'clock of the day, and the return of that hour, which they themselves had certified, did not give me a single vote. When they were questioned by the committee that was hearing the case as to why they had signed an election return that they knew to be false, they both stated that they knew it was wrong, but that they were informed that it was their duty to sign it along with the other officers. This registry law, after repeated consultations in Colonel Mann's office, at some of which I was present, was framed by Mr. Gibbons, who was smarting under his defeat for district attorney, and who doubtless expected that he would be allowed another opportunity to make a contest for the place. Colonel Mann de- manded the law solely to restore himself to that position, but did not deem it necessary to advise Gibbons of his purpose. I was at the first reading of the bill and very earnestly protested against it. I declared that no man who respected his own position in the party and who ever hoped to command its confidence and favor by deserving it, could have any inspiration in future struggles under such an election law. Mann insisted that it was the only way by which Of Pennsylvania 239 Democratic fraud could be defeated, and the leaders were finally brought together and decided that the bill should be unitedly supported in the Legislature and made the election law of the city. When the registry law was passed by the Legislature I openly denounced it, and appealed to Governor Geary to veto it, but he was a candidate for re-election, and did not have the courage to withhold his approval. Under the law the Democrats had simply no chance at all to succeed in any of the local contests, and the power thus given to the ward leaders, who never take pause to think of the retribution they must invite, stimulated them to the enactment of most appalling frauds. It was this registry law; and the startling debauchery of the ballot under it, that in a few years plunged Philadelphia into the throes of political revo- lution ; and when a senator, chosen in the revolutionary tide against the registry law, I passed through the senate by a unanimous vote, and finally forced its passage in the house, a new election law that tore up by the roots the corrupt features of the registry law, and made honest elections again possible in Philadelphia. Mann succeeded in regaining the district attorney- ship under the registry law in 187 1, although the revolt against the debauchery of the ballot had taken formidable shape, but in 1874, when the revolution was in progress and the Committee of One Hundred was asserting its power, he was nominated for another term, but Sheppard defeated him by some 4,000 major- ity, and Mr. Ashe, who had been a member of the Legislature and was active in securing the passage of the registry law, was defeated by a like majority for coroner by Dr. Goddard. Under the registry law the Republican leaders became accustomed to rely entirely upon their power over the registration of voters and over the returns to 240 Old Time Notes win victory for the party. To avoid the necessity of falsifying returns that was always attended with some measure of danger, the custom was to swarm the city with repeaters on election day, and have them vote on the thousands of fictitious names put upon the list of registered voters. As a rule, election officers made little inquiry as to the vote of any man who was brought to the window by the Republican window-book man. I recall a very interesting illustration of the opera- tions of the registry law and of the political methods in vogue at the time. A vacancy occurred in a down- town senatorial district in 187 1 and a special election was called. Curtin was then absent in Russia, and his friends made little or no effort to maintain organ- ized opposition to Cameron's supremacy. One of Cameron's shrewd methods was to present old-time followers of Curtin for local offices in close districts, who were privately pledged to follow his fortunes when elected. There was every temptation for ambitious men to do so, as it was their only chance of advancement. The district was naturally Democratic, but under the registry law the Republican leaders had controlled it. Cameron quietly selected a business man of excel- lent standing in the district, who was known only as a consistent friend of Curtin, as his candidate for the place, as he was specially desirous to control the Republican members of the Legislature for his re- election the following year. The candidate was well known to both Mann and myself, as he had co-operated with us in the battles of the past, and he called at our offices, got us together, and informed us that he was going to be a candidate for senator, and that he had been assured of the nomi- nation. We had good reason to believe that he was Cameron's candidate, and meant simply to decoy the Of Pennsylvania 241 Curtin people into his support, and after a brief con- ference I put the question directly to him, whether he was not pledged to support Cameron if elected. He insisted that he ought not to be called upon to make any declaration on the subject, as it would weaken him in the campaign, but claimed that Mann and I should support him earnestly because of our old associations. We exhibited no hostility to him, and allowed him to depart hoping that he would be supported by the Curtin people. As soon as he had gone Mann and I conferred on the subject and decided that he should be beaten. If he had been openly and consistently for Cameron we should not have taken any action in the matter, but we were both greatly vexed at the fraud he evidently expected to practise upon us. The intimation was given to a trusted leader of the Democracy that if they nominated a clean man, especially if they nomi- nated a soldier of good record, they might confidently rely upon his selection. They had an early conference, and decided to pre- sent Colonel Dechert, who, in point of ability, character and gallantry in war, filled the bill completely. The Republicans admitted that he would be a very strong candidate, but as they had all the machinery in their hands with ample means, they did not doubt their ability to win. A large amount of money was appropri- ated by the committee to cover the cost of the election, and most of it was applied to the payment of repeaters. Mann knew by whom the repeaters were to be organized and handled, and brought him to our office for conference. I knew him well, and our relations had been very friendly, as I had on a former occasion aided him to one of the most lucrative city offices. When he was informicd that we wanted the candidate for senator defeated, he at once said that he would do whatever we advised, but he made the pertinent a — 16 242 Old Time Notes inquiry: "What am I to do with the boys?'' He then informed us of the two or three scores of gangs of repeaters, all of whom were already employed, many of them from the city outside of the district and some from Delaware. A captain was assigned to each gang, and he had his route mapped out for him, indicating every election place at which he should stop and have his men vote. They were all to vote at from twenty to thirty different places, and as each gang contained from eight to twelve men, it can readily be seen that the repeaters alone were expected to add from two to three thousand to the vote for the Republican candi- date for senator. All these captains were under the command of the man who was conferring with us on the subject, and received their orders directly from him. We instructed him to go on and carry out his programme and assured him that they would not be permitted to vote, but that they would not be arrested or troubled in any way unless they were guilty of riotous conduct. The arrangement was completed, and it was carried out to the letter. After this arrangement was made I immediately called upon Mayor Fox, and gave him all the facts, with the names of the captains and the route that each gang was to take from morning until night. It was necessary in order to checkmate this fraud that these gangs should not have reason to suspect that their plan had been discovered and that they would be halted in their work. The mayor selected sixty of his most reliable and discreet policemen to cover the lines where the repeaters were to do their work, with positive instructions that the gang should not be interfered with beyond the policemen going up to the captain when he reached a poll, quietly informing him that his mission was understood, that none of his men could vote at that poll without being arrested, and Of Pennsylvania 243 that if they would move on without disturbance they would not be further interfered with. Mayor Fox gave the subject the most careful atten- tion, and in every instance when a gang appeared at a poll a policeman quietly stepped to the head man, told him that his business there was well known to the police, that if he attempted to poll any of the votes of his gang they would be promptly arrested, but that if they would quietly leave that poll he would permit them to pass without further interference. The result was a very quiet election, and the gangs of repeaters traveled their routes during most of the day, but foimd themselves stopped and forced to move quietly away from every poll. The leaders thus had no informa- tion of how their plan had been defeated, and believing that their candidate was certain to succeed, they patiently waited for the returns that they confidently expected would give them a decided majority. They expected the Democrats to poll a considerable fraudulent vote in the Fourth Ward and vicinity, and they decided not to attempt to interfere with them, as the policemen were all Democrats, but they had planned such a stupendous system of repeating in the other wards of the district, that then embraced all of Philadelphia south of Walnut and between the rivers, that they felt entirely able to overcome anything the Democrats might do. The result was that the Repub- lican frauds failed entirely without a suspicion of the failure on the part of the leaders until too late to correct it, and the Democrats under the lead of McMullen ran his end of the district in his own regulation way, and the Republican leaders were dumfounded when the returns came in, giving Dechert nearly 1,500 majority. This chapter of Philadelphia politics more than a generation ago is necessary to make these papers a correct history of old-time political methods. 244 Old Time Notes LXXIV. THE REIGN OF SHODDY. Sudden Acquisition of Wealth Brought a Tidal Wave of Shoddy Osten- tation — Precious Stones Flashed from Gaudily Dressed Shoddyites — Bewildering Extravagance Became Common in Hospitality — Ladies of Culture Abandoned the Display of Jewels — The Gorgeous and Vulgar Exhibition of Shoddy at the Great Ball Given to Grand Duke Alexis, Son of the Czar — The Saturday Evening Club Organized to Halt the Shoddy Display of Profligacy in Entertainments — Political Demoralization Followed the New Social Eruption — ^The Inevitable Revolution Came, and Many Shoddyites Died in Poverty. WAR is the fruitful parent of demoralization, and of all such strifes civil wars are the most disturbing in all the important relations of life. They breed corruption in business and politics, and stamp their stain more or less even upon social and religious life. One of the most memorable of all the developments of our civil war was exhibited in what was long remembered, and is still remembered by many of the older residents of the city, as the reign of shoddy. When the war began in 1861, Philadelphia was suffering from very severe and protracted industrial, commercial and financial revulsion. The suspension of the banks in 1857, and the general depression that followed in all channels of industry, were not only felt very generally in every community, but fell with special force upon Philadelphia, that was then the great com- mercial metropolis of the Nation, and commanded a vast preponderance of the entire Southern trade. Labor was unemployed or very inadequately requited. Our manufacturers were fortunate if able to pay their Of Pennsylvania 245 operating expenses, and our large commercial houses were greatly demoralized and simply struggling to tide over the severe strain that was upon them. I well remember in the early part of 1861, standing with several friends in front of the Continental Hotel for a considerable time, discussing the question of pur- chasing the Girard House for $10,000, subject to a mortgage of $100,000. Real estate values had reached the lowest ebb of more than a score of years, and the prospect of civil war spread the gloom of despair over the entire commercial, industrial and financial interests of the city. When the first loan of $50,000,000 was called for by the government to prosecute the war, the financial men of the country regarded it as a task that would exhaust the financial resources of the nation, and I recall more than one instance in which I purchased the 7-30 bonds of the government below par. The vast resources of the country were unappreciated and unknown to the people themselves. If they had then believed that a great civil war, costing many billions of dollars, was to follow the election of Lincoln, he would have been defeated by an overwhelming vote, or if they had dreamed at the beginning of the war that such enormous sacrifice of life and treasure would be necessary to maintain the unity of the States, the war would have been summarily abandoned in despair ; but before the close of the first year of the war new conditions appeared, and the people of Philadelphia saw that vast fortunes were to be gathered in legiti- mate enterprise by the continuance of the war. Our currency was cheapened by the entire suspension of specie payments, and the increased demands of government were logically followed by increased demands for consumption by the people. As money became abundant it speedily brought a tide of apparent 246 Old Time Notes prosperity that surpassed the wildest dreams of those who had hoped for fortunes. I remember hearing Mr. Borie, of Grant's cabinet, discussing the wonderful advances in prices in the early part of the war. He cited instances in which a cargo of goods he had purchased for importation had advanced to more than double their cost before they came into his possession. All our mills and factories which had been maintained in fairly good condition were soon called upon to employ the utmost of their resources in the production of their wares or fabrics, and finally new and colossal establishments had to be created to meet the wants of the government and the public. Wealth came suddenly, and in large measure, to a class of our industrial people who had never dreamed of gaining more than a generous com- petence in their business. Many of them possessed little or no culture themselves, and they and their children, with rare exceptions, plunged into the most extravagant display in efforts not merely to imitate, but to surpass the hospitality and social distinction of the cultured families of the city. During the later years of the war, and for some time after it ended, there were more precious stones and costly jewels sold in Philadelphia than have ever been sold in any like period during the last forty years, which have presented repeated tides of prosperity vastly more substantial than was shown by the flashing inflation of war. I remember Mr. Caldwell, the founder of the present great jewelry house in Philadelphia, telling me of the ex- traordinary sales of precious stones and jewels made by his house, then occup3ang a comparatively small building below the Girard House. He said that the demand for diamonds at any price was so great that it was difficult to fill orders, and he added that the Of Pennsylvania 247 peculiar feature of that trade was that the purchasers as a rule were often entirely unknown to him. He gave as an illustration of the class that was then indulg- ing in very costly jewels, that a lady gaudily dressed had entered his store, purchased a $5,000 diamond necklace, paid for it, coolly fastened it about her neck and wore it on her way home. A regular reign of shoddy dominated the city, and at the theatres, churches and other public places a profusion of dia- monds flashed from the hands and necks of women whose general demeanor indicated entire ignorance of the proper use of such decorations. So generally and profusely were the precious stones of the new shoddy leaders and followers flashed upon the public without regard to the fitness of the occasion, that the women of culture in Philadelphia absolutely abandoned the use of their jewels and generally appeared on all impor- tant social occasions in the simplest elegance. Entertainments became so lavish in expenditure and so gaudy in awkward decoration that only a very few of those who had been leaders in hospitality in the social circle of the city were able to approach their shoddy rivals in hospitable grandeur. Wealth was acquired with such marvelous haste that many of those who had been favored by fortune were utterly bewildered, and the inherent love of distinction that pervades all classes and conditions of mankind brought a flood tide of shoddy extravagance that absolutely unsettled the whole social system of the city. I witnessed the crowning exhibition of this reign of shoddy a few years after the war, before the revulsion that began in 1873 ended in the most fearful business and industrial revulsions in 1 87 7 , when anarchy asserted its mastery from the Eastern to the Western sea. It was the occasion of the great ball given to the Grand Duke Alexis, son of Alexander II, then 248 Old Time Notes Czar of Russia. Russia had endeared the American people to her emperor and government by the bold attitude assumed during our civil war, when we were threatened with the intervention of England and France, and most generous welcome was given to the son of the Czar, who is yet living as the highest honorary naval commander of the empire. He was young, bright, spirited, handsome and genial, and he had fallen in love with the wrong woman. To divert him from a boyish love affair he was sent by his father, with a magnificent suite of Russian naval officers, on a cruise around the world. Curtin was then our Minister to Russia, enjoying the most friendly sympathy of the Czar, and he had taken pains to pave the way for an overwhelmingly generous reception to the young duke in the chief city of Curtin 's home State. The result vv^as the greatest social event in the history of Philadelphia. It was intended as a popular tribute to the distinguished visitor, and, of course, social class distinctions were effaced. The society leaders of the city heartily entered into the movement and bore their part with becoming dignity, w^hile mingling freely with the host of over-dressed and jewel-spangled women who crowded in every part of the vast assembly. The Academy of Music, with the parquet floored to give ample scope for the dancing, was jammed, and never before or since has there been such a gorgeous display of costly apparel and jewels. I studied the picture for several hours, and it was one of the most impressive of the many like social events I can recall. Two well-known ladies of the city were long remembered for their appearance on that occasion in all the sweet simplicity of perfect elegance, as they were confessedly in the forefront of the many beautiful women who appeared on that occasion. Of Pennsylvania 249 They were Mrs. Colonel Scott and Miss Schaumberg. Both were highly cultured, perfect in all the graces, courteous to all, but grandly displaying the highest dignity of American womanhood. They were elegantly dressed, of course, but in the quietest possible manner, and with each a single diamond solitaire completed the list of jewels, while most of the women around them were overladen with the most expensive laces and trimmings, and their heads, necks, waists, arms and fingers flashing the refulgence of a pitched together medley of diamonds and rubies. Of course, so costly and bewildering a reign as that given us by shoddy in the sweeping inflation of war could not last. It brought new conditions to the homes of many hundreds of our people, and opened the doors for the refinement and culture which com- mand universal respect, and while the mere vulgarians ran their course in the shoddy race until bankruptcy ended their career, education and refinement speedily found their way to the homes of many, and gave us a new generation of substantial people with business intelligence and social culture. When the revulsion of 1873 began its terrible reaction, extravagance was speedily checked, and as wealth had ceased to come almost unbidden to a large portion of the shoddyites, the pawnbroker finally took the last inventory of their precious stones and jewels. This shoddy condition when at its zenith in extrava- gance in social and hospitable life prompted the more intelligent and cultured business and professional men of the city to confront it by a counter-movement, and it resulted in the organization of what was long known as the Saturday Evening Club, for which many yet living in Philadelphia have most grateful memories. The club had a large membership, and it was made up entirely of representative men of the best business Old Time Notes and professional circles of the city, many of whom were able to keep more than abreast with the shoddyites in reckless extravagance if they had chosen to do so. They organized the club with peremptory rules for- bidding even the semblance of extravagance in the entertainments. The suppers given were substantial and elegant, but all the more costly dishes were excluded, and no member was permitted to exceed the rules in a display of hospitality under penalty of dismissal. I attended very many of these Saturday Evening Club meetings, and I am sure that those who can recall them will agree that they were the most enjoyable of all the social entertainments ever given in Philadel- phia. There was no departure from the ordinary rules of gentility, and all appeared in the regulation evening dress, but there was an absence of conventional sup- pression at all these assemblies that opened wide the door for the most generous intercourse between the guests. It was not uncommon for several hundred of the leading men of Philadelphia to attend the Satur- day Evening Club. Chairs were taken from the rooms, leaving here and there a sofa to furnish rest to the weary, as the crowded condition of the rooms required the guests to remain standing during the evening. In one comer of the dining-room at all the meetings of the club was a special table with chairs to accom- modate ten or a dozen men. It was known as the old men's corner, and they were allowed exemption from the standing rule, and were permitted to sit down to their supper and enjoy it in their own way. In the comer could be seen almost any evening the venerable General Patterson, the still more venerable William D. Lewis, with Lewis A. Godey, Joseph R. Chandler, General Cameron, General Cadwallader and others, and the brilliant Morton McMichael occasionally joined them exploiting himself as a kid, as he was not then Of Pennsylvania deemed quite venerable enough to be one of the veteran circle. At these gatherings you could meet the represen- tative men not only of the city but of the State, for distinguished men from any section of the Common- wealth who happened to be visiting the city were always invited guests, and no social gatherings that I have ever attended were so rich alike in entertain- ment and instruction. The moral effect of this move- ment was speedily felt throughout the shoddy circles, and brought to many an early appreciation of the fact that they were simply indulging in vulgar and costly display that offended the good taste of the public, and brought to themselves only contempt and shame. This club continued until the reign of shoddy perished, and it ended its good work when its purpose was com- pletely and grandly accomplished. Not only did the reign of shoddy assert itself with con- spicuous offensiveness in social life, but it also asserted itself to an alarming degree in the politics of the city. The Philadelphia Row offices had been cultivated to the limit in extortionate abuses, and a term in one of them was an ample fortune for any incumbent who knew how to husband his money. The overshadowing interest in the war, and the general prevalence of extra- vagance and display, made the people indifferent to equal extravagant jobbery in political life. Offices were created in the city furnishing what would have been considered fortunes before the war, and most channels of city authority were prostituted to graft that was generally largely expended in display. I recall a prominent politician of that time who was chosen by councils for the head of one of the city depart- ments with a salary of $3,000 a year. He was not a man of fortune ; on the contrary, he was probably bank- rupt at the time he gained the ofQce, but immediately 252 Old Time Notes upon his election he gave an entertainment that not only crowded his house, but his entire yard that had been fitted up at an enormous expense, with a most lavish supper and abundance of wine. The entertain- ment cost nearly double an entire year's salary, but the expenditure of over $5,000 for a single entertain- ment was regarded as a mere bagatelle in many of the official circles of that day. Hundreds of men who before the war regarded a glass of beer as a luxury, guzzled wine until many were intoxicated, and long before the midnight hour there was high revelry in house and yard to the music of hundreds of canary birds summoned for the occasion to greet the guests with song. Every day about noon a party of ten or a dozen leaders assembled at Jerry Walker's, and their appetites were never appeased with less than a full basket of champagne, while on some occasions the gathering would multiply and two or three baskets would be smashed before the lunch ended. This reckless ex- travagance brought its inexorable penalty, and a majority of the men who thus had opportunities to possess large amounts of money by various species of graft died in comparative poverty. Another instance that I recall pointedly illustrates the reckless methods by which our financial depart- ments were then conducted. I was one day called upon by a prominent man of the city who had held high official position. He stated that he desired to engage me professionally in a matter that would be mutually advantageous to both of us. The Pennsyl- vania Railroad then paid, as I remember, about $30,000 a year direct taxes to the city, and the proposed client suggested that I might, by reason of my close rela- tions with Colonel Scott, obtain permission from the company to take its check to the tax office, pay the company's taxes, and receive a properly executed of Pennsylvania 253 receipt for the same. I said that it might be possible for me to obtain permission from the company to deHver its check for the payment of taxes, but naturally inquired how that could benefit either the client or myself. He assured me that if I obtained the check for pay- ment of the company's taxes he would go with me him- self and I should personally see the two financial officers of the city who were then required to sign the receipt and receive a properly executed and bona fide receipt, and immediately after the payment of the tax, one- third of the full amount would be paid to me, and the remaining two-thirds would be appropriated to the client and parties inside of the tax office. Of course the proposition was promptly rejected. It would not have done any good, and might have done me much harm if I had resented it in the aggressive manner that would have been fully justified under the circumstances. I declined the proffer on the ground that I could not join in a transaction that involved such a violation of the trust the company might repose in me, and that also might result in personal disgrace. I asked him how it was possible for such transactions to be made without detection, and he informed me that it was not an uncommon thing to divide up be- tween outside counsel and inside grafters payments made to the treasury in very large sums. It seemed to me almost incredible, but the man understood his business well, w^as trained in all the high art of the grafting of that day, and was not in any sense a wild adventurer in the scheme. It became an open secret some years after a promi- nent and generally respected citizen was chosen to the tax office that the first day he entered upon his duties he appropriated $100,000 in cash to himself. I do not recall a smgie one of the larger thefts of public money 254 Old Time Notes that brought the guilty parties to exposure and punish- ment. Occasionally a petty subordinate would be caught in an awkward imitation of his principals and go to prison, but the leaders who invented and executed the bewildering debauchery and profligacy of those days suffered no more than general suspicion that their wealth had been lawlessly obtained, and the public had learned to look upon it as the regulation thing to regard it with comparative indifference. Revolution came, as it always must, to correct such appalling abuses, and it was the Committee of One Hundred that finally swept the grafters from power in a tempest of retribution. Unfortunately tempestuous revolutions speedily exhaust their powers, and after a decade, in which nearly every important office in the city, from mayor down, was filled by reform candidates, some of the shrewder of the old machine leaders, with new leaders gradually developed, stealthily crept into power, and substantial reform in the only truly Ameri- can and most intelligent city of the continent lingered only as a memory. Of Pennsylvania ^55 LXXV. ROBERT W. MACKEY. The Ablest All- Around Republican Leader of Pennsylvania — Quay His Promising Lieutenant — How Quay Made Mackey State Treasurer — Mackey the Master Leader of the Party for a Full Decade — His Method of Controlling Conventions and Legislators — His Close Relations with Both Wallace and Randall — How He Saved the Electoral Vote of Florida for Hayes — Mackey Saved Wallace in His Contest for Senator — How He Defeated Fusion and Elected Hoyt Governor. THE year 1869 brought to the front Robert W. Mackey, the ablest all-around leader the Re- publicans of Pennsylvania have ever created. Quay, although a young man, had become an important factor in State politics. He was first felt in 1863, when by his admirable management he nominated Judge Agnew, of his own town, for the supreme bench. Agnew had little popular following, although eminently fitted for the judicial office, and his nomination had to be accomplished by earnest political efforts and combina- tions, in which Quay had then proved himself a master. In his last year of service in the house, in the session of 1867, the unfriendly barrier between him and the Cameron power of the State had been substantially overthrown, and in the Legislature of 1868 he readily accomplished the election of General W. W. Irwin, of Beaver County, to the office of State treasurer. He had in the early part of the war secured the appoint- ment of Irwin as commissary general of the State, and as that position ended with the termination of the war, he asserted his leadership by making Invin State treasurer. 256 Old Time Notes Irwin was not a man of great political force, and owed his position entirely to Quay, but some months after Irwin entered the office of State treasurer a seri- ous difference arose between Irwin and himself. The reasons for the estrangement were never made public by Quay, but he decided, some months before the Legis- lature of 1869 met, that Irwin should not be re-elected, and he brought out Mackey as his candidate. Mackey was then cashier of the Allegheny Bank. He had started his career without fortune, and almost without friends, but General George W. Cass, then presi- dent of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Rail- road, and an active Democrat, procured a position for Mackey when yet in his teens, and Mackey rapidly advanced himself by his extraordinary ability. Al- though Cass was the leading Democrat of Allegheny and Mackey was rapidly developing as the leading Republican, Cass stood loyally by him in every struggle that Mackey had and was largely instrumental in en- abling him to reach his important position in the bank. When Quay decided to make Mackey his candidate for State treasurer to defeat Irwin, Cass came promptly to Mackey 's aid, and whatever financial influences were felt in the contest might have been traced directly to Cass. So quietly did Quay manage his campaign against Irwin that Mackey was not publicly discussed until about the time that the Legislature met, but as the senators and representatives gathered in Harrisburg it was soon discovered that Mackey was a very formid- able candidate, and long before the caucus met Irwin was hopelessly distanced in the race. I first met Mackey when he came on to Harrisburg to exploit his candidacy for State treasurer, and was greatly disap- pointed in his appearance. He had every indication of a racking consumptive, and looked more like one Of Pennsylvania 257 who should be seeking some sunny place to winter for the preservation of his health than to be struggling for a political position. He had every sign of hopeless physical infirmity, and his stooping shoulders and shuffling gait indicated lack of vigor. He was then little known outside of Pittsburg, and most of the leaders of the party were startled at Quay's audacious movement to displace his friend from his own county whom he had placed in office and give it to a compara- tive stranger who was generally regarded as unable to render any special political service in return ; but before Mackey was a year in the office of State treasurer he became not only the foremost of the Cameron lieuten- ants, but was well on the way to the absolute leader- ship of the party in the State. Curtin was then in Russia, and although his organi- zation was practically abandoned in the State, there was much irritation among his old friends who were severely ostracised by Senators Cameron and Cowan, who necessarily controlled the patronage of the National administration in Pennsylvania, and that bit- terness asserted itself to a sufficient extent in the Legislature of 1870 to bring about a combination be- tween the anti- Cameron Republicans of the Legislature and the Democrats that defeated Mackey for re-election and restored Irwin to the office from which Quay had ejected him. Mackey bore his defeat philosophically and immediately began his organization to re-elect him- self the following year, and so complete and methodical was his organization made that he not only defeated Irwin with ease, but held his organization in the hollow of his hand from that time until his death some ten years later. I was brought into more or less intimate intercourse with all the political leaders of the State for nearly half a century, and I have never known one on either Old Time Notes side who was such a thoroughly accomplished political master as Robert W. Mackey. There was not a quality of leadership that he did not possess, and there was hardly a fault in his leadership that could be presented. His whole time during the seasons when most politi- cians were taking little interest in politics was devoted to preparing the way for the control of the coming Republican State convention and the coming Legis- lature. When a Legislature adjourned he was thor- oughly familiar with the individual qualities of every member, and he knew just who of his party should be left at home and who should be returned. He did not make his plans publicly known even in the localities where he was operating, but any member of the Legislature who for any reason was deemed only fit in Mackey 's judgment for retirement to private life would discover when he turned his attention to his renomination that some unseen power had shaped the action of the party for his defeat, and those who in Mackey 's judgment merited re-election were quietly aided in every way before the contest for nominations was opened, and thus, as a rule, the men he wished to be renominated won out with ease, and those who were deemed un- worthy of renomination suffered defeat that apparently came from the voluntary action of their own people. It was not Mackey 's policy to debauch legislators or delegates to political conventions, but he expended money liberally in every senatorial and representative district to aid the election of the party candidates, and the result was that when a Legislature assembled at Harrisburg an overwhelming majority of the Republi- cans were Mackey 's devoted friends. Unlike some political leaders, he had no love for striking down men who were obstacles to the consummation of his plans. He would always exhaust all friendly offices, but when it became necessary for him to accept open war with of Pennsylvania 259 any man he would strike from the shoulder, and few survived such a conflict with him. In like manner he superintended the election of dele- gates to State conventions. He often made candidates for the Legislature and for delegates to conventions long before others thought of making a contest for the place, and when money was needed to reconcile party differences or to elect his favorite candidates it was always freely supplied. He was the one party leader in Pennsylvania who accepted no vacation in politics, and while others were letting politics run their course waiting for the time to come around for action, Mackey covered every district in the State and knew with almost absolute certainty who would be delegates to the State convention, and who the successful candidates for legislative nominations months before the people of the local districts thought of agitating the subject. He was universally popular, a delightful and genial com- panion, a most unselfish and faithful friend, and was scrupulous to the last degree in fulfilling every political obligation that he made. From the time of his gener- ally accepted leadership, when he and Quay were the nominal lieutenants of Cameron until his death, he never was defeated in a Republican State convention and never lost control of a single Legislature. Mackey 's omnipotence as a leader was not only felt by the Republicans of the State, but it often invaded the lines of the Dem.ocracy, and I can recall several occasions on which Mackey absolutely controlled the final action of the Democratic State convention. He had the personal friendship of nearly every Demo- cratic senator and respresentative, and he was gener- ously kind to the members without regard to their political faith. And the Greenback organization, that was a somewhat formidable political factor during his leadership, he made a mere plaything in his hands. 26o Old Time Notes He became the substantial owner of its leaders, and on more than one occasion made it play a most illogical part by which he saved his own party from defeat. The Republican majority in the State was not then overwhelming, and for many years the Greenback party held the balance of power and would logically have fused with the Democracy if there had been resolutely honest Greenback leadership. But for his ingenious control of political factors which were natur- ally hostile to the Republican party, the Republicans would have lost the Governor in 1875, when Hartranft was re-elected, and again in 1878, when Hoyt triumphed over Dill. The Democratic leaders would appear in the senate and house at Harrisburg breathing implacable hostility to Mackey's absolute mastery, but before the session was half over a majority of them would be found co- operating with Mackey in matters of mutual interest, and but few of them ever remained to fight the battle to a finish. His strength was in his wonderful knowl- edge of men, his ingenious adaptability to the qualities of those with whom he came in contact, with a willing- ness to render service to any and all whenever possible, and his absolute fidelity to his pledges. He is the only one of all the great leaders I have known in Pennsyl- vania who never Avas accused of deception or failure in the fulfillment of his plighted faith. While Cameron was accepted as the leader of the party, he was simply consulted in all the general move- ments made by Mackey, and I doubt whether Cameron ever attempted to reverse a policy that had been determined upon by his lieutenant. No man in the State ever wielded the same power in the Legislature for a full decade that was wielded by Mackey, and he always strengthened himself by rendering the kindest offices to all who had any just claim to Legislative Of Pennsylvania 261 action. When a State convenion met he seldom ap- peared in it, but as a rule he dictated every movement that was made, every platform that was adopted, and every candidate who was nominated. He was so infirm in health that he was often unable to leave his room, and I have seen him when imable to leave his bed, and when his doctor forbade any disturbance, turn the doctor out of the room and receive two or three of his leaders who needed directions from their master as to how imexpected complications should be met. He was not only great in all the details of politics which so many leaders forget, but he was equally great in the greatest emergencies which arose to be met by the party. When he was State treasurer he suffered very heavy loss by the failure of Mr. Yerkes, then a banker in Phila- delphia, and now the great railway magnate of London, but his friends at once came to his rescue, and some three or four banks of the State placed to the credit of the Commonwealth the full amount of the deficiency. The treasury then always carried a cash account of several millions, and of course the credits thus given, while making the treasury absolutely solid, were not drawn upon by the State treasurer until he had accumu- lated sufficient money to make the deposits good. His power over the Legislature saved him in that emer- gency. The period had come when the State war taxes were intolerably oppressive, especially upon our manufacturing interests, and it became a necessity to repeal the taxes to save many manufacturers from bankruptcy. The Legislature had been appealed to, but it was always unpopular to vote to relieve the rich of taxes, and nothing was accomplished. There was but one man who could bring the Legislature to the point of giving the relief that was indispensable, and that man was Mackey. A combination of manufac- 262 Old Time Notes turers was effected, and proposed to give a large per- centage of one year's taxes if the repeal could be ac- complished. The proposition was accepted by an outside party, but in fact by Mackey, and the repeal was accomplished, and Mackey 's losses were more than restored. Mackey cared but little for money, except so far as he needed it in his liberal habits of life. During the decade of his great political power he lived largely on whisky, that he had learned to use chiefly for nourish- ment, but he never reached the stage of intoxication. He never knew what it was to enjoy a single day of good health during the period. He was a hopeless con- sumptive, and his lungs were measurably relieved by maintaining an external abscess, the healing of which would have been speedily fatal; and often his conver- sation would be interrupted by a paroxysm of coughing so violent that it seemed impossible for him to survive it, but when he mastered it, he would take the whisky stimulant, and proceed with his conversation as com- placently as if he were in the most robust health. It was Mackey who saved the electoral vote of Florida to Hayes in 1876. When the contest began after the November election the leaders of both parties were giving their best efforts to control the final decla- ration of the vote of South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana. Mackey was selected by the party leaders to visit Florida and take charge of the management of affairs in that State. He had purchased the Pitts- burg " Commercial " from Mr. Brigham a few years before, and Brigham had settled in Florida, where he had become a political power, as he was an experienced politician and a man of much more than ordinary ability. He received what he regarded as an ample com- petence by the sale of his paper, and decided to spend the remainder of his days on an orange farm in Florida. Of Pennsylvania 263 Mackey started on the same train and in the same car with two Democratic representatives, bent on the same mission, who did not personally know Mackey. He had every appearance of a far -gone invalid, and his distressing cough told the story that he was going South in search of sunshine and health. He overheard a conversation between the Democratic representatives in which they discussed their plans and determined in full detail how they were going to operate in Florida to obtain the electoral vote of the State. Mackey slipped out of the car, prepared a telegram to Brigham, giving the precise plans of the Democratic leaders, and before they arrived at the capital of the State all their movements were completely frustrated, and the elec- toral vote was gained for Hayes. In 1869, when Governor Geary had been nominated for re-election, Mackey was not enthusiastically devoted to Geary and would have been quite willing to see him defeated if an acceptable Democrat could take his place. His old friend. General Cass, was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor, and Mackey exhausted his efforts to accomplish the success of his old friend and benefactor. Asa Packer was made a candidate for the nomination against his own wishes, and Thomas Collins, one of the leading railroad contractors of the State, then possessing ample fortime and considerable political experience, was devotedly attached to Packer. Mackey ascertained that a nimiber of commercial delegates in Philadelphia could control the nomination and give it to Cass, and without communicating with Cass or any of his friends, he made a deal with these delegates to support Cass, and put up his own checks for $12,000. "Tom" Collins, as he was familiarly named, found that the Philadelphians were in the market, ascertained the price, and a few hours before 264 Old Time Notes the ballot, he gathered up $13,000 in spot cash, paid it over to the contracting leaders, and nominated Packer. Neither Cass nor Packer had any knowledge of the efforts made to purchase delegates in their interest, and Collins never informed Packer of the expenditure he had made to secure his acceptance as a Democratic candidate. I have heard Mackey refer to this incident as an evidence that in an emergency spot cash will beat checks. During Mackey 's rule there never was an apportion- ment bill passed that he did not fashion, and when in the senate and legislating to conform conditions to the new Constitution, I recall the care with which he re- vised every movement that was made. The regular senatorial term was to be four years thereafter, and one-half the senate was to be elected every two years, divided by odd and even numbers. He had the dis- tricts arbitrarily numbered so that the debatable dis- tricts would come in the off-years, when under his method of manipulation it was always possible to carry close or Democratic districts. He framed every tax bill, and, by the generous policy he aided the corporations in obtaining, he greatly enlarged their taxes and chiefly with their consent. He studiously avoided everything having the appear- ance of arbitrary legislative action, and commanded practically universal confidence from all the great corporate and industrial interests of the State, as well as the confidence of the people. He dictated the laws providing for the contest of Presidential electors, and for the trial of all other disputed elections in the State. I mention these facts to show what a thorough master Mackey was in all the minutest details of political management. He had the keenest perception to devise the most plausible methods for carrying out his pur- poses, and no point of vital interest was overlooked. Of Pennsylvania 265 During the entire period of Mackey's Republican leadership Wallace and Randall were the Democratic leaders of the State, and each had his ardent factional supporters against the other. They were seldom in accord, but both were devoted friends of Mackey, and he rendered most essential service to them that was not visible to the public. When he first became omnipotent in legislative control, a new congressional apportionment was to be made, and it was not only easy to make all the congressional districts of Phila- delphia strongly Republican, but it required a shoe- string district running along the wharf from South- wark to Richmond to corral the Democratic maajority in one district. Naturally, the Republican leaders of the city wanted a Republican district in place of Randall's, but Mackey stood resolutely against it, and Randall's district was preserved by Mackey and afterward by Quay imtil Randall's death. Randall owed his district wholly to Mackey, and it is needless to say that in many ways Randall reciprocated the kindness when it could be done without the betrayal of his party. Wallace always had very close relations with Mackey, and they rendered very important service to each other. While both maintained fidelity to their respec- tive parties, they many times could give valuable personal or political aid to each other, and it was always done. But for Mackey, Wallace would have been defeated for United States Senator in 1875. Buckalew had become greatly offended at Wallace for refusing him the compliment of a nomination for re-election at the expiration of Buckalew 's term. Buckalew Vv^as intensely embittered and went to Harrisburg and got more than enough Democrats in a combination to defeat Wallace's election, as the Demo- cratic majority was small on joint ballot, Mackey, of 266 Old Time Notes course, represented the Republicans in the Legislature, and knowing that only a Democrat could be elected, was sincerely in favor of Wallace succeeding without making any proclamation of his wishes. Buckalew's manager proposed to Mackey that if Mackey would unite the Republicans he would defeat Wallace and elect any Democrat that Mackey might name. It was a plausible proposition, and had Mackey and Wallace been in the earnest political antagonism that their surface actions indicated it would have been readily accepted. Mackey, after apparently holding the proposition under advisement until near the time of election, gave as his ultimatum that the Republicans would unite with the Buckalew Democrats and elect any Republican United States Senator that the Democrats might name. He knew that the proposition was one impossible of acceptance, and that it would end in Wallace's election. I was present in Wallace's room in the Bolton House with a number of his leading friends on the day before the election of Senator, when he received information directly from Buckalew's manager that the contest was ended, and that they would yield to his election because they could not succeed with any other Demo- crat. Buckalew could not afford to elect a Republican Senator in a Democratic Legislature, and he saw that if there was any break in the Democratic ranks, more than enough Republicans to elect Wallace would declare that, in a choice between Democrats, they pre- ferred him. Thus did Mackey make himself the leader of leaders of all political parties in the State, and his record of leadership stands out without parallel in the history of Pennsylvania politics. Mackey made his great battle in 1878, when in co- operation with Cameron and Quay he nominated Judge Hoyt for Governor, one of the ablest men who ever Of Pennsylvania 267 filled the position. Political conditions were very uncertain, as the Greenbackers swept Maine from her Republican moorings at the September election, re- sulting in Democratic-Greenback fusion to control the Governor and the Legislature. The Greenback element in Pennsylvania was more than sufficient to wrest the State from the Republicans, but Mackey controlled its organization as absolutely as he controlled that of the Republicans. He had it meet first and nominate a candidate who was under contract not to surrender to fusion; and having the Greenback element entirely eliminated as a danger signal, with Quay as chairman of the State committee, they decided to open the campaign by a distinct declaration in favor of the sound money stand- ard. That would have been utterly fatal if the Green- back element had not been under absolute control, but with that danger entirely eliminated, it was the win- ning card for the Republicans to play. The result was that Hoyt was elected by 22,353 plurality, while Mason, Greenback, polled 81,758 votes. The severe strain upon Mackey in the great work of wresting victory in a contest where the people voted some 60,000 against him, with the opposition elements severed only by the most consummate leadership, was too great for Mackey 's enfeebled power. He went to New York for rest immediately after the election to spend a week or two with his friend Daly, who nursed him with the greatest care, but finding that he did not improve, his great desire was to be brought to his home in Pittsburg, where, after a few weeks of suffering, the greatest of all our Pennsylvania politicians quietly slept the sleep that knows no waking. 268 Old Time Notes LXXVI. GEARY RE-ELECTED GOVERNOR. The Curtin Element Decided to Defeat Geary Because the Whole Power of His Administration Had Been Directed to Overthrow Curtin — Chairman Covode's Conference with Mann and the Author — Benja- min Harris Brewster Retired from Attorney Generalship — F. Carroll Brewster Appointed — This Change Saved Geary's Election — How the Border Relief Bill Made a Judge — Brewster and the Author Become Close Friends. THERE is always a general relaxation of the strains of politics after an exhaustive National battle, and although the majority for Grant in 1868 was large in both the popular vote and the Electoral College, the battle was a desperate one, and was desperately fought in all the debatable States from Connecticut to the Mississippi. Pennsylvania, on the la;:-gest poll ever cast up to that time, gave the Republicans less than 9,000 majority at the October election, and New York was carried by Seymour against Grant by 10,000. When the political conflict of 1869 came along the Republicans of Pennsylvania were not eager for the fray. A Governor and supreme judge were to be elected in this State, and as Geary was an earnest candidate for re-election, and had the active support of Cameron, he was practically without competitors before the Republican State convention. His administration had not specially strengthened either the Governor or the party, and there were distinct murmurs of hostility on the part of some of the old Curtin followers, and very general indifference among the Republican people generally. Robert W. Mackey, who was just then Of Pennsylvania 269 developing as a leader in the State, having been State treasurer for one term, was more than willing to allow Geary to be defeated if he could control the Dem- ocratic nomination. I have stated in a previous chapter the desperate effort he made in the Democratic convention of that year to nominate General George W. Cass over Asa Packer. He had met every requirement of the com- mercial Democratic contingent that held the control of the nomination, and believed that he had secured the success of his old benefactor and devoted friend; but just on the eve of the nomination ''Tom" Collins came in with his spot cash and nominated Packer. If Cass had been nominated by the Democratic con- vention he would certainly have been elected, as Mackey would have shown him more than fair play on the Republican side. All that the Democrats needed that year to win out against Geary was a square election in the city of Philadelphia. After the defeat of Cass, Mackey was quite indifferent as to Geary's success, but as he had no claim upon Packer's friendship, and had nothing favorable to expect from him as Governor, he finally decided that it was necessary for Geary to be elected, and he was party to the arrangements made in Philadelphia by which a majority was returned in the city sufficiently large to give him a second term. Packer and Geary, the opposing candidates for Gov- ernor, were distinctly opposing types of men. Packer was severely quiet and unassuming in all his relations with men in public and private, and never made effort to popularize himself with the masses. He devoted himself strictly to his great business operations, and, outside of his immediate neighbors in the Lehigh region, he was little personally known by the masses throughout the State. He had long struggled, and often on the very verge of despair, to build up his 270 Old Time Notes great Lehigh Valley Railroad system, and when he had it accomplished it absorbed his interests, and he had no taste for the diversion of political conflicts. He was forced into the nomination for Governor as he had been the year before forced into the position of being presented as Pennsylvania's Democratic candi- date for President. Geary, on the other hand, mingled with the people, loved display, and had kind words and liberal promises for all who came within the range of his acquaintance. His administration presented no distinctly discreditable features, and there were no political grounds upon which he could be assailed with effect. The campaign dragged along in a perfunctory way, as Packer did not attempt anything like a canvass of the State, and Geary was not a formidable political disputant. In every section of the State there were men of prominence and ability who had been practically retired from politics because of their devotion to Cur- tin, and this ostracism the Geary administration had aided in bringing upon them. John Covode was chair- man of the Republican State committee, and thor- oughly familiar with the political elements of the State. A month or so before the election he had been testing the conditions in various parts of the Commonwealth, and he had become alarmed at what was at least abso- lute indifference on the part of the Curtin people ^ as well as a large measure of indifference among the Republican voters generally. Colonel Mann, who was the Curtin leader of Philadelphia, had been forced off the ticket the year before, and his friends generally were made strangers to both National and State party patronage. He was still the great leader of the Repub- lican organization of the city, and without him at the front Philadelphia was a doubtful political problem. He had been urged to take the stump for Geary and Of Pennsylvania 271 had declined, and I had also declined a similar invita- tion on the ground that I had absolutely retired from active participation in politics, as I had fully deter- mined at the close of the Grant campaign, when I settled in Philadelphia, to practise my profession. Mann and I occupied the same suite of law offices, and Covode called upon us and made a very earnest appeal to both of us to go to the front in support of Geary's re-election. I peremptorily declined, not only because it was then my purpose to retire from all active political efforts, but also because the only return I had received from Geary for earnestly supporting him three years before was systematic personal defamation from his own cabinet. Mann declined for the reason that Geary had joined in the systematic and relentless ostracism of all of Curtin's friends in the patronage of both National and State administrations. Covode became greatly alarmed, as he well knew that if the anti-Cameron men of the State decided to resent the hostility Geary had exhibited to them, Geary's defeat was inevitable. He asked whether we had no condi- tions to propose by which the two political factions could be brought into accord in support of Geary, but my answer was that the only political desire I cherished was to be entirely relieved of all political obligations and duties, and that I could not be interested in Geary's re-election while he had as attorney general a man who had, without any provocation whatever, indulged in public defamation of my political record ; and Mann joined in the declaration that there could be no hearty co-operation in support of the ticket from the anti- Cameron people while Geary's present cabinet remained in office. Covode asked us to withhold definite answer for two or three days, saying that he would meet us again. On the second day after he left us he returned, obviously Old Time Notes after having conferred with Governor Geary, and made the plain proposition to us that Attorney General Brewster would be removed from office immediately after the election, and any person appointed as his successor whom we would name. We both answered that if the proposition should be seriously entertained no promise of a change in the State cabinet would be accepted, but that the change must be made as a con- dition precedent if we should decide to accept. This condition required Covode to ask that another inter- view be had on the following day, as he evidently had to confer further with his chief. He saw that Mann was inexorable, and he certainly knew that I specially desired not to become involved in politics at all, much as I was tempted to renew political efforts if thereby a change in the State cabinet could be effected. On the following day Covode appeared again, and stated that every condition we had proposed would be accepted; that an immediate change would be made in the attor- ney generalship of the State, and that any reputable Republican named by us would be made Brewster's successor. We accepted his proposition, and said that if he would return to our office in an hour we would name the new attorney general. Covode was greatly elated, as he believed that he had removed the most serious danger signal of the campaign. When Covode left us I asked Mann whom he wanted for attorney general, to which he answered that Attorney General Brewster merited the severest pun- ishment that could be inflicted upon him because of his persistent public criticism of both of us. He sug- gested that the man who would entirely fill the bill was Frederick Carroll Brewster, the half brother of Attorney General Benjamin Harris Brewster, as the appointment of Frederick Carroll would be the severest humiliation that could be given. Of Pennsylvania 273 Frederick Carroll Brewster was one of the most ac- complished lawyers of the Philadelphia bar, but the two half brothers had never been upon terms even to the extent of personally recognizing each other. The sudden removal of Benjamin Harris Brewster from the attorney generalship, with Frederick Carroll, his un- recognized half brother, as his successor was a crushing blow to the attorney general, and it came like a bolt from an imclouded sky. He was then at Atlantic City enjoying a rest, and the first intimation he had of the matter was a request from the Governor for his resigna- tion. He was dumfounded when notified that his resignation was desired, and when he learned who was to be his successor he peremptorily refused to resign. Covode made an earnest appeal to Mann and myself to allow the matter to go over until after the election, personally pledging himself that the change would be made, but we both peremptorily refused, and the result was the immediate removal of Benjamin Harris Brewster, and the appointment of his half brother. But for this cabinet change Geary would undoubt- edly have been defeated. In one of the earlier chap- ters, when speaking of Asa Packer as one of the men who was a leader in the development of the Lehigh region, I stated the fact that the leaders in Philadelphia, in a conference with Mackey some time after the elec- tion, met for the purpose of deciding whether Geary's election could be contested without involving them- selves in personal peril. Geary's majority in the State was only a little over 4,000, being less than the majority returned in the city of Philadelphia, and it was then alleged to be largely or wholly fraudulent. The frauds perpetrated in Philadelphia were not conceived and executed for the purpose of electing Geary, but the arrangement made by Covode with Mann, who held the machinery of the city in his hand, made him willing 2—18 ' 274 Old Time Notes that Geary should profit by whatever was done for the election of city officers and members of the Legi- lature. I had no personal knowledge of the under- current political movements in the city by which the Republicans gained a decided majority, but I speak advisedly when I say that the leaders who managed Republican affairs in the city more than doubted Geary's honest election, and he was the only Governor of Pennsylvania who entered upon the highest trust of the State with a clouded commission. Johnson was elected in 1848 by only 300 majority, but he was ac- cepted by all of every political faith as the honestly chosen Executive. Governor Geary, who was entirely ignorant that any other than legitimate efforts had been made for his success, natu.rally assumed that his personal strength had given him the victory, and immediately after his second inauguration in January, 1870, he bloomed out as a full-fledged Presidential candidate. The Repub- licans had lost all of the debatable States in the elec- tion of 1869, and Geary plumed himself on his personal victory in Pennsylvania. There were already distinct mutterings not only throughout Pennsylvania, but throughout the North generally, against the adminis- tration of Grant, and Geary believed himself to be fairly in line for the succession. He was entrenched in the Governorship for three years more, and logically all who needed or desired his favor encouraged him in his aspirations for the Presidency. He struck out boldly for various reforms to popularize himself with the people, including an earnest official appeal to the Legislature for the immediate application of the surplus money in the treasury to the reduction of the State debt, which would have practically put the State treas- urer out of business, as the only profits of the office were in his use of several millions of surplus money. He Of Pennsylvania 275 more distinctly emphasized his appeal to popular favor by his veto of the bill for the construction of the Pine Creek Railway by the use of the credit of the State, by which he grievously disappointed Colonel Scott and others, who were struggling to enlarge the railway system of the Commonwealth, and who had made the movement, as they believed, with the approval of the Governor. I was brought into more friendly relations with Geary during his second term, and found him a most useful factor in gaining an additional appropriation of $300,000 to the people of Chambersburg. They had received a half million some five years before, and most of the people had rebuilt their homes and business places when prices were the highest ever known because of the inflation of currency, and bankruptcy finally threatened most of them. It was decided to appeal to the Legislature for additional aid, and, although I then resided in Philadelphia, I was called upon to aid them in the movement, and spent some weeks at Har- risburg struggling against very powerful opposition for the relief of my old neighbors. Governor Geary had agreed that he would approve any appropriation bill the Legislature passed, but refused to take the initia- tive by officially recommending it. There was little prospect of success for the measure until a vacancy happened in the Chambersburg judicial district. Francis Jordan, then secretary of the com- monwealth, was a brother-in-law of ex-Senator Louis W. Hall, then a resident of Harrisburg, and of William M. Hall, of Bedford, who was ambitious to succeed to the president judgeship of the district. Geary was naturally desirous to serve his secretary of the com- monwealth, who was a most creditable public officer. He sent for me and proposed that if I would get the members of the Chambersburg bar to unite in recom- 276 Old Time Notes mending Hall, of Bedford, for the judgeship he would send to the Legislature a special message in such terms as I desired, recommending the appropriation for the relief of Ghambersburg. It is proper to say that Mr. Hall would not have been the choice of the members of the bar of Ghambersburg for the judgeship. If he had been, no such proposition would have been made to me. I arranged by telegraph a confidential meeting of the entire bar of Ghambersburg, and went there and presented the proposition to them. They were very reluctant to unite in recommending the proposed can- didate for judge, but a very large proportion of the people of Ghambersburg were on the verge of bank- ruptcy, and they finally agreed that if Geary would send a special message to the Legislature, as he proposed, they would unite in naming Hall for the judgeship. I returned to Harrisburg, reported to the Governor, and he at once asked me to sit down at his desk and write the message I desired. I did so; he immediately had it copied, signed it, and sent it to both branches of the Legislature. The whole force of the adminis- tration was earnestly thrown into the support of the appropriation, and it was by that arrangement, and that alone, that the additional $300,000 were received by the Ghambersburg sufferers. Hall was appointed and elected, and served acceptably as judge until the judicial apportionment under the new Constitution separated Franklin, leaving him the president judge of the Bedford District. Geary continued as a hopeful candidate for the Presidency, and expected to unite the various elements of opposition to Grant. The first National convention of 1872 was held by the Labor Reformers in Golumbus, and Geary's friends very actively supported his nomi- nation. On the first ballot he received the largest vote of any, being 60 for Geary to 59 for Horace H. Of Pennsylvania 277 Jay, 47 for David Davis and 15 for Wendell Phillips, with a number scattering. On the fourth ballot David Davis was nominated, with Joel Parker, of New Jersey, for Vice-President. Had Judge Davis been nominated by the Liberal Republican convention in Cincinnati the same year he would doubtless have remained in the field, and would probably have been elected, but after the Liberal Republicans nominated Greeley, Davis and Parker both declined, and the Labor Reform organization was practically retired from the contest. Geary gave a luke-warm support to Grant, but was not thereafter in very hearty accord with his party. He served through his second term, making a creditable record and suddenly died very soon after he retired from the Executive chair. I had no personal acquaintance with Benjamin Harris Brewster beyond one or two very casual meet- ings, until after he retired from the attorney general- ship. A few weeks after his retirement I m^et him one afternoon at George Lauman's, whose liquor store on Ninth, below Chestnut, was one of the general resorts of the town for politicians, members of the bar and others who dropped in during the afternoon because they were certain to meet congenial people. When I entered the room there were probably twenty congre- gated there, including ex- Attorney General Brewster. He immediately arose, advanced half way across the room to meet me, held out his hand and said in the hearing of all, ''I want very much to know the man who was big enough to dismiss me from the attorney generalship of the State." He added that he had greatly misunderstood me, and he desired thereafter that we should be friends, saying in his enthusiastic way that if ever he could be of service to me he was more than willing to do so. From that time until the day of his death I had no 278 Old Time Notes more devoted friend than Benjamin Harris Brewster. He exhibited it on various very important occasions, and it was a great pleasure to me when I had oppor- tunity to render him a service, as I did when he entered the cabinet as Attorney General of the United States. When I was counted out of the senatorship at the special election of 1872, he called at my office early the next morning, volunteered his professional services without charge to aid in conducting the case, and during the several weeks of the trial he was constant in aiding Cassidy and Hagert. He also volunteered in like manner several years later when Naval Contractor McKay brought eighteen libel suits against "The Times," including a civil suit for $100,000 damages, and confidently expected to sell out "The Times" and send its editor to prison, Brewster came forward, volunteered to join in the defense without fee, and, although too ill to appear in court when the case was tried, he rendered very important aid in preparation for the trial. When President Dauphin, of the Louisi- ana Lottery Company, brought suit against me for $100,000 in the city of New Orleans, after having failed in a similar suit in Pennsylvania, I called on Attorney General Brewster on my way home, and he voluntarily proposed to go into the United States Supreme Court and intervene on the part of the government to force the hearing of the Philadelphia case before that tribunal before the Louisiana case could be tried. He was none the less devoted to Cameron, but there never was an office of friendship that he could offer in my interest that was not freely and generously given; and of all, the many friends who have fallen in the race, there arcj few whose passing away I more sincerely lamented than that of Benjamin Harris Brewster. Of Pennsylvania 279 LXXVII. THE ADVENT OF NEGRO SUFFRAGE. Negroes Vote in 187 1 under the Fifteenth . Amendment — Large Repub- lican Element Opposed Suffrage for the Black Man — Democratic Activity Quickened by the Issue — Colonel Mann Re-elected District Attorney — Bitter Feeling in the Sections of the City Where There Was a Large Negro Vote — Murderous Riots on Election Day, and Cato, Chase and Gordon Murdered on the Streets — None of the Offenders ever Brought to Justice — Immense Public Meeting Called for the Conviction of the Murderers — How the Negro Vote Was Demoralized. THERE was almost a dead calm in Pennsyl- vania politics in 1870, when there were no State officers to elect. No Republican State convention was held in 1870, and there was, therefore, no official party deliverance on the subject of negro suffrage that was attained by the colored race that year by the supreme command of the fundamental law of the Nation. The Constitution of Pennsylvania pro- vided that all ''white" male citizens of the State, properly qualified as taxpayers and residents, should enjoy the right of suffrage. Thaddeus Stevens, who had been a member of the convention, refused to sign the Constitution for the single reason that it contained the word ''white" in defining the qualification of electors. The question of negro suffrage had been made an important political issue after the adoption of the fourteenth amendm^ent to the National Constitution, proclaimed as part of the fundamental law on the 28th of July, 1868, which declared the negro as a citizen 28o Old Time Notes of the United States, and provided that no State shall make any law to abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. ' ' That amendment to the National Constitution, fairly interpreted, gave suffrage to the negroes, but the grant was hidden under diplomatic language, and was not accepted by any of the Northern States. Pennsylvania, although reliably Republican, did abridge the privileges" of the colored citizens by denying them the right of suffrage, and the Republicans of the State on the hustings and in their party deliverances, denied that the fourteenth amend- ment gave suffrage to the black man. A very large proportion of the Republicans were unwilling to accept negro suffrage, and had it been enforced under the fourteenth amendment as early as 1868, it would have been disastrous to the party. Congress did not assume to control the question of suffrage in the States, as that was confessedly a State prerogative, but it provided that where any particular class of citizens was dis- franchised the representation in Congress should be diminished accordingly. As Pennsylvania had the word ''white" in her fundamental law, the negro voter was excluded, but the State was guilty of viola- tion of the fourteenth amendment by abridging the privileges of the colored citizen. The fifteenth amendment to the National Constitu- tion met the issue boldly. Its full text is as follows: " The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of race, color, or previous con- dition of servitude." This amendment to the Con- stitution was ratified by the requisite number of States, Pennsylvania having voted for its ratification on March 26, 1869, and it was officially proclaimed as part of the Constitution, March 30, 1870, from which date the colored citizens of Pennsylvania had equal Of Pennsylvania 281 right of stiff rage with the whites. This amendment to the National Constitution did not assume to regu- late the question of suffrage in the States, but it simply protected all races and classes of citizens from discrimi- nation on account of race. It left the States free to limit suffrage to the standard of property, intelligence, residence, payment of taxes, etc., but it eliminated the race question, and required that every privilege granted to the whites should be granted to the blacks. Fortunately the issue of negro suffrage had tq be met by the Republicans in Pennsylvania in 1870, when no State officers were to be chosen, and when there were no National issues of vital interest to invite political activity. The aggressive hostility to negro suffrage was confined to particular localities, embracing the slum districts of Philadelphia and the mining regions, where there was a large citizenship of foreign elements. The Irish, as a rule, were specially hostile to negro suffrage, and the same prejudices obtained very largely with the most of our mining element; there was no serious contest that year, and no special effort was made to organize the negroes, as no State officers were to be chosen and no exciting contest on local places to be filled in Philadelphia. In addition to the special race prejudices, a very considerable number of native Republicans, including some of large intelli- gence, were earnestly averse to an extension of suffrage that would bring in a considerable number of voters who would largely increase the illiterate voters of the State. The result was that a very large proportion, and possibly even a majority, of the colored voters of Philadelphia were not organized and equipped for suffrage, and did not appear at the polls. The Democrats organized to control the congressional districts and the Legislature, and made an unusually successful campaign. They could not hope to revolu- 282 Old Time Notes tionize any of the congressional districts of Philadel- phia, as nearly all the Democratic wards were in Ran- dall's district, and the other four districts were strongly Republican. They did, however, make a combina- tion in the Second district by which Charles O'Neill, who had represented the district for a number of years, was defeated by J. D. Creely, an Independent Repub- lican, by nearly a thousand votes. Cessna, Repub- lican, of Bedford, who represented the Sixteenth dis- trict, was defeated by B. F. Meyers; Morrell, Repub- lican, of Cambria, who represented the Seventeenth district, was defeated by R. Milton Speer; Armstrong, Republican, of Lycoming, who represented the Eight- eenth district, was defeated by Herman Sherwood; Gilfillin, Republican, of Mercer, who represented the Twentieth district, was defeated by Samuel Griffith; Henry D. Foster, who had been returned as elected in the Twenty-first district, but was ousted in a contest with Covode, was elected in that district over Andrew Stewart, and Donley, Republican, of Greene, who represented the Twenty-fourth district, was defeated by McLelland. The only Democratic district gained by the Repub- licans was by the election of L. D. Shoemaker in the Luzerne district, over the late Chief Justice McCollum. Cessna, Morrell and Armstrong were all defeated by very small majorities. Meyers' returned majority over Cessna was 15, and Cessna contested, but failed to obtain a seat in the Republican House. Morrell was defeated by 1 1 and Armstrong by 2 7 , but both refused to contest, as neither was willing to hold a seat in Congress on a doubtful title. The Democrats succeeded for the first time after the war in gaining control of the State senate, as the new Legislature had 17 Dem- ocratic senators to 16 Republicans. The Republicans, however, had 12 majority in the house. There is no Of Pennsylvania 283 reason to doubt that the advent of colored suffrage was the chief, if not the sole, obstacle to Republican success in the State in the contest of 1870. In 187 1 there were two State officers to be elected — attorney general and surveyor general, and Quay asserted his political power by nominating Dr. Stanton, of Beaver, for auditor general. Stanton was a repu- table village physician with little acquaintance in the State, and without political experience in leadership. He was nominated solely by the skillful management of Colonel Quay, and General Beath, a gallant soldier, of Philadelphia, was made the candidate for surveyor general. The Democrats entered the campaign with great confidence, relying upon the question of negro suffrage as the issue that would give them victory. To escape criticism for the attitude of the party in the Civil War, the Democratic convention unanimously nominated General McCandless, of Philadelphia, for auditor general, and Colonel Cooper for surveyor general, both of whom stood out conspicuously in the list of Pennsylvania soldiers who had proved their heroism in the flame of battle, and they made quite an aggressive campaign. The Democrats were con- fident of carrying the State outside of Philadelphia, and the Republicans appreciated their peril and made exhaustive effort to organize Philadelphia and bring out the largest majority that could be obtained. Colonel Mann had passed a new election system, known as the registry law, that practically placed the whole election machinery of the city in his own hands, for he was then the absolute commander of the party organization. It enabled him not only to name the majority of the officers of each election board, but also to name the minority, although required by the law to have a minority ostensibly of different political faith from that of the majority. The result was that 284 Old Time Notes the election boards of the city, in the districts where election frauds were common, were almost or entirely in the control of the Republican organization, as pur- chaseable or utterly ignorant Democrats were appointed as minority election officers where voting early and often was the rule, while in the districts where fraud was tmknown and could not be attempted with safety, Democrats of high character were selected as the minority officers. Mann was renominated for district attorney, and he regarded it as the great struggle of his life to regain his position, from which he was compelled to retire in 1868 to harmonize the party. He was a master organ- izer, and had abundant aid in his political lieutenants, and ample means to elect himself and save the State ticket. A portion of the old anti-Mann Republicans either refused to vote for district attorney, or cast their votes for Furman Sheppard, his opponent, who had filled the office with much more than ordinary credit. The negroes were thoroughly organized, provided with tax receipts, and ward and division leaders were given positions, or pay, to see that the entire negro vote was polled. While there was little political excitement throughout the State, the battle in Philadelphia was one of the most desperate that was ever fought, both sides pressing the struggle with tireless energy, and employing all the resources they could command. In the districts where there was a large negro vote, and where the whites were below the average of general intelligence, campaign orators devoted themselves wholly to the task of inflaming the prejudices of the ignorant against the negro as a voter, and threats were made all through those regions of the city that even violent efforts would be employed to prevent the negroes from voting. The negroes \vere aroused on the subject, as the Of Pennsylvania 285 appeals were made to them to assert their rights if they ever intended to enjoy them, and solemn deter- mination became very general amongst the negroes. The result was that many riots occurred in the down- town portions of the city, where there was a large negro vote, and three negroes, Messrs. Cato, Chase and Gor- don, were murdered on the streets, and more than a score were seriously wounded by murderous attacks made upon the negroes when they attempted to vote. Professor Cato was one of the most cultivated negroes of the city, and neither he nor Chase nor Gordon was guilty of any provocation whatever beyond his appearance at the polls to exercise his rights as a citizen. The Republicans carried the city by some 13,000 majority, and the majority for the Republican candidate for auditor general in the State was little more than a thousand in excess of the majority received in the city. General Beath, who was a most gallant soldier and popular with the Grand Army, had over 20,000 majority in the State, and Mann was returned to the district attorney's office by a majority con- siderably less than that received by the Republican State candidates. The Democrats lost the senate by one majority, the senators elected standing seventeen Republicans to sixteen Democrats, but after the election, and before the Legislature met. Senator Connell, of the Fourth district in Philadelphia, died, leaving the senate stand- ing sixteen to sixteen, but the Republicans had a dozen majority in the house and on joint ballot. The senate remained a tie until the 30th of January, when a special election was held, in which Colonel Henry W. Gray was returned as elected over me as an independent candidate, but on a contest he was displaced and the seat given to me. It was wholly Colonel Mann's battle in the city of 286 Old Time Notes Philadelphia, and it was generally accepted that upon him depended the result in both city and State. His single ambition was to regain the district attorneyship, believing that once recalled to it by the people of the city he could hold it indefinitely. While Philadelphia has had great public prosecutors, such as William B. Reed, Furman Sheppard, Henry S. Hagert and Lewis C. Cassidy, who held the position for a brief period, it was not disputed that Mann was the ablest all- around prosecutor who ever filled the position. He was a man of the tenderest sensibilities, and often in the discharge of his ofiicial duties strained the law to serve the mission of mercy, but when great cases came into the oyer and terminer and he was called upon to summon his masterly abilities for the battle no man could have surpassed him. either as trial lawyer or advocate. His theory of the proper method of regain- ing political control in Philadelphia seemed to stand vindicated by his re-election, and he felt confident that, with the control of the election machinery of the city in his own hands, his power could be perpetuated indefinitely. In this he erred as nearly or quite as all political leaders err at some period of their careers. The registry law, by which he had practically made the Democrats voiceless in the control of the election boards of the city, aroused most violent opposition, and was the chief inspiration to the early revolution that swept him out of office by humiliating defeat three years later, and forced the constitutional con- vention that effaced the registry law and all its objec- tionable features from the statutes of the State. The one ineffaceable stain upon the administration of justice in Philadelphia is the fact that none of the murderous rioters of election day in 187 1 who killed Cato, Chase and Gordon and wounded many others, were ever brought to justice. Considering that Phila- Of Pennsylvania 287 delphia had a Republican city administration, prosecut- ing officer and largely Republican judiciary, and that Cato, Chase and Gordon gave their lives in an unoffend- ing effort to exercise the right of citizenship by voting the Republican ticket, it is a blistering reproach upon Philadelphia that not one of the criminals ever made atonement before the law. It was common in those days, and for years thereafter, for Republican speakers to accuse the South of hindering negro suffrage by violence and at times by murder, but here in Philadel- phia, the Republican citadel of the State, three murders were committed on the public streets in open day, and a score or more wounded solely because they attempted in an unoffending manner to exercise their right as citizens and electors, and not a single criminal was brought to punishment. If the murders had been committed under cover of night and in the absence of witnesses, there might be some excuse for not discover- ing the guilty parties ; but here was murder, red-handed, at noonday, in the public streets of the city, and not a pistol was fired or a knife drawn with murderous intent that was not in the presence of witnesses. Sev- eral persons were arrested, but they were not the real guilty parties, and the failure to discover who the mur- derers were and bring them to justice can be explained only by the assumption that lawless political interests, which at times serve fraudulent elections, were potent enough to shield the murderers of the black men whose exercise of suffrage in the City of Brotherly Love was made in the baptism of their own life's blood. The murder of Cato, Chase and Gordon aroused public sentiment to aggressive action, and within a few days after the election when the murders were committed, a public meeting was called in Concert Hall, that was crowded to its uttermost with leading citizens and presided over by ex-Gpvernor Pollock. 288 Old Time Notes A number of speeches were made and resolutions adopted demanding the prompt arrest and punishment not only of the murderers of Cato, Chase and Gordon, but of all who had attempted by violence to prevent colored voters from exercising the right of suffrage. On the other hand, the worst elements of the colored people were aroused to avenge the wrongs of their race, and the lawlessness of the whites was a direct appeal to the baser elements of the blacks to resort to lawlessness in vindication of their rights. The violence resulting in murder and serious injuries to many at the election of 187 1, laid the foundation for the demoralization of a large portion of the colored voters of the city. They saw that the whites could resist them by violence without punishment, and they were inflamed to violent political efforts, which were at times inspired by corrupt compensation, to organize for the pollution of the ballot ; and considering the con- ditions which then existed, with their limited oppor- tunities for appreciation of the sanctity of citizenship, they are much less to blame for their demoralization than are those who taught them the way to crime. Had the negroes been welcomed by their white fellow-citizens to the dignified citizenship the supreme law of the Nation had given them, there would have been an immense number of them ready to accept a just appreciation of its solemn responsibilities, and to teach their race the necessity of dignifying their citizen- ship, and proving that it had not been unworthily bestowed ; but no such helping hand has been given to the negroes in this city, and to-day, with honorable exceptions to be found in every section of the city, the colored voters are rated as mere commercial quan- tities in politics. They long held control of the political power of the city, and had they been organized by the honest aid to which they were justly entitled from their Of Pennsylvania 289 white fellow-citizens, they would not only have been a credit to our voting population, but their men of culture and distinction would have been called to positions of public trust, and thus invited all to fit them- selves to win public confidence and political advance- ment; but with all the power they possessed, we have never nominated a colored man in Philadelphia for a political position above the office of councilm.an; not one has ever sat in the Legislature, not one has been nominated for any of the city offices, not one has been thought of for Congress, and they were denied even representation on the police of the city until Mayor King, Democrat, elected nearly a decade after the negroes had been enfranchised, first promoted them to positions on the police. For this demoralization the black man should not be held solely, or even chiefly, responsible, for the crime was not only made possible, but it was practically enforced by the political methods of the white man. 2 — 19 290 Old Time Notes LXXVIII. THE McCLURE-GRAY SENATORIAL CONTEST. Serious Revolt Against the Methods of the Grant Administration — Death of Senator Connell Made a Special Senatorial Election in January, 1872 — Republican Leaders Tendered the Place to the Author, But with Conditions That Could Not Be Accepted — Interposition of President Grant Led to the Author's Final Acceptance of the Candi- dacy — Colonel Scott Dined with President Grant and Cameron and Urged to Force the Author to Retire from the Contest — A Tempestu- ous Political Struggle of Ten Days — Nineteenth Ward Rounders Decide That the McClure Meeting Should Not Be Held— How They Were Finally Persuaded to Peace. THE year 1872 opened with the Republican sky overcast by clouded harmony and murmurs of discontent were heard in every section of the State and country. A large number of the ablest Republican United States Senators had become aggres- sively estranged from President Grant, who had entered the highest civil trust of the Nation an entire stranger to experience in civil administration, and had appar- ently not attempted to learn the difference between civil and military authority. A President who had provoked the open opposition of such Senators of his own party as Lyman Trumbull, of Illinois; Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts; Carl Schurz, then of Mis- souri, and Reuben E. Fenton, of New York, certainly exhibited a lack of the qualities of statesmanship. These eminent leaders of the party were not offended because of disappointment in the distribution of political favors. They represented the able and inde- Of Pennsylvania 291 pendent statesmanship of the Nation, and throughout the ranks of the party in every section of the country there was very general discontent with the adminis- tration of Grant, who, like the Bourbons of old, had learned nothing and forgotten nothing in nearly four years of civil administration. By the upheaval of 1872, although he escaped defeat by the folly of the opposition, he was somewhat tem- pered and liberalized in his views, but he never fully broadened out to the highest stature of both military and civil manhood until after his retirement from the Presidency at the expiration of two terms. He journeyed around the world, and came in much closer contact with the people than ever before, and had he been nominated and elected President in 1880, when his friends made a desperate battle for a third term in Chicago, I doubt not that he would have made as nearly a faultless President as any who had ever filled the position. In 1872, however, he rejected the counsels of all who came in contact with his policy, and obsti- nately invited defeat by driving outside the party battlements very many of the ablest leaders of the Republican party. Revolt was exhibited in every part of Pennsylvania, and especially in Philadelphia, where opposition to ring rule had been intensified to the uttermost by the violent fall election of 1871. Open rebellion was threatened on every hand. The issue in Philadelphia was suddenly precipitated in the first month of the year. George Connell, who had served four terms in the senate, and was elected to the fifth term on the loth of October, 187 1, died within two weeks after his election, leaving a vacancy in the senate that then stood sixteen Democrats and sixteen Republicans. Although Mr. Connell died on the 27 th of October, more than tv/o months before the meeting of the Legis- 292 Old Time Notes lature, it was held that the speaker of the senate could not issue a writ for a special election until the Legis- lature met and had official notification of the vacancy. The result was that the writ was not issued until the first week in January, and the 30th of the month was fixed for the special senatorial election. I had taken no part in politics after locating in Phila- delphia in 1868, not only because I felt that I had performed my full share of political service, but because my unfortunate financial condition demanded that I should devote my energies to my profession. I had not delivered a political speech during my residence in Philadelphia, with the single exception of a brief address at the indignation meeting held after the elec- tion of 1870 to denounce the murderous attacks made upon the colored men, resulting in the death of Cato, Cliase and Gordon, and really had no part in the political movements in the city beyond two political episodes relating to Geary's cabinet and the special election of a senator in the city, which have been described in earlier chapters. Having been overwhelmingly bank- rupted by the destruction of Chambersburg and rebuild- ing at the highest prices for material and labor, I desired only to be free to give my whole energies to business. I had been a resident of the city only a little more than three years and, of course, had no thought of being considered eligible for any city office, but a number of prominent business men, largely inter- ested in the general development of the State and in liberal legislation to aid them, personally appealed to me to become a candidate for senator. Among them were Colonel Scott, whose vast railway interests were yet in their infancy as compared with the progress attained to-day, and William G. Moorehead, Jay Cooke's partner in what was then one of the greatest banking houses of the country, both of v/hom had gone through Of Pennsylvania 293 desperate legislative struggles to enable them to develop the wealth of the State, with a number of the leading business houses largely interested in municipal and legislative reform. They earnestly urged me to con- sent to serve if elected, and they made like earnest appeals to the political leaders of the city, whose power over nominations was absolute, to tender me the nomination. They knew that I was not in accord with the pro- fligate rule of the city and that I was specially opposed to the registry law and the dishonest political methods by which political power was so often maintained. Fearing that the district might be in danger, the leaders finally agreed that they would tender me the unani- mous nomination. That would have meant an elec- tion without a contest, making the one condition, how- ever, that I should not attempt to repeal the registry- law. A committee, consisting of William H. Kemble, John L. Hill and James McManes, called upon me and urged me to accept the nomination with the condition annexed. I told them frankly that I had openly opposed and denounced the registry law from the time it was first presented to the Legislature as a disgrace to the Republican party and a reproach upon every intelligent, honest Republican citizen of Philadelphia, and that I could not accept the condition. They answered frankly that I could not be nominated, to which I replied that as I sincerely desired not to be elected senator there were no regrets on my part, and I believed that the incident was closed. After further consultation the same committee returned with a modified proposition, that they would give me the unanimous nomination for senator and instruct me to support the registry law, assuming that I could avoid opposing it because of the instructions under which I was nominated. I answered that if the nomi- 294 Old Time Notes nation was accepted with such instructions it would be the duty of the person nominated to obey them, but that I could not, under any circumstances, enter the senate without entire freedom to urge an honest election law. That ended the conference, and, as I supposed, eliminated me entirely from the senatorial contest, much to my own gratification. A few days thereafter William G. Moorehead came into my office and said that he desired to make a personal explanation in confidence. He had in his hand a paper that I had not seen or heard of, signed by himself and some fifty or more prominent citizens of the ward in which I lived, urging me to accept the nomi- nation for senator. He had not been advised of what had transpired between the political leaders and myself, and supposed the question was still an open one. He said he very much desired my election to the senate, as he had been one of the first and most earnest in urging me to become a candidate, but that he had just received from Washington official informa- tion that would place him, or any other, in antagonism to the President who favored my election to the senate. He was one of the first who had signed the paper, and he asked my permission to erase his name from it, but added that while he could take no public part in the contest he would gladly aid my election if I became a candidate to any extent within his power, and he proved his sincerity by a $1,500 contribution to the cause. I asked him to let me see the paper, and he handed it to me. After looking over it I threw it into the open fire and said that I fully understood the delicacy of his position, and that as the paper was now destroyed he was entirely relieved. I added that now, for the first time, I felt inclined to become a candidate for senator. But for that incident I am quite sure that under no circumstances could I have been drawn Of Pennsylvania 295 into a political contest at that time. The insolence of power as exhibited by a President dictating to the banker of the government whom he should support or oppose for a local legislative office provoked me to defiant resentment. I immediately called together at Colonel Scott's office half a dozen or more of those who had been insisting upon my candidacy, and said to them that I was ready to make the battle, not as the candidate of the organization, but against it, if they were willing to support me, and they all heartily assented. It meant a desperate struggle against fearful odds, but I felt that the time had come when some one must lead a revolution and the duty seemed to devolve on me. There were a number of prominent candidates for the Republican nomination for the senatorship when it became known that my name was not to be presented, and after a desperate contest Henry W. Gray, then councilman from the Twenty-second ward, and prominent as the head of a piano manufacturing company, a position that he has filled for many years with credit, was nominated. Within twenty-four hours after the nomination was made, a letter was delivered to me signed by some 800 citizens of the district, embracing the names of the leading business men and manufacturers, asking me to become an inde- pendent reform candidate for senator, and on the fol- lowing day I published a letter of acceptance, leaving but ten days in which to make the battle in the dis- trict. There was not a reform organization in a single ward of the district, and I was in the position of a bankrupt candidate starting out without organization, or any of the ordinary political resources, to give battle to a compact political combination that had created the election board in every division of the district, and that could command tens of thousands to bring 296 Old Time Notes out the vote and compensate fraud, but the time was ripe for rebelHon, and I could do no less than accept the responsibility. The same influence that made Mr. Moorehead with- draw from open support at a time when I had no longer thought of being a candidate reached Colonel Scott. Cameron was in the Senate and the next Legis- lature was to elect his successor. He knew that I was not in favor of Grant's nomination, as Grant well knew himself, and Cameron, knowing my close relations with Colonel Scott, believed that through Scott my retirement could be enforced. Scott sent for me the evening of the day that I announced myself as a candi- date, and informed me that he was going South that night and would probably be away until after the elec- tion. He stated that he would stop in Washington, where he was to dine with Cameron and the President on the following day; that he might, after confer- ence with friends in Washington, change his mind as to the advisability of my continuing as a candi- date in the district; " but, " said he, you were always obstinate and I don't suppose that it would make any difference if I did advise you to withdraw. ' ' I told him that such a contingency would doubtless be met to his entire satisfaction. He obviously meant me to fully understand that any advices he gave me from Washington were not to be accepted, and without fur- ther conversation on the subject the matter was fully understood by both. On the following day Scott dined with the President and Cameron and the question of the Philadelphia senatorship was the chief theme of discussion. Cam- eron said that there was a very short way to settle it; that I was bankrupt and largely dependent upon Scott in the practice of my profession, and that if Scott demanded my retirement I would noc refuse obedience. Of Pennsylvania 297 Scott reminded Cameron that he had many oppor- tunities to discover how obstinate I v/as in poHtical conflicts, and that he very much doubted whether he could accompHsh my withdrawal. He agreed, however, that he would send to me any despatch that Cameron might prepare. After dinner the work of preparing a despatch for Scott to send to me was gravely con- sidered by the President and the party, and Cameron finally drafted one that seemed to be satisfactory to all. It stated that Scott, after intercourse with a number of friends and on mature reflection, was fully convinced that it would be most unfortunate for me to make the battle for senator and urged me to retire. After the message had been fashioned to the entire satisfaction of the party and was about to be sent to the telegraph operator, Cameron called a halt and said that as Scott was going South and would not be home until after the election, I would be likely to put the despatch in the waste basket, and deny that I had ever received it. To which Scott answered that he could obviate that difficulty by sending the despatch to R. D. Barclay, his secretary, with instructions to deliver it to me in person and get the answer. The following morning Mr. Barclay came into my office, trying to exhibit the indifference that would become a man entirely innocent of what he was doing, and said that he had a despatch from Colonel Scott, with in- structions to deliver it to me in person and get the answer. After reading the despatch I instructed Barclay to answer Colonel Scott that I was publicly committed to the contest and could not retire without dishonor. A series of public meetings were at once announced by an improvised campaign committee covering every section of the district, and requiring me to speak from two to three times every night. The Democrats had 298 Old Time Notes in the meantime endorsed my nomination, as did the reform organization of the city, and I doubt whether ever a campaign of ten days aroused such intense interest among the people of the district. Meetings were overcrowded on both sides, and the Machine organization was strained to the uttermost to arrest the overwhelming revolutionary tide that confronted it. Among other places meetings were called in the Nineteenth ward, then the center of repeating and other pollution of the ballot in the uptown districts, and the Machine thugs in that region openly declared that I should not be permitted to speak in the ward. It will grate very harshly on the ears of all fair-minded citizens when I state that District Attorney Mann and Sheriff Leeds called at my office and notified me that I could not speak in the Nineteenth ward because they would be unable to preserve the peace, and could not be held responsible for the result. Mann was personally friendly, but owed everything to the organization, and had to go with it. Leeds was part of the organization and believed in all its measures even to the most des- perate of them. I reminded them that they should not call upon me, but as the highest officers charged with the protection of the peace and the maintenance of law and order they should go to the lawless people of the Nineteenth ward and notify them that freedom of speech was a right that belonged to all, and that any interference on their part would be promptly and severely punished. Leeds informed me that he could not maintain the peace, and the mayor was powerless, as the people there were in a riotous condition. I ended the conversation by notifying them that I would go there to speak at the time appointed, and that it was up to them to decide whether there should be riot or peace. After further conference with the mayor they decided that they must maintain the peace, and of Pennsylvania hundreds of policemen were ordered to be on duty at the time. Another question that was soberly considered in the office of the mayor of the city, in the presence of the district attorney, sheriff and Mr. McCullough, the secretary of the mayor, was whether the repeaters usually employed by the party could venture out to vote against me in the face of the general uprising of the people. Mann earnestly protested against the use of any unfair means to defeat me, and Robert S. Tittermary, who Vv^as present, and who was closely related to the repeating system of the city, strongly advised against it on the ground that the revolutionary spirit was too strong to attempt any violent measures. After considerable discussion it was decided that repeaters should not be called out, and Colonel Mann came to my office and congratulated me on my assured election, as it had been decided at the mayor's office that the election should be fairly and honestly conducted. On the evening that I was to speak in the Nineteenth ward I applied to a friend in the city who understood just the kind of men I wanted and asked for a personal guard of twelve men, who were to be well armed and who knew how to fight in a battle with thugs. The men were not hard to obtain, and twelve men were brought together who had very positive instructions not to exhibit themselves in any ostentatious manner, that they should drop into the car along the route to the meeting, and when I got out of the car to be close around me without exhibiting any sign of their pur- pose. When the car stopped in front of the hall the streets were filled with a boisterous crowd and hundreds of policemen were there on duty. Policemen had been placed in every saloon near the hall, and instructions given that under no circumstances was I to be dis- turbed or interrupted. When I landed there the 300 Old Time Notes sergeant of police met me and said he was instructed to escort me into the hall, to which I answered that I needed no escort and walked forward to enter the hall myself, along with the crowd, but around me were the men who were there for my protection. The room was crowded to suffocation and a large majority of the men V\^ere evidently in a very bad humor and chafing under the restraint the police had put upon them. I never faced quite so uninviting an audience, but there was only one thing to do, and that was to either become master of the situation at once, or have the thugs become masters. I commenced by stating that election frauds were more flagrant in that ward than in any other in the city; that at the last election the return was grossly fraudulent and false, and that it was made with the approval of the political leaders. Someone in the rear of the audience yelled out : " That's a lie," but he was knocked down almost before the sentence was finished, and when someone attempted to come to his aid he was knocked down as quickly. For the first time the political thugs discovered that they were not entirely on safe ground, and the behavior of the audience thereafter was excellent. I walked out of the hall and down to the car apparently alone, but close by were the twelve faithful men, who were then quite out of humor themselves because they had not succeeded in getting a row worthy of the occasion. The experience of that evening ended all disturbance at my meetings and the battle was fought out to a finish with- out violence. On Monday night, the evening before the election, the Hartranft ball was held in the Academy of Music, and someone who had managed to get hold of one of my tickets brought it to the leaders at the Hartranft ball and insisted that now, as they could duplicate my ticket, the repeaters should be turned out the next day as the only hope of defeating me. There was Of Pennsylvania 301 only a single name on the ticket, and I had a large ticket printed some three inches in length and one and a half inches in width. Nearly all of the leaders were present at the Hartranft ball, and some protested earnestly, including Mr. Tittermary, who was expected to take an active part, but they were overwhelmed and orders were issued that repeaters should resume their vocation the next morning and exhaust their power to increase the vote against me. Tittermiary was in with the repeaters who operated that day and played his own part in the work. He was dependent upon the party and had to obey orders, but when midnight of election day came, after the returns had all been received, a friend asked me to go to a particular room in a hotel down Chestnut Street. I did so, and there found Robert S. Tittermxary, who gave me the entire programme of the fraud, planned and executed to defeat me, with the names of the actors and every place where fraud had been perpetrated and how it had been done. The result was that when I commenced a contest I did not have to grope in the dark, but knew exactly where to strike and whom to summon. A card published the next morning stated my purpose to contest the election, and the first man at my office soon after breakfast was Benjamin Harris Brewster, to offer his services as counsel in the case, expressly providing that no fee should be paid. Henry S. Hagert, Lewis C. Cassidy and David W. Sellers also volunteered and rendered important service. It was not difficult to state the facts on which the contest was made in the petition to go to the senate, as I was minutely informed by Tit- termary and later by others of all the plans adopted and carried into effect to defeat my election. Mr. Gray was returned as elected by 891 majority, and how that majority was falsely fashioned, and how it was cor- rected, will be an interesting story for another chapter. 3° 2 Old Time Notes LXXIX. THE CONTESTED SENATORIAL ELEC- TION OF 1872. The Author Returned as Defeated by 891 Majority — Protracted Struggle to Get a Petition for Contest before the Senate — Interesting Incidents of the Struggle — A Special Law Enacted to Try the Case — Plan of Leaders to Draw a Set-up Committee — Clerk Hammersley Refuses to Do It, and Informs the Author — A Democratic Committee Ob- tained — Appalling Fraud Developed in the Trial of the Contest — Jail Birds Hired to Swear Falsely That They Had Repeated for McClure — Colonel Gray Acquits Himself of the Frauds. THE morning after the special election held on the 30th of Januaiy, 1872, when Henry W. Gray was returned as elected senator over me, by 891 majority, I proceeded at once to prepare a petition setting forth the numerous frauds which had been practised by which a majority of over 2,000 had been transposed to nearly 900 majority against me. It was not difficult to prepare the petition, as the facts were all in my possession. It was not really necessary to present all the varied phases of fraud which had been perpetrated in the contest, but as the complete details of the pollution of the ballot box were known to me. I presented in the petition every feature of fraud that had been instituted, and gave all the details of its execution, making the petition a printed volume of nearly 300 pages. On the 8th of February the petition was presented to the senate, and Amos Briggs, as attorney for Mr. Gray, then holding the seat, appeared before the body and filed a plea denying the jurisdiction of the body under Of Pennsylvania 303 the law. The general law of the State providing for legislative contests declared that no petition contesting a seat shall be acted upon by the Legislature unless the same be presented within ten days after the organiza- tion of the Legislature next succeeding the election." As the special election was not held until nearly thirty days after the Legislature met, a strict construction of the act of 1839 precluded the admission of the petition; but the question had arisen in several cases, and in every instance it was accepted that when a special election was held during the meeting of the Legislature, the contestant was required to file his petition within ten days after the certificate of election was issued. The question was referred to the judiciary committee of the body, consisting of Messrs. White, Fitch and Mumma, Republicans, and Messrs. Wallace and Davis, Democrats. By a resolution of the senate, Messrs. Strang and Warfel, Republicans, and Purman and Buckalew, Democrats, were added to the committee for the consideration of the special case, and the major- ity of the committee, on strict party vote, reported to the senate that the petition could not be received under any existing laws. Senator White, of Indiana, who had long been promi- nent in the Republican leadership of the State, took the laboring oar to enforce the policy of denying me the right to contest the seat of Gray before the senate, and when the Republican majority of the judiciary committee united in the report against the reception of my petition, it was naturally assumed by White and his friends that I would be denied a hearing, and, of course, could not obtain the seat. Partisan feeling was much embittered and White had every reason to believe that, with a Republican majority of one in the senate, as long as Gray held the seat he could indefinitely hinder the hearing of the 304 Old Time Notes case, but he was not correctly advised as to the true conditions which existed in the senate. There were three RepubHcan senators who were entirely satisfied that I had been elected, and who had decided that, at the proper time, they would assert themselves and assure a hearing of the case and my admission to the senate. These three Republican senators were Billing- felt, of Lancaster; Strang, of Tioga, and Davis, of Philadelphia. Before the judiciary committee re- ported against receiving the petition, Strang, who was one of the additional members added to the committee, conferred with me on the subject, and I concurred in his views that he should agree with the majority, and not show his hand at that stage of the proceeding, as it was entirely competent for the senate, whenever it was decided that the act of 1839 did not cover the case, to decide in its own way how the case should be heard and determined, as the senate was the sole judge of the election and qualification of its members. By agreement, Billingfelt, a ruggedly honest German from Lancaster, and Strang, certainly then the ablest of the Republican leaders in the body, and Davis, who had been twice speaker of the house, decided that they would allow White's policy to prevail until he had set- tled the question that the act of 1839 did not apply, and then they would demand a hearing of the case under a much fairer law. Under the act of 1839 the drawing of the committee V\^ould have been a mere lottery, and they were more than willing to let White have his own way in rejecting that act, as it would be certain to result in a much fairer special provision, either by statute of both houses or by special order of the senate, to form a tribunal for the trial of the case. As soon as it was decided by the senate that under the act of 1839 the petition could not be received Senator Davis took the lead, and declared that it w^as the duty Of Pennsylvania 305 of the senate to receive the petition under a law of its own creation, and determine it as a matter of justice to the people of the district, as well as to the senate, and Strang and Billingfelt both joined in the demand that the case must be heard. A special law was framed and as a matter of courtesy it was sent to the house for concurrence. A caucus was immediately called by the Republican leaders under Speaker Elliott, to decide against passing any law on the subject, believing that the senate would not attempt to treat the case without a statute passed by both branches. Thomas V. Cooper was then a member of the house and knew the situation thoroughly. He got together some twenty or thirty members, and gave notice that they would not obey the caucus decree to deny a hearing of my petition, and it had to be abandoned. The house, finding that the senate would act independently of it, finally agreed to accept the act prepared by Senator Billingfelt, which provided that the senate should select six of the seven members of the committee to try the case, each senator voting for but three, and that the remaining senators, excepting the speaker and the senator whose seat was contested, should have their names put in a box, and thirteen names drav/n therefrom by the clerk, after which each side should alternately strike names from the list until one remained, the remaining name to con- stitute the seventh member of the committee. Under this law the Democrats selected Buckalew, of Columbia; J. Depuy Davis, of Berks, and Dill, of Union, and the Republicans elected White, of Indiana ; Fitch, of Susquehanna, and Mumma, of Dauphin. The election of these members of the committee left in the senate fourteen Republicans, including the speaker and Senator Gray, whose seat was contested, and thirteen Democrats, but of the fourteen Republicans remaining the speaker's name and that of Senator Gray could not a — 20 3o6 Old Time Notes go into the box, thus reducing the Republican force from which the additional member might be drawn to twelve, and with the names of Billingf elt, Strang and Davis, who, without having made any public avowal of the subject, were positively and earnestly desirous to aid in giving me the seat because they were entirely convinced of my elec- tion, withdrawn from the Republican partisan column, left the opposition but nine senators while the thirteen Democrats, with Billingfelt, Strang and Davis added, made seventeen who meant to have a thorough investi- gation, fully satisfied that it would give me the seat. Of course the attitude of Billingfelt, Strang and Davis was not known to White and his followers, and they were quite hopeful that they might obtain a com- mittee that would be subject to partisan commands. So embittered had the struggle become that positive orders were given to George W. Hammersley, then chief clerk of the senate, to draw a majority of Repub- licans among the thirteen names to be taken from the box. Hammersley was a strong partisan, but an old and sincere friend of mine, and when he received the orders he immediately reported to me, and informed me that he would not under any circumstances per- petrate the fraud. There were two assistant clerks, the senior of whom was Thomas B. Cochran, of Lan- caster, a resolutely honest official, and the other was McKee, of Westmoreland, who was presumed to be entirely obedient to orders. Hammersley advised me that he would simply notify the masters that he would not serve in drawing the committee, and he knew that they would attempt to have McKee take his place, but Billingfelt was at once advised of it, and as Cochran was his own immediate constituent, he solved the problem very quickly by moving that Assistant Clerk Cochran take the place of the chief clerk in drawing the committee. With him against them, the Repub- Of Pennsylvania licans were in the minority, and they were compelled to assent to Cochran serving. I was amazed to learn from Hammersley that it was a very easy proceeding for the clerk to bring out names entirely according to his own wishes, by simply rolling tightly the tickets containing the members not wanted, and rolling more loosely the tickets contain- ing the names of members whose selection was desired. As the box is shaken in public view of the senate after the tickets are placed in it, the closely rolled tickets would settle to the bottom, and the looser ones remain on top, but Cochran folded his tickets all alike, and the drawing was watched with breathless interest. The senate was crowded to the uttermost and two Republi- can members who were paired with absent Democrats were forced to violate their pairs and permit their names to go into the box. They were Mr. Delamater,* of Crawford, father of the later senator who was candidate for Governor in 1890, who was paired with Senator Knight, of Bucks, and H. Jones Brooke, of Delaware, who was paired with Senator Finley, of Somerset. All that was necessary for these paired senators to fulfill their solemn compact was to refuse to answer when called to have their names placed in the box. It was well known to all the members of the body that both Delamater and Brooke had paired with Democrats who were then absent, but both responded to their names, and although challenged by my counsel, they both denied the obligation of the pair and that was conclusive. Senator Finley had been suddenly called to Philadelphia the day before, and after arranging the * Senator Delamater, after noticing this statement in the public press, recently v/rote the author that injustice was done him in stating that he had violated his pledge, as he had notified Senator Knight before the case came before the senate that he would withdraw his pair because of the protracted illness of Senator Knight. 5o8 Old Time Notes pair with Brooke, submitted it to me for approval. I at once assented to it, as I did not doubt that Mr. Brooke would faithfully fulfill his obligation, but when challenged he arose in his place and denied that he was paired with Senator Finley. Finley was tele- graphed at once the situation, and he returned the same evening. On the following morning he went into the senate before it had been called to order, found Brooke in his seat, and informed him that he had violated his solemn faith, and that if he did not rise in the senate and confess that he had violated his pledge, Finley declared that he would horsewhip him before he left the Capitol, and the rugged senator from the glades of the Alleghenies meant just what he said. Brooke at once admitted to Finley that he had paired and that he would make a declaration to the senate, and when the body was called to order he arose in his place and said that he had unintentionally violated his solemnly plighted faith to the senator from Somerset, but that he did it when under the influence of opiates, having been ill for some time, and that all memory of his pair had faded away. Brooke had long been in public life, was quite sensitive as to his reputation for integrity, and with tears scalding his cheeks he begged of the senate to forgive the wrong he had unconsciously committed, and accept his assurance that only severe mental and physical disturbance had made it possible. Fortunately the violated pairs did not affect the result. The names drawn from the box ran very nearly even in both parties, and when the twelfth was called six Democrats and six Republicans were on the list. Nearly all of those present in the body naturally as- sumed that the next name called would be conclusive as to the final judgment of the case, and the painful silence was broken when Clerk Cochran announced the name of William M. Randall, Democrat, of Schuylkill, Of Pennsyivania 309 making seven Democrats and six Republicans in the list drawn from the box, but of the six Republicans one did not doubt my election, and would doubtless have so decided had he been called to serve on the commit- tee. Billingfelt, Strang and Davis united in the re- quest that I should not compel them to serve on the committee if I could avoid it, but that if necessary any of them would accept the responsibility, but with seven Democrats of the thirteen drawn I could safely strike all the Republicans, while Gray could only strike six of the seven Democrats named, and he left the name of Judge Broadhead, Democratic senator from Carbon, who composed the seventh member of the committee. With a committee drawn that was assumed on all sides as willing to do full justice to my claim for the seat, the desperate Republican leaders decided that they would make it impossible for me to finish the con- test before the close of the session. The committee was finally secured on the 21st of February, and at once organized with Buckalew as chairman and com- menced its sessions in Philadelphia at the Washington House. The committee sat patiently day and night, and as we were fully prepared for the exposure of the frauds the evidence was appalling to the leaders of the city. In order to show the methods of the leaders distinctly at the outset, I selected the Twentieth division of the Nineteenth ward, v/here they had re- turned thirty-five votes for me and 191 against me. I placed copies of the poll list in the hands of several thoroughly intelligent and energetic business m.en, and had them subpoena every man whose name was on the poll list to testify before the committee. The result was that a thorough canvass of the precinct was made, and 103 testified that they had voted for me, twenty-five testified that they had not voted at all, Old Time Notes their names having been voted on by repeaters, and the men who made the canvass found that forty-four of the names on the poll list were entirely fictitious, and that no such persons lived in the division. This devel- opment appalled the leaders and the next week we were dumfounded by the Legislature passing through both branches a resolution fixing the 24th of March for final adjournment, which was done solely to make it impos- sible, as they believed, for me to expose sufiicient frauds to overcome the majority returned against me, as it left us but little more than three weeks which had to be divided with the other side. A conference was held that night with Brewster, Cassidy, Hagert and Sellers, who were acting as my counsel, and the first impression of all was that it would be impossible to finish the case in time for a report that session, and the committee would naturally die with the Legislature. Cassidy was at times of most heroic mold, and he proposed that we should go before the committee the following morning, propose to close our case in eight days, giving the other side eight days to follow, and we to have two days in rebuttal, when the case must close. The natural inquiry of the other counsel was how the case could possibly be tried in so short a time, to which Cassidy answered: "That's our business to find out; this is our only chance." He added that we had a friendly court, and that it was for the counsel to determine how the case should be pre- sented to justify the committee in reaching a just judg- ment. It was known that Buckalew would not reject the entire poll of a precinct, but Cassidy suggested that if the return was clearly tainted Buckalew would reject the return, and count only such votes as would be proven before the committee. That policy was adopt- ed, although kept sacredly secret in our own counsels. Some ten or twelve of the worst precincts were selected Of Pennsylvania in which to prove that the return was false and fraud- ulent and could not be accepted. It required but few witnesses to establish that fact, but had the policy been understood by the other side they could have met us by calling individual votes in those precincts. Instead of confining our witnesses to ten or a dozen precincts whose returns were absolutely false, we would examine perhaps 200 or 300 witnesses a day at the several sessions, and not over twenty-five of the whole number would apply to the precincts really assailed. We proved frauds of the most flagrant char- acter, but they really counted nothing in making up the case as it had been decided to present it, and the opposition was entirely deceived as to our purpose. When we closed after eight days in the presentation of many hundreds of witnesses, not more than 200 of the wit- nesses called were really vital, but they misled the other side and they never attempted to prove their vote in the precinct where we had the return absolutely tainted. The vote was then counted and announced every hour, and the list of voters on the poll list was classified by hours. When our testimony was boiled down to the vital point we had proved in each of the assailed precincts that the return announced in each of them was false by several votes at eight o'clock in the morning, at one o'clock in the afternoon and at eight o'clock in the evening— in each case having proved more votes for me than had been returned; and while we had specially assailed ten or a dozen precincts we had generalty assailed fully a hundred precincts, all of which were more or less rotten. The result was that v/hen the testimony closed we showed that there were no lawful returns from these precincts, that they were proven to be false and fraudulent at three different hours of the day, and the committee very properly accepted the view and counted only such votes as had been proved 312 Old Time Notes before the committee, resulting in my declared elec- tion by 2IO majority. It is a notable fact that there was not an allegation of fraud presented to the committee in a single precinct of the district that had returned me a majority, nor was one fraudulent vote proved as having been cast for me. An attempt was made to halt the terrible current of political frauds developed by the testimony, but it resulted only in making the fraudulent leaders openly disgrace themselves. They became impatient under the daily development of fraud that was made before the committee, while not a single allegation had been made of fraudulent effort on my side. Some of the m.ore desperate leaders of the city decided that they would do something toward balancing the account of fraud and force the stain of corruption upon my side. They gathered up five of the lowest vagrants of the city, all of them jail birds, one known as the Educated Hog," another as ''Stuttering Jimmy," another as " Flying Dutchman" and all bore like distinctive names. They were gathered at the Little Brown Jug, a back saloon near Walnut and Sixth Streets, and after in- spiring them by a liberal use of bad whisky it was arranged with them to attend the hearing that day and each swear that they had acted as a band of repeaters on election day, had voted for me twenty or thirty times, and v/ere paid by my friends. Among those who were present and had knowledge of this movement was Mr. Tittermary, who had given me the information in relation to the frauds perpetrated, and who had him- self led repeaters. He knew that these men had been paid ten dollars a piece, and would be paid ten dollars more after they had testified. They were in charge of a man named Douchman, who was a brother of the "Flying Dutchman," but not entirely of like vag- rant qtialities. of Pennsylvania 313 Douchman was paid $200 for handling these men and he was instructed by Tittermary to go with a friend whom he had chosen to a private room in the Washing- ton House, where the meeting was held, and to send for me and tell me exactly what had been done. I was sent for to go to the room, and there found Douchman and the friend who had brought him. Douchm.an stated frankly that he was in for all he could m.ake and that he had $200 from the other side, but if it paid quite as well he would rather turn the thing to an honest account. I asked him what he would require to have three of his five witnesses tell the truth. He promptly informed me that he would have it done any way I desired for $200. I said to him that if he did as I directed he would be paid the money, and the friend present assured him that he could accept my word. I directed him to pick out three of the men who would tell the truth and allow the other two to have no knowl- edge of the transaction, but they were to be placed at the head of the five and be called out first. The result w^as that within half an hour the five witnesses appeared and the ''Educated Hog" and "Stuttering Jimmy" were first called, and both testified that they did not live in the district, but that five of them had been em- ployed — naming all of them — to repeat for me, and that they had voted from twenty to thirty times and were liberally paid by some person, they did not know whom, but it was not myself. I had much difficulty in getting Mr. Hagert, who had charge of the case that day, to let the witnesses go, as the situation could not be explained at the table. He had sent both cf them to prison and felt like destroying their reputa- tion as witnesses, but I finally, in a quiet way, got him to understand that he must simply let them go and he reluctantly asGcn L ed. The third witness called was the "Flying Dutchman," and w^hen asked whether he had 314 Old Time Notes voted at the election, he said no; that he didn't live in the district; that he hadn't voted on that day at all; that he and four others had that morning been employed at the Little Brown Jug and been paid ten dollars apiece to come there and testify that they had repeated for McClure, but that it was entirely false and he wasn't going to perjure himself. Briggs supposed that this was an individual defection and made the mistake of calling another witness. He answered pecisely as did the ''Flying Dutchman,'* and then the whole thing was accepted all around as a corrupt set-up to sub- orn perjury, to fasten the semblance of fraud upon my claim. I promptly paid Mr. Douchman his $200 and thought he had v/ell earned the money. The case was practically abandoned by the opposi- tion after the exposure of the Little Brown Jug wit- nesses, and soon thereafter Senator Gray gave up his seat in the senate and did not return to it. The Legis- lature, learning that we were not to be defeated by final adjournment on the 24th of March, promptly rescinded the resolution so that we could have had increased time, but we did not need it. The result was that on the 27th of March the majority of the committee reported to the senate that the return of Henry W. Gray was false and fraudulent, that I had received a majority of the votes cast at the election, and I was sworn in as senator. It is due to Mr. Gray to state that in all the many and varied frauds proved against his cause there was no evidence that he had participated in or had personal knowledge of the cormpt methods adopted to effect his election, and he volunteered as one of the last witnesses in the case before the commit- tee to testify that if frauds had been committed to accomplish his return as senator he had not advised or assented to any other than lawful methods to secure his election. Of Pennsylvania 315 LXXX. GRAND JURORS PROTECT BALLOT THIEVES. Interesting Story of the Failure to Bring to Trial Parties Guilty of Open and Violent Frauds — District Attorney Mann's Honest Effort to Convict Two of the Guilty Parties — Two Grand Juries Set Up to Ignore All Bills — The Prosecution Delayed for One Term Hoping to Get a Better Jury — The Next Jury Worse Than the Last, and the Author Forced the Prosecutions, Knowing That the Bills Would be Ignored — The Testimony Taken before the Magistrate That Had Been Given to the Grand Jury Presented to the Court — Court Remands the Bill Back to the Grand Jury — The Bills Held Until the Last Day and Then Again Ignored — Henry C. Lea Renewed the Prosecution, and the Next Grand Jury Ignored the Bill and Made Him Pay the Cost — Struggle in the Senate for a Better Election Law — The Party Leaders Decided to Have No Discussion in the Senate, and the Author's Bill Passed Unanimously — How Senator White Was Brought to Renew the Battle, and How the New Election Law Was Finally Enacted. THE special senatorial election held in the Fourth Philadelphia district on the 30th of January, 1872, was such an open and sweeping carnival of fraud, portrayed to the public from day to day by the leading newspapers of the city, that honest public opinion was aroused to aggressive action, and on the day after the election the Citizens' Municipal Reform Association issued a call, signed by R. Rundle Smith as president, and Henry C. Lea as chairman of the executive committee, for a public meeting to be held on the evening of February 7 in Horticultural Hall, to protest against the growing election frauds of the city and take m.easures for convicting and pimishing those who had been guilty of ballot pollution at the 3i6 Old Time Notes special election. The hall wavS crowded to sufiFocation, and addresses were delivered by Benjamin Harris Brewster, E. Joy Morris, Richard Vaux, John Price Wetherill, Dr. William Elder and myself. I stated to the meeting that the evidence was entirely ready for prosecution against scores of individuals, and that in each case it was overwhelming and unanswerable. I had on repeated occasions given notice from the platform during the campaign that prosecutions would certainly follow the frauds arranged to be perpetrated at the election, and when the Municipal Reform Asso- ciation voluntarily came to the front to take charge of the prosecutions I was hopeful that something might be accomplished. A committee of the Reform Associa- tion advised me to proceed in my own way, and they would pay all the necessary expenses. I had then in my possession the complete and detailed information of every important fraud that had been perpetrated at the special election, and the names of the guilty parties, with all the facts as to when, where and how the ballot had been corrupted. I first called upon Colonel Mann, then district attorney, who was my sincere personal friend, but who could not show his hand in any vv^ay in support of my aggressive assaults upon the party leaders of the city, of whom he was the chief. The prosecution of any cases would be in his own hands, and I stated that I had called to have a confidential conference with him on the subject, in- forming him that I did not expect that there could be successful prosecutions for the many frauds which had been perpetrated, but that if he would agree to prose- cute to conviction two of the prominent leaders in the frauds I would be content, and would permit him to name the persons to be prosecuted. It v/as the most I could hope to accomplish, as many of the guilty parties had such relations with the district attorney's political Of Pennsylvania leaders that he could not prosecute them without im- pairing his own political organization. He agreed that he would prosecute to conviction tvv^o men, and asked me to select twelve of the most guilty parties against whom the evidence was absolutely conclusive, and he would select from the twelve two men whom he would have indicted and convicted. I presented to him a list of twelve names, leaving cut a number of equally guilty parties who I knew had very close relations with the district attorney, but with all the care that had been taken to relieve him from embarrassment, he found it exceedingly difficult to select two persons v/hom he could afford to prosecute. He said that he had given his word to prosecute and convict the persons chosen for trial, and that he mieant to act with entire fidelity to me. Our personal rela- tions were such that I knew he would not attempt to deceive me, but it was distressing to see him search through the dozen names to find two that he could afford to place in the dock and convict for carrying out the general policy of the party that was governed by himself. Some of the twelve men whose names were on the list have since filled important city and State positions, and one of the men finally chosen for arrest and trial held an important municipal office. Mann went over the list time and again, and paused at one time to say that prosecuting any of the men named was "like eating my own children without salt." He finally selected the men who were to be sacrificed for the wholesale frauds perpetrated by the many guilty parties, and I proceeded at once to have warrants issued for their arrest. Special care was taken to have a magistrate issue the warrants who could not be manipulated by the political leaders. It was a matter of vital importance to get the evidence against the arrested parties before the 3i8 Old Time Notes public, so that witnesses would be reasonably safe against being coerced into falsehood. The arrested parties appeared before the magistrate, and offered to give bail for appearance at court, obviously to avoid the evidence against them getting before the public, but that vv^as resisted, and the magistrate decided that the case should be heard. The witnesses were present, and their testimony made out the clearest case of guilt against both. All the details of their acts in perpetrating the frauds were given, and the testimony was reported in full and published in the leading newspapers of the cty. A new term of court began a few weeks later, and on Saturday before the beginning of the new term, District Attorney Mann called at my office and informed me in confidence that it would be utterly useless for him to send bills of indictment to the grand jury at the next term, as it was set up and would ignore every bill charging parties with election offenses. He gave me the name of the man who would be foreman of the grand jury, one of the prominent business men of the city, w^ho assumed that Mann was desirous of having the parties acquitted, and informed him that the grand jury was absolutely set up to ignore the bills. He advised that the bills be withheld, and I could not do less than assent to it. When another term came around Mann again informed me that the new grand jury was even worse than the former one, and that it would be utterl}^ hope- less to obtain a true bill against any person charged with election frauds. I am quite sure that District Attorney Mann acted in entire good faith, and that he believed prosecutions might be successfully con- ducted if allowed to rest for two or three terms. I said to him that there was only one way to meet such a con- dition, and that was to face it and throttle it, and I directed him to send the bills to the grand jury. Of Pennsylvania 319 He was thus relieved of all responsibility by my positive order and the bills went to the grand jury, where precisely the same testimony that had been given before the magistrate was given, and after holding the bills for a week or ten days, they were returned ignored. William H. Ruddiman, then a prominent Republican member of the house, and a man of high character, was called into the case with the assent of the Municipal Association, and asked to go before the court, present the testimony in open court that had been given to the grand jury, and ask the court to return the bills to the grand jury for reconsideration. Every material point of testimony was given in open court, and the court at once ordered the bills to be returned to the grand jury, with instructions to give proper consideration to the testimony. The bills were thus recommitted and were held by the grand jury until the last day of court, when they were again re- turned ignored. The active members of the Municipal Association were aroused to great earnestness of purpose in pros- ecuting the election frauds by the action of the grand jury, and Henry C. Lea, who was the leading spirit of the association, called upon me and said that he him- self would become the prosecutor if I would furnish him a case where the testimony was absolutely con- clusive as to the guilty parties. It was very easy to furnish such a case, and I took care to select a man for arrest of as little political importance as possible. Witnesses were brought before Mr. Lea and his counsel, whose testimony established the guilt of the accused parties beyond the possibility of doubt. Mr. Lea believed that his appearance as personal prosecutor in the court and chairman of the executive committee of the Municipal Reform Association would compel the grand jury to pay some respect to the law and the 320 Old Time Notes evidence in cases of election frauds. The arrest was promptly made and witnesses, whose testimony made a conclusive case against the prisoner, appeared before the grand jury. The bill was held by the jury until near the close of the term of the court, when it was returned ignored and the prosecutor to pay the costs. So far from commanding the respect of the grand jury for the high position Mr. Lea occupied, not only as one of the foremost citizens of Philadelphia, but as the representative of the Municipal Reform Association, he simply provoked the Machine leaders to the most arrogant assertion of their authority, and they aimed directly to humiliate him by requiring him to pay the costs of the prosecution in a case where every juror knew that the accused party was guilty of the crime charged. The aroused popular feeling against permitting a continuance of the systematic corruption of the ballot in Philadelphia was intensified by the evidence pre- sented from day to day before the senate committee in the trial of the McClure-Gray case, and the public press of the city was practically unanimous in calling a halt in this blistering shame, and also in demanding the repeal of the registry law. My contest for senator was not decided until the last week of the session, too late to attempt the passage of any reform measures, but I carefully prepared a new election law during the summer, uniform throughout the entire State, containing every reasonable safeguard against corrup- tion of the ballot. Soon after the session of 1873 opened, I read the bill in place. It was so fair in its provisions that it was difficult for senators to meet the question in debate, and the Republican leaders finally secretly decided that they would make no objection whatever to the consideration of the bill at any time I called for it, and would permit its passage in that of Pennsylvania 321 body by a unanimous vote. The chief purpose in refraining from any hostile discussion was to prevent the exposure of the Philadelphia frauds that would be inevitable if debate was provoked ; and, as they had entire confidence that the house would not pass any election bill, they felt quite safe in permitting it to pass the senate without opposition. Copies of the bill had been furnished to the leading journals of the State, and called out very general and earnest approval from most of the influential news- papers. After ample time had been given for the con- sideration of the measure by senators and for public criticism I asked the senate to fix a special evening session for the consideration of the bill, and it was unanimously adopted. When the special session met the first section of the bill was read, and I addressed the senate, simply pointing out the leading features of the bill and the errors they were intended to correct. It was proper in thus explaining the bill at the outset to do it without violent assault upon any, but I hoped that debate would follow to give me an opportunity to review the general methods of Philadelphia elec- tions. I discovered, however, that that was just v/hat the party leaders did not want, and intended not to permit. When I had closed the brief address explanatory of the bill it was read section by section, and passed unanimously, and it was the intention of the party leaders to have the rules suspended, pass the bill finally that night and thus dispose of it. It was common under the old Constitution when bills were passed up to third reading without opposition, for the speaker to put the question to the senate whether the rules should be suspended and the bill read a third time by its title for final passage, and the speaker of the senate followed the rule, I arose and suggested that I wished to give further consideration to one or two 2 — 21 322 Old Time Notes features of the bill, and asked that it lie over until that evening a week, when a special session should be called for its final consideration, and it was unanimously agreed to. As a further peace offering a motion came from one of the party leaders that 10,000 copies of the bill, with my address in support of it, be printed for the use of the senate. It was then obvious that debate on the bill in the senate was not to be permitted, and I was greatly disappointed, as none of the varied corrupt methods employed in Philadelphia elections had even been referred to before the senate. When the senate adjourned I called on Mr. Pedrick, then connected with the Associated Press, and asked him to write a despatch for the Associated Press, stating that Senator McClure's election bill had been considered at a special session of the senate, and after an explanatory speech from the senator was passed to third reading, when it was postponed for final con- sideration at a special session to be held a week later, and Senator White, of Indiana, was expected then to reply to Senator McClure. White was a candidate for Governor and had great hopes of securing the machine organization of Philadelphia to bring a solid delegation for him from the city, and while the sen- atorial party leaders had generally understood the importance of avoiding debate on the election bill in the senate, and especially avoiding giving me an oppor- tunity to portray the appalling frauds practised in the city, the machine leaders in Philadelphia generally believed that such a policy was cowardly, and insisted that the attitude of the party should be openly and defiantly defended. When the newspapers of the next morning reached the senate, all of them containing the notice that Senator White was to defend the Philadelphia election of Pennsylvania 323 system of the party, they at once excited very general interest, and White was visibly disturbed, as he knew the policy of his senatorial associates was against permitting any discussion on the question in the senate, but the zeal of party leaders outside of the senate greatly outran their discretion, and they very heartily congratulated White, assuming that he had decided to come to the defense of the corrupt political system of the city. White and I sat in adjoining seats in the front row of senators, but the subject was never referred to by either of us, and I had no knowl- edge of his purpose until the special session met on the evening appointed, when, after the title of the bill was read. White took the floor in opposition. The senate was crowded, and the entire Machine delegation from the house was present to cheer the Indiana senator in his defense of their election system. White's speech was able, ingenious and plausible, as he was a debater of much more than ordinary ability, but he was specially vulnerable on the issue then at hand, as he had, in my own presence on more than one occa- sion, conferred with the potent political leaders of Philadelphia on the subject of revising the registry law and earnestly advised it because the act could not be justified. His speech naturally called out the facts that he had knowledge, and publicly confessed knowledge, of the infamous features of the registry law, and had advised the revision of the law to eliminate some of its most objectionable features. White had thus opened wide the door for me to arraign the election system of Philadelphia, and present all its sickening infamies, and it was done with all the earnestness and ardor I could command. White left the hall of the senate beforp I closed, and when I sat down there was dead silence in the hall, as the expectation was 324 Old Time Notes general that White or some other senator would reply, but as none claimed the floor the speaker put the question on the final passage of the bill and it passed without dissent. The party leaders felt no special concern about the passage of the bill in the senate, as they had absolute confidence that it would never reach even a respectable hearing in the house; but conditions arose which finally enabled me to command enough Republican votes in the house to pass the measure, and very largely through the men who were counted on as most certain to oppose it. In point of fact, the bill was passed in the house largely by the votes of men who owed their election entirely to the frauds made possible by the registry law. Under the old Constitution there was little or no restraint upon private legislation, and nine- tenths of all the bills passed were merely local measures. Philadelphia had rather a unique Machine delegation in the house, in which were Handy Smith, Bob Titter- mary, Jack McCullough, Ad Albright, Joe Ashe, Sam Daniels and others of like devotion to the theory of carrying elections by machinery. The Philadelphia representatives did not, as a rule, serve in the Legis- lature for the benefit of their health, and every member from the city who was of a speculative turn of mind brought with him a number of local bills, opening or vacating streets, changing grades, enlarging or other- wise amending local charters, etc., all of which were of individual interest to business men, who had learned that the only way to get their bills passed was to make a lump cash contract vv^ith their representatives, and generally they did not then have to give any further attention to the matter. The rates for the passage of such bills ranged from $500 up to five times that amount. Strang was speaker of the senate, and, much to the of Pennsylvania 325 disappointment of the party leaders, made me chair- man of municipal affairs, with a committee of my own selection. A host of these private bills relating to Philadelphia had been passed by the members of the house interested in them, and when they reached the senate they were referred to my committee, where I held them all until near the close of the session, expect- ing that they might become an important factor in some wholesome legislation. I knew all of the mem- bers well, and they did not conceal from me the pecu- niary interest they had in the passage of their bills. Most of them were entirely harmless and should have passed entirely on their merits. I was often and earn- estly importuned by the representatives interested in them to report them for passage, and I answered that all would be reported in time for consideration before the close of the session. There were a number of manly Republicans in the house who believed that the new election law should be accepted, and were ready to give it their support if its passage could be assured, and I finally ascertained that with the aid of the Philadelphia members inter- ested in the speculative bills the new election bill could be carried through the house, and I saw the opportunity for utilizing those who had large pecuniary interests in local Philadelphia bills. I summoned several of them to a private conference and informed them that all of their bills would be reported and promptly passed if they complied with two conditions, both of which were entirely just. First, they must pass the new election law, and, second, they must vote to John A. Faunce full salary as a member of the house, as he had been elected and had been fraudulently ejected in a contest by one who was very largely interested in these local bills. This proposition was given to them as an ultimatum, and they had to choose between 326 Old Time Notes compliance and losing their scores of speculative meas- ures. They readily agreed to vote the salary to Mr. Faunce, but the idea of voting for the reform election bill was appalling. I was resolute, however, and they finally agreed to the terms proposed. The result was the passage of the new election law in disregard of the orders of leaders, and Mr. Faunce was voted his salary. When they had fulfilled every part of the con- tract the municipal committee reported and promptly passed the entire list of speculative private bills. With very few exceptions the local bills referred to were unobjectionable, and in no instance was one of them specially offensive or unjust. Such is the story of the battle for the overthrow of the registry law of Phila- delphia, the most infamous election system ever adopted in any of the States of the Union. Of Pennsylvania 327 LXXXI. THE GRANT-GREELEY CONTEST. Grant's Special Efforts to Harmonize the Curtin Elements in Pennsyl- vania — The Author Twice Urged to Visit Grant with a View of Har- monizing the Party on a New Cabinet Appointment — Organization of the Liberal Republican Movement in the State — The Author Chairman of the State Committee, and of the Delegation to the Cin- cinnati Convention — Greeley's Visit to Philadelphia to Secure the Support of the Delegation for President — Final Agreement on Davis for President with Greeley for Vice-President — The Brief Greeley Tidal Wave — Business Interests Aroused and Suddenly Halted It — The Sad End of the Life of the Great Philanthropist. IHE year 1872 narrowly escaped being one of the distinct revolutionary periods in the politi- cal annals of the Republic, and had the revolu- tion succeeded, the political history of the country would have been radically changed, and the Repub- lican mastery of the Nation either overthrown or so seriously broken as to place it in the attitude of an opposition party. Grant's first administration was a serious failure; a failure in nearly every important feature of the governmental authority. Grant was slow to learn that military and civil authority were two very distinct prerogatives, and he made no effort to popularize himself, or to reconcile the opposing ele- ments until he saw the threatened tempest as the serious agitation for the succession to the Presidency was generally discussed after the elections of 187 1. When Congress assembled in December, 187 1, the opposition to Grant became aggressive, and embraced in its leadership a number of the ablest of the Republi- 328 Old Time Notes can Senators, including Sumner, of Massachusetts; Trumbull, of Illinios; Fenton, of New York; Schurz, of Missouri, and others, and for the first time Grant seemed to realize that he might have a serious contest for re-election. It is due to President Grant to say that he made several efforts to harmonize political conditions in Pennsylvania by movements that were not known to the public. Governor Curtin, then Minister to Russia, had given notice of his purpose to retire and return to his home in Pennsylvania, and when he was on his journey homeward he was met in Paris by a man of National prominence, who stated to Curtin that he was distinctly authorized to offer him his choice of either the French or English missions if he would remain in the diplomatic service. Curtin declined the offer, stating that his business interests required him to return to his home. When he arrived in London, after spending some time in Paris, he was met there by another very prominent official of our government, and earnestly urged to accept the English mission. The assurance was given that President Grant had directly authorized the proposition to be made to Curtin. He could only repeat his declination, as long before he left Russia he had definitely decided to return home and to make exhaustive effort to oppose the renomination or re-election of Grant. Some time in the late fall of 187 1 Mr. Borie, of Philadelphia, who had been Secretary of the Navy under Grant, called at my office, and, learning that I was at Colonel Forney's ''Press" office, he came there, and, after the usual salutations, he said that he was glad to find Colonel Forney present, as what he had to sa.y was a matter that could be discussed very freely in his presence. He said that he was directed by the President to tender me the office of United States Dis- of Pennsylvania trict Attorney, and earnestly urged my acceptance of it. Independent of all political considerations, I could not have accepted the office, as it would have lessened rather than increased my professional income at that time, and greatly increased my labors. Colonel Forney heard the proposition, and made no suggestion until after I had given my reply. I stated that my accept- ance of the office would be very unfair to District Attorney McMichael, who then held the position and discharged the duties with credit, and that it could be regarded in no other light than as an effort to bring into the support of Grant the Curtin elements of the party, which had been relentlessly ostracised for three years. I informed Mr. Borie that my appointment would not in any measure harmonize the party; that there could be no party harmony until there should be actual, open and positive change in the prospective policy of the administration, and the distinct recogni- tion of the Republicans of the State on their merits, regardless of factional interests. Mr. Borie insisted that such was the purpose of the administration, but I reminded him that it would be utterly im- possible for any such policy to be inaugurated when Cameron was in the Senate and held in his hands the confirmation of Pennsylvania appointments. Mr. Borie was a novice in politics, kind and generous in disposition, and was very desirous to have the party harmonized in support of Grant's re-election. Forney entirely agreed with me that under no circumstances could I accept the office proposed, without an openly proclaimed change of policy by which the proscription of Curtin 's friends should be ended, and in that event there would be no necessity to tender me any public position. A few weeks thereafter it became known that a change was about to be made in the cabinet by the 330 Old Time Notes retirement of Attorney General Ackerman, who was succeeded by Mr. Williams, of Oregon, on the loth of January, 1872, and a prominent administration official, residing in Washington, called on me and informed me that the President desired to confer with me in relation to the political situation in Pennsylvania, and especially in reference to the appointment of a new cabinet officer. I asked him whether the President had sent him specially to inform me that the President desired me to visit him in Washington, as a personal request from the President would be accepted by any citizen as a command. He answered frankly that he could not say that he had been sent to deliver that message to me from the President, but that the President had expressed a desire to have a conference, and upon that he had acted upon his own responsibility. I answered that I could not visit the President on such a mission without his personal request. I had not been in the White Plouse during the entire period of his administration and could not hope to make such a visit without attracting some attention from the newspaper men, with whom I was very intimately associated. If I made such a visit, and thereafter did not support the President, it would be naturally assumed that I had obtruded myself upon him to ask political conditions that he could not accept, and I would be classed as opposing him because I could not obtain what was desired. Ten days later I was in New York engaged on some business, where I was detained two or three days, and received a despatch from Senator Wilson, of Massa- chusetts, stating that he had called at my office and would proceed to New York and dine with me at the Hoffman House that evening, as he had important matters to present. I had known Wilson intimately for many years, and, like all who knew him, had great Of Pennsylvania 331 affection for him and confidence in all that he did and said. He told me frankly that he had no message from the President for me, but that he had left the President the evening before and had discussed the political situation very freely, presenting the perils which confronted Grant in his contest for re-election. He suggested to Grant that with Grant's permission he would call upon me and bring me to Washington to confer on the subject of a cabinet appointment that should be given to Pennsylvania, satisfactory to the friends of Curtin. Wilson was very earnest in urging me to accompany him to Washington the following day, but when I fully explained the peculiar conditions existing in Pennsylvania and how the appointment of a Curtin cabinet officer would only multiply embar- rassments and lead to enlarged estrangements, he admitted that he could not complain of my refusal to accompany him to Washington. I reminded him that with a Curtin man in the cabinet from Pennsylvania there v/ould be direct conflict be- tween the cabinet officers and Senator Cameron on every important appointment relating to the State, and as Cameron could not be displaced as Senator, while a cabinet officer could be displaced at any time, the result must inevitably be that the Curtin cabinet officer must bow to the continued ostracism and pro- scription of his friends or cause a new factional erup- tion that must result in his dismissal. These facts are mentioned to show that Grant was not indifferent to the terrible mutterings which arose against him at the close of the year 187 1, but he was without political tact and evidently had few advisers possessed of that qual- ity. So far as Curtin and myself were concerned he certainly meant to make a generous tender of recogni- tion, but he was forgetful of the fact that neither Curtin nor myself was seeking positions of any kind, and that 332 Old Time Notes it was the vindictive policy of factional proscription that forced us into the ranks of opposition to the admin- istration. Grant evidently believed that I was unrea- sonably obstinate and that doubtless led to his vindic- tive hostility to my election to the senate on the 30th of January, 1872, and to my admission to that body after I had been counted out. At the time of the occurrence before referred to, the idea of a Liberal Republican organization had not been seriously considered, and the Republicans opposed to Grant's renomination were entirely without definite purpose beyond their desire to make an effort to defeat his renomination. A peculiar issue had arisen in Mis- souri, where sectional passion precipitated murder between neighbors throughout the State, resulting in most sweeping disfranchisement of every citizen who had directly or indirectly aided rebellion. It was so monstrously unjust that it produced a reaction, and a Liberal movement was made to revise the Constitution and won an easy victor}^, in which Carl Schurz was a prominent leader. The Liberals of Missouri were not in sympathy with the administration of Grant, and early in January, 1872, a number of the leaders of that element met in Jefferson City and startled the country by calling a National convention of Liberal Republicans to meet at Cincinnati on the first of May to nominate candidates for President and Vice-President. It Avas generally regarded at first as a mere political flash in the pan, but it speedily crystallized a number of the ablest Republican leaders of the country in an effort to make it a great representative body and thus assure the defeat of Grant, believing that the action of the Liberals would be supported by the Democrats. I had given little attention to this movement until Mr. Greeley visited me and earnestly urged an imme- diate Liberal organization in the State, with a view to of Pennsylvania 333 sending a delegation to Cincinnati. He was not then prominently discussed as a Presidential candidate, nor did he intimate that he desired or expected to be a candidate. I had known Greeley well for many years, cherished the warmest personal affection for him and was in entire sympathy with him in his opposition to Grant's re-election. I agreed to confer with a number of men in the State and see what response they would make, and I was utterly surprised to find how serious was the defection against Grant among many of the ablest and most influential of the Republican leaders. From the response that I received from such men as ex-Congressman Galusha A. Grow, J. K. Moorehead, Henry L. Cake, David Barclay and William Stewart, with ex-Senators Mason, of Bradford; Benson, of Potter; Lowrey, of Erie, and active campaigners like Thomas M. Marshall, of Allegheny; WilHam H. Ruddi- man, of Philadelphia; M. C. Boyer, of Montgomery, and many others, it was evident that the Pennsylvania Republicans were ready for revolutionary action, and a conference of a number of leaders was convened in Philadelphia at an early day, a State committee organ- ized and a delegation selected to attend the Cincinnati convention, of which I was made chairman. The State committee was made up of the most active and influential old-time Republicans in every county in the State, and the delegation to Cincinnati would have compared favorably with any Republican dele- gation in the regular National convention. As chair- man of the Liberal State committee I opened up cor- respondence with prominent Republicans generally throughout the State, and the answers clearly proved the general unrest and distrust throughout the ranks of the party and the readiness for revolutionary action if there was hope that it could be successfully accom- plished. At the close of that campaign I destroyed 334 Old Time Notes the letters by hundreds and hundreds of Republicans in the State of local prominence, and many of them even of State distinction, who expressed their entire sympathy with the Liberal movement and their pur- pose to fall in with the procession as the campaign pro- gressed. Greeley soon became prominently discussed as a can- didate for President, along with David Davis, B. Gratz Brown, Charles Francis Adams and others, but with all my affection for Greeley I could not entertain the ques- tion of crucifying him by making him a Presidential candidate to face inevitable defeat. Some three weeks before the meeting of the Cincinnati convention, Greeley made an appointment to meet me at the Colonnade Hotel in Philadelphia, and he there frankly told me that he believed he could be nominated for President and appealed to me to give him the support of the Pennsylvania delegation as far as might be in my power. It was a painful interview, for there was no man living whom to serve would have given me greater pleasure, but I frankly told him that a Liberal Republican nomination would be valueless without the support of the Democrats, and as he had been their most stinging critic for thirty years, he could not hope to command their support. I reminded him that there was but one who was in a position to command the support of the Democratic party in its entirety, and also to command the support of the Republicans who desired to end the reign of Grant, and that was David Davis. Greeley was greatly disappointed and deeply grieved, but he knew that I was sincere, and he felt that my judgment was entitled to respect. He finally said, ''Well, if the Democrats won't take me head foremost, perhaps they will take me boots fore- most," meaning that he might be nominated for Vice- President with Davis. I told him that could be done, Of Pennsylvania 335 and he left me apparently reconciled to the nomination of Davis for the Presidency and himself for the Vice- Presidency. Soon after I met United States Senator Fenton, who was the leader of the Greeley delegation in the Cincin- nati convention, and found that he and Greeley had conferred on the subject, and that he was heartily in favor of Davis and Greeley. The Pennsylvania dele- gation was made up of about one-third of the radical element of the party that did not want Davis, because of his conservatism, but two-thirds of them promptly and heartily agreed to the support of Davis and Greeley. A conference was held in Cincinnati the night before the convention met, at which many of the leaders of the convention attended, and plans were perfected, as we supposed, for the nomination of Davis and Greeley on the following day. Believing that everything was arranged, we tarried over a late supper, and while we were thus enjoying ourselves, Frank Blair, of Missouri, whose candidate for the Presidency was Gratz Brown, seeing that the combination left Brown entirely out, proposed to make a combination with Greeley for Presi- dent and Brown for Vice-President, and on the follov/- ing morning it was discovered that the friends of Greeley, who were a very important element of the Davis strength, were forced out of our line and com- pelled to fall back to the support of Greeley for Presi- dent. Senator Fenton earnestly protested against it as a wrong to Greeley, but without avail. The conservative forces were somewhat divided between David Davis and Charles Francis Adams, and as the defection of the Greeley men had left the Davis forces much smaller than the Adams forces, we dropped Davis as a hopeless candidate and joined in the support of Adams. Two-thirds of the Pennsylvania delega- tion voted for Adams after the first ballot, when the}^ 336 Old Time Notes voted for Curtin. On the sixth ballot Greeley lacked only a few votes of the nomination, and changes were promptly made in several of the delegations to give him the requisite ballot. Not until he had received a majority of the votes did I propose to our delegation to change the vote of the State, and it was then changed and the vote cast for Greeley. I regarded it as a prac- tical surrender of the battle, as I did not believe it possible that the Democrats could be brought to the support of Greeley, but their condition was one of utter hopelessness, and I was surprised to find before mid- night that a number of the Democratic leaders there sent out instructions to their States to hold themselves in readiness to accept the Liberal Republican ticket, and, as is well known, the Democratic National con- vention gave a practically unanimous vote to Greeley and Brown as their candidates. At that time, when Greeley had apparently the united support of the Democrats and was enthusiastic- ally supported by most of the Liberals, the re-election of Grant seemed to be absolutely impossible. From that time until midsummer it seemed to be simply a tidal wave North and South for Greeley, and his elec- tion was generally accepted by his supporters and by very many of his opponents as absolutely assured, but when the revulsion came it was overwhelming in its pov/er, and from causes which were entirely reasonable. The country was then in a state of fearful inflation, extravagance prevailed in all classes and conditions, speculation ran riot, and all thinking men knew that liquidation must come sooner or later, and soon at the latest, with fearful disaster in its trail. The question of resumption of specie payments was agitated by those who regarded sound credit as more important than inflated prosperity, and Greeley's only utterance on the financial question was that the way to resume is Of Pennsylvania 337 to resume," clearly indicating that he thought the mat- ter of resuming specie payments was a mere question of directing it to be done. Business interests of the country were awakened to the peril that confronted them, and when the revulsion started in business circles it was the sv/iftest and most far-reaching of any revulsion I have ever seen in polit- ical contests. Prominent business Democrats of Phila- delphia came to the Republican headquarters and vol- imtarily paid liberal subscriptions to secure the election of Grant. They knew that disaster must come, but they hoped by the election of Grant to postpone it for another four years, and while the Democratic leaders as a rule supported Greeley ^vith great fidelity the rank and file remembered him only as the man who poured out his keenest invective against them for thirty years, and they stubbornly refused to support the ticket. More than enough Republicans voted for the Greeley State ticket in Pennsylvania to elect it by a large majority if the Democrats had given it cordial sup- port, but in nearly or quite every county of the State the combined Democratic and Liberal Republican vote was less than the full Democratic vote. They would very heartily have supported Davis and Greeley with him for second on the ticket ; and, viewing that contest from the most dispassionate standpoint, I do not doubt that had Davis been nominated he would have been elected by a very large majority, with the probability that the new party would have maintained its power for many years. Davis would have greatly tempered the passions of the Reconstruction period, would have commanded the absolute confidence of the entire business and industrial interests of the country, and sectional strife would have practically perished by the close of his administration. Although I regarded the contest as an utterly hope- 2 22 338 Old Time Notes less one at the biginning after Greeley's nomination, I felt that I could not do less than accept the chairman- ship of the State committee and devote my entire time and energy to the contest. My affection for Greeley made that a necessity, and after his nomination by the Democrats, when his election seemed more than prob- able, I shared the anxiety of Greeley's closest friends as to what might be the result of his administration as President. About that time I was summoned to a confidential council in New York, at which Whitelaw Reid, Waldo Hutchins, General Cochrane and a number of others were present, to consider the question of hav- ing Greeley forewarned against committing himself on the question of his cabinet, as all seemed to agree that in the event of his election the safety of his administration would depend upon having an able and conservative body of constitutional advisers. They charged me with the duty of conferring with him on the subject, and I was directed to find him at his private headquarters in Brooklyn, where he was not accessible to the public. His finely chiseled, benevolent face brightened as he spoke of his assured election, and when I ventured to suggest to him that if called to the Presidency with such a combination of political supporters the choice of his cabinet would be a very grave duty, and that he should avoid all complications on the subject, he assumed that I was desiring to forestall him in the interests of Penn- sylvania, and he promptly replied that of course no one would be appointed to the cabinet from Pennsylvania without my approval. He was surprised when I told him that that was just what I did not want; that it was most important that he should not be in any way committed to any one on the subject of the cabinet, as the success of his administration would depend upon it, and that such a cabinet as he would need could be determined upon only after his election. He assented Of Pennsylvania 339 to the proposition and gave the assurance that he would be entirely free to advise with his most trusted friends if elected President, and make up the cabinet of the best men the existing conditions presented. He asked me to go to North Carolina and spend a week there, which I did, and when I left him I shook him by the hand for the last time, as we never met again. I had much correspondence with him, and after his defeat, that was made doubly distressing by the death of his wife, I wrote him expressing the sincerest sym- pathy, and had in reply a letter written the last day he ever held a pen in his hand. The full text of the letter was as follows: am a man of many sorrows, and doubtless have deserved them, but I beg to say that I do not forget the gallant though luckless struggle you made in my behalf. I am not well." His physical power was hopelessly broken, and soon thereafter it was found that his sorrows had unsettled his reason, and in a few days, in an asylum for the insane, Horace Greeley, one of the noblest and best of American phil- anthropists, passed to his final account 340 Old Time Notes LXXXII. DEMOCRATS NOMINATE CURTIN. Peculiar Political Complications in the Contest of 1872 — The Evans Scandal — Some $300,000 Awarded a Clerk for Collecting Govern- ment Claims — Investigation Moved in the Senate — How It Ended — Hartranft and Buckalew Nominated for Governor by Their Respec- tive Parties — Curtin Nominated by the Liberal Republicans for the Constitutional Convention — Governor Bigler Retired from Democratic Ticket, and Curtin Taken in His Place — State Contest Unusually Desperate — Leaders Would Have Withdrawn Hartranft But for the Younger Cameron — Geary Forced to Grant Pardon to Yerkes and Marcer — Attempt of the Roosters to Make Cameron Pay for His Re-election — How the Governor's Salary Was Increased from $5,000 to $10,000. THERE were many and unusually strange com- plications in Pennsylvania politics in 1872. Be- fore the Republican State convention met to nominate candidates for Governor, Auditor General, three candidates for Congressmen-at-Large and twelve candidates for delegates-at-large to the constitutional convention, Curtin and many of his followers had already cast their lot with the Liberal Republicans, and were therefore unseen and unfelt in the Republican organization of the State. General Hartranft, who would have been the Curtin candidate for Governor in 1866, had he not been forced to accept the nomination for auditor general in 1865 to defeat Cameron's attempt to control the convention and organization of that year, had served continuously in the office of auditor general, having been re-elected in 1868. In the meantime Robert W. Mackey had been several years in the office of State treasurer, and his exceptional ability as a Of Pennsylvania 341 political leader made him altogether the master organ- izer and general director of the Cameron forces of the State, and they had undisputed possession of the party organization, Hartranft had served as auditor general with Mackey in the State treasury, and he would have gradually drifted away from the party element that originally supported him even if Curtin had remained within the party breastworks. A serious scandal was developed a short time before the campaign of 1872 opened be- cause of the payment to an entirely obscure man and without influence the sum of $300,000, ostensibly for services as State agent to collect some unsettled military claims against the National government. In point of fact there was no difficulty whatever about the collec- tion of the money. The claims had been distinctly defined by Governor Curtin and State Treasurer Henry D Moore, and the collection of the money was not in any degree doubtful, but by a combination of promi- nent State officials a bill was passed by the Legislature authorizing the payment of a large percentage to the State agent for the collection of military claims against the general government. Evans was appointed, se- cured the money without any difficulty, and the account- ing officers of the State apparently paid him $300,000 for his services. It developed a terrible scandal in the State and involved Governor Hartranft, among other officials, but notwithstanding the efforts made in the courts and in the Legislature to get at the close com- bination that had been made to plunder the treasury, the movement was defeated in every instance by the combined power of the State authorities. It was well known that Evans had not received more than a mere moiety of the percentage paid, as he con- tinued to live obscurely and frugally and died prac- tically without estate. During the campaign of 1872, 342 Old Time Notes when I was chairman of the Liberal State committee, and employed the best detective force to get into the inner citadel of the State frauds, I obtained positive and indisputable information where $52,000 of the Evans' $300,000 had been received by a prominent man, where he had invested it and how the securities were then held. When the senate met in 1873, we had a judiciary committee, composed of senators of the highest character and legal attainments, and I moved that the committee be instructed to investigate the payment of $300,000 to Agent Evans, with power to send for persons and papers and to report by bill or otherwise. The motion was unanimously adopted, and the committee met immediately upon the adjourn- ment of the senate. The information was furnished to the committee in detail, and it was decided that the following week subpoenas should be issued for the witnesses who were ready to prove where part of the Evans money had gone. It was decided also by the committee that none should be advised of its meeting to hear the witnesses excepting the witnesses them- selves and a single officer of the senate. The senate adjourned on Friday until the following Monday, and on Saturday morning the person against whom the investigation was specially directed suddenly dropped dead in his own home. No subpoenas were issued, and when the committee met the next week, according to appointment, it was decided that no investigation should be made unless positive information could be had affecting other parties. The result was that the committee never met again and made no report what- ever to the senate. Most of the senators understood the situation, and the scandal was dropped by general consent. Hartranft was nominated for Governor by what war, then the Cameron organization of the State under the Of Pennsylvania 343 immediate management of Mackey, the most brilliant State leader any party ever produced in Pennsylvania. Hartranft had won great distinction as a volunteer officer during the war, and he was in fact the ideal volunteer soldier of the State. He was an officer in the Fourth Pennsylvania regiment at Manassas just before the opening of the first battle of Bull Run, when the term of the regiment expired. Instead of remain- ing and joining their brethren in battle, as Hartranft earnestly urged them to do, the Fourth regiment, as stated by General McDowell in his official report of the action, marched away from the field " to the music of the enemy's cannon." Hartranft at once severed' his relations with his regiment, volunteered as a staff officer, served through the action, and was soon again in the field as colonel of a new regiment. He made no effort to exploit himself as a soldier through the newspapers, but in his quiet, unassuming way most faithfully performed every military duty, and finally won special distinction by his recapture of Fort Stead- man, one of the advance defenses of Grant's line near Petersburg, that had been captured in a gallant dash made by General Gordon. Hartranft was ordered with his command to recon- noiter and ascertain the situation, but was not ordered to attempt to carry the fort by assault. His men had great confidence in him as a commander, and when they moved near enough to reconnoiter the position Hartranft simply did not halt his soldiers, and by a sudden inspiration they rushed in upon Steadman and regained it. Hartranft 's modesty forbade his claiming any special credit for the victory that really made him famous, but it was his soldierly training of the com- mand that made the recapture of Fort Steadman possible even without specific orders. He thus stood before the people of Pennsylvania as confessedly the 344 Old Time Notes foremost of our many gallant volunteer officers in tlie State, and his high character and modest personal qualities made him a favorite with all who knew him. He was the logical candidate of the party for Governor, and he was nominated practically without a contest, with Senator Harrison Allen, of Warren, for auditor general, and Lemuel Todd, Charles Albright and Glenni W. Scofield for Congressmen-at-Large, and twelve candi- dates for delegates-at-large to the constitutional con- vention, the head of whom was William M. Meredith, of Philadelphia. The Democrats appreciated the necessity of placing themselves in the strongest possible position before the people of Pennsylvania, believing that by the com- bination with the Liberals they could win. They nominated ex-Senator Charles R. Buckalew for Gov- ernor, who was confessedly the ablest of the Dem- ocratic champions in the State. Wallace was then in the State senate, and training for United States Sen- ator that he attained two years later. There was no factional opposition made by Wallace or any of his followers against Buckalew 's nomination, and he was presented to the people by the united Democratic organization of the State. William Hartley was nomi- nated for auditor general and James H. Hopkins, Richard Vaux and Hendrick B. Wright were chosen as candidates for Congressmen-at-Large, with twelve delegates-at-large to the constitutional convention headed by ex-Governor Bigler. Cameron was United States Senator, and his re-election depended upon carrying a Republican Legislature at the fall election.. The Liberal Republicans did not hold a State con- vention, but some time after Governor Curtin's return from Russia the Liberal State committee nominated, him as delegate-at-large to the constitutional conven- tion, he being the only distinctive Liberal Republican Of Pennsylvania 345 presented for a State office. The nomination was made after a full conference and understanding with the Democratic leaders. Mr. Randall, as chairman of the Democratic State committee, and I, as chairman of the Liberal Republican State committee, had repeated conferences on the subject, and after it had been fully considered by the Democratic leaders they decided that if the Liberals nominated Curtin as delegate-at-large they would withdraw one of their twelve candidates and accept Curtin in his place, whereby Curtin 's election would be absolutely assured, as each voter voted for twelve delegates-at-large to the constitutional convention, and the twenty-four receiving the highest votes were elected. Governor Bigler, who was at the head of the Democratic ticket, had taken very active part in bringing about the nomi- nation of Curtin, assuming that there would be no difficulty in making a vacancy in the list of Democratic nominations. After Curtin 's nomination had been made by the Liberals, however, Bigler found that all of his associates were very reluctant to retire, although a number of them were willing to do so under orders, and Bigler promptly solved the problem by sending his own declination to the Democratic committee, and Curtin was unanimously nominated in his stead. With Curtin on the Democratic ticket, and the Dem- ocrats supporting the Liberal candidates for President and Vice-President, it was only reasonable for the Liberals of Pennsylvania to accept the Democratic candidates for all the other State offices and the Dem- ocratic electoral ticket. The two lines of battle were thus distinctly drawn; the Democrats and Liberals on one side, and the Republican organization, under the immediate command of Cameron, on the other side. Both Democrats and Liberals were generally embittered against Cameron, and believing, as they did in the early 346 Old Time Notes part of the campaign, that the}^ were going to win aHke in State and Nation by a large majority, they pressed the fight most aggressively, and Cameron was severely arraigned from the stump before the people of the State, while Hartranft's alleged complications with the Evans swindle and with Yerkes, who was then in prison along with ex-Treasurer Marcer for the misuse of city funds, brought down upon him a floodtide of merciless criticism. So fierce were the assaults upon Hartranft, Cameron and the party organization that Mackey and Cameron finally yielded and called a private conference of a number of the leading party men of the State to decide upon withdrawing Hart- ranft from the ticket. I speak advisedly when I say that Hartranft's name would have been withdrawn from the ticket but for the heroic and defiant attitude assumed at that meeting by J. Donald Cameron, who had then become quite prominent as a leader, but rarely participated in party management except when gi"ave emergencies arose. He peremptorily declared that the party could save itself only by assuming the aggres- sive and standing by its State ticket. While a majority of those in the conference were not really convinced as to the wisdom of the younger Cameron's policy, the divided judgment of the coimselors made all obey, and from that time Cameron was abreast with Mackey and conducted one of the most aggressive campaigns ever made in the history of the State. Governor Geary was forced to pardon Yerkes and Marcer some time before the election, in return for which they furnished statements which relieved Hart- ranft from any guilty complication with or without personal profit in the Evans swindle, and they were only just in doing so. The pardon reached Philadel- phia about noon, and the chairman of the State com- mittee immediately repaired to Cherry Hill, delivered of Pennsylvania 347 the pardon and brought Yerkes and Marcer back to their freedom. In the meantime the business interests of the coimtry had become profoundly disturbed over the possible election of Greeley, whose financial policy was unknown, and who was regarded as impetuous and visionary without the well-balanced qualities of statesmanship. Never was a struggle fought more desperately before the people of the State, and the Republicans of Philadelphia, under the registry law, exhausted their power to increase the party majority by frauds in which they had the ripest experience. "Nick" English, the leader of the ''lightning cal- culators, " presided at the meeting of the return judges, when it was known that Hartranft was elected by 35,000 majority. He knew also that many bets had been made that Hartranft would carry Philadelphia by 20,000, and he lacked several thousand of that num- ber, but English solved the problem by simply manip- ulating the figures, and officially certifying a majority for Hartranft in the city of over 20,000. The disas- trous defeat of Greeley left both Democrats and Liberals without heart or hope, and they made no attempt to bring to justice those who had been guilty of the most flagrant frauds. With the Democratic-Liberal combination defeated by nearly 40,000 at the October election, there was simply a landslide for Grant in November, when he carried the State over Greeley by nearly 1 50,000. Cam- eron had not only a large Republican majority in the Legislature, but for the first time he had almost the solid support of the Republican senators and repre- sentatives, and his re-election to the Senate was accepted as absolutely assured. Such a campaign naturally brought into the Legis- lature an unusually large commercial element, and especially from the city of Philadelphia and the mining 348 Old Time Notes regions. Cameron regarded his election as absolutely certain, and he congratulated himself that he would be able, for the first time, to command the nomina- tion of his party without a struggle, and secure his election by the voluntary votes of the legislators. He was devoted to thrift, and never expended money in politics unless the necessity was imperious. When the commercial men of the Legislature began to look over the field they saw that there was nothing for them in the Senatorial fight, and after a number of con- ferences they decided to appeal to the ambition of some man of large wealth by assuring him of the sup- port of the majority of the Philadelphia delegation. After the movement had been thoroughly matured the proposition was made to the elder Charlemagne Tower, a man of large wealth, residing in the anthra- cite region, and who was not without political ambition, but was altogether too shrewd to be robbed in a hope- less contest. He never gave his consent to the propo- sition, but apparently held it under advisement, and Cameron became very much alarmed at the new peril that confronted him. He believed that the Democrats and the few Liberals in the Legislature would gladly join in any combination to defeat his re-election, and with the majority of the Philadelphia delegation ready to deal for revolutionary action against Cameron he saw that he might become involved in a veiy severe contest. He well understood what the Philadelphia movement meant; that it was inspired solely by the hope that he would give a large amount of money to have them abandon it and fall back into the regular ranks, but while he could not afford to lose the Senator- ship, he was quite unwilling to win it at a high cost if it could be avoided. I had been active in the fight and had made Cam- eronism the issue from the beginning to the close of Of Pennsylvania 349 the campaign, but my personal relations with Cam- eron in all our many bitter conflicts had never been strained, and I was not greatly surprised when I called at the office of Colonel Thomas A. Scott in response to a stmimons from him to find Cameron there with him, and to learn that I had been sent for to confer with Cameron and Scott on the Senatorial question. Cam- eron presented the question with entire frankness; said that he had won the Legislature and his election in an open fight; that he was entitled to it without being forced to lavish money on legislators elected in his interest, and that I had been sent for to inquire whether I intended to join the Philadelphia black- mailers in a combination to defeat him for Senator. I told him that I could not vote for him for Senator, but that he was entitled to a re-election to the Senate with- out debauching the Legislature, and that if a corrupt combination was made to defeat his election or to com- pel him to pay blackmail to the corruptionists I would openly and earnestly oppose any such movement in the Legislature. Cameron thanked me and closed the consideration of the subject by remarking, They can go to hell now." The Senatorship became a matter of public discussion, and in an interview that I was asked to give I stated distinctly that Cameron for the first time in his life was entitled to the votes of a majority of the Legis- lature without the usual debauchery that had attended Senatorial contests in the State. I added that I would oppose his election by any and every honest method, but would not join in any corrupt combination against him for the benefit of Legislative mercenaries. The result was that the opposition started by those who expected to blackmail Cameron was compelled to yield, and Cameron received the entire vote of his party for re-election to the Senate without the cost of a dollar Old Time Notes beyond what he had expended in the campaign. I cast my vote in the senate for WiUiam D. Kelley. When the Legislature met in January, 1873, Gover- nor-elect Hartranft proposed to come to my room one evening to confer on several matters. I was glad to welcome him, for I knew that whatever political envi- ronment he had met with he was thoroughly honest in purpose and would want to make a clean and cred- itable administration. He called at the time appointed and said that he desired me to understand his position ; that he realized the fact that he was very largely, if not wholly, indebted to the Cameron organization for his election and that he did not mean ever to be justly charged with ingratitude, but he added that, first of all, he meant to make a thoroughly clean, straight- forward administration of the State government, and as I had yet two sessions to serve in the senate he hoped that he would be able to command not only my support but that of all reasonable Democrats. He stated distinctly that he might be called upon at times to give offense to those who might assume that they owned him, but if necessary he would give offense rather than dishonor himself, and it is due to the memory of Hartranft to say that he faithfully fulfilled that promise. On several occasions during his two terms as Governor he was urged to perform more than questionable official duties to serve personal or partisan interests at the sacrifice of his own sense of right, and he reso- lutely refused to obey. During the two sessions of his first administration I never had occasion to criticise any act of the Governor before the senate and generally gave him very cordial and hearty support. Before leaving me at the private conference he suggested that if I could see my way clear to propose the increase of the salary of the Governor from $5,000 to $10,000 a year, and have it passed before his inauguration, it Of Pennsylvania would be regarded as a personal favor. I told him that I appreciated the fact that the present salary for the Governor was disgracefully inadequate and .that I woiild gladly take the responsibility of proposing the measure if it did not conflict with the Constitution. I soon foimd that the subject had been quietly dis- cussed by leading Republicans and Democrats in the senate, all of whom agreed that the salary should be increased, but neither party wished to take the respon- sibility of proposing the measure. After a conference with such able Democratic lawyers as Wallace, Dill and others, and Strang, Rutan and other Republicans, I found that nearly or quite all were willing to support the measure if their particular party was not to be responsible for it. As I was the only member of my own party in the senate I was entirely independent and at once took charge of the bill. The Governor's salary was increased from $5,000 to $10,000 before Hartranft was inaugurated. I did not regard the question as entirely free from doubt under the pro- visions of the Constitution, but it was a case in which I believed that doubt should be resolved in favor of common justice. Old Time Notes LXXXIII. THE CONSTITUTION OF 1874 ADOPTED. Desperate Efforts Made to Defeat Its Approval by the People — Mayor Stokley Halts a Stupendous Fraud in Philadelphia When It Was Found to be Unavailing — Earnest Legislative Work to Carry Into Effect the New Fundamental Law — A New Liberal Salary Bill for City Offices Vetoed without Benefit to Those Who Accomplished It — Ballot Reform Accomplished, and Many Machine Leaders Over- thrown. THE political conditions in Pennsylvania in 1873 aroused the Republican reform sentiment of the State to great activity, notwithstanding the overwhelming disaster the Liberals had suffered with the Democrats when Grant carried the State by nearly 140,000 the year before. There were scores of thousands of very reluctant votes cast for Grant by Republicans who were sincerely in favor of reforming the domination of the party. The Republican leaders, then wholly in harmony with Cameron, slated Judge Paxson, of the common pleas court of Philadelphia, as a candidate for supreme judge. There were no pro- tests against Paxson either as to his character or ability for the high office of supreme judge, but the fact that he was the predetermined candidate of the leaders of the organization called out aggressive hostility to him and the opposition concentrated in support of Judge Butler, of Chester, who afterward served as United States district judge until he was entitled to retirement by reason of more than ten years' service and being over seventy years of age. It was an open, strenuous battle, not against Judge Paxson in person, but against the political power that had dictated his nomination by of Pennsylvania 353 the State convention. Mackey was State treasurer and general political manager of the State. The State treasurer was to be elected by the people that year for the first time. When the convention met Mackey was amazed to discover that he was unable to force the nomination of Paxson over Butler, and he rescued him- self and his organization from defeat by taking Judge Isaac G. Gordon, of Fayette County, who had some personal strength, as a side candidate, and with the Paxson vote thrown to him his nomination was accom- plished. Mackey was nominated for State treasurer without opposition. At the time the convention was held the work of the constitutional convention, then in session, had not been completed, and no expression was given on the question of constitutional reform. The Democrats exhibited little vigor when their State convention met, as the overwhelming defeat of the year before seemed to leave the party in an utterly hopeless condition in the State, but as the reform Republicans developed great activity, not only in the battle against the slated can- didate for supreme judge, but in the support of the new Constitution after it had been completed, the Demo- crats were somewhat inspired and one of the most active off-year contests of the State was the result. The fight for the adoption of the new Constitution became the absorbing issue. It was specially offensive to the debauched political elements of the State be- cause it destroyed the fee system that was a source of almost unlimited plunder in Philadelphia, and tore up by the roots the registry election law that was the parent of monstrous frauds. The speculative and mercenary political interests of the State were naturally adverse to the new fundamental law, and as the cam- paign nearer! its close they were greatly strengthened by the decision delivered by the supreme court setting 2—23 354 Old Time Notes aside the method of holding the election on the adoption of the new Constitution under an honest election system in Philadelphia, provided by the convention itself. The decision of the court, delivered by Chief Justice Agnew, exhibited an unusual degree of preju- dice against the general reform movement, and, while it immediately quickened and encouraged the worst political elements to oppose the Constitution, it did much more to arouse the reform elements; and the court was so fiercely criticised by the press and on the stump that Chief Justice Agnew felt compelled, in jus- tice to himself and the court, to publish a letter denying the unfriendly construction that had been put upon the dicta that figured somewhat prominently in the opinion, and declared that, notwithstanding his objec- tion to some important features of the new Constitu- tion, he would vote for it. This letter eliminated the court from the partisan discussion during the remainder of the campaign and greatly encouraged the friends of the new Constitution, who had been struggling so tirelessly and earnestly to give it victory. The most dangerous element in opposition to the new Constitution was clearly developed only a few weeks before the election. It was a combination of prominent corporation interests in the State to accom- plish the rejection of the new fundamental law. This movement became plainly visible, as able representa- tives of great corporate interests took the stump to call upon the people to reject the work of the convention. The contest was regarded as fairly doubtful, as it was impossible to make any calculation from a political standpoint as to the result of the vote for the Consti- tution. Never in the history of Pennsylvania elections were such strange complications presented by counties of the same political faith and apparently sharing the same general interests. Adams County voted four Of Pennsylvania 355 to one against it and Allegheny ten to one in its favor. Bedford voted three to one in favor of it, and Blair nearly two to one against it. Berks, the Democratic Gibraltar, voted four to one against it, and Columbia, another Democratic stronghold, voted four to one in its favor. Dauphin and Lebanon, both strong Re- publican counties, voted against it by decided majorities, and Indiana, a county two- thirds Re- publican, voted two to one against, while Lancaster voted two to one in favor. Somerset, a strong Re- publican county, voted three to one against, and York, a Democratic stronghold, voted nearly two to one in favor. With such confused conditions throughout the State it was impossible for the party leaders to make reason- ably safe calculations as to the result in the State, and it was finally decided by the Philadelphia party leaders that the city should give an overwhelming majority against the Constitution, regardless of the vote cast. The plan was conceived by those who held the city offices, whose hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal fees would be ended by the new fundamental law, and the scheme was thoroughly organized in all its details to assure a return of not less than 50,000 against the Constitution, which was regarded as suffi- cient to defeat it. I do not speak from rumor or cir- cumstantial evidence on this point, as tvv^o of the men who were actively engaged in the movement to make the false return in Philadelphia gave me the full details immediately after the election. An almost tragic incident occurred in the office of Mayor Stokley on election night. The returns from the city were coming in precisely according to arrange- ment, as under the registry law there was no limit upon the power of the dominant party in manufacturing returns, but soon after ten o'clock overwhelming majori^ 35^ Old Time Notes ties in favor of the Constitution came in from leading counties of the State, and it became evident that 50,000 majority in the city would not affect the result. A number of the city leaders were in the mayor's office, and it became evident that the Constitution would be adopted regardless of the frauds in Phila- delphia. Stokley, who was nothing if not heroic, called the boys down in a manner much more emphatic than elegant, and gave peremptory orders that the Phila- delphia returns should be corrected and returned as the vote had been cast. One of the men among the most active in the work, who gave me the information in detail, informed me that while they had no difficulty in carrying out the fraud to return a large majority against the Constitution, the most difficult task they had ever been called upon to perform was that of chang- ing the returns to make them appear reasonably honest, but it was finally accomplished, and the official vote as returned in Philadelphia was two to one in favor of the Constitution, giving some 25,000 majority for it instead of 50,000 against it. The majority in the State in favor of the adoption of the Constitution was 145,150. Mayor Stokley did not attempt to conceal the action he had taken in halt- ing those who were engaged in making a fraudulent return in Philadelphia. He was heartily in favor of defeating the Constitution, and though a man entirely free from venality in public and private life, he believed that in politics the end justifies the means, and when a patent fraud was about to be played without accom- plishing any substantial result beyond the disgrace it brought upon the actors, he publicly declared that he and his administration would not be ''put in a hole," and was peremptory in forcing a fairly honest return of the vote. The earnest and somewhat embittered battle on the Of Pennsylvania 357 adoption of the Constitution overshadowed the contest for State treasurer and supreme judge. Gordon was a man of fair attainments, who had served in the Legis- lature with unusual credit, had made a very acceptable record as a common pleas judge, and was a man of unquestioned integrity. He was not an important political factor, and he simply drifted with the current, while Mackey, who was absolutely in charge of the organization, managed his own contest, and to avoid accidents was careful to arrange with those in charge of the election affairs in Philadelphia to give him an in- creased majority of some 10,000 over his colleague on the State ticket. Under the registry law, that was then in its dying agonies with the advent of the new Constitution, it was not only possible, but easy of accomplishment if the proper combinations were made and the necessary cash supplied. The result was Mackey 's election by 25,000 majority over Hutchison, the Democratic candidate, while Judge Gordon's majority over Judge Ludlow, of Philadelphia, was 14,286. Mackey 's election was accomplished solely, by the majority in Philadelphia, as Hutchison had fifty-nine majority in the State outside of the city. The Republicans carried both branches of the Legis- lature, the senate having twenty Republicans, twelve Democrats and one Liberal Republican; the house forty-three Democrats and fifty-seven Republicans. The adoption of the Constitution did not affect the Legislature chosen that year, but after the session of 1874 the senate was increased to fifty and the house to over 200, with biennial sessions. The adoption of the new Constitution imposed very important and responsible duties upon the Legislature that sat during the session of 1874. All private legis- lation was practically ended, and corporate charters could be obtained only under general laws. It became 358 Old Time Notes necessary therefore for the Legislature to enact such general laws as would give proper encouragement to the varied corporate interests of the State and to the further development of our wealth by increased cor- porate combinations, and it was necessary also to empower the courts to meet the countless emergencies which often arose and called for private legislation relating to matters of limited and local interest. A committe of twelve was created in the senate, specially charged with the preparation and presentation of the bills necessary to carry into effect the new Con- stitution, in which Senator Wallace proved himself to be a master legislator. He was the author of the cor- porate system then inaugurated, and it has been little changed until this day. It was necessary also to dis- trict the State into fifty instead of thirty-three sena- torial districts, and also to fashion the representative districts, a work in which there was great room for partisan strategy, and under the leadership of Mackey the Republicans got away with about all there was in sight. He was substantially the author of every apportionment bill that was passed, and fashioned not only the senatorial and representative districts, but also the judicial districts, and in defining what districts should elect senators for two years, and what districts should elect for four years, as was necessary for the following elections, he fixed the heavy Republican senatorial districts to elect in Presidential years, while the debatable districts were left for the off year when political manipulation was much more easy than in the white heat of a Presidential struggle. In point of fact, while Mackey was in the leadership of the party organization he was practically the Legislature, for he framed or revised every important bill, and never suffered a defeat in his own political household. He possessed the important quality of a party political Of Pennsylvania 359 leader that is seldom found — that is the ability to hold his own followers in solid column, and divide the Demo- crats when necessary to win out. His influence in the Democratic lines was not so much with the commercial element as with the responsible leadership of the Demo- cratic organization. While he and Wallace had many desperate political tilts, there never was a time that either would not help the other if he could do so with- out sacrificing his own personal or political interests. As I was a senator during the session of 1874 it was natural that I was most desirous to carry into full effect the reforms of the Constitution that I had so long and earnestly advocated. I knew the trouble that would arise about passing a salary bill for the Philadelphia offices. It was an open secret then that the leading Row offices, as they were then called, paid the incum- bent from $50,000 to $100,000 a year, depending upon the measure of unscrupulous exaction of illegal fees, and not only those in office, but those expecting soon to come into these positions, would naturally resist the passage of a salary bill, as until such a bill Vv^as passed by the Legislature the old fee system would remain. Colonel Mann was then district attorney, having been elected in 187 1 after having been compelled to retire from the ticket in 1868, and he was entirely confident that he would be re-elected in the fall of 1874. General Collis was city solicitor and expected to be re-elected. My close personal relations with both of them made me feel warranted in calling them into conference and pro- posing that they should assent to the passage of a very liberal salary bill, as was required by the Constitution. They were very reluctant about assenting to it, but after several conferences they finally agreed upon a scale of salaries for the different officers of the city ranging just about as the salaries are now, with the exception of the clerk of quarter sessions, that was 360 Old Time Notes made $10,000 a year, and I framed the bill in accordance with our agreement, and passed it through both branches of the Legislature. It was before the Legislature for some weeks, and during that time I never saw an indication of organized opposition to the measure. There was obvious reluc- tance on the part of the Philadelphians who trained with the organization, but they accepted the situation and permitted the measure to pass. It was held in the house and not passed until within ten days of the adjournment, which gave the Governor the right to hold the bill for a considerable period. Soon after the adjournment it was whispered that the bill would be vetoed by the Governor, and that in addition to tech- nical objections to the measure, he thought the salaries were excessive, as none of the city offices were rated below the salary of the Governor, and one or more exceeded his. Mann and Collis, who had assented to the bill, became fully satisfied that they would be re- elected, and that if re-elected without the passage of a salary bill the old fee system would remain during their entire term, as the Constitution forbade the increase or diminution of the pay of public officers during the term for which they were elected. They earnestly pressed the Governor to veto the measure, and I was not greatly surprised one morning to find in the papers the announcement that the Governor had vetoed the salary bill. The result was that Mann was nominated for re-election with little or no opposition, but was defeated by some 4,000 by Furman Sheppard under the nev/ election law enforced by the Constitution, and the fee system continued for three years in the district attor- ney's office for the benefit of Mann's competitor. Collis failed to obtain a nomination for another term, and his successor reaped the profits he had hoped to attain by the defeat of the salary bill. That experi- Of Pennsylvania 361 ment cured the opposition to a salary bill, and the next Legislature enacted one that was substantially a copy of the measure that had been passed and vetoed in 1874. The Constitution tore up the registry law by the roots and the last election held under it was the Febru- ary election of 1874, when a mayor, city treasurer and city solicitor were chosen, as at that time the election officers to hold future elections were chosen, and the overthrow of the registry law was the beginning of the end of the Republican domination that so long ruled in Philadelphia. The defeat of Mann for district attor- ney and Ashe for coroner in 1874 was followed by the election of a Democratic sheriff in 1876, by the election of a Democratic district attorney and controller in 1877, and finally by the election of a Democratic mayor. The Committee of One Hundred came into power and found it possible to enforce something approaching honest elections, and they thoroughly revolutionized the city. It was the best-directed reform miovement of modem times. It was made up of practical business men, who understood that idealism in politics was good in theory, but utterly valueless in practice, and they not only defeated the notoriously corrupt machine men of the city, but they defeated men of the highest stand- ing who adhered to and sustained the organization, thereby giving it the benefit of their reputations. Such men as James Dobson, the elder Reyburn, men whose integrity none could question, were defeated as Repub- lican candidates in strong Republican wards, solely because they tolerated or excused the profligate and corrupt measures of the party organization to which they adhered. During that season of reform nearly every important office in the city of Philadelphia from mayor dow^n was filled by Democrats or Independent Reform Republicans, and Democrats were thrice elected 362 Old Time Notes to the important office of controller, who, as McMullen quaintly but expressively said, ''sits on the chist." For a full decade the Republican leaders were under fair notice that Machine candidates would be made to bite the dust, and the result was the defeat of many candidates of questionable character, and the nomina- tion and election of many men of the highest character and ability, but the labor of the reformer is a thankless task. It is all work and no pay beyond the gratifi- cation of having performed a duty to the public, while the work of the partisan who makes politics a trade and lives thereby is untiring. Gradually, as the reform veterans retired from the struggle, the Machine men came to the front, but it was many years before they regained the power to pollute the ballot box and to pollute municipal authority to an extent approaching that which had been common before the adoption of the new Constitution. There has been a steady battle for and against a thoroughly honest electoral system, and it will doubtless continue until the people shall be goaded to revolution and adopt the only honest method of regulating elections by requiring every voter to regis- ter and making the official ballot one that compels the voter to choose each individual candidate for every office. Until that shall be done organized and corrupt political power will always be able to debauch the ballot, differing only in degree. Of Pennsylvania 363 LXXXIV. THE STOKLEY-McCLURE MAYORALTY BATTLE. Formidable Revolt Against Stokley's Administration — The Author Peremptorily Declines to Become a Candidate for Mayor — James S. Biddle Nominated by the Democrats, but soon Thereafter Declined — Democrats and Citizens Nominate the Author without Consult- ing Him — His Acceptance Seemed to Be an Imperious Necessity — Remarkable Galaxy of Republican Leaders Who Supported Him — Interesting Episodes of the Campaign — The Author Advised Four Days before the Election of the Majority that would be Returned Against Him — Stokley Returned Elected by over 10,000 Majority. THE year 1874 was a revolutionary period in politics. The revolutionary efforts so earn- estly and fruitlessly made in 1872 gathered a liberal harvest in 1874, alike in city, State and nation. For the first time since the beginning of the war, the Democrats elected a majority of the popular branch of Congress; the entire Republican State ticket was defeated in Pennsylvania, and Mann and Ashe, Repub- lican candidates for district attorney and coroner in Philadelphia, were beaten in square contests by Dem- ocratic competitors. When the Greeley campaign failed so disastrously in 1872, it was generally assumed by the Republican leaders, and, indeed, confessed by many of the opposition, that only new conditions could organize a successful party to oppose the Republicans; but the reform seeds which had been strewn in 1872 gradually ripened, and brought many serious disasters to the Republicans. It was a year of unusual political interest in Pennsyl- 3^4 Old Time Notes vania, as one of the most desperate political struggles ever witnessed in Philadelphia was precipitated at the February election, when Mayor Stokley was nomi- nated for a second term. Stokley was a man of un- usually strong mental and physical force, generally clear in judgment, and scrupulously faithful to all his personal obligations in political life, and always exhibited a measure of courage that commanded the respect of friend and foe. As a member of select council he had championed the cause of a paid fire department when he was jeered and hissed from the lobby of the council chamber by volunteer firemen, and politicians, as a rule, feared to incur the displeasure of that powerful political and often riotous element. In politics he believed that all was fair that would obtain the desired result, but in all his official relations he never was accused of venality, even by his bitterest foes. He was a man of unusually strong intellectual qualities, with little opportunity for their culture, and while his political record as mayor w^as often open to severe and just criticism, in the most serious trial in which the city had been placed for many years, in 1877, with its peace fearfully endangered, he proved to be pre-eminently equipped for his high official trust. He had long been ambitious to reach the office of mayor, but had met with repulse after repulse. The Union League on more than one occasion refused his fellowship, and a large portion of the business men of the city opposed his nomination for mayor because they felt that he was not of the type of men upon whom the highest honors of the city had been conferred, but Stokley was nothing if not heroic, and he persisted in his candidacy until 1871, when it was found necessary to accept him to avoid repetition of the Republican defeat of 1868, v/hen Tyndale, Republican, was de- of Pennsylvania 3^5 featedby Mayor Fox, and he was elected by over 9,000 majority. Stokley believed in party rule, and he v/as a severe partisan in every feature of his official acts as mayor of the city. His police force was made an organized political machine and subject to political assessments whenever needed, and all the power of the city govern- ment, so far as he had control, was directed to serve political interests. He was trained to that method of public and private action, and he never concealed his contempt for all who attempted to enforce non-partisan business methods in municipal administration. He would not participate in the profits of any corrupt abuse of municipal power, but when political interests were to be served by contracts to favorites at excessive cost, or when the pollution of the ballot was assumed by the party leaders to be a necessity to assure party success, his active or passive approval was always ready. He believed that the land belonged to the saints and that his party were the saints, and he was always ready to bend official power to promote political schemes which commanded his favor. Corruption ran riot in some of the important departments of the city, and it was often circumstantially and clearly exposed, though safe from executive reproof so long as it served poHtical purposes, but with the general imrest that prevailed throughout the city, State and nation in the early part of 1874, it was only natural that there should be very formidable opposition to Stokley 's re-election from influential men within his own political household. The succeeding mayoralty term was to cover the Centennial period, and anxiety was felt by prominent business men to have a man of different type to wel- come the officials and people of the world to our great Centennial Exposition, but Stokley was an accom- 366 Old Time Notes plished master, and absolutely controlled the primaiy elections of his party. Earnestly as his renomination was opposed by many prominent Republicans, he was nominated for the Centennial term without serious opposition. The desire was general among that class to unite on a Citizens' ticket for the several municipal offices in co-operation with the Democratic organiza- tion, and at a conference held between prominent Democrats and prominent Reform Republicans just before the meeting of the Democratic City conven- tion they were unanimous in demanding my nomina- tion as Stokley's competitor. A committee of delegates from the Democratic convention called upon me on the morning before the body met, and informed me of their purpose to nominate rhe for mayor, and to accept me as the Citizens' candidate for that office. I told them that I could not entertain the question of accept- ing the nomination or the office, and that if nominated by the convention I would peremptorily decline. The strongest personal reasons forbade my acceptance of either the nomination or the office. I was bankrupt in property, having been made so by the destruction of Chambersburg during the war, and my private business interests demanded all my attention and care, while the hopelessly ill health of my wife made it impossible for us to accept the exacting social duties of the Cen- tennial year. The committee refused to accept my declination, and I then wrote a letter addressed to the president of the convention, stating that if nominated by the body I would certainly decline. This letter was handed to the committee with instructions to have it read in the convention. When the convention reached the question of nominating a candidate for mayor, the letter was read and the refusal to permit the use of my name was so emj^hatic that it was not presented to of Pennsylvania 367 the convention, and James S. Biddle, a gentleman of the highest character and accomphshed attainments, was unanimously nominated. I felt greatly relieved when, as I supposed, I was finally eliminated from the mayoralty contest. Clean and accomplished as was Mr. Biddle, the reform organ- ization of the city failed to accept him, and nominated William E. Littleton, who was then president of select council, and had made an unusually clean record as a city legislator. This action was a serious disappoint- ment to Mr. Biddle, and within a week or ten days he published a letter declining the Democratic nomina- tion for mayor, and the Democratic convention was reconvened two days thereafter to select a successor. I was in Harrisburg attending to senatorial duties when the convention met, happy in the belief that I was no longer thought of as a candidate for mayor, and was greatly surprised to find that the Democratic convention had nominated me as the Citizens' candi- date and adjourned without day. The same evening a call was issued signed by a number of leading Repub- licans for a Citizens' meeting in Horticultural Hall, to ratify my nomination as the Citizens ' candidate for mayor. I was greatly distressed by this action of the convention and the Citizens' committee. I knew how desperate the contest would be, and however acceptable such a high honor from the people of Philadelphia would have been under ordinary conditions, the strongest business, personal and domestic reasons made me most anxious to escape the struggle. I returned from Harrisburg on Friday evening and met a number of personal friends in conference to whom the situa- tion was frankly presented, but while they admitted that I had the best of reasons for seeking to avoid the contest, they insisted that it was no longer a matter of discretion with me, and that I must respond to the 368 Old Time Notes call that had been made upon me. I reminded them that I had no money to expend in the contest, that on a salary of $5,000 a year and no other property inter- ests but debts, I certainly could not maintain the hos- pitality that was expected from the Centennial mayor, and one of the gentlemen present, the late Allison White, who was then a large coal operator residing in the city, stated that he was prepared to give the assur- ance on his own responsibility that within three days an ample fund would be subscribed to enable me to accept the position of Centennial mayor without appre- hension of financial embarrassment, and before the three days expired he exhibited to me a paper signed by ten or twelve citizens of large means creating a fund of $100,000 that was to be expended by a com- mittee in renting and furnishing properly a house for the mayor and defraying all the expenses of main- taining it, and $50,000 of the fund was to be appro- priated for official entertainments during the Cen- tennial season. Among the names signed to that paper with Mr. White's were those of J. Edgar Thomp- son, Thomas A. Scott, William Welsh, John P. Veree, and others. Amos R. Little, a retired merchant of large means and great earnestness in the cause of reform, became chairman of the Citizens' committee to conduct the campaign, and by the time that the immense mass meeting was held in Horticultural Hall there seemed to be no choice for me but to accept the battle or lie down in front of a challenging foe. I well understood what such a contest meant. I knew the resources of the city administration, and well knew how unscrupu- lously and desperately those means were to be employed to the uttermost. I did not doubt that the battle could be won if the integrity of the ballot could be pre- served, but unfortunately while we had a new election Of Pennsylvania law that imposed severe restraints upon many features of ballot frauds, the registry law election officers yet lingered. Although the law had been repealed by the supreme law of the State, the election officers elected the previous year remained and would perform their last duties under the registry law at the mayor's elec- tion of 1874, thus giving to every division of the city an election board, every member of which was chosen by the Republican party leaders, although a minority of the officers were nominally Democratic. In the districts where frauds could not be safely attempted, thoroughly reputable election boards were appointed, but in all the divisions where fraud was possible unscru- pulous Republicans were chosen and either corrupt or utterly ignorant Democrats. The election was just three weeks distant when I accepted the nomination, and certainly the most earnest campaign ever witnessed in Philadelphia was crowded into the brief period between that time and the election. Such Republicans as the venerable Horace Binney, who cast his last vote at that election; ex-Mayor Alexander Henry, William Henry Rawle, Henry Armitt Brown, E. Joy Morris, John W. Forney, William Welsh, John P. Veree, John J. Ridgway, Amos .R. Little and many others, came to the front, and most of them along with such representative Democrats as George W. Biddle, Daniel Dougherty and others, were heard on the stump every night during the campaign. It was a battle royal from start to finish, and I spoke to from two to four large meetings every night. The popular wave of reform was unmistakable, and until within four days of the election, bets were freely offered at 100 to 80 on the defeat of Stokley. In that contest I had opportunity to learn the ingenuity, the power and the desperation of the party organization that was leading the fight most aggres- 2 — 24 370 Old Time Notes sively against us. Fortunately I had thoroughly reliable and courageous men even within the inner circle of the consultations of our opponents, and they never were permitted to surprise us by any of their many cleverly conceived plans to make a break in the tide that was against them. A captain of police, and one of the most intelligent and faithful officers of the body, had been my sincere friend for years, as I had once aided him in attaining a profitable position under Governor Curtin. He was as discreet as he was faithful to his friendships. He made an appointment to meet me at a place Vv/'here notice was quite improb- able, and frankly presented the situation to me, and the general orders under which the police were acting. I had publicly stated whenever the subject was referred to that if elected mayor no competent and faithful policeman would be removed for political or personal reasons. He asked me to authorize him to give that assurance in the most positive manner to any of the policemen who might be employed to serve him in his desire to render service to me. A confidential council was held in the office of the mayor every day. What transpired there was made known to this captain of police, and when he had information that was important for me. to have he had several faithful citizen friends who were entrusted with the mission from time to time, and I was thus kept fully advised of everything that was being done and with all the plans made for future political movements. At one of these meetings an apparent countryman was brought in by one of the police who was unscrupu- lous in his efforts to serve the mayor, and the country- man told the story that he lived in Trenton, that he was a drover, that I had stopped in Trenton overnight a year or two before, engaged him and others in a Of Pennsylvania 371 game of cards and had cheated him out of $1,700. When I state that I had never stopped in Trenton in my hfe, the falsity of the story will be understood; but it was decided that an elaborate affidavit should be drawn setting forth my whole fraudulent operations as a card sharp and have it given to the newspapers on the following day. In the several speeches I delivered that evening I stated the fact that a man, giving his name, had been employed to sign such an affidavit; that it had been prepared and was to be given to the public on the following day, adding that I had never been in Trenton in my life excepting to pass through it in a train of cars. This premature publicity of the invented scandal made them abandon it, but when election day approached they found it necessary to do something to counteract the revolutionary feeling that prevailed throughout the city, and it was delib- erately decided at a political council in the mayor's office that certain police officers who understood that sort of duty should be detailed to New York and others to Baltimore and furnished funds to bring to the city a few days before the election from fifty to one hundred toughs who were trained in all manner of ballot frauds, to scatter over the city, boisterously hurrah for McClure until Sunday or Monday before the election, when a number of them should be arrested by the police as professional repeaters and be let off when confessing that they had come to repeat for me, but would abandon the project and go home. Within two hours after that was decided upon in the office of the mayor, I was fully informed of it, and that night in several speeches the whole programme was given in detail, with the names of the policemen who had been chosen at the council to perform the duty. As the whole scheme was so circumstantially given, it was impossible for them to attempt the execution of the programme. These an- 372 Old Time Notes noiincements naturally caused serious trouble in the mayor's confidential council. Somebody was evidently talking out of school and suspicion was so clearly directed against two gentlemen present, who, while very sincerely and heartily supporting Stokley, were known to be in friendly personal relations with me, that they retired from further political conferences at the mayor's office. The week before the election the party leaders saw that unless the tidal wave that was running against them could be halted in some way they were inevitably defeated, and they sent for Quay and Mackey, then the two ablest party leaders of the State. I had then, and always had before and since during their lives, close personal friendly relations with both of them, although often compelled to lock horns with them in political conflicts. My relations with Quay were more than friendly, indeed they had been relations of close intimacy regardless of political struggles. Quay's first act when he came to Philadelphia was to invite me to dine with him alone, and I promptly accepted. At the dinner the whole general conditions of State and city were discussed in the frankest way, and he said that the most unpleasant duty he had ever been called upon to perform was the mission that he was then on in the city to defeat my election as mayor. I sug- gested to him that he might as well let municipal afi^airs alone and look after his State, but Quay's answer was: "If you're elected, where the hell will we be?" I told him that my election might seriously interfere with some of their political movements in Philadelphia, but I insisted that it would be well for the leaders of the party, and certainly for the party, to adopt methods for its direction that could not be endangered by any honest municipal power, but the suggestion was not received by Quay with any degree of enthusiasm, and Of Pennsylvania 373 after a pleasant dinner and chat we separated, he repeating the expression that he was very sorry that it was necessary for them to accomphsh my defeat. Enormous sums of money were collected from the police and city officials, with large contributions de- manded from business men actively in politics, as the campaign became fearfully expensive. Money was lavishly squandered by the party leaders in every sec- tion of the city, where it was believed that money could accomplish political results, while the chief expense on our side was the employment of a detective force, and perfecting and maintaining complete organi- zations in every division of the city. By the united action of the Democrats and the Citizens, there was no lack of money in support of our cause. One promi- nent citizen, whose official position was such that he could not afford to be suspected of contributing to the Citizens' cause, sent a friend to me to say that he de- sired to purchase $10,000 worth of certain bonds which he knew were in my possession, and which were then entirely valueless and without the prospect of value, adding that if I would deliver them to the person a fair price would be paid for them. I sent the bonds, and the man brought back to me a sealed envelope containing ten $1,000 bills. The cost of organizing the entire city, obtaining detectives and manning every poll with the proper window men was about $30,000, all of which was contributed by a small circle of citizens. On Friday night before the election, when bets were made every evening in the Continental Hotel, usually at 100 to 80 in favor of my election, I received a mes- sage to go to a particular room in a private house. I immediately obeyed the summons, and at the place stated met a local party leader, who had repeatedly given me important information, was thoroughly up 374 Old Time Notes in all that was being done, and in whose fidelity I had absolute confidence. He said that he had sent for me to advise me to go and stop at once all betting on my election; that to-morrow bets would be freely offered even on my defeat by 10,000 majority, and that all such bets would be won by my opponents. He told me that it mattered not what vote was cast, I would certainly be returned as defeated by over 10,000. I inquired whether it was to be done chiefiy by repeaters, to which he answered that he could not explain how it was to be done, adding, however, that the few thou- sand votes put in by repeaters would not affect the result. On the contrary, he said that little repeating would be done; that the election would be unusually quiet ; that there would be no attempt to rough voters at the polls, but that the result was absolutely pre- determined, and that the majority would be over 10,000. I could not doubt the correctness of the infor- mation given me, and hastened at once to stop all betting on the election as far as could be accomplished, and the result was just as foreshadowed by my friend. The election was unusually quiet, and my friends believed the victory clearly won because of the absence of desperate and violent methods at the polls, but the official returns gave 10,985 against me. It was not until a year later that I discovered how the count had been accomplished. The ballot boxes of the city were then in the custody of the city authorities, and an extra box was sent out to the divisions which could be safely manipulated containing a given number of tickets for mayor. Some one and perhaps more of the election officers understood what the box meant, how many tickets were in it, and it was only necessary to substi- tute that box for the one in which the tickets had been received during the first half or more of the day, and either add or take from it before substituting the of Pennsylvania 375 number of tickets necessary to make it correspond with the poll list. There were watchers at the polls, but the elections were conducted with such apparent fair- ness, such an absence of repeaters and attempts to rough voters, that long before the day was over every watcher was entirely satisfied that his division was square, and all that was necessary was to watch an opportunity when he was off guard to change the box. No one ever informed me that the ballot boxes had been thus stuffed and exchanged, but the man who gave me the information before the election that was fully verified by the returns often spoke of the matter when we met in a casual way, but never would explain how it had been done. On one occasion I pressed him with unusual earnestness to explain to me for my own satis- faction how the fraud had been perpetrated, and he answered by saying that he couldn't tell what had been done, or how it had been done, but added that if he had been called upon to meet such an emergency he would have done it in the manner before described. Thus ended the most desperate struggle ever made in the city of Philadelphia for its highest trust. On the ticket with me were Charles Henry Jones for cit}^ solicitor, and Mr. Peirce, of Peirce's Business College, for city treasurer, both of whom received the same blow and fell in the race. 376 Old Time Notes LXXXV. BATTLE FOR THE GREAT EXPOSITION. Party Leaders Made the Issue of the Republican Centennial Mayor the Prominent One in the Contest — Democrats in the Legislature Pro- voked to Hostile Action against the Centennial Appropriation — A Direct Appropriation Impossible — How an Apparent Appropria- tion of a Million Dollars Had Been Passed in 1873 — The Desperate Struggle to Obtain the Million Dollars Needed — Finally Saved by the Positive Intervention of Colonel Scott — The Financial Revul- sion Keenly Felt and Private Subscriptions Retarded. IT WILL doubtless surprise most of the intelli- gent citizens at the present time when it is stated that it required a very desperate strug- gle, with a large measure of legislative diplomacy, to obtain an appropriation from the State for the Cen- tennial Exposition. When the session of 1873 opened the Centennial Exposition was only three years distant, and it was an absolute necessity that Pennsylvania should contribute at least $1,000,000, with quite half that amount from the city municipality, to assure the success of the great enterprise. John Welsh, probably the most influential private citizen of Philadelphia, and one of the ripest of our business men, was placed at the head of the Centennial enterprise, and he in- formed me before the opening of the session of 1873 that an appropriation of a million dollars must be obtained from the State to make the Exposition in any way creditable to the city. Strange as it may seem, there was little enthusiasm over the Exposition throughout the State, and when the Legislature met I was appalled at the positive hostility to a large appropriation in both branches, and Of Pennsylvania 377 nearly equal in both the great political parties. After thorough conference with fellow senators and the leaders of the house, it was clearly evident that an appropriation exceeding $250,000 could not be passed in either branch. Mr. Welsh spent several days at Harrisburg with me, and personally understood the situation. He returned to the city in a condition bordering on despair. The necessity was imperative for favorable legislation promising at least a million dollars, and it was absolutely impossible to obtain that by any direct method. Finally, without consulting anyone, I framed a bill, the first section of which made a direct appropriation of $1,000,000 to the Centennial Exposition, but it was followed by various provisos. One required that a special Centennial fund should be created for the State treasury by taxes levied for the special purpose to cover the full appropriation ; another required the city of Philadelphia to make an appro- priation of $500,000 to the Exposition, and another fixed the limit of $250,000 as the appropriation from the State, in case a special Centennial fund should not be provided by special taxes. It was most important to obtain a direct appropriation of a million dollars from the State in the first section of the bill, as it made a landmark for further legislation in the event of the failure of the conditions attached. Another section of the bill provided for a special tax of three per cent, upon the gross receipts of the passen- ger railways of Philadelphia, to be paid into the treasury and to constitute the Centennial fund, out of which the million appropriation should be paid. Such a special tax was certainly of doubtful constitutionality, but it was a very good foil to disarm a considerable element of opposition to the bill. Another section of the bill provided that the $1,000,000 appropriated by the State, and the $500,000 to be appropriated by the 378 Old Time Notes city, should be expended on a memorial hall, to be erected in a suitable place in the park and to remain after the Centennial ended as a permanent place for the display of the industrial and artistic products of the Commonwealth. A number of the most distin- guished business men of the State, headed by ex- Go vemor Bigler and Ario Pardee, were named as supervisors to construct this building in accord with the Centennial authorities, and supervise the expendi- ture of the money appropriated by the city and State. Knowing that the weak point was its special tax on the gross receipts of the city railways, the bill was first submitted to William H. Kemble, who was then the master street railway man of the city, and who practi- cally dictated the general policy of that important interest. The street railways were greatly interested in the success of the Exposition, as it meant a rich harvest for them, and Kemble promptly agreed not only not to oppose the bill, but to favor its passage as the only \vay by which an appropriation or an apparent appropriation could be obtained. He laughed at the idea of forcing the street railways to pay special taxes, and said they were prepared to meet that question when it came. Kemble heartily co-operated in the support of the measure, and his action doubtless induced many legislators to favor the bill, believing that the city passenger railways would pay the entire $1,000,000 appropriation. The bill was also submitted to Colonel Scott, without whose cordial support it could not have been passed. When he learned that Kemble was entirely willing to support it he said that Kemble tinder- stood his business, as the city railways were not in any serious danger of special taxation, and the result was that the bill passed both branches in a very brief period and was approved by the Governor. While in point of fact the bill simply assured an actual appropriation Of Pennsylvania 379 of $250,000, it was generally believed that at the next session any necessary amendments could be accom- plished to assure the full $1,000,000 from the State in some way, and the city authorities hastened to make a positive appropriation of $500,000, to be expended on the special State and city building in accordance with the act of Assembly. When the Legislature met in 1874 there were very confused political conditions, and the Philadelphia mayorality contest added greatly to partisan disturb- ance on the Centennial issue. The supporters of Stokley appealed to the people at every mass meeting to elect a Republican mayor for the safety of the Cen- tennial, as the entire State and National authorities were Republican, and the success of the Exposition would be greatly impaired by my election. This was not simply an incidental issue of the contest, but it was made the main issue, and when Stokley was returned as re-elected the Democrats generally were not only very greatly chilled in their support of the Exposition, but absolutely driven into open opposition. No move- ment had been made in the Legislature until after the mayorality contest was over to revise the bill making a State appropriation to the Centennial, and when I returned to the senate, after three weeks of campaign- ing, I found every Democrat in the senate provoked to positive hostility to any further appropriation to the Exposition, while the Republicans were nearly evenly divided for and against it. My position in the senate was one of peculiar delicacy and responsibility. If I failed to secure the direct appropriation of a million dollars from a body that was then certainly two-thirds hostile to it, it would have been impossible to escape the accusation that political disappointment had made me indifferent to the success of the Centennial and false to senatorial 38o Old Time Notes duties. There Vv^ere a number of unusually able Demo- crats in the body at the time, including Wallace, Dill, Yerkes, and others, and the closest friendly relations existed between us, while on the other side were men like Strang, Cooper and Rutan, who were equally friendly, personally, and all of them broad gauge, liberal men. The first move made was a conference with the leading Democratic senators, to whom the situation was frankly presented in confidence and the position in which I would be placed if the appropriation failed, however faithfully and wisely I had supported it. They held the matter imder advisement for some time and finally agreed that they would support the measure chiefly as a matter of justice to myself. It was generally accepted at the time that the proposed special tax on the gross receipts of the passenger rail- ways could not be enforced and that there was prac- tically no special Centennial fund to be in the treasury by the bill enacted the previous year. It was necessary, therefore, to make the appropriation of a million dollars direct to the Exposition, but the shock of such a drain upon the treasury was somewhat tempered by provid- ing that it should be paid in three payments, the last to be made on the 4th of July, 1876. Elliott, of Philadelphia, was speaker of the house, and greatly interested in the Centennial appropriation. He was a man of unusal force and rendered a most im- portant service in bringing the house into the support of the measure, but with all the combined power that could be brought to favor the bill at Harrisburg, it was found that we lacked a majority of votes in both house and senate. We struggled along for several weeks, and found it impossible to marshal a majority in support of the Centennial. S. S. Moon had long been the personal representative of Colonel Scott, of the Pennsylvania Railroad, at Harrisburg, and was, of of Pennsylvania course, earnestly co-operating YAth. the friends of the measure. He understood the situation better than anybody else. He not only knew who were for it and who against it, but he also knew who might be obtained for it if imperious necessity demanded imusu- ally persuasive methods. We went together to Colonel Scott, and presented the actual condition at Harris- burg, disclosing the fact that unless special and im- portant support could be brought to favor the appro- priation, it must certainly fail. Scott's final orders were in about these words: "Well, Moon, see that the bill is passed; the Centennial must be made a great success." In the then existing conditions at Harris- burg that order from Colonel Scott meant the success of the bill, but the opposition fought tirelessly and desperately, and it was not until the early part of May that the bill making a clean appropriation of one million to the Centennial was finally enacted. The opposition managed very adroitly to amend the original bill and bring the two houses in conflict, result- ing in a committee of conference that finally reported to both branches the bill as it was enacted. It was in the closing days of the session, when prompt action was necessary. Just when the measure was called up for final action in the senate, and some member of the body was delivering an argument against it, a page brought me a message from Moon, stating that our lines were broken, and that a vote must not be permitted until he gave a signal from some position in the chamber where I could see him distinctly, by dropping his handkerchief on the floor in an apparently accidental way. The debate continued for half an hour or more, when no one seemed desirous to continue it, and a vote would have been precipitated had not the debate been renewed. Having had no signal from Moon, I was compelled to take the floor and to speak in support of 382 Old Time Notes the measure until his handkerchief was seen to drop. It was not necessary to watch Moon, as he would cer- tainly be somewhere in plain view when he could give the signal, and I was compelled to speak just forty- three minutes, when his welcome presence appeared at a w^indow in clear view, and he immediately drew a white handkerchief from his pocket, and, after wiping his face, dropped it on the floor. The speech was sud- denly rounded out, and a vote taken resulting in the final passage of the bill. Where or how our line had been broken, or how it was repaired, was never inquired into, but Moon saved the Centennial appropriation. The financial revulsion that culminated three years later in an eruption of anarchy throughout the entire cotmtry, had its beginning in 1873 by the failure of the great banking house of Jay Cooke & Co. It was not the failure of that house that caused the revulsion, for if it had been able to maintain itself the revulsion would have been precipitated by some other failure at an early day. Jay Cooke had no apprehension of failure until the day that he was compelled to close the doors of his banking house. I saw him in his office the day before the suspension merry as a cricket. He was one of the most genial and delightful of men, always look- ing on the bright side, and within twenty-four hours of his failure he spoke most hopefully of business and financial conditions generally. He had undertaken to finance the Northern Pacific Railway, and when the excessive tide of inflation caused by the war, and the immense volume of currency, worth from 60 to 70 cents on the dollar, began its ebb, it was gradual, but steady, in pinching all who were involved in financial operations, and especially the debtor class. Probably at no period in the history of the country were the peo- ple so largely in debt as they were in 1873. 'The high prices of agricultural products made farmers increase of Pennsylvania 383 their lands at enormous prices, and when Uquidation came m.any of them found that their assets would not realize over fifty cents on the dollar. When the revul- sion began in 1873 "the impression was very general that it was only a temporary break in the general tide of prosperity, but thoughtful business men understood the conditions better. They knew that the people were very largely in debt, and many of them unable to pay their obligations, which would stand unchanged in amount against them while their assets would be greatly diminished in value. The restrictive condition was sensibly felt in 1874, and it increased as liquidation continued through 1875-6, and culminated in the most violent financial and industrial eruption in 1877. The country has never appreciated the colossal service rendered to the government during the Civil War by Jay Cooke. He was a young banker, and had not been brought up in the severe banking environ- ment that obtained in the Eastern cities. When the financial circles had practically ceased to accept the loans of the government Jay Cooke had the courage and possessed the ability to teach the people their opportunities and their prerogatives as the sovereign power of the Republic. He made his appeal to the homes of the land; not to the rich, but to all classes and conditions, and taught them that it was their own government they were called upon to save, and that their loans were substantially loans to themselves. His new financial methods were a revelation to the old- time bankers, and they were astounded at the success achieved by the sale of the loans to the masses of the people by new m.ethods created by the masterly genius of the young Ohio banker. From the time that he made his first successful sale of a government loan to the people, the problem of National credit was solved, and solved by Jay Cooke. Thereafter the 384 Old Time Notes government could command all the loans needed for the prosecution of the war, and the financial success of the administration, in the face of most appalling difficulties, was due to the rare financial genius and tireless energy of Jay Cooke. Private subscriptions to the Centennial were largely restricted by the new financial conditions of 1874-75- 76, and the fact that the revulsion was felt through- out the entire State greatly increased the difficulty in obtaining a million appropriation from the Legislature in aid of the Centennial. John Welsh, who was the financial manager of the Exposition, had a most responsible and laborious task, but he was a man always dominated by his public spirit in support of the ad- vancement of the city, and he labored night and day, but even with the State and city appropriations he barely escaped financial failure. Public meetings were held throughout the city which were addressed by the ablest of our orators to inspire the people to contribute to the support of the Exposition, and committees were appointed to visit and personally solicit subscriptions. The importunities were not confined to people of wealth, but all classes and conditions were visited and urged to contribute according to their means, however small. It was then believed that the Exposition could take in sufficient money to pay all the expenses and fully reimburse the subscribers, but the appropriation made by Congress imfortunately embraced the clause making the government a preferred creditor, and as the receipts fell far below what was originally expected, the indi- vidual subscriptions were nearly or quite a total loss. There was very general business and industrial depres- sion during the Centennial year of 1876, and it was very severely felt in the receipts. Scores of thousands throughout the country who would have visited the Exposition if the War tidal wave of prosperity had not Of Pennsylvania 38s been checked were compelled to forego the pleasure of personally celebrating the Centennial of the natal day of the Republic, but the general management of the enterprise made exhaustive and well-considered efforts to bring the largest possible attendance. John Welsh, by his patriotic devotion and tireless efforts to promote the Exposition, rendered a service to the city and State, that was known only to the few who aided him in his exacting labors, and has never been justly appreciated. The politicians, as a rule, did little in aid of the Expo- sition enterprise. Democratic leaders in both city and State were disgusted by the partisan slough into which the contest for the Centennial mayor had been plunged by the Philadelphia leaders, and the very men who had thus alienated a large element of contributors, when they had won out at the February election, allowed the Exposition to take care of itself, as they had more than enough on hand to keep their political fences in reasonable repair. The subscriptions from business men throughout the State were not ten per cent, of what they should have been under ordinary good con- ditions, and the contributions were as a rule secured only by personal visit and solicitation. Had the busi- ness conditions of 1874-75 been as favorable as they were prior to the beginning of the revulsion of 1873, and had there been no political complications to chill the ardor of the Democrats, fully a million dollars more could have been obtained by the Exposition management, and with less than half the labor required to obtain the amount actually received. It was most fortunate that the Centennial was not delayed a year later. Had 1877 embraced the Cen- tennial anniversary of the Declaration of Independence the Exposition would have been a colossal failure. Labor strikes prevailed throughout the country from the eastern to the western sea ; labor was largely unem- 2— 25 386 Old Time Notes ployed and poorly requited when empolyment was given, and finally a period of actual starvation was reached, and an eruption of anarchy engulfed all the great industrial centers of the land. Even the great trunk railways were in possession of the mob, and trains ran only as the mob dictated. Governor Hartranft was on a visit to the Pacific coast when the eruption came, and when he started to come home to make an earnest effort to maintain the peace of his great State, he found that he could travel only by permission of anarchy. The leaders of the revolutionists were wise enough, however, to recognize the necessity of giving the Governor of Pennsylvania a clear passage to his capital, and when both commerce and travel were interrupted almost to a standstill the train bearing the Governor to Harrisburg was handled with special care, and every facility afforded for his speedy and safe return to his offi- cial duties. In Philadelphia the Pennsylvania Railroad for some days could not send a locomotive out of its depot, and the bravest men were appalled at the possible mastery of anarchy. Had the Centennial Exposition struck such a year the receipts would not have paid operating expenses. Of Pennsylvania 387 LXXXVI. WALLACE ELECTED U. S. SENATOR. Republicans Lose the State at the First Election under the New Con- stitution — Wallace Carefully Organized the Democrats, and had a Large Majority of Friends in the Legislature — Nominated for United States Senator with But Few Dissenting Votes — Buckalew Hostile to Wallace, and Controlled Enough Votes to Defeat Him — Buckalew's Attempt to Deal with Mackey — Mackey Saves Wallace. NOTWITHSTANDING the triumph of the Re- pubHcan leaders in the Philadelphia mayor- alty contest of 1874, the political conditions of both city and State were very unpromising for the Republicans. The registry law election officers had been entirely supplanted at the February election, and the usual methods of controlling majorities in Philadelphia could no longer be employed. A new political factor had gradually developed in the city until it finally became a fearful millstone on the neck of the Republican organization. It was known as the Pilgrim Club, organized ostensibly as a social club, but it was soon discovered that the m^embership had been carefully chosen, and that it embraced a number of prominent Republicans and a lesser number of prom- inent Democrats who acted unitedly in Philadelphia politics. Colonel Mann was one of the prominent Republican members, and Lewis C. Cassidy was one of the promi- nent Democratic members, and with Cassidy were Samuel Josephs, Senator Cochrane, son-in-law to Cassidy, and other Democrats who were ready to co- operate with the Pilgrim organization either for or against their own respective parties, if power or profit 388 Old Time Notes could thereby be attained. It made Cassidy, Josephs, Cochrane and all the other Democratic members of the club ardently support Stokley in the contest for mayor, and it became so aggressive that it finally assumed to dictate the nominations of both parties. General Bingham, a member of the Pilgrim Club, was nominated for clerk of the quarter sessions in 1875, but the hostility aroused against the variegated political masters of the club made the Union League rebel, and by the vote of its own members it rejected Bingham as a candidate after his nomination had been made, and he narrowly escaped defeat. In the contest of 1874 this peculiar organization alienated many of the more intelligent Republicans from the dominant power of the party, and throughout the State the Republican organization lacked vitality. There was an imusually large State ticket to be elected, including two additional supreme judges added to that court by the new Constitution, but the people were allowed to vote for only one candidate for judge, thus assuring the election of the Republican and Dem- ocratic candidates, regardless of the success of either party in the State. The Republican convention, that was practically controlled by State Treasurer Mackey, with Quay, then secretary of the commonwealth, as a close second, nominated Judge Paxson, of Philadel- phia, for the supreme bench, with Senator Olmsted of Potter, for lieutenant governor. Senator Allen, of Warren, for auditor general, and General Beath, of Philadelphia, for secretary of internal affairs. The ticket was a very creditable one, as Olmsted was one of the ablest and most respected of the prominent legis- lators of the State, while Allen had served creditably in both branches, and Beath was one of our most gal- lant soldiers. Paxson had long been on the common pleas bench of Philadelphia, and was recognized as Of Pennsylvania 389 one of the foremost of our Philadelphia jurists. The Democrats nominated Senator Latta, of Westmore- land, for lieutenant governor, Justus F. Temple, a Greene County farmer, for auditor general. General McCandless, of Philadelphia, for secretary of internal affairs, and Warren J. Woodward, of Berks, for the supreme court. In Philadelphia the important city offices of district attorney and coroner were to be filled, and Colonel Mann was nominated to succeed himself as district attorney, and Representative Ashe was nominated for coroner. The local candidates were both mem- bers of the Pilgrim Club, and they were presented by their opponents in every section of the city as the Pil- grim candidates. Fur man Sheppard, who had been defeated by Mann three years before, was again nomi- nated as Mann's competitor, and Dr. Goddard was made the Democratic candidate for coroner. Mackey, who had won out the year before by his majority in Philadelphia, as he came to the city with fifty-nine votes against him, did not believe it possible that the Democrats could carry the State, as he believed that the congressional year, with an unusually im- portant State ticket, would call out a much larger Republican vote than he had received in 1873. The new Legislature to be chosen was the first to conform to the new constitutional provision enlarging the senate from thirty to fifty, and the house to about two hun- dred. A United States Senator was to be chosen by the Legislature, and Mackey gave special attention to the Legislative districts, but Senator Wallace, alto- gether the ablest of the Democratic organizers of his day, saw the opportunity to carry the Legislature and thus win the United States Senatorship for himself. He devoted himself and his well -organized body of very devoted friends to the single duty of looking after the 390 Old Time Notes Legislative districts, and as the political tide proved to be in his favor, he won out handsomely, carrying nine Democratic majority on joint ballot. Mackey found his majorities for the State ticket very generally lessened, and the Democratic candidates came to the city of Philadelphia with nearly 18,000 majority. Philadelphia gave a little over 13,000 for the State ticket, thus enabling the State Democratic candidates to win out by over 4,000 majority. Judge Paxson had a majority against him with his comrades on the State ticket, but he was saved as the minority mem- ber of the supreme judges. Not only did the Republicans lose their entire State ticket and the majority in the Legislature, but they suffered severely from a loss of Congressmen. The delegation elected two years before contained five Democrats and twenty- two Republicans, while the delegation elected in 1874 contained seventeen Dem- ocrats and ten Republicans. Harmer was beaten in the Fifth district, in Philadelphia; Laporte was defeated by Powell, in the Bradford district ; Blair was defeated by Riley, in the Blair district ; Stenger defeated Wistar, in the Franklin district; Hopkins defeated Negley, in one of the Allegheny districts, and Cochrane defeated Bayne in the other; Jenks defeated Harry White in the Armstrong district, and Egbert defeated Curtis in the Erie district. It was a Republican Waterloo, and was a most marvelous political achievement con- sidering that the victorious party was beaten in the State only two years before by nearly 140,000 majority. The term of John Scott was about to expire in the Senate. He had made an unusually creditable record as Senator. While always recognizing just obligations to party interests, he was not subject to orders from party leaders. Had the Legislature been Republican, he would not have been re-elected, as they wanted and Of Pennsylvania . 391 greatly needed a much more flexible type of Senator. Mackey and Quay decided that, as a Republican could not be elected, the only thing they could do was to punish Scott for having been a faithful Senator, and they refused him a renomination, which was only an empty honor, beyond an expression of appreciation of his Senatorial record. While he cared little for the ofhce, and was probably more than willing to retire, he and his friends were greatly mortified at the Machine whip that was plied upon him to make him retire from the Senate without even the empty nomination of his party. In order to emphasize the lesson, Quay selected John Allison, an ex- Congressman from his own town, to whom the party nomination for Senator was awarded. When Scott retired from the Senate he was soon made the general solicitor of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and continued in that responsible position until his death. No man in the public service left a cleaner record than did John Scott. As Wallace had given his personal attention to the nomination and election of Democratic senators and representatives, an overwhelming majority of the Dem- ocratic legislators were in favor of him for United States Senator, and in the Democratic caucus he was nomi- nated by more than a three-fourths vote, but some half dozen of the Democrats were devoted followers of Buckalew, and Buckalew was earnestly disposed to resent the humiliation put upon him by Wallace, when Buckalew 's term in the Senate had ended. Instead of according to Buckalew the empty compliment of a nomination, Wallace took it himself, intending it to be an intimation to the Democrats of the State of his purpose to contest for that honor in the future. Buckalew felt very keenly the slight that was put upon him, and some of his friends were ready for revolu- tionary action against Wallace. I was at Harris- 392 Old Time Notes btirg when the contest was on and witnessed the inner movements on both sides. Buckalew was implacable in his opposition to Wallace, and believed that he had the power to defeat him. He had more than enough Democratic votes ready to follow him to prevent the election of Wallace, but he knew that a deadlock would be very odious, and he at once sought to make terms with Mackey and Quay. Buckalew 's proposition to them was that he would allow them to name a clean Democratic candidate for United States Senator, to whom the entire Republican vote should be given, and Buckalew would give him enough Democrat votes to assure his election, but Buckalew with all his great ability had little knowledge of the inner circles of Pennsylvania politics. He might just as well have gone to Wallace himself to propose a deal as to go to Mackey and Quay, as they were friendly to Wallace, and they meant that if any Democrat was elected it must be Wallace. Buckalew had several conferences with Mackey and Quay and they held the matter under advisement, until the morn- ing of the day when the vote was to be taken for Senator, they surprised Buckalew by notifying him that they would not take the responsibility to choose between Democrats for the position of Senator, but proposed that they would cast the entire Republican vote for any Republican that Buckalew might name, if Bucka- lew would join to secure his election. Buckalew then saw that he was really in the Wallace camp when con- ferring with Mackey and Quay, as between Democrats the Republicans could readily excuse themselves for choosing the man they preferred, and that man would certainly have been Wallace, who had many personal friends in both branches of the Legislature independent of his close relations with the Republican leaders. Wallace, of course, was fully advised from time to time Of Pennsylvania 393 by mewSsengers from Mackey and Quay of what trans- pired between them and Buckalew and was entirely confident that the RepubHcan leaders would in some way end the contest in his favor. When Mackey made the proposition to Buckalew to elect any Republican Senator that Buckalew might name and gave that as his ultimatum, Buckalew sud- denly abandoned the fi^ht, and sent word directly to Wallace that the Buckalew Democrats would vote for him. I was in Wallace's room at the Bolton House when the Buckalew message was received by Wallace. The fight was thus ended, as Wallace was elected in the joint convention, practically without a struggle, and Buckalew retired rather more disgusted with the play that Mackey and Quay had made upon him than be- cause of the success of Wallace, and he never thereafter attempted to make himself felt as a factor in State politics. He was later twice elected to Congress, but roimded out a career of rare distinction and usefulness by a humiliating defeat for another term in Congress, in the strongest Democratic district in the State out- side of Berks. He struck the fearful revolutionary tide of 1884, when the State voted nearly two to one Republican. Wallace was the last Democratic Senator from Penn- sylvania, and the Legislature that elected him was the last Pennsylvania Legislature with a Democratic major- ity on joint ballot. Even in the revolutionary sweep of 1877, when the Democrats elected their State ticket by a larger majority than they attained in 1874, they failed to carry a majority of the Legislature. Thus for thirty years the Pennsylvania Legislature has been uniformly Republican. When Wallace resigned his seat in the State senate to assume his Senatorial duties at Washington, Dr. Boyer, of Clearfield, who had been involved in the Senatorial scandal when Buckalew 394 Old Time Notes defeated Cameron in 1863, was elected to serve Wal- lace's unexpired term. When Wallace became United States Senator he rapidly developed as a political organizer of the Senate, and in a very short time was formally recognized as the Democratic manager of the body. He was a most adroit politician, and as able in shaping the party policy in the United States Senate as he was in organizing his party forces in the State, and he regarded his nomi- nation and election to the Presidency as altogether within the range of possibility. That was Wallace's chief error, as from the time he became a candidate for President he greatly impaired his own powers as a party leader. Randall had been in the House for a dozen years, and was a candidate for speaker when Wallace became Senator. Instead of heartily support- ing Randall, as was his true policy, he assumed that it would endanger his own prospects if Randall became speaker of the House, as he knew that Randall looked to the Presidency as a possible achievement. Wallace threw himself openly and aggressively into the fight against Randall, and was successful in defeating him by the nomination of Ker, of Indiana. Ker was elected, but died within a year, and Randall then became speaker without a serious contest. Wallace saw that Randall could not be defeated, and permitted the nomination to go by default. That was the beginning of an estrangement between Wallace and Randall that continued as long as they were actively in politics. I cannot recall a single political movement in the State thereafter in which they cordially co-operated, and Wallace's last battle was fought at Scranton for the nomination for Gov- ernor only a few months after Randall's death. New forces and new conditions had arisen such as confront every political leader after the long exercise of power, Of Pennsylvania 395 and he was defeated by a convention in v/hich a major- ity of the delegates were of Wallace's old-time follow- ing, but the granger element had becom.e very aggres- sive, and the "hayseed" influence dominated the con- vention, and made Wallace an impossible candidate. Soon thereafter his financial failure was announced, resulting from heavy investments made in timber lands and other Western property, most of which became valuable after some years, but not in time to save Wallace from bankruptcy. The last few years of his life he spent chiefly in New York city, struggling from day to day to hold his property and rescue him- self from his serious financial troubles. His political power, once so omnipotent in the State, had entirely passed away, fickle fortune had deserted him, and after a long and wearing struggle to retrieve his con- dition, the silver cord was loosed by fretting anxiety and the once great leader was borne to the City of the Silent at his mountain home. The defeat of the Republican State ticket, and the loss of Republican control in the Legislature were appalling results to Mackey and Quay, and when they looked over the other States they found little to encour- age them. Governor Hartranft would come up for re-election the following year, and they appreciated the necessity for most extraordinary efforts to restore Republican supremacy in the State. The elections of 1874 v/ere a regular Democratic tidal wave, as they elected Democratic Governors in Massachusetts, New^ Hampshire and Connecticut; the Democratic Gover- nor in New York by over 50,000, and Governor Beadle, Democrat, was elected by a large majority in New Jersey. Ohio had elected a Democratic Governor the year before, and elected the Democratic State ticket that year by an increased majority. Indiana had also given a large Democratic majority, and the 396 Old Time Notes Republicans elected a State officer in Illinois only by- division among the Democrats. The Democrats elected a large majority of the popular branch of Congress for the first time since the beginning of the Civil War, and Mackey and Quay fully appreciated the serious political conditions which confronted them. They at once directed their efforts to making a com- plete organization throughout the State for the re- election of Governor Hartranft, and it was carried to the extent of a positive contract made with the leaders of the Molly Maguires in Schuylkill County, by which the protection of the Governor was promised them if they would support the Republican ticket. It is due to Governor Hartranft to say that he had no knowledge of this compact at the time, and did not know of it until some time after his re-election, if he ever knew of it, when Jack Kehoe, who had made the contract on the part of the Molly Maguires, had been convicted of murder in the first degree along with a number of his associates, and was in prison awaiting the death warrant of the Governor. Exhaustive efforts were made on the part of Mackey and others to save the life of Kehoe, but Hartranft yielded to these importunities only to the extent of delaying the execu- tion for an unusual period. The political compact with the Molly Maguires had been publicly discussed during the campaign, and the delay in the execution of Kehoe finally brought out the most emphatic de- mand, not only from the Democratic journals of the State, but from many of the leading Republican organs, for the prompt issue of the death warrant. Whether Hartranft was ever advised of the compact that had been made for the protection of Kehoe and others is now uncertain, but it is safe to assume that, however he may have temporized the delay, he was incapable of such a flagrant disregard of his official duty as to Of Pennsylvania 397 protect the lives of men who had in cold blood delib- erately planned and executed many murders without provocation. It was expected that Kehoe would make a statement when he appeared on the fatal platform for execution, but he understood the situation, and the men who had made the compact with him were de- lighted to be able to say that he died game. Mackey and Quay were tireless in their efforts to rehabilitate the party organization to enable it to win the following year by the re-election of Hartranft and to regain the control of the Legislature. They took every legislative district in hand, gave personal atten- tion to the nomination of candidates wherever a con- test was probable, contributed freely to aid in the nomi- nation of available men, and in doubtful districts money was liberally supplied to aid the Republican nominees. Live party organizations were made in every election district in the State, and long before the campaign opened, or the State nominations were made, and the result was that by the time the State conven- tion met they had the party in the best possible shape, and recovered the State by a small majority with the control of both branches of the Legislature. It was the work of these two men at the opening of the year 1875 ^^^^ made the re-election of Hartranft possible. They were working day and night when the Democratic leaders were at rest, and it was organization alone that saved Governor Hartranft in the contest of 1875. 398 Old Time Notes LXXXVII. THE PHILADELPHIA "TIMES." The Author First Purchased the Press from Colonel Forney — Contract Revoked — How the Times Was Founded — Personal Friends Take a Fourth Interest for the Author — Collins Gives Instructions to the Editor — Final Success of the Newspaper — How the Original Part- ners Protected Collins in His Misfortune — Independent Journalism a Surprise to Philadelphia — Liberal Return to the Stockholders of the Newspaper — Personal Relations of the Author with Political Leaders. THE year 1875 dated a very important and far- reaching revolution in Philadelphia journal- ism. The long-maintained rule of political Machine leaders in Philadelphia, with the vast patron- age they possessed for the newspapers, which they steadily increased by legislation, and the prompt con- victions and severe punishm.ent for libel, had gradually stripped Philadelphia journalism of the essential attribute of manly independence. The ''Ledger" was beyond the control of political power, but it was severely neutral, and maintained its wonderful pros- perity by rarely giving offense. Political leaders did not hesitate to proclaim their general mastery over the newspapers of the city, and it was not imcommon for them to call upon editors, dictate a policy, and openly declare to their associates that the newspaper was ''fixed." Colonel Forney had quickened Philadelphia journal- ism in some measure by the advent of "The Press" in 1857, and the heroic and masterly battle he fought against the policy of the Buchanan administration, but after his great work was accomplished, and he of Pennsylvania 399 became the recipient of official favors, the aggressive independence of the paper gradually lessened until it was finally classed with the dependent organs. The repeated struggles in the city, started by the senatorial contest of 1872, and culminating in the mayoralty contest of 1874, created a profound reform sentiment, not only throughout the city, but generally throughout the State, as was clearly exhibited by the defeat of the entire Republican State and city ticket in 1874. There was no public journal in Philadelphia to give expression to the reform sentiment and organize it to effective action. Colonel Forney was then in Europe, and his great newspaper had steadily gravitated downward tmtil it had little influence and as little profit. Without consulting any one but Governor Curtin, I decided to make a proposition to Forney for the pur- chase of ''The Press," and wrote out an agreement of sale whereby he would have received $300,000 for the machinery, fixtures and good will of the paper. By the terms of the agreement he would have received $160,000 in cash and $140,000 in six per cent, preferred stock, and the purchaser to take common stock to the amount of cash actually paid. In addition, a perma- nent rental of the rooms occupied in ''The Press" building was made at $10,000 a year, and Forney was to be permanently employed as contributing editor at $100 a week. The agreement was transmitted to Forney in London, and after cabling for and receiving explanations of one or two features of the agreement, he signed the contract of sale that already had my signature, mailed it to me from London, and cabled authority to take possession of the newspaper property. No one was advised of these proceedings but Curtin and myself, and the men in charge of the paper under the general direction of Mr. Weigley, Forney's son-in- law, were greatly surprised when I called at the office 400 Old Time Notes and exhibited Forney's cablegram closing the sale. Access was promptly given for the examination of all the departments of the paper, and arrangements were made to take possession of it on the first of the fol- lowing month. The sale of ''The Press" v/as publicly announced, and it was notice to the political leaders of the city that aggressive hostility to their mastery was about to confront them. I went to Washington to complete arrangements for the Press Bureau at the National Capital, and when I returned Mr. Weigley informed me that Mrs. Forney was very much disturbed about the sale and desired to see me. The terms were so advan- tageous to Forney that I could not doubt that Mrs. Forney vv^ould be glad to approve the sale, if she fairly understood the conditions, but I was surprised to find her implacably and violently hostile to it. She stated that she had consulted Mr. Childs, Mr. McMichael and other prominent friends of Colonel Forney, who had cabled to Forney urging him not to consummate the sale, as they did not then know that the contract of sale had been signed by both parties and was complete. Mrs. Forney appealed to me in the agony of tears to permit the sale to be revoked. I well knew how errone- ously she reasoned on the subject, but I finally agreed that a cablegram should be sent to Forney over my signature authorizing him to revoke the contract if he desired to do so. The result was that within twenty- four hours Forney cabled revoking the sale, and Fome^^ continued to conduct ''The Press" for several years with little profit, and finally sold it to its present owners for just one-half the price he would have received by the contract of 1875. The necessity for an independent newspaper was so generally understood, and the establishment of such a journal so earnestly desired, that. the failure of "The Of Pennsylvania 401 Press" purchase brought Frank McLaughlin and myself into conferences on the subject of starting an entirely new paper. Our acquaintance was not inti- mate, although each probably we'll understood the qualities of the other, as McLaughlin was known to be one of the most accomplished printers and publishers of the city. He had ample capital, which I had not, but I had assurances from friends that my share of the needed capital wou.ld be furnished. It was a bold ■undertaking to start a new daily journal in Philadelphia without the hope of any official patronage, and with the assured hostility of the whole political power of city and State. McLaughlin was an extremely cau- tious man, but broad gauge and liberal in carrying out any enterprise he decided to accept. The man who really brought Mr. McLaughlin and myself together, and who finally resolved all doubts in McLaughlin's mind about engaging in the new venture, was Philip Collins, an old-time close friend of McLaughlin, who had retired from business as one of the greatest of our State railroad contractors, with an ample fortune, and located in Philadelphia. "The Age," then owned by Dr. Morwitz, that had less than five hundred circulation, was offered for $30,000 payable in the stock of the new company, and that gave us the Associated Press franchise. One- fourth of the capital stock was taken by Governor Curtin, Charles A. Dana, Andrew IL Dill and Colonel Scott, represented by Senator Wallace, who kindly proposed to take the risk of the venture, and allow me at any time to becom.e owner of their stock, by paying the par value and six per cent, interest. The owmer- ship of the new paper was divided into four equal parts and held by Frank McLaughlin, his brother, John, Philip Collins and myself, holding the powers-of- attorney for those v/ho had subscribed to my interest. 2 — 26 Old Time Notes The only things of value to us in the equipment of the old ''Age" office were the cases, tables and an old double cylinder Hoe press, capable of printing about 15,000 copies of " The Times" in an hour on one side. The outside formes were put to press about midnight, and before finishing the first run the pressman, who is now mine host of Dooner's Hotel, would go out on the street star-gazing, and if a fair morning was prom- ised, he would add 500 to the regular edition, and if stormy weather was indicated, he would cut about the same number from it. Of course, the weather was at times fickle and misled Pressman Dooner by furnishing a clear morning when he had printed a re- duced edition for a stormy morning, but these were unavoidable accidents. All of the m.en connected with the business part of the enterprise, including the four who kindly furnished my capital, have crossed the dark river, but tv/o of the men who began with the issue of the fi^rst number of The Times" are yet well knowm in journalistic circles. Dr. Lambdin, now editor of the Ledger," was manag- ing editor of the Times" when it was first issued, and continued to fill that position creditably until the "Ledger" finally purchased the paper and continued Dr. Lambdin on the stafi". Louis N. Megargee, then an ambitious embryo reporter, was on the local staff, and wrote for the first issue an article of a column and a half, beginning the battle against the Philadelphia Pilgrims that not long thereafter ended in the destruc- tion of that organization. Philip Collins, without whom ''The Times" probably never would have been started, was a man of few words, but he exhibited an unusual interest in the newspaper enterprise that was entirely outside of his business ideas and tastes. The first number was issued on the 13th of March, 1875, in the "Old Age" building on Seventh Street, Of Pennsylvania above Chestnut, and on the day before its issue, when all hands were hard at work, Collins came into my editorial room, and after asking a few questions as to how things were progressing, he came up to me and said : I have put a large amoimt of money in this enterprise and perhaps am largely responsible for bringing others into it. I believe that the paper can be made a great success, but if it fails I won't squeal. I have but one request to make of you ; that is that you shall run this paper just as you damn please." I answered that while I expected to assume the responsi- bility for the tone and general policy of the paper, I should certainly rely to some measure upon the con- siderate judgment of my associates. The paper was started without a single subscriber, and none were distributed gratuitously. A fund of $50,000 was in bank to aid in meeting the current expenses. At the end of three months we had drawn over $13,000 upon that fund; the next quarter the receipts and expendi- tures were about balanced, and at the end of the year we could have paid a dividend of six per cent, out of earnings and cash in hand. The second year we bought the property at Eighth and Chestnut with a mortgage of $50,000 upon it, and built the original Times building out of the drawer dur- ing the Centennial year, and bought two Hoe Perfect- ing presses, and the third year we paid the mortgage on the property with a considerable surplus in the treas- ury. No dividends were thus paid the first three years, and dividends were also passed some ten years later when the paper was reduced to a penny, and a hundred thousand dollars of new machinery had to be purchased, and again when ''The Times' " mechanical building on Sansom Street was burned in 1892, when the rebuilding and the increased plant cost $115,000 more than the insurance. Notwithstanding these five years in which 404 Old Time Notes no dividends were paid, ''The Times" in the twenty- six years in which it was under the direction of its foimders paid its stockholders in cash dividends their entire capital five times over, and then sold the property at a premium of $275 per share, including every share of stock issued by the company. The dividends many years were as high as forty per cent, and in a short time they refunded to those who had aided it their money with interest. There were few stockholders outside of the four chief interests in the paper, and they had the assurance that under no circumstances would the stock be sacrificed by a sale of a majority. That policy was carried out after all the founders were dead but myself, and the sale was made to Mr. Kindred, who purchased every share of the stock at the same price. As an illustration of the fidelity that was cherished by the original founders for each other, the case of Philip Collins may be given. He had suf- fered some losses in stocks in 1875, and he was tempted to resume his old business of contracting by an offer that came from London for the construction of a rail- way in Brazil. After consulting with Mr. Gowan, then president of the Reading, who heartily co-operated with him, he and his brother, Thomas Collins, took the con- tract and sailed for Brazil with an outfit and a large company of operators. Within a year a decision of the English court rendered the fund that was relied upon for the construction of the road unavailable, and the result was that the Collinses returned hopelessly bank- rupt. When Philip Collins entered into the Brazilian contract he needed money, and he asked his associates to purchase his stock in ''The Times" at par and inter- est, and it was done. Money was not needed in the office, and the stock was put away in the safe to be held for any emergency that might arise. The pur- chase was absolute, and Mr. Collins never dreamed of Of Pennsylvania having any further interest in the concern. When he returned bankrupt, his associates decided that as he had been one of the most active in founding ''The Times," and had now suffered great losses at an age when he could hardly hope to retrieve his fortune, he should have the benefit of his stock without giving him any formal ownership. The dividends were then forty per cent, and he was paid the dividends less interest upon the money from year to year, until finally the company again purchased his stock at double its original cost. He made the sale when we were about to reduce the price of the paper to a penny, as he re- garded its future success as somewhat problematic. When John McLaughlin died, leaving an estate heavily encumbered, the stock was sold and purchased by the president of the company for the benefit of the children, who had a liberal income from it, even after the pay- ment of interest. Frank McLaughlin's health was' sadly broken for years before his death, so much so that he was really incapacitated for handling a great newspaper enterprise, and at his death I was left alone of the original founders, and with a large majority of the stock held by guardians for minor children who v/ere dependent upon its divi- dends for a livelihood. Finally the period came, by rapidly increasing competition in journalism, when the entire earnings of the paper would have been neces- sary for a year in advance to enable it to maintain its prosperous condition. Expending profits to make future profits assured meant the loss of much needed income to a number of children, and a conference was called with the guardians and executors who repre- sented the chief interests, and the facts were presented, leaving simply a choice between the sale of the prop- erty or expending its entire earnings for a year to enlarge its business. It v/as decided to sell, and Mr. 4o6 Old Time Notes Kindred became a purchaser in 1899, when my editorial control of the paper ceased, although by the contract of sale I was required to continue as editor. The policy of the paper on all matters political and otherwise was dictated by the owner, and I twice asked for a reduction of my own salary for the simple reason that I was of no more value to the paper than any other editorial writer who could furnish editorials according to directions. ''The Times" finally ended its career by a sale that united it with the ''Ledger." When " The Timies" was founded it was an imperious necessity that it should be severely and consistently independent. The public abuses in nation, State and city were the abuses of Republican authority, and that necessitated an aggressive crusade against the Repub- lican organization. In the first issue of the paper it was announced that it would be "independent in everything, neutral in nothing," and it maintained that policy with scrupulous fidelity regardless of personal or party interests. Its first great battle was with the Pilgrim organization, whose leading members, assuming that " The Times" could be easily overthrown, came out in a defiant challenge, denying the accusa- tions and assuring the public that the club would be continued indefinitely. It was a short, sharp and decisive cam_paign, and before a dozen moons had filled their houses there was a public sale of the furniture and fixtures, and the Pilgrim Club passed into history. The policy of supporting competent and faithful judges for re-election was declared at the outset, and the sincerity of purpose pointedly illustrated by earn- estly favoring Judge Biddle, the Republican candidate for judge, against a thoroughly competent Democratic competitor, while as actively opposing the remainder of the Republican ticket. The policy of supporting an independent judiciar}^ and urging the re-election of Of Pennsylvania 407 all faithful and competent judges, regardless of party, was maintained until "The Times" passed from the possession of its original founders. Another policy from which it never departed was to solicit no patronage from political power. One of the first achievements of the new paper was the defeat of Rowan for sheriff and the election of Mr. Wright, the Democratic candidate, in 1876. When nominated, Mr. Wright called on the editor and desired to know what the attitude of The Times" would be. He did it because it had long been the custom to visit editors, ascertain the expression they would make, and the attitude of the paper would be freely spoken of and discussed before its issue. He was sorely disappointed when informed that he must wait until "The Times" was issued the next morning, to know what it had to say on the subject. He was doubtless agreeably sur- prised to find the most positive attitude in support of his election, and when elected he immediately called at the office of the paper to say that his entire adver- tising patronage would be given to " The Times." He was amazed when informed that he could not publish any official advertisement as sheriff in the columns of the paper. His term covered the severe depression of 1877, and the sheriff's advertising amounted to over $30,000 a year to each of any two papers he selected for the purpose, but " The Times" refused it, believing that it was necessary to establish in the public mind the absolute independence of the paper, and its refusal to accept the sheriff's advertising led to the re-organiza- tion of the " Record" that laid the foundation for one of the great nevv^spaper properties of the city. A decade later the paper received official advertising, as its independent attitude was fully understood, but it never permitted an abatement of a dollar for the benefit of the official advertising. 4o8 Old Time Notes One of the most interesting features of a long political career was m}^ personal relations with the political leaders, especially of the city, with whom the paper was almost constantly in antagonism. There never was any personal estrangement betvv^een any of them and myself, although they were earnestly and defiantly assailed when occasion demanded it, and often defeated. The leaders of that day were Stokley, McManes, Leeds, Rowan, Hill, Kemble and others. There never was a time when any or all of them did not feel entirely free to come to my office and confer about political struggles then in progress, or soon to begin, and the utmost frankness was always exhibited with entire confidence in the sanctity of the expressions given. I many times called upon some of them and secured their aid in accomplishing political results which were not inconsistent with the policy of the paper. On one occasion I secured the co-operation of Mayor Stokley, McManes, Leeds, Hill and Kemble with the aid of Mackey, to defeat Republican candidates for several of the most important city offices. It was not done because they especially desired the defeat of those candidates, but because they did not care specially for them, and expected some time to gain reciprocal results of more importance to themselves. It v/as that combination that made Robert E. Pattison controller of Philadelphia, and twice Governor of the State. There was not one of those leaders who did not feel entirely free to come to the editorial office of " The Times" and discuss, with entire frankness, any political proposition he desired to present, and their slated nominations were many times modified after a confer- ence in "The Times" office, to avoid a desperate stru.g- gle in which their defeat was more than possible. I recall at least two occasions when candidates were withdrav/n from the ticket after they had been formally Of Pennsylvania 409 nominated, because it was a necessity to do so to avoid a desperate and doubtful struggle. All of these men suffered humiliating defeat at one time or another. McManes was defeated for re-election to the Gas Trust, Rowan and Leeds were each defeated for sheriff, and Hill, after having been slated for the nomination for sheriff practically without a contest, announced his declination in ''The Times" office in favor of Enoch Taylor, who had been unthought of for the place, because his election could not be supported by the paper and he saw unmistakable signs of revo- lution on every side. He was then bankrupt and pleaded most earnestly for a chance to retrieve his fortimes, but while he could not be made a candidate for sheriff, he was enabled to realize a large income during Taylor's term, who received only his salary, while Hill received fifty per cent, of the advertising from the newspapers, giving him a much larger income than the salary of the sheriff. These relations made a political role so difficult to accept that it could be maintained only by never departing in the least degree from the absolutely independent policy of the paper, and that policy made "The Times" one of the most successful newspapers of the country. 410 Old Time Notes LXXXVIII. VENALITY IN LEGISLATION. Corruption of Legislators Practically Unknown until Half a Century Ago — The Original Old Time Lobbyist Who Never Debauched Legislators — The Struggle Between Ignorance and Prejudice on the One Side, and Progressive Elements of the State Looking to the Development of Wealth, Gave Importance to Venal Influences — The First Open Debauch in the Senatorial Contest of 1855 — Again Vis- ible in 1858 in the Sale of State Canals to the Sunbury and Erie Railroad — War Brought Demoralization and Quickened Venality — Many Sternly Honest Legislators Supported Measures They Knew to be Corrupt — Venality Largely Ruled in Legislation until the Adoption of the New Constitution — Political Power Largely Ruled Legislation, But Diminished Individual Prostitution. 'ENALITY was practically unknown in Penn- sylvania legislation half a century ago. There ^ had been several occasions when important bills were pressed upon the Legislature which aroused bitter partisan antagonism, when the debauchery of individual legislators v\^as hinted at, but in no instance was it clearly established. The recharter of the United States bank as a State institution was a notable instance of the early legislative contests which called out impu- tations of unlawful influences, but in that case, instead of debauching members of the Legislature, when the bank secured the support of prominent senators and representatives, it accepted in the charter obligations to make public appropriations in which legislators were interested. The State canals had been a running sore of corruption for many years, and it required extraordinary efforts almost every season to obtain the appropriations demanded by the canal board, as the conviction was very general that a considerable Of Pennsylvania percentage of the money thus appropriated was cor- ruptly appHed; but as a rule the canal board had a party majority in the Legislature, and with the patron- age it possessed, its power over legislation was usually equal to all its requirements. The only method adopted for the passage of charters or private bills which met with opposition was what was then commonly spoken of as ''log rolling." That method consisted of combining interests in the support of a number of bills, many of which would have been opposed by a number of those in the combina- tion if each bill had been considered only on its merits, but by such combinations a majority could be obtained to pass a large number of bills in which members were specially interested. Log rolling was then denounced as the bane of honest legislation, just as venality is now denounced as a poison to the ver}^ vitals of popular government. Banks were then organized by a special charter passed by the Legislature, and on several occa- sions, when the Legislature was not specially friendly to bank charters, a combination would be formed, including a dozen or more bank charters and other private bills of interest to individual members, and thus by the log-rolling process all would be passed, but no one in those days entered the Legislature as m.any did later, and as some do now, with the expectation that they may reap large pecuniary profit by the legislative authority. I well remember when there was but one man known in Harrisburg during the sessions of the Legislature who devoted his time to v/hat would now be called lobbying. He was Captain Keams, one of the most popular of the packet captains on the canal in the boat- ing season, and who spent his winters at Harrisburg devoting himself to obtaining private legislation when wanted by his m.any friends throughout the State, 412 Old Time Notes who usually gave him what woiild now be regarded as a very insignificant fee for his trouble; but he never entertained the idea of debauching members of the Legislature, or tempting them by venal offers. As the Legislature then had imlimited authority over pri- vate legislation, it was not uncommon for individuals to be especially interested in the passage of local bills, and they preferred to pay Captain Kearns a small fee because his knowledge of committees and legislators enabled him to accomplish what they could not accom- plish by their own efforts. In later years, when venality ran riot in legislation, the lobbyist became altogether the most important factor in Pennsylvania legislation, and I could name a dozen men who amassed liberal forttmes by plying their vocations as lobbyists. They were men of imusual intelligence and sagacity, some of whom had held important political positions, and when venality became the ruling power of legislative authority and great interests involving at times millions of dollars were presented, none attempted to obtain legislation which affected pecuniary interests without accepting the slimy embrace of the lobby. These men have all passed away, and their names may be consigned to charitable forget fulness. I served three years in the house beginning with the session of 1858, and six years in the senate ending in 1874, and during that period of sixteen years ven- ality in legislation reached its tidal wave. I saw it in every phase, and many times supported measures when I knew that a considerable portion of those who were voting with me had demanded and obtained a price for their votes. When not in the Legislature I was connected with the military department at Harris- burg during the war and for some time after its close, and my connection with the public affairs of the State Of Pennsylvania 413 covered the period when legislative results were often a supreme necessity, and when men, however honest in purpose, could not take pause to inquire what means w^ere necessary for its attainment. The Democrats were then, as a party, hostile to banks, and with that partisan sentiment arrayed against the banks, a combination was formed by a number of venal legislators to extort money from tl:e banks at the price of relieving them from the penalty of suspension. A committee of bankers were present at the opening of the session and pressed the passage of the bill with great earnestness, but they were dum- founded when, after a long delay, they v/ere confronted with a demand for a considerable amount of money to be put down to save the bill from defeat. The repre- sentatives of the banks were appalled at the proposition, and decided to send for a number of prominent bankers to confer with them on the subject. Among the men sent for was the elder Boker, who had brought the Girard Bank up from the verge of insolvency to a thoroughly substantial and dividend -paying institu- tion. He was eminently practical and rugged in his methods. When the matter was submitted to him his answer was: "What's the use of praying when you're in hell. Pay the money and get your bill. ' ' There was no time to bring popular pressure to bear upon the Legislature, and Mr. Boker 's method was adopted, whereby the suspension of 1857 was legalized by the Legislature. It is just half a century since Pennsylvania began, at first in a feeble way, to liberalize her policy by the encouragement of corporate organizations to develop her wealth. Until that time the State was held in the leading strings of ignorance and prejudice. Corpora- tions were looked upon by a very large portion of the people as mere organizations to obtain special privi- 414 Old Time Notes leges from the State to enrich individuals, and many- others tolerated them only as necessary evils. Every effort made to liberalize the policy of the State was at first hindered by prejudice and later on by venality, as venality was stimulated by the necessities of great enterprises. The Pennsylvania Railroad would never have been more than a local line betv^een Philadelphia and Pittsburg if the terms of its original charter had been maintained, and it had to struggle more than a decade against ignorance, prejudice and venality to liberalize the policy of the State and enable it to bring millions of trade to our metropolis, and to develop the countless millions of wealth which have been gained to the State by the liberal and progressive corporate policy that was finally won after m^any desperate struggles. It was these combinations which gave birth to venal legislation in Pennsylvania. The corruption of Leg- islatures was not, as a rule, for benefits to individuals, excepting as they might profit by the grand enter- prises which they planned for the development of the vast resources of the Commonwealth. They were halted by the legislative corruptionist, and they were compelled to bow to his demands or leave the State to plod along vv^ith its commerce crippled and its wealth slumbering. It was just such a condition as confronted the National Government in 1865, when the constitu- tional amendment abolishing slavery had been defeated in the first session of Congress. It was laid over, on motion to reconsider, and finally passed during the second session, when a number of Democrats changed their votes, some of whom received political advantages, lucrative appointments from the administration very soon thereafter. It v/as a supreme necessity to pass the amendment; it could be done in only one way, and that was adopted not from choice, but from necessity. of Pennsylvania 415 The bill for the sale of the Main Line to the Pennsyl- vania Railroad as originally passed by the Legislature was not the creation of the lobby, as the railroad com- pany refused to accept the bill. That movement had behind it an overwhelming sentiment in favor of the sale of the public works, because of the corruption and profligacy which prevailed in their direction, and the Whig party was practically solid in support of it, while the best elements of the Democrats also favored the sale. It was made the great feature of Governor Pollock's administration, and he pressed it with ear- nestness upon the Legislature, and that important reform was accomplished chiefly or wholly by legiti- mate efforts; but the supreme court declared uncon- stitutional the section releasing the corporation from taxes on its property, including tonnage taxes, in con- sideration of certain payments made for the sale of the Main Line, and while the sale was declared to be legal when carried into effect, the tonnage tax ques- tion remained until the company, after many desperate struggles, finally accomplished its repeal in 1861. While the imperious necessity for a liberalized policy in Pennsylvania that would promote the development of our boundless resources was the chief fountain of venality in our Legislature in its desperate struggle for the period of half a generation with ignorance, prejudice and venality, it is only just to say that the first general debauchery of the Legislature was caused by a pro- tracted and most demoralizing political contest in 1855, when fully a score of men at one time or another entered the contest for the United States Senatorship. It was the only Know Nothing Legislature the State ever had, and as a very large portion of its members had been nominated and elected by secret machinery that opened the widest doors for fraud, it is not sur- prising that such a Legislature should be a most inviting 4i6 Old Time Notes field for corruptionists. The chief contest for Senator was between Cameron and Curtin, and for the first time in the history of the State S3^stematic efforts were made to control the choice of Senator by the direct purchase of legislators. Curtin w^as backed by the old Whig, or better element of the Legislature, while Cam- eron traded with the Know Nothings, but neither could command a majority, and at one time or another ambitious men with money were brought to Harris- burg under the belief that they could, by the expen- diture of money, become a compromise Senator. Some half a dozen men made that experiment, and all were alike systematically robbed. The result was that the Legislature finally adjourned without electing a Sen- ator, and the Democrats, winning the Legislature the following year, elected ex-Governor Bigler. This epi- sode of legislative debauchery was the first in the his- tory of the State in which the highest honors in the gift of the Commonwealth were made a matter of commerce, and it paved the way for the long season of legislative venality that grew up in the great effort that began a few years later for a liberalized corporate policy to develop our vast resources. The Legislature of 1858, when I first appeared as a member of the house, had a less flagrant repetition of the venality begun in 1855. The Main Line of our public works had been sold, leaving the State odds and ends of canals which were made a constant source of loss to the treasury, because of their profligate man- agement by the canal board. It was the last remnant of the vast power that had been exercised by political corruptionists who controlled our public works, and, while public sentiment was strongly in favor of dis- posing of the remaining canals, the canal board made a desperate struggle to preserve its existence and retain its control of patronage and power. I had for years of Pennsylvania 417 been advocating the sale of all the State works because of the ceaseless current of debauchery they brought into the politics of the State, and very ardently sup- ported the bill for the sale of the works to the Phila- delphia and Erie Railroad. It proved to be a most beneficent measure in a double sense, as it assured the completion of the Philadelphia and Erie line that had been struggling for many years without reasonable prospect of success, and the State received $3,000,000 for the canals. The bill w^as, in fact, a loan of credit by the State to the Philadelphia and Erie, as the canals were sold to that company for $3,000,000, but the canals were left entirely free for the railway com- pany to sell or mortgage, while the State accepted a mortgage for $3,000,000 on the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad. The measure was attacked by all the power of the canal board, aided by those who persisted in the moss- back policy of hindering advancement, and by all who hoped to turn their legislative authority to individual profit, and the leaders in the movement were com- pelled to choose between bowing to the demands of venality or abandoning one of the most important enter- prises for the advancement of the State, with individ- ual profits that they hoped to realize legitimately from their great work. There was no hope of constructing the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad for many years, unless some such loan of credit could be secured, and they paid legislative venality its price, and thus created the great artery of trade through what was then largely a vast wilderness between Williamsport and Erie, with boundless wealth slumbering in the moimtains and valleys. From that time until the policy of the State was liberalized, perhaps even beyond legitimate necessi- ties during the war, venality ruled in Pennsylvania legislation, and it became so common that even the 2 — 27 4i8 Old Time Notes most trivial bills involving any individual interest were made to pay tribute to corruptionists, and lobbyists and legislators studied day and night how they could introduce bills affecting existing corporations or other interests, and compel them to be halted by blackmail. They were known as ''pinch" bills, and were one of the common features of legislation for many years, as the Legislature then had unrestricted power in pri- vate legislation. War is a great demoralizer, and civil wars the worst of all, and our legislation dviring the war was so gen- erally controlled by corruptionists that it became accepted as one of the inseparable features of Pennsyl- vania legislation. Under even ordinary conditions, grave political necessities often arise, but during the war political necessities were often so imperious in every feature that no hopeful means could be left unemployed to meet them. I well remember when the house was brought to the first vote on the question of sustaining the Governm.ent, after Sumter had been fired upon. It was of the utmost importance that we should hold the Democrats from a solid column against the government, and within two hours of the time that the house was to act, I was informed by a member • of the body who well understood the situation, and who usually profited by such conditions, that for a very moderate sum of mone}^ a number of the Democrats could be held to the support of the government. A conference was hastily held in the Governor's office , and some six or eight men who were present contributed, from their own private means, an equal share of money that was promptly paid and the contract fulfilled. I served continuously in the house and senate from the session of 1858 to the close of the session of 1862, and was thereafter official 1}^ connected with the military/ department of the government until the close of the 0{ Pennsylvania 419 war. One of my important duties was to give special attention to legislation relating to the support of the State administration and to the government ^in pros- ecuting the war, and during that period I had full knowledge of the attitude of every member of both branches, and nearly or quite all of them knew that I was fully advised of the venal contracts of legislators. They knew that I was so situated that it would not only make me utterly powerless, but probably result in grave disaster on some most important matters, if an attempt had been made to expose and punish, or even to halt, the flood tide of venality. For years during that period I saw the private memoranda of the leading lobbyists, in which the name of every senator and every represen- tative was recorded who could be corruptly influenced in legislation, and I have seen in that record as many as seventy of the one hundred members of the house, and more than twenty of the thirty- three senators. They were of different classes, the larger class ready to deal with or against anything, while the smaller class could be reached only on particular occasions, when they felt that they could do it with safety. While serving in the senate, the prominent venal traders in both branches never hesitated to discuss any contract for the support of certain measures, as they knew that I could not, and certainly would not, attempt to betray them. Venality was absolutely masterful, and with the terrible exigencies of war and the at times startling necessities which were suddenly thrown upon the adm.inistration, there was but one course open, and that was to utilize the Legislature as it was, inasmuch as it could not be made otherwise. I remember on one occasion a certain bill of local interest had been set up by a prominent lobbyist to be passed in the senate, but a short time before the bill was called a considerably larger sum was offered to 420 Old Time Notes defeat it, and the senator who dealt for the gang, who at the time had the money in his pocket to pass the bill, received the larger sum to defeat it, and it happened that he was called to the chair and presided with the money for both sides in his pocket, when the bill was considered and defeated. In both branches the venal elements were organized in small gangs of ten or a dozen in the house, and five or more in the senate, and by seeing the leaders arrangements could be made, if the terms were acceptable, for the requisite number of votes without dealing with individuals. During all this tidal wave of legislative venality there were men of the purest purpose and sternest integrity who served in both branches, with full knowledge of the venal environment, but they knew that if they at- tempted to assail it they would simply be made utterly powerless to serve their constituents or any im- portant public or private interests they had at heart. This condition continued, varying only in degree, until the adoption of the new Constitution in 1874. I was one of those who earnestly urged the constitu- tional convention for years before it was accepted, and chiefly on the ground that it was necessary to enlarge the Legislature as the only method of rescuing it from the mastery of venality, and it is only just to say that since the enlargement of the Legislature there has been no instance in which anything approach- ing a majority of either branch of the Legislature has been open to venal purchase. New conditions have arisen, by which partisan power largely commands legis- lation, and while measures quite as corrupt and pro- fligate as any of those enacted during the tidal wave of venality are occasionally enacted under the new con- ditions, it is generally chiefly by the power of political leadership, and only to a very limited degree by the debauchery of individual members. I have good Of Pennsylvania 421 reason to know that the general sweep of legislative venality was halted by the new Constitution. My last term in the senate ended just when the new Constitu- tion went into effect, and at no time during the war was legislative venality more common than it was in 1873-74, the last of the limited Legislature under the old Constitution. Instead of the lobbyists of the olden time, the political masters of the present dictate im- portant legislation that involves profit to individuals, and the shame of a generally corrupted senate and house has been effaced from the annals of the Com- monwealth. I have noted with interest the careers of the men I knew as corruptionists in the early days of my legis- lative career, and only a very small percentage of those who realized the largest profits by the sale of their votes enjoyed a competency throughout their lives. Money so easily made, and bringing with it a departure from honest purposes in life, logically inspired pro- fligacy and indulgence, and a large majority of those who once thought themselves men of moderate for- ttine, as the fruits of legislative corruption, died in poverty. Long continued and close observation of this once glaring evil that shadowed the Commonwealth with shame, clearly teaches that, as a rule, no public official can afford to make his official authority a matter of bargain and sale for individual profit, even as a business proposition, exclusive of the disgrace that the moral turpitude involved. There are apparent exceptions to the rule, as is common with all rules, but official venality is reasonably certain, sooner or later, to bring sorrow or shame, and often both. Old Time Notes LXXXIX. HARTRANFT RE-ELECTED. Mackey and Quay Take Early and Vigorous Action to Retrieve the Defeat of 1874 — They Perfect the Republican Organization — Obtain Abso- lute Control of the Greenback and Labor Organizations — Green- back Sentiment Very Formidable in the State — Hartranft Unani- mously Renominated — A Protracted Contest for the Democratic Nomination — ^Judge Pershing Finally Chosen — The Labor and Greenback Parties Held from Fusion by Republican Leaders, and That Elected Hartranft by 12,000 Plurality — The Democrats Carried the Popular Branch of the Legislature — Hartranft 's Creditable Career as Governor — Later Collector of the Port and Postmaster — Finally Suffered Financial Disaster, and Made Earnest but Unavail- ing Efforts to Save His Friends. THE Republican disaster of 1874, by which the dominant party of the State lost its entire State ticket, the control of the Legislature and a United States Senator, made the leaders enter very early and earnestly upon the work of rescuing the State in 187 5, when a Governor and State treasurer were to be elected. Hartranft was about closing his first term as Governor, and, beyond his necessary identification with the Cameron-Mackey power of the State, his record had been generally creditable. He was highly respected personally and his superb record as a volunteer soldier warmly commended him to the loyal people of the State. He was not a leader, although generally level-headed as an adviser. He could do little or nothing to promote his own nomina- tion and election, but with Mackey and Quay to handle the organization he could safely rely upon the best possible results being obtained. They knew that the contest was doubtful, and they took time by the fore- Of Pennsylvania 423 lock in fortifying themselves wherever their lines were weak, and they made very important incursions into the enemy's forces which were not visible to the public. There were two side elements in politics which were then largely commercial, and what Mackey and Quay did not know about handling such elements was not worth studying, and they practically assured the success of Hartranft by the early manipulation of the Greenback and Labor leaders. The Greenback sentiment had become quite strong among the Democratic people, and there were many Republicans who would have been glad to see their own party adopt the new theory. The Greenback movement was the first insidious form of repudiation that was formulated after the war. During the war there were open repudiationists, but small in number and influence, who openly proclaimed that it was im- possible for the nation to pay the enormous war debt, and frankly advised summary repudiation as the only relief. President Johnson, in a formal message to Congress, advised the repudiation of the public debt by the payment of the amount of the principal in interest and make that absolute payment. The movement was given great vitality in 1868 by George H. Pendle- ton, of Ohio, who had been the nominee for Vice-Presi- dent with McClellan in 1864. He became an aggressive candidate for the Democratic nomination for President and openly proclaimed his policy of having but one form of paper money, all issued by the government, that should be receivable by all, including the govern- ment, as legal tender, excepting where specific contracts were made for different payment. The Democrats of Ohio were greatly enthused in support of Pendleton, and I well remember the Ohio delegation at the New York convention, that nominated Seymour for Presi- dent and General Elair for Vice-President, all wearing 424 Old Time Notes badges in imitation of Greenbacks, and thousands of Ohio rooters, decorated in hke manner, all hurrahing for Pendleton and plenty of money. It had evidently taken deep root in Ohio, and in 1873 the venerable ex-Senator Allen was nominated as the Democratic candidate for Governor on a distinctly Greenback platform and elected over General Noyes, a gallant and crippled soldier of the war. This was the first form of practical repudiation while actually dis- claiming repudiation, and the free silver tidal Vv^ave was simply a fresh eruption of repudiation in a new form adapted to the new conditions of the country. They logically led to Populism, that has since gravi- tated into Socialism, and greatly multiplied not only the tolerance of anarchy, but the actual growth of anarchy among the idle and vicious of the land. The socialism and anarchy of to-day are the logical fruits of the repudiation that began with the Greenback movement, followed by the variegated cheap money and get-some- thing-for-nothing movements which were injected into the politics of the coimtry. The Republicans opened the campaign of 1875 "the early part of the year, holding their convention at Lancaster on the 25th of May. Governor Hartranft was renominated for Governor by acclamation and on the second ballot, Henry Rawle, of Erie, was nomi- nated for State treasurer. The Democratic State con- vention met at Erie on the 8th of September, presided over by Hon. Hendrick B. Wright, of Luzerne. There was a protracted and somewhat embittered struggle over the question of adopting the Greenback theory, as the party faith, but under the lead of Frank Hughes, of Schuylkill, one of the ablest men of the State, who threw himself into the contest with great earnestness, the doctrine of a universal government paper money to be a legal tender in all dealings with the government of Pennsylvania 425 and between individuals, excepting where specific con- tracts were made of a different character, was formally proclaimed as the doctrine of the Democratic party. Among the prominent Democrats of that day were many men engaged in large financial and other business enterprises who were not prepared to take the plunge toward repudiation that was obviously involved in the newly declared policy of the party, and it chilled many who had been among its most earnest supporters. It was expected by the leaders who dominated the con- vention that the Democrats would lose a certain per- centage of their followers who were engaged in large business operations, but it was believed that the doc- trine of universal Greenback currency, that everybody should be compelled to accept, was popular with the masses of the people, and by accepting the policy they expected to control the State. They were disappointed in that expectation, however, as while they lost the support of many of their more prominent business men, they gained very little from the Republicans on the new monetary issue. Many Republicans were willing to accept the Greenback policy, but there were few sufficiently wedded to the new mioney theory to make them desert their party household. The convention was in session several days wrangling over the platform that was followed by a protracted struggle for the Gubernatorial nomination. Ex-Gov- ernor Bigler had a number of friends in the convention, and although he had made no open efforts to secure delegates, he was very anxious to obtain the nomi- nation. Judge Pvoss, of Montgomery, was the favorite candidate of the active leaders in the organization, and his vote steadily increased imtil the tenth ballot that stood Ross 68, Bigler 54 and Pershing 50, with a number scattering. On the eleventh and last ballot the vote stood Pershing 145 and Ross 94, with 11 scattering. 426 Old Time Notes Judge Pershing was not regarded as a promising candi- date when the convention met. He was not a favorite of the party leaders and on the first ballot he received only 12 votes, all of which were regarded as compli- mentary, but as is common in a contest where there are half a dozen prominent competitors, as they are in turn compelled to retire from the race, the natural tendency is for them to transfer their support to a dark horse rather than to those who have bowled them out. Judge Pershing had not been publicly canvassed as a candidate for Governor, and when the convention met none in or out of the convention expected him to be selected as a candidate, but his strength steadily increased until on the eleventh ballot, that was taken after a prolonged session extending beyond midnight, he received a large majority. Victor Piolett, who was an aggressive representative of the Greenback element and who was voted for for Governor on every ballot, was tmanimously nominated State treasurer. It was generally understood that Judge Pershing was not greatly charmed with the Greenback idea, and the ticket w^as balanced with one of the most aggressive of the Greenback leaders. The nomination for Governor came to Judge Per- shing in 1 8 7 5 entirely without solicitation or effort. He accepted the nomination in a very temperate and sen- sible address, and he refused to take any active part in the campaign. He insisted that as long as he remained a judge it was his duty to confine himself to his judicial duties, and he was not inclined to resign his position on the bench to accept a doubtful contest for the Gover- norship. He was a man of eminent ability, not only as a jurist, but as a politician, and would have been a very formidable advocate on the stump, but his high conceptions of judicial duties prevented him plunging into a political contest while performing them. Har- of Pennsylvania 427 tranft was not a public speaker, and the result was that both of the candidates for Governor were unheard in the contest, but the struggle was watched with great earnestness by their respective friends. Notwithstanding the adoption of the Greenback policy by the Democratic convention, Mackey and Quay had the sideshow political element well in hand, and the distinctive Greenback leaders with the Labor organizations, all of whom at that time were in favor of the cheapest money and the largest volume of it, were organized imder satisfactory commercial arrange- ments to aid the Republican ticket. In their anxiety to save Governor Hartranft they were content to have the Greenback and Labor elements brought to the support of the State ticket without pressing them to the point of supporting Republican Legislative candi- dates, and the result was that while Hartranft was elected by over 12,000 majority the Democrats carried the popular branch of the Legislature by iii Demo- crats to 90 Republicans, but the Republicans held the senate by 29 to 21. Hartranft was beaten in the State outside of Philadelphia by some 8,000 majority, but the Greenback theory adopted by the Democrats greatly strengthened the Republicans in business circles, and Philadelphia gave over 20,000 Republi- can majority. Hartranft s second administration was uneventful with the single exception of the severe business revul- sion and general revolutionary tendencies of 1877, dur- ing which he rendered a very great service to the State by his firm and discreet direction of affairs in the most serious troubles which had ever befallen the Common- wealth. There were no serious disturbing questions of State policy during his second term, and he performed his duties unostentatiously, but with great fidelity, and commanded the respect of all parties. He was as 428 Old Time Notes modest in civil and private life as he was heroic when in the field, where he fairly won the distinction of being the foremost of Pennsylvania volimteer chieftains in the war. After he retired from the Gubernatorial chair he filled the positions of postmaster and collector of the port in Philadelphia. In 1 8 7 6 , a year after his re-election as Governor, he was nominated as Pennsylvania's candidate for the Presidency by a practically unanimous vote at the State convention, and the delegation chosen to the National convention was instructed to vote for him as a imit. While he Vv^as voted for on every ballot at the Cincinnati convention, he never became formid- able as a candidate for the nomination, but his candi- dacy served the important purpose cherished by the Camerons, Mackey and Quay, to defeat the nomination of Blaine, to whose nomination they were very earnestly opposed. In the sudden iron boom of 1 882, when it was believed that the iron and steel trade would be permanently pros- perous in the coimtry, Hartranft engaged in an im- portant iron enterprise in Virginia, of which he took personal charge, and many of his personal and political friends aided him in its capitalization. Like most of the iron enterprises organized at the time, it met with disastrous failure, and Hartranft devoted the few remaining days of his life to protect some of those who invested with him and were unable to stand the loss. He struggled along year after year, exhausting his vitality, and beyond a frugal living to himself and his family, he gave all his surplus earnings to the payment of interest upon his iron bonds which were nearly or quite entirely worthless. The constant and exhausting worry of his financial condition certainly hastened his death, but while he lived he devoted his efforts to save his associate investors. of Pennsylvania 420 xc. THE MOLLY MAGUIRE MURDERERS. The Most Appalling Chapter of Crime Ever Recorded in the Annals of Pennsylvania — History of the Molly Maguire Organization — The Outgrowth of the Ancient Order of Hibernians — Its Criminal Methods — Offensive Mining Bosses and Operators Murdered in Open Day — Political Power Contracted for Protection to Criminals — The Won- derful Story of James McParlan as Detective Inside the Order — Gowan's Masterly Ability in Conducting Prosecutions — Sixteen Molly Maguires Executed — Many Others Imprisoned, and a Dozen or More Fugitives from Justice. THE most tragic and deeply crimsoned chapter in the annals of Pennsylvania since the mastery of civilization over the savage, is the story of a murderous organization started within the Ancient Order of Hibernians some time in the early 60 's, and continuing a regular carnival of murder against men who were entirely innocent of provocation by which scores of men were deliberately murdered, culminating in the execution of sixteen of the Molly Maguire criminals with a considerable number of additional criminals who became fugitives from justice. The Molly Maguires who made such an appalling record of crim.e in Pennsylvania were simply a revival of what was known as Ribbonism in Ireland some two generations ago. The Ribbon Society was organized within the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and oppressive landlords, importunate agents and resolute bailiffs were at times condemned to death by the Ribbon leaders, and one or more members of the organization charged with the duty of committing murder. As a rule those who were entire strangers to the condemned 430 Old Time Notes parties were chosen to commit the murder, thus lessen- ing the opporttinity of identification, and at times marauding parties dressed in female apparel to assure concealment. Finally the murderous organization was discovered by detectives and a number of executions followed whereby Ribbonism perished in Ireland. It is a notable fact that while only a very fev/ members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians were directly con- nected with Ribbonism in Ireland, there is no record of the order openly condemning Ribbonism or aiding in the arrest and punishment of any of its guilty members. The Molly Maguires whose murders and general law- lessness brought an ineffaceable stain upon our great Commonwealth, like Ribbonism in Ireland, were all members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and the fact that the organization made no systematic effort to expose and punish the Molly Maguires brought such general reproach upon the order that it was formally excommunicated by Archbishop Wood, and although the order has largely recovered from the dishonor and demoralization caused by the Molly Maguires within its household, the record of the Mollies remains as a fearful reproach upon the organization. It is a secret order with signs and passwords which are changed quarterly and given out by the Board of Erin, with headquarters in Great Britain, where it is the governing power of the entire organization. The American headquarters of the order are in New York city, where the national board meets, and in this State in the city of Pittsburg, where the State delegate rules supreme. Beneath him are county delegates in each county of the State in which the organization has members, and beneath the county delegates are body- masters, who are the heads of the various local branches. The signals and passwords are communicated from the Of Pennsylvania 431 Board of Erin to the national headquarters in New York city, thence to the various State delegates, and by them to those who are subject to their orders. In the earlier days of mining in the anthracite region the majority of the miners were Irishmen, and most of them members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. They became greatly inflamed against the coal opera- tors, their employers, and gradually, and perhaps with- out originally intending it, drifted into the lines pursued by Ribbonism in Ireland. The chief center of the Mollies in Schuylkill Coimty was in Cass Township, where I first struck them, when in charge of the draft made imder the State laws in 1862. At that time there had been more than a dozen murders in Cass Town- ship within a few years without any of the guilty parties being brought to pimishment. I have stated in a previous chapter how the Molly Maguires not only obstructed, but absolutely defeated the draft in Cass Township, and how I was compelled, under personal instructions from President Lincoln, to revoke the order for the draft and release the conscripts on the mere pretense of evidence that the quota had been filled. It was an imperious necessity to prevent an open, desperate and bloody conflict in the heart of our great Commonwealth, that would have greatly strength- ened rebellion in the South and weakened the loyal cause in the North. This organization of Molly Maguires that seems to have had either the active or passive support of the Ancient Order of Hibernians generally, had its origin as early as i860, and grew rapidly as year by year it increased its power, and finally absolutely dominated the politics of Schuylkill County. It aimed to control the judges on the bench, the prosecuting officers of the county, the commissioners and the jurors, and in 1872 it had become so masterful in the political control 43^ Old Time Notes of the county that good people of all parties made common cause and elected Cyrus L. Pershing, of Cam- bria, who had never even visited Schuylkill Cotmty, president judge, and the heroic administration of justice inaugurated by Judge Pershing was a m^ost important factor in the final exposure, conviction and execution of the Molly Maguires. Every public officer in the cotmty and in the adjoin- ing county of Carbon felt that his life was unsafe if he took any step looking to the exposure and prmishment of these banded murderers, and they became so bold that they did not hesitate to propose terms in political conferences, offering their support to individuals or par- ties in consideration of money or protection for their criminals. It is an open secret, but well established, that in 187 5, when Governor Hartranft was a candidate for re-election. Jack Kehoe, the brilliant and desperate leader of the Molly Maguires, met a prominent citizen of Potts ville in his own parlor, and was there solemnly assured that Governor Hartranft would protect the Molly Maguire criminals in consideration of the organi- zation and all its power supporting Plartranft's re- election. In the trial of Thomas, one of the Molly Maguire murderers, George Byerly, warden of the Schuylkill County jail, testified that in a conversation with Kehoe, then a prisoner, on the charge of murder, said: I do not think that we will get justice, but if we don't get justice I don't think the old man at Har- risburg (Hartranft) will go back on us." Hartranft was entirely ignorant of this pledge, and certainly never would have made it or permitted it to be made had he known of the proposition, but he was nevertheless very seriously embarrassed by the power- ful influence that demanded the protection of Jack Kehoe. Hartranft delayed the execution longer than is usual under such circumstances, but he finally issued Of Pennsylvania 433 the death warrant, and Kehoe gave great relief to many in the State by dying with sealed lips. The organization had rendered such important political services to many prominent men of the State that they naturally made exhaustive efforts to save the lives of their friends. In one instance Lin Bar- tholomew, then in the forefront of the Schuylkill bar, and one of the ablest of the Republican State leaders, made an earnest struggle to save the life of Duffy, one of four murderers, who were to be executed on a certain day. He made a final appeal to the Board of Pardons for a reprieve for this particular criminal, but the Board divided on the question, even after Bartholomew had given assurance that one or more of the four men to be executed together would, by public confession on the scaffold, acquit his client. Hartranft acted within the lines of safety, alike to himself and to the administration of justice, by signing a reprieve and sending Mr. Farr, secretary of the Board of Pardons, to attend the execution, with orders to deliver the reprieve if any confession was made by the others acquitting Bartholomew's client. Farr attended the execution, and made laiown his mission only to the sheriff and the ministering priest. There were four to be executed, two were executed together, and the one whose reprieve was in the possession of Farr v\^as held back with another tmtil after the two were executed who were expected to give the additional testimony in their confession. They accepted the death noose in silence, and without protest from the priest, who had received the confession of the dying men, the whole four were executed, and Farr brought the reprieve back to the Governor. The political power of this organization became next to absolute in Schuylkill County, and that domination lasted for a nimiber of years. So carefully were the 2—28 434 Old Time Notes criminal acts planned and the executions covered/that it was more than ten years from the time that syste- matic murder was put into practice by the Molly Maguires before any one of the guilty parties was brought to justice. Franklin B. Go wan, one of the ablest trial lawyers in the State, and a man of sublime courage, was district attorney of Schuylkill Coimty during the early operations of the Molly Maguires. He saw that there was organized crime in the community, that murders and other felonious crimes were perpe- trated from time to time, and it was impossible to trace the guilty parties, showing that there was a powerful and well organized element in the commimity that was vigilantly supporting and protecting the criminals. He saw nearly every official of the coimty unwilling to make a manly effort for the detection and punish- ment of the banded criminals, and it was largely through his political ingenuity that Judge Riley was defeated in 1872, and Judge Pershing chosen to succeed him. Gowan then had a court that he knew he could trust, and he decided to devote his efforts untiringly to the discovery of the criminals, and bring them to the bar of justice. After repeated conferences with Allan Pinkerton, of Chicago, the head of the National Detective Agency, it v/as decided to select some young man who was equal to the terrible undertaking to join the Molly Maguires, secure their confidence and report from time to time the crimes they planned and executed. After very careful investigation Pinkerton selected James Mc- Parian, a young Irishman, born in Armagh County, in 1844, and a Catholic. He was only twenty-nine years of age when he accepted the fearfully perilous imder- taking. He was a live, muscular fellow, about five feet eight inches in height, with fair complexion, dark chest- nut hair, a broad, full forehead, and a keen gray eye. He of Pennsylvania 435 was possessed of a wonderful memory which served him well later on. He started upon his journey in October, 1873, "^der the name of James McKenna, and by representing himself as a fugitive from justice, claiming to have murdered a man in Buffalo, and slyly suggesting that he did not have to work hard for a living on account of being a false coiner, he quickly got into the good graces of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in the various towns in Schuylkill and Carbon Cotinties which he visited. These representations of his misdeeds brought him into such favor that in April, 1874, he was formally initiated a member of the organization, and continued to be most active in its murderous councils imtil Feb- ruary, 1876, when his identity became known and his career as a detective came to an end. During that period of time McParlan discovered a condition of affairs in the Schuylkill coal region that is so appalling as to almost defy belief. He found that every Molly Maguire, as the assassins and incendiaries were known among themselves, was a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and that the proceedings of that organi- zation were used for little other purpose than to order the destruction of life and property. Cotmty conven- tions were little more than gatherings in which men were selected to kill others whom they had never seen. He discovered that the oath of secrecy was nothing more in its enforcement and its use than an oath to protect the murderer and to revenge with pistol or dagger a wrong supposed to have been done any mem- ber of the body. It would take many volumes to tell the full story of the details of this gigantic conspiracy to slay and bum. While other murders had been committed before that period, the first one directly traced to the Molly Maguires was that of Alexander Rae, a mining superin- 436 Old Time Notes tendent, cn the 17th of October, 1864, who vv^as shot on the pubhc highway in Columbia County. The really guilty parties were tried for the murder at Blooms- burg, but their efforts in support of an alibi were so overwhelming that they escaped; but twelve years later the murderers of Rae were executed for later murders. On the 25th of August David Muhr, a colliery super- intendent, was murdered in broad daylight and within two hiindred yards of the colliery, but the murderers were so well hidden that they were never brought to justice. On the loth of January, 1866, Henry H. Dunne, another mining superintendent, was murdered in cold blood on the public highway, but the guilty parties were never discovered and no arrests were made. On the 15th of March, 1869, William H. Littlehales, another mining superintendent, was murdered on the public road and the murderers were never discovered. In Carbon Coimty, that adjoins Schuylkill, frequent murders of the same kind were committed in the same period, including those of George K. Smith, F. W. S. Langdon, and Graham Powell, all of whom were colliery superintendents, or connected with large mining operations. On the 14th of August, 1875, Gomer James was murdered at a picnic in Shenandoah, and subsequent developments proved that the murder was committed by Thomas Hurley, who had been selected at a county convention of the order to commit the crime. On the nth of August Thomas Gwyther, a justice of the peace, who had issued a warrant for the arrest of William Love, a criminal Molly Maguire, was shot and killed on the public street of Girardville by Love, who fled and was never captured. On the Cth of July, 1875, Benjamin F. Yost, a police Of Pennsylvania 437 officer of Tamaqua, was shot by two then tinknown men. In the trial of the suspected parties, who were convicted and executed, it was proved that Yost had offended another member of the order, and Hugh McGehan and James Boyle were ordered to murder him. On the first of September, 1875, Raven Rtm, Thomas Sanger, a mining boss, and William Uren were shot and killed by five men, who were members of the order, and on the third of September, 1875, John P. Jones, a mining boss, of Lansford, Carbon Cotmty, was shot and killed by Edward Kelly and Michael J. Doyle, members of the order. They had been assigned by lot to commit the crime. John P. Jones was one of the best known men in the anthracite coal regions and highly respected, and his murder occurred at a time when Go wan 's efforts, through McParlan, were bringing rich fruits. The first arrests made under Gowan's systematic movement to bring the Molly Maguires to justice were those of Michael J. Doyle and Edward Kelly for the murder of Jones, and it was the culmination of the blood-thirsty reign of the thugs of the anthracite region. Mr. Go wan was then well equipped by inside information from the Mollies as to the leaders in these murders, and the public excitement was greatly intensified by the cold- blooded butchery of Jones. Doyle, Kelly and Kerrigan were the first Molly Maguires brought to the bar of justice, and their trial for the murder of Jones was called on the 1 8th of Janu- ary, 1876. Separate trials were demanded, and Doyle was first tried, convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to death. This was the first conviction of a known Molly Maguire for murder in the Schuylkill region. Kerrigan turned State's evidence and told the whole story of the murder, by which he saved his 438 Old Time Notes neck, while Doyle and Kelly paid the penalty of their crimes on the gallows. About that time it was discovered by the leading Molly Maguires that every movement they planned became in some way known to the officers of the law. It was McParlan's work, who, every time that oppor- tunity presented, sent written reports of what the lead- ing Mollies were doing to save the assassins. The prosecuting attorney of Carbon County was daily advised, from a source entirely unknown to him, of every move the opposing lawyers would make. Mc- Parlan not only gave accurate information as to the criminals and the details of the crimes committed, but he gave equally accurate information as to every move- ment made for the protection of the criminals who were brought before the courts. He was finally suspected by his criminal associates, and he saw that the time was not distant when not only his usefulness would be ended, but when he would sacrifice his life if he remained. When his position as detective was first whispered he met Jack Kehoe face to face, and demanded that a convention of the order be called that he might summon his accusers and acquit himself. Kehoe called the convention, but before the time for its meeting McParlan discovered that nothing would be done there beyond taking his life. He was in constant consultation with Captain Linden, who was at the head of the Coal and Iron Police, and who aided materially in effecting McParlan 's final escape to Phila- delphia. When he reached Philadelphia in safety it was decided that the time had come for him to appear in open court as a witness, and Gowan startled the court and the crowded audience in attendance on the 4th of May, 1876, when the murderers of Benjamin F. Yost were placed on trial before Judge Pershing, by calling James McParlan to the witness stand, who Of Pennsylvania 439 was at once known to all the Mollies in attendance as James McKenna, who had been a detective in their midst for two years past. The whole appalling story of the Molly Maguire infamy was then told to the court, and justice again resumed her sway in her own sanctuary until sixteen men, all members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, were himg. They were Thomas Munley, for the murder of Thomas Sanger; James Carroll, James Roart}^ Hugh McGehan, James Boyle and Thomas Duffy, for the murder of Benjamin Yost; Michael J. Doyle, Ed- v/ard Kelly and Alexander Campbell, for the murder of John P. Jones; John Donahue and Thomas P. Fisher, for the murder of Morgan Powell; Jack Kehoe, for the murder of F. W. S. Langdon; Patrick Hester, Tully and McHugh, for the murder of Alexander Rae, and Peter McManus, for the murder of Frederick Hesser. In addition to these executions, Thomas Donahue, Edward Monaghan, Barney B. Boyle, Kate Boyle, Bridget Hyland, Thomas Duffy, John Morris, Dennis F. Canning, Christopher Donnelly, John Gibbons, Michael O'Brien, Patrick Dolan, Frank O'Niel, and a number of others, all members of the order, were sen- tenced to terms of imprisonment, varying from one to seven years, for perjury, assault and battery with intent to kill, etc. Although more than a generation has passed away since these Molly Maguire murders began, there are yet some of the many fugitives from justice living in differ- ent parts of the world, who may be tried for murder at any time during their lives if caught and brought back to the scenes of their crimes. Among those who were known to have committed murder in obedience to the orders of the Molly Maguires, and who became fugitives from justice to escape punishment, are William. Love, 440 Old Time Notes Thomas Hurley, Micliael Doyle, James, alias Friday," O'Donnell, James McAllister, John, alias ''Humpty," Flynn, Jerry Kane, Frank Keenan, William Gimn, John Reagan, Thomas O'Neil and Patrick D. Gallagher, alias Piignose Pat." These men became fugitives, and their residence has never been discovered. Doubt- less most of them have joined their criminal fellows on the other side, but some of them are living and in con- stant dread of being overtaken by justice. Of Pennsylvania 441 XCI. NATIONAL BATTLE OF 1876. Republicans Had Not Recovered from the Overwhelming Defeat of 1874 — Democrats Held the House Most of the Time for Twenty Years — Tilden Nominated for President — His Strength and Per- sonal Attributes — Receives a Large Popular Majority for President — John I. Mitchell Brought to the Front — Nominated for Congress to Defeat Strang — Senatorial Deadlock of 1881 Made Him United States Senator — Advised of His Selection by the Author in Washing- ton — Made President Judge and Later Superior Judge — Retired for Physical and Mental Disability. THE first National revolt against Republican power after the war occurred in 1874, when the Democrats elected a large majority of the popular branch of Congress, embracing 181 Democrats, 107 Republicans and 3 Independents, and that revolt culminated two years later, in 1876, when the Demo- crats gave Tilden, their candidate for President, a popular majority of 250,000 over Hayes, and elected 156 Democrats to 137 Republicans to the House. The reconstruction policy of the government as administered imder Grant became specially offensive to many of the most thoughtful Republicans, while the severe factional mastery in Grant's administration alienated many others. During the severe pressure of early reconstruction, while a very large proportion of Republicans disapproved, of the radical policy adopted, they felt that they must sustain the Republican party imtil it had completed the rehabilitation of the States ; but the crop of adventurers who became rulers in the recon,-;tructe(i vStates under carpet-bag power, and the low grade class of men sent to the Senate and House by 442 Old Time Notes the restored States, strengthened and widened oppo- sition to the reconstruction policy, and the result was that in 1874, in the middle of Grant's second adminis- tration, the country spoke with emphasis against the Republican rule of that day by electing an overwhelm- ing majority of Democrats to the House, and followed it two years later by giving a quarter of a million popu- lar majority to the Democratic candidate for President. It is an interesting study to note the repeated and emphatic expressions of the country against Repub- lican authority for many years after the revolution of 1874. The Democratic majority that first appeared in the Forty-fourth Congress was maintained in the Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses. In 1880, w^hen Garfield was elected President over Hancock, the Republicans regained the House by a small majority, having 152 Republicans, 130 Democrats and 11 Green- backers, but the record of that Congress, in which the Republicans dominated both branches, was so offensive to the cotmtry that in 1882 the Democrats regained the House by a large majority, electing 200 Democrats to 119 Republicans and 6 Greenbackers. Two years later, in 1884, the Democrats held the House by a smaller majority, having 183 to 139 Republicans and 3 Greenbackers, and in 1886 they elected to the Fiftieth Congress 169 Democrats to 152 Republicans and 4 Independents. In 1888, when Harrison was elected President, the Republicans regained the House by eight majority, having 169 Republicans to 161 Democrats, but in 1890, after the passage of the McKinley tariff bill, the Dem- ocrats elected to the Fifty-second Congress 235 to 88 Republicans and 9 Farmers' Alliance, and in 1892, when Cleveland was recalled to the Presidency, they elected to the Fifty-third Congress 218 to 127 Repub- licans and II Independents. Since then the Repub- Of Pennsylvania 443 licans have uniformly controlled the popular branch of Congress, but from 1874 to 1894 the Democrats had a majority of the popular branch of every Congress with the exceptions of the Forty-seventh Congress, chosen in 1880, and the Fifty-first, chosen in 1888. The Dem- ocrats controlled the Senate, and thus both branches, in the Forty- sixth Congress, when they had 43 Senators to 33 Republicans, and again in the Fifty-third Con- gress, chosen in 1892, the Democrats had 44 Senators to 37 Republicans and 4 Independents. Thus only in two Congresses, the Forty-sixth and the Fifty- third, have the Democrats controlled both branches of Con- gress since the war. The popular vote for President, beginning in 1876, when Tilden had a popular majority of 250,000 over Hayes, shows the serious Republican defection that was willing to accept Democratic authority to conserve and restrain the abuses of Republican power. In 1880, Garfield, the Republican candidate for President, had less than 10,000 popular majority over Hancock. In 1884, Cleveland had a popular majority over Blaine of nearly 30,000. In 1888, when Harrison was elected over Cleveland by the electoral college, Cleveland's popular majority over Harrison was nearly 100,000, and in 1892, Cleveland received a popular majority over Harrison of over 300,000. Thus, from 1876 to 1892, including the contests of both those years, the Repub- licans had a popular majority for President only in a single instance, and that was the nominal majority of Garfield over Hancock in 1880. A careful study of these elections will satisfy any dispassionate student of our political history that, while the Democrats have many times given popular majorities in National and congressional contests, the cotmtry has never been Democratic since the war. In four National contests the Democrats gave popular 444 Old Time Notes majorities to their candidates for President, but the majorities were not made up of Democratic votes. The Democrats have won, ahke in Pennsylvania and in the Nation, only by Republican defection that empha- sized the purpose to restrain the abuses of Republican power, and the party was chastened in defeat by the deliberate action of its own people. Pennsylvania has had Democratic Governors and other State officers since the war, and the Nation has had Democratic Presidents and gave majorities for others who were not elected, but they have never won either a State or National victory wholly by Democratic votes. The contest of 1876 was a memorable struggle, not only because it was one of the most earnestly contested battles of our political history, but, also, because of the reversal of the popular majority by the electoral college, whose contested seats were finally decided by an electoral commission created by Congress. Penn- sylvania had re-elected Hartranft the year before by a comparatively small majority that was worked out by the very shrewd manipulation of the Labor and Greenback organization of the State, and the Repub- licans felt that Pennsylvania would be a debatable State in a National contest. There were no State officers to be chosen, but the contest for Congressmen and the Legislature was fought out with great earnest- ness on both sides. Tilden's advent into politics presented an unusually brilliant record. He was a severely trained and tech- nical lawyer, so severely technical that his own will was successfully contested in the courts, but he proved to be a most masterful political organizer. The Repub- licans had made a shrewd move two years before by nominating General Dix, a War Democrat, for Gover- nor, and thereby saved the State. Dix made a highly creditable administration, but Tilden decided to make of Pennsylvania 445 a contest for the Governorship in 1874, and he planned and completed the most perfect organization the party had ever in the State, by which he not only nominated himself for Governor, but defeated Dix by a large majority. As soon as he became Governor, he started out to nominate himself for President, by the same method, and while he had no great popular following, although commanding the respect of all parties, he won his nomination with ease over Governor Hendricks, of Indiana, his chief competitor. Tilden was a severe cloister student, but he carefully studied the men of the country, and he had as his chief lieutenant in Pennsylvania William L. Scott, of Erie, one of the ablest Democratic leaders of that day, who was twice elected to Congress in the overwhelmingly Republican district of Erie and Crawford. Scott was at that time among the most forceful of the Democratic leaders in the State and a tireless worker, and Tilden had men of like qualities directing the battle for him in all of the States. He was not a man of personal popular qualities, being a bachelor student whose social attributes were neglected, but he was recognized as one of the ablest of our National leaders, as a man of imdoubted integrity, and as one who would speedily and surely correct the then serious abuses of Repub- lican power. He had strongly commended himself to the better class of the people of all parties by the courage he ex- hibited in taking an open stand for the exposure and punishment of Tweed, who was then the assumed Dem- ocratic leader of city and State. It was to Tilden more than to any other one man that Tweed owed his fall, and for that reason, and also because of his generally reputable character, he commanded the respect of Republicans, and received many votes from the reform element ot that party. Hayes received 1 7,904 majority 446 Old Time Notes over Tilden in Pennsylvania, nearly all of which was given in the city of Philadelphia. The Republicans carried both branches of the Legislature by a decided majority, and reversed the Democratic majority in the congressional delegation that was elected in 1874, giving the Republicans seventeen of the twenty-seven Congressmen. The election of 1876 brought into prominence John 1. Mitchell, of Tioga Coimty, who was elected to Con- gress in the district composed of Tioga, Potter, McKean, Cameron, Lycoming and Sullivan. He had served several sessions as a State representative, and was one of the prominent leaders of that body before he retired from it. He was a man of thoroughly clean reputa- tion, sternly honest in public and private life, but lacked the keenness of perception and the ability to lead in a fight without careful preparation, which are so neces- sary in a brilliant leader, but his high character and genial qualities made him universally respected, and he was one of the most influential members of the body, although lacking rhetorical attainments. His nomination for Congress, that led to his elec- tion, was what is commonly called in politics an acci- dent. The acknowledged Republican leader of Tioga County at that time was Butler B. Strang, a man of unusual ability, always ready for the forensic battle, no matter how suddenly precipitated, and in both house and senate he was accepted as the ablest lawyer of the body. He had served several terms in the house, from whence he was transferred to the senate, where his term ended in 1876. During a long legislative service I saw all the ablest legislative leaders of that period, and I do not know one who surpassed Strang, either in strategy or debate. He served in the senate with such distinguished legal luminaries as Wallace, Dill, Yerkes, White, Rutan and others, and he stood Of Pennsylvania 447 fully abreast with the ablest of them, and his admirable personal qualities attached his friends to him with hooks of triple steel. He was as fearless as he was able, and it was his mis- fortune to offend the Cameron power that was domi- nant at that time. He was too great to take orders from any political or personal power, and his promi- nence in the northern section of the State was a con- stant menace to the Cameron mastery. Had Strang been the trained and tireless political manager that Cameron was, he could have dominated his district and section of the State, but the one distinguishing characteristic of both Strang and Mitchell was their general indifference to political movements even in their own immediate locality, and both loved the ease of indolence. Strang confidently expected to be the next Congress- man from Tioga County, and his ambition would have been realized had he understood and interposed against the far-reaching management of Cameron. It was generally conceded that Tioga County was not entitled to the Republican candidate for Congress in 1876, according to the rule of rotation that generally obtained in the rural sections, and Strang paid no attention, whatever, to the congressional matter, believing that the county could not, and should not, receive the nomi- nation at that time; but when the county convention met Cameron's friends were fully advised of his pur- poses, and in the absence of Strang as a candidate, the name of Mitchell was proposed to the convention for what was generally regarded as the empty compli- ment of a congressional recommendation. While the convention did not understand it, the Cameron mana- gers well understood what it meant, and when Mitchell was given the conferees of Tioga County, the other counties were carefully manipulated by Cameron's 448 Old Time Notes friends to nominate Mitchell as the district candidate, and thus, for a decade at least, preclude the possibility of Strang's congressional aspirations being gratified. In addition to this shrewd overthrow of Strang in his own district, Cameron threw himself into the breach in the Republican State convention, where Strang was a candidate for State treasurer, and his nomination generally conceded, and the same influence and methods which were employed to defeat him at home were employed with equal success in the State convention, and Strang was mortified by a defeat that utterly astounded himself and his friends. Cameron thus succeeded in practically ending the political power of Butler B. Strang, who, thereafter, was comparatively unknown and unfelt in the politics of his section, as he was usually not an aggressive man, although a desperate fighter when engaged in earnest conflict, and a few years thereafter, in a moment of that fearful despondency that hurls reason from her throne, he sent the death bullet into his own brain and ended his career as a suicide. Had he sought the nomina- tion for Congress in his county in 1876, it would have been accorded to him without a serious contest, but he doubtless would have been defeated for the nomina- tion in the district. He could have bided his time, however, for his county of Tioga, possessing as it did more than the entire Republican majority of the dis- trict, could not have been long denied a representative, and had Strang entered the National councils his record would have been distinguished among the able repre- sentatives of Pennsylvania. Mitchell entered Congress, served without making his impress in the proceedings of that body, was re- elected in 1878, and was about closing a four years' term of service in February, 1881, when the same for- tuitous circumstances which had sent him to Congress Of Pennsylvania 440 in 1876, made him a United States Senator, although tinthought of as a candidate until after the Legislature had become involved in a bitter factional contest. His career in Congress was not distinguished for either industry or participation in debate, but he was a straightforward, honest representative, and was re- spected as widely as he was known. I happened to be in Washington on the night that he was agreed upon by the disputing factions at Harris- burg as a compromise candidate for Senator, and was in Mitchell's room engaged at a game of whist with him and two others, with several visiting spectators. Colonel Lambert was then on ''The Times" staff with me, and was at Harrisburg carefully watching the Senatorial struggle. His high character and attain- ments as a journalist, and his admirable personal qualities, gave him access to the inner circles of all political movements then as they do to-day, and about half past ten o'clock in the evening, when engaged at whist with Mitchell and our partners, a telegram was brought to me from Lambert, stating that Mitchell had been agreed upon by both the disputing factions for United States Senator, and would be elected on the following day. I handed the despatch to Mitchell, and with equal surprise and delight he announced it to the others in the room, whereupon a rush was made to congratulate him, and all did so but myself, as I remained seated at the table. He finally turned to me and said: "You are the only one who has not congratulated me." I at once arose and took him by the hand, and told him that if he felt equal to the discharge of the high duties of Senator so as to make his name remembered by the Nation when he retired from it, he was to be congrat-^ ulated. His head involuntarily dropped toward his breast, and he said: " McClure is right, but I will try. " a — 2 J Old Time Notes I had great respect and much affection for him, and knew that his election to the Senate, while it would make a stainless record, would not rank him among the leaders of the Nation. He was just in the prime of life, and in the possession of perfect physical and mental vigor, but who of all the men who have carefully studied the records of the first legislative tribtinal of the country can recall a single monument of statesman- ship that owes its creation to Senator Mitchell ? He was not at all alone in his class, for Pennsylvania and many other States have repeatedly sent men to the United States Senate whose names are imknown in the important annals of National legislation. Mitchell entered the Senate on the 4th of March, 1 88 1, and his first and only great utterance or move- mejit that he made in either politics or legislation was in leading a revolt one year later against the Cameron power that had not only sent him to Congress, but that had made him the compromise candidate for United States Senator, as in the factional fight in the Legisla- ture Cameron's power was largely dominant. What particular influence led him to make a revolution against the organization of the party has never been given to the public. That he was honest in his con- victions none who knew him could doubt, but what special provocation made a man who had studiously avoided factional warfare throw the plume of his Senatorship into a revolutionary movement not only against his party, but against the men who h,ad given him the most important positions he had held, seemed incomprehensible ; and when it is remembered that he led a revolution against General James A. Beaver, the Republican candidate for Governor, a man of the cleanest record and the sternest integrity, and a gallant and maimed soldier, who had been nominated without a serious contest in the State convention, his Of Pennsylvania 4SI revolutionary action seemed even more difficult of explanation. I witnessed the nomination of General Beavei', and when the convention adjourned there was not the sign of revolt in any quarter. There was not a cloud visible even so large as a man's hand on the political horizon, and the members of that convention adjourned with- out a doubt as to General Beaver's election.; but suddenly the revolt sprang to the surface, and when it was led by a Republican United States Senator against the Cameron rule of the State, the movement was quickened in every section, and for once the power of Senator Mitchell was felt from center to circum- ference of the State. I saw him at the Independent Republican conven- tion, and it was the only time that I ever saw him thoroughly aroused, aggressive and defiant. His posi- tion and environment made him altogether the most important factor in the revolutionary movement, and brought to the Independent convention a very large number of representative Republicans from every part of the State. A full State ticket was nominated with Senator (now Judge) Stewart, of Franklin, for Gover- nor. Stewart had been the leader in the senate in the revolt against the election of Oliver and others, who, in turn, were adopted as the candidates of the Cameron end of the party for United States Senator, and when he accepted the nomination it was notice that the battle of the revolutionists would be made a fight to the finish. Stewart canvassed the State, as did Beaver and Pattison, and the struggle became one of desperation. There was no hope, whatever, of Stewart's election, and the fact that his candidacy had but a single practical aim, and that the defeat of the regular Republican State ticket, made many of the Independent Republicans 45 2 Old Time Notes vote directly for Pattison for Governor in order to assure the defeat of Beaver. The result was the elec- tion of Pattison, by a plurality nearly equal to Stewart's vote, and the entire State ticket, including candidates for lieutenant governor, secretary of internal affairs, supreme judge and congressmen-at-large, fell with Beaver. After this grand exhibition of aggressive action on the part of Senator Mitchell, he practically retired from participation in factional conflict, and thereafter acted generally in harmony with the regular organization, and was unfelt in the party leadership of the State. He was imiversally respected and very generally beloved at home, and when he retired from the Senate and was practically without power in the general direction of the politics of the State, he announced himself as a candidate for president judge in his home county, and although his opponent was the Repub- lican incumbent who had served ten years with general acceptability, Mitchell was nominated by a decided majority and became president judge of his district. He continued in that position tmtil a few years ago, when a vacancy was made on the Republican State ticket by the enforced withdrawal of the candidate for judge of the superior court, when Mitchell was accepted by the leaders and was elected to the second appellate tribunal of the State, but his service was very brief in his new judicial capacity, as paralysis suddenly laid him low, from which he has never re- covered. For a considerable period after he became entirely unfitted for the performance of any judicial duties he retained his position, hoping to be able to resume his judicial work, but finally the physical wreck sadly impaired his mental powers, and he was retired from the bench by a law passed chiefly for his benefit. Of Pennsylvania 453 XCII. ANARCHY RULED IN 1877. The Darkest Year in the History of Pennsylvania — Culmination of the Revulsion of 1873 — Business Depressed and Working Men Without Bread — Anarchy First Asserted Its Mastery in Pittsburg by Destroy- ing Several Millions of Pennsylvania Railroad Property — Took Possession of all the Railroads of the State, and Generally Through- out the Country — Governor Hartranft Absent in the West — Adjutant General Latta Rendered Timely and Heroic Service — Appalling Condition in Philadelphia — Mayor Stokley Calls for a Committee of Safety — The Author a Member — Interesting Incidents in Pre- serving Peace in the City — Stokley's Magnificent Administration to Preserve Peace — Exceptional Military Service Rendered by Col. Bonnafion's Regiment. EIGHTEEN hundred and seventy-seven was the darkest year of the last half century in the history of Pennsylvania. The excessive in- flation, bewildering extravagance, and tidal wave of speculation which had prevailed for years under the immense volume of depreciated currency during the war were brought to a halt in 1873, when liquidation began. At no time in the history of the country were the people so largely and so generally in debt, as all channels of industry, commerce and trade had been steadily expanded for a full decade from the beginning of the war, and all intelligent observers of the situa- tion knew that a terrible reckoning must come, but each hoped that it would be postponed until he had reached a solid financial basis. When the revulsion began in 1873 i't was generally believed that it would be only temporary, but the liquidation that was then begun continued steadily and relentlessly until it culminated in 1877, when most 454 Old Time Notes of the great States of the Union were plunged into anarchy. As Hquidation continued, the wages of labor were reduced when the industrial classes had been enjoying for ten years the most prosperous season they had ever known, and had naturally drifted into excessive extravagance in imitation of the people of fortune about them. The severe necessities which were felt in almost every home restrained expenditures, thus largely limiting consumption, resulting in the en- forced limitation of products, and employment of labor. Many were forced into bankruptcy after 1873, and when 1877 was reached the general business depression and paralysis of industry was more general than at any other period during the last half of the nineteenth century. Labor strikes for increase of wages that it was not in the power of the employers to pay, were common in all the great centers of industry, and there were hundreds of thousands of people in Pennsylvania without bread in their homes to satisfy the demands of himger. A mob exasperated by pinching want is not only always unreasoning, but is always desperate and revolutionary, and on the 19th of July, 1877, in the city of Pittsburg, the rule of anarchy began when the mob took possession of the Pennsylvania Railroad and refused to allow the freight trains to be moved. Governor Hartranft was in the far West on a visit to the Pacific coast, and Adjutant General James W. Latta was compelled to act in the absence of the Gov- ernor, and on application of the sheriff of Allegheny County for military to aid in maintaining the peace, he ordered troops to Pittsburg. The appearance of troops upon the railway called out the revolutionary elements along the entire line between Philadelphia and Pittsburg, and within twenty-four hours the rail- road was practically blocked at every important point of Pennsylvania 455 between the two great cities. The Baltimore and Ohio was also seized by the revolutionists, and in a few days the great trunk lines to the far West were abso- lutely in the hands of the people, who were inflamed to the point of anarchy. Philadelphia passed through an exceedingly severe ordeal, and although I had little political sympathy with Mayor Stokley, I regard it as only just to say that the preservation of the public peace in this great city was due almost wholly to his tmfaltering courage and wisely directed efforts to prevent an eruption of law- lessness. He knew the people of the city, had grown up with them, and he specially understood the class of our citizens who were likely to be inflamed to violence. The only power exhibited by the mob in the city was in taking possession of the Pennsylvania Railroad depot in West Philadelphia, from which point all trains were then started. The mob held possession of the depot and the line for most of two days, but it was finally suppressed by the appearance of a small body of regular troops, whose presence intimidated the rioters, as they had a wholesome fear of the willingness of regular troops to obey orders and fire upon mobs when necessary, while the volunteer troops sent to Pittsburg and other points of the State greatly inflamed the rioters and provoked them to desperate lawlessness. In no instance did they attempt any violent move- ments in the presence of regular troops. The police force of Mayor Stokley was entirely inade- quate to the emergency, and he addressed letters to some two himdred citizens asking them to meet promptly at the mayor's headquarters to consider the best methods of preserving the peace of the city. Although the relations between the mayor and myself were then somewhat strained, I was among those he invited to attend that meeting. John Welsh, then 456 Old Time Notes perhaps the foremost of Philadelphia's citizens, was called to the chair, and Mayor Stokley frankly stated to the meeting, held with closed doors, that he desired that a Committee of Safety be appointed by the meet- ing to consist of five persons, who should act with the mayor, and whose judgment he could freely accept in any emergency that required extraordinary measures to be taken for the protection of person and property. He desired that the judgment of this committee should be full warrant for him to take any measures deemed necessary, even without authority of law, to suppress violence in the city. The meeting promptly decided to comply with his request, and charged Mr. Welsh with the duty of selecting the committee of which he should be chairman. The mayor gave no details to the meeting of the conditions in the several sections of the city, beyond stating that violence was threatened in different localities. Before the meeting was held he had issued an order forbidding persons to congregate anywhere on the streets, and his police were privately instructed to pre- vent any meetings in the disturbed portions of the city. His policy was to keep the revolutionary elements scattered and ignorant of their strength, and in that he was eminently wise, for had the revolutionary ele- ments of the city known their strength they could have precipitated Philadelphia into anarchy in an hour. He had also given private instruction to the officers of several regiments of the city to be ready to march at the shortest notice, and to guard against extreme con- ditions he had a boat on the Schuylkill, and another on the Delaware, laden with ammunition, so that the military could be supplied even if the depositories of ammunition were destroyed. When the meeting adjourned I thought it due to Mr. Welsh to advise him not to think of me as a member of of Pennsylvania 457 that committee, and I told him privately that my relations with the mayor were not such as would make it agreeable for him to have me serve in that capacity. I went to my office, but was not there more than thirty minutes when I received a notice from the mayor that I was appointed one of the Committee of Safety, and my presence was required at his office at once. I was greatly surprised, but it was a call that could not be disobeyed, and I hurriedly returned to the mayor's office, where Mr. Welsh informed me that he had appointed me in obedience to the special request of the mayor himself, thus relieving me of all embarrassment in entering upon the responsible duties. The Com- mittee of Safety consisted of John Welsh, ex- Mayor McMichael, ex- Mayor Fox, Senator Cochran and my- self, and when we had gathered in the mayor's office we were all startled at the condition of affairs in our city. While imder Mayor Stokley's admirable use of his police to prevent any gatherings whatever in any part of the city, there was every indication on the surface of a peaceful and quiet community, the mayor informed us how difficult it had been for him up to that time to keep the revolutionary elements apart, and to prevent the city from being plunged into anarchy. He stated all the precautions he had taken, in which he had acted with great intelligence and firmness, and said that the first need of the city was to double its police force, for which he had no lawful authority. He stated, how- ever, that any means necessary to preserve the public peace would be employed by him regardless of their lawfulness if approved by the Committee of Safety. The committee at once -unanimously authorized him to double the police force, then consisting of but little more than a thousand men in the entire city. My first awakening to the actual situation in Philadelphia was caused by a reply that Mayor Stokley made to my sug- 458 Old Time Notes gestion that there were thousands of intelligent and law-abiding skilled laborers of the city who were without employment, and who doubtless would be very willing to be taken on the police force. The mayor's answer was that we had plenty of the very class I had described, many of whom owned their own homes, and who were without employment, but while they would not join in revolutionary proceedings themselves, they could not be induced to employ force to restrain the starving laborers who had been inflamed into riotous action by the few vicious spirits who are ever ready in a com- munity to incite to lawlessness. At first blush the task of obtaining a thousand capable and faithful policemen seemed next to impos- sible, but the mayor suggested that they should be found in the ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic. He paid what I have ever regarded as the highest tribute ever paid by any one to the veterans of our civil war, when he said that there was not a Union soldier who had served with credit in the army, how- ever poor, or however dissolute, who could not be trusted to enforce law and order in the community against all classes and conditions. The result was that the police force in the city was promptly doubled, and chiefly, if not wholly, from the ranks of the Grand Army, and not one of the men thus called to duty failed to give honest and faithful service to the city. In one of the uptown sections of the city there was very serious disturbance, and systematic efforts were made by a few ringleaders to precipitate a riot, in imi- tation of the mastery of anarchy in Pittsburg. The police officer in charge of that section was present at the first meeting of the Committee of Safety, and gave a detailed account of the danger of a breach of the peace being precipitated that night. The mayor very coolly asked him whether he knew the man or men who of Pennsylvania 459 were studiously seeking to inaugurate lawlessness, to which the policeman answered that he did; that one man was the leader of the whole movement, and he was tireless in his efforts to precipitate revolution. The mayor quietly remarked to his police officer that he should have a good force on hand, and that, if any riotous action was forced upon him, he should see that the right person or persons were killed. The policeman seemed to understand the mayor perfectly, and bowed himself out. On the following morning the same officer made his report in the presence of the mayor and the committee, and he stated that a riot had been started in his section, but that the ringleader was killed before it had attained any great importance, and that the lawless elements were then easily controlled. The mayor thanked the police officer, and he again bowed himself out. Who had killed the man was never inquired into, and the newspapers simply stated that a riot had been started in one of the uptown sections of Philadelphia, and that one man was killed, but the policeman certainly could have told by whom and how the rioter had fallen. Within twenty-four hours after the Committee of Safety met with Stokley, when he was invested by the committee with dictatorial powers, he had the city so completely under control that an outbreak was simply an impossibility. He was greatly fretted that the railway depot was held so long by a mob, and he was restrained from going to the depot on a locomotive with the engineer to move a train out of the city, only by the earnest protest of the committee against thus imperilling his own life. The committee met with him three times each day for more than a week, when the regular municipal authorities were entirely equal to maintaining the public peace. It made no record of its proceedings, and neither the newspapers nor the pubhc 460 Old Time Notes sought to know what measures had been adopted. There were many important facts brought before the committee which were certainly not proper for public information, but all these have no place in history, and the writer is the only one of the six men who assumed dictatorial power for the preservation of the peace of the city who is yet among the living. Mayor Stokley had held important public positions, and was one of the foremost leaders of his party in the city, but he was one of the few men in important muni- cipal trust who had never enriched himself directly or indirectly by official power, and he was not a man of fortune. On the day that the Committee of Safety adjourned finally, I returned to "The Times" office and drew a subscription paper to raise a fimd to be given to Mayor Stokley as a tribute to the exceptionally great service he had rendered the community when threatened with anarchy. Within a few days $10,000 was subscribed and paid, and that fund was delivered to Mayor Stokley by Mr. McLaughlin, the publisher of ''The Times," and he gratefully accepted it. I have heard that another fund was raised by some of the financial institutions of the city, but I cannot speak advisedly on the subject. Had ten times ten thousand been contributed and paid to Mayor Stokley, it would not have been in excess of his just deserts. At the expiration of his term as mayor I earnestly urged the nomination of Mayor Stokley for re-election by the Committee of One Himdred, and that was ac- complished. There were no conditions imposed upon him that he could not have consistently accepted, and he was more than willing to have the endorsement of the Committee of One Hundred with the regular Repub- lican nomination, but the Republican leaders were smarting under wounds which had been inflicted by the Committee of One Hundred in former political contests, Of Pennsylvania 461 and they were imperative in demanding that the mayor should reject the nomination of the Committee of One Hundred. I called on the mayor and appealed to him not to reject the support of the Committee of One Hun- dred, not only because it would endanger his election, but because it would deny him the opportimity to con- duct his next administration on a higher and better plane, and command the confidence of the entire com- mimity. He earnestly desired to do so, but the leaders, each of whom had been humiliated by defeats given them by the Committee of One Hundred, were imperi- ous in demanding that their candidate for mayor could not accept the nomination of the Committee, and threatened him with disastrous defeat if he disregarded their appeal. He informed me that he was compelled most reluctantly to decline the nomination of the com- mittee to maintain the unity of his party. The result was that the Democrats and the com- mittee nominated Samuel G. King for mayor, and John Himter, an Independent Republican, for receiver of taxes, and the newspaper I then conducted had no choice but to separate from Stokley and support the King and Htmter ticket. Stokley suffered a humiliat- ing defeat, as King was chosen by over 5,000, and Htinter by a largely increased majority. Stokley afterwards served very creditably as director of public safety, tmder Mayor Fitler, and while many criticised his violent political methods, he lived respected by all for his personal integrity, and died widely lamented. The story of the mastery of mob rule in Pittsburg, in 1877, when property of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, to the value of some $4,000,000, was fired and destroyed by the mob, need not be repeated in detail. The chief reason for the more violent eruption of anarchy in Pittsburg than elsewhere was the lingering prejudice in that commimity against the railroad, that 462 Old Time Notes had been created by the long struggle of a large majority of the community, and many of the officials of the coimty, to accomplish the repudiation of a debt the county had assumed to aid in the construction of the railway. So violent and dominating was the repudi- ation movement that the commissioners of the county preferred to go to prison for contempt of court rather than obey the order of the court to levy taxes for the payment of the interest on the debt, and the struggle was maintained in the courts for many years. The children of that day were taught that the people were being robbed by the railroad corporation, and when they grew up to manhood they did not forget it. The sheriff, being imable to maintain the peace, called upon the Governor for the military to aid him in pre- serving order, and the trouble became so serious in different sections along the line of the road, and in the anthracite coal region, where the miners were on a strike, that practically the entire military force of the State was called out. There were ten major generals, whose divisions were presumably in service to maintain the peace in Pennsylvania, as the adjutant general's report of that year contains the reports of the ten major generals, detailing the service rendered by their respec- tive divisions. It should be said, however, that a very large portion of the militia did not respond to the call. Most of the privates were working men, who were in sympathy with the mob spirit that was rife at the time, and some of the soldiers who appeared for service threw down their arms and fraternized with the mob when they came in contact with the rioters. Enough faithful soldiers, however, were brought into service to restore the State to comparative tranquillity within two weeks, but not imtil after a number of the rioters and some of the soldiers were killed or wotmded. It was a costly experience for Allegheny County, as of Pennsylvania 463 under the law of that time the coimty was responsible for any property destroyed by the mob, and after the attempt at legislation to reimburse the loss from the State treasury that resulted in disaster and scandal, the matter was finally adjusted by Allegheny Cotmty paying nearly $3,000,000 for the property destroyed. While many of the military called out to suppress dis- order behaved with great gallantry, the one military organization that stands out distinct from all others, alike in its promptness in responding to the call of the Governor and in its faithful performance of every duty assigned to it, was what was known as the Twentieth Regiment, organized in Philadelphia by Colonel Sylvester Bonnaffon, Jr. The adjutant general in his report stated that the emergency was great for an additional military force of thoroughly reliable men, and in re- sponse to Colonel Bonnaffon s proposition to raise a regiment of veterans it was promptly accepted, and in the adjutant general's report he said of this regiment: " It was recruited in thirty-six hours, fully clothed by the contributions of patriotic citizens, armed by the State, and in fifty-six hours from the time recruiting was commenced it was on duty at Pittsburg." It was made up of veteran soldiers of the Civil War, and so valuable were its services, and the courage, skill and discretion of Colonel Bonnaffon as commander, that after its service in Pittsburg it was transferred to the anthracite coal region, where it held the disorderly elements in check, and it was the last of the military organizations called into service released from duty. Colonel Bonnaffon was as modest as he was brave and skillful, and while many others reaped rich rewards for their services, he gathered no fruits for the heroic record he had made, beyond the highest encomiums from his superior officers, and the sincerest expression of thanks from the leading citizens of Wilkes-Barre to 464 Old Time Notes the soldier who had given peace and protection to the community. He has long held the responsible position of cashier of customs in the port of Philadelphia, and his handled hundreds of millions of government money with scrupulous fidelity. He suffered severe wounds during the Civil War, which have caused and ever will cause him much suffering, and he is one of the very few pensioners who, when called to official position by the government with ample salary for his livelihood, has uniformly covered his pension check back to the treasury of the United States, thereby presenting an example that should be imitated by every pensioner who is given official position by the government with adequate salary for the support of himself and family. of Pennsylvania 465 XCIII. THE GREAT OIL DEVELOPMENT. The Humble Beginning of a Trade that has Risen to Hundreds of Mil- lions — Professor Silliman's Chemical Investigation of Petroleum — Colonel E. L. Drake Sank the First Oil Well— His Difficulty in Raising One Thousand Dollars to Start the Oil Development — He was More than a Year in Getting His Well Completed — Representa- tive Rouse Regarded as a Hopeless Crank by his Fellow Legislators in 1859 — The Tidal Wave of Speculation in Oil Companies, Result- ing in Sweeping Disaster — Desperate Battles of the Oil Men to Reach Markets — The Annual Oil Product Now Over One Hundred Million Barrels — At First Worth Twenty Dollars a Barrel; now Worth One Dollar or Less. ONE of the most marvelous developments of the mineral resources of Pennsylvania during the half century just closing, was that of the petro- leum industry. As an article of commerce and universal use, petroleum was unknown fifty years ago. The ex- istence of petroleum springs in Western New York, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia had been known to the Indians for many generations, and to the white settlers for at least a century. But that it was stored in great rock reservoirs ready to gush forth by the thousands of barrels daily at the magic touch of the artesian drill, had never been dreamed of. An oil called ''kerosene" had been manufactured for several years prior to 1855 from bituminous shales, and the increasing use and demand for this illuminant prompted chemical investigation of some specimens of petroleum secured from springs along Oil Creek. Professor B. Silliman, Jr., professor of chemistry in Yale College, completed a thorough analysis of some petroleum taken from a spring on Oil Creek nearly 2 — 30 466 Old Time Notes two miles south of Titusville, at nearly the identical location where, four years later, the first successful petroleiim well was drilled by the late Colonel E. L. Drake. In his report upon this analysis, v/hich was published in the spring of 1855, Professor Silliman said, ''The crude oil vv^as tried as a means of illumination. For this purpose a weighed quantity was decomposed by passing it through a wrought iron retort filled with carbon and ignited to redness. It produced nearly pure carburetted hydrogen gas. the most highly illum- inating of all carbon gases. In fact, the oil may be regarded as chemically identical with illuminating gas in a liquid form. It burned with an intense flame. Compared with gas the rock oil gave more light than any burner except the costly argand, consuming two feet of gas per hour. These photometric experiments have given the oil a much higher value as an illumina- tor than I had dared to hope. ' ' Until this time the oil had been collected from the surface of the springs and sold in small bottles as a medicine, under the name of Seneca Oil, the name being derived from the Seneca Indians, who had been the first to collect it and utilize it for medicinal purposes. Professor Silliman 's analy- sis four years in advance of its discovery in sufficient quantities to be of real commercial value had deter- mined its principal use in the future, although he probably was not aware of this at the time. Silliman 's report attracted wide attention, and a company was soon organized with a capital of a quarter of a million dollars, to purchase lands and erect such machinery as might be required to collect all the oil in the vicinity of the spring from whence the test sample had been taken. Even at this time, however, the most sanguine promoters of the plan to develop the petroleum industry had not dreamed of boring artesian wells to tap subterranean deposits of the fluid. Their only idea Of Pennsylvania 467 was to develop and utilize to the ftillest possible extent the product of the various surface springs which were known to exist. One result, however, of the agitation was the employment of Colonel Edwin L. Drake to visit the property near Titusville and make a report of the best means of securing paying quantities of oil. Stopping on his way from New Haven, to view the salt wells of Syracuse, Colonel Drake visited Titusville near the close of 1857. Remaining a few days to transact legal business and examine the lands, he proceeded to Pittsburg, visiting the salt wells at Tarentum, on the way. The salt wells at Syracuse and Tarentum gave him the idea of boring for oil, and he hastened back to Connecticut to conclude a scheme of operating the property. Provided with a fund of one thousand dol- lars as a starter, Drake was engaged at a thousand dollars a year to begin operations, and arrived in Titus- ville early in May, 1858. So inexperienced v/as he, however, in the art of drilling wells, and so many diffi- culties and discouragements did he encounter, that it was not until August 28, 1859, ^ year and a third after he had arrived at his post to begin the work, that the drill had reached the depth of seventy feet and pierced the rock deposit in which the stored petroleum had been waiting for ages. A twenty -barrel well had been tapped, and the foundation of the great oil industry, which has since grown to an annual value of more than one hundred millions, had been laid. When oil was first developed in Venango County by boring wells, most of those engaged in the enterprise became enthusiastic over the measure of wealth they expected to realize, but the public generally regarded the whole scheme as unpromising. I well remember serving as a representative at Harrisburg in 1859 with Mr. Rouse, a member from Venango, who was one of the earliest pioneers in oil development. He had half 468 Old Time Notes a dozen small vials of different qualities of oil in his pocket, and soon was regarded by his associates gener- ally in the house as an unbalanced crank on the oil question. He was constantly telling us, like Mulberry Sellers, that ''there's millions in it," but he could not induce one of his associates to invest a dollar in oil development. He was an intelligent and enterprising man, and had studied the question as thoroughly as it was possible then to master it, and in a very few years he acquired a large fortune from his oil wells, but his life work was cut short when one of his flowing wells suddenly took fire when he was close to it, and his life was given in a struggle with the flames. He was a bachelor without kith or kin about him, and his entire fortune was equally divided between the improvement of the reads of the county and the support of the poor. In this connection some comparative figures will be interesting. The total production of oil for the year 1859 was 1,873 barrels, which brought an average price of twenty dollars a barrel. The following year, i860, the production increased to 547,439 barrels, at an average price of $9.60 per barrel, the lowest monthly price being $2.75. In 1 86 1, the year of the beginning of the Civil War, the Empire and other large wells producing thousands of barrels a day each were struck. The production for the year went up to 2,119,045 barrels, and the price went down to ten cents a barrel. The process of refining the oil for general use had not as yet been perfected, and the market was flooded with oil for which there were no purchasers. Getting it to market was also a costly as well as tedious process. Railroads had not yet penetrated the oil country, and pipe lines were unknown. The favorite method of getting the oil from the wells to where it could find purchasers and consumers was by loading it into flat boats, which were Of Pennsylvania 469 floated out of Oil Creek by a series of artificial floods, called ''pond freshets," and so down the Allegheny River to Pittsburg. In the dry midsummer season, when there was too little water for flat boat navigation, the oil was hauled in barrels over a series of miserable country roads to Meadville and other points along the Atlantic and Great Western Railway, a distance of thirty miles. This was merely a temporary stage of the development of the great oil industry, however. The breaking out of the War of the Rebellion in 1861 , and the low price of petroleum at that time, incident to a rapidly increasing production, and the crude and costly processes of refining and marketing the oil, tended for a short time to check the development of the petroleum industry. This check was only tem- porary, for the output of the flowing wells already tapped inspired railway building, and in a short time one branch of the Atlantic and Great Western Railway was constructed from Meadville to Franklin, and later to Oil City. Another branch was laid from Corry to Titusville, and extended first to Miller Farm, six miles below, on Oil Creek, and then to Shaffer Farm, a mile further toward Oil City, which was the terminus of this branch for several years. This left a ten-mile stretch of the Oil Creek Valley from Shaffer Farm to Oil City still without a railroad, but with railroad privileges at either extremity; the product of this rich producing region was easily handled from either direction, for oil could be towed up the stream in flat boats by horse power as well as floated down the stream with the current. With these improved transportation facil- ities and a gradually perfected system of refining, the market for petroleum steadily expanded. Long before the close of the Rebellion, it became an important source of revenue to the Federal government, Congress levying a tax for war purposes of twenty cents a gallon 470 Old Time Notes upon refined oil, and one dollar per barrel upon crude. Practically all the oil refined in the country paid this double tax, only that which was exported in the crude form escaping the tax upon refined. With the advance in the price of oil due to improved methods of transportation and refining, an era of wild speculation set in. Fabulous fortunes were made in a year by such fortunate operators as Orange Noble, George B. Delamater, Dr. M. C. Egbert, the Phillips Brothers, and the owners of the Benninghoff, Tarr, McClintock, Rynd, and other farms, the names of which became household words the country over. Promoters and speculators swarmed through Venango, Crawford, Warren and Forest counties, buying and leasing lands without regard to their location, and in most instances with no evidence that oil was to be found beneath them. With 'these land purchases and leases as a basis, hun- dreds of stock companies were formed and the stocks sold in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg and every- where where men and women with small or large sav- ings could be induced to invest upon a promise of becoming millionaires within a year. The depreciated and superabundant currency of the war period greatly stimulated this speculative fever. Everybody had money, and very few believed that it would prove stable in value. They were quite willing to exchange it for something that promised substantial wealth, and thus it came to pass that during the period from 1862 until 1865, when this petroleum stock company bubble finally burst, there were very few people east of the Allegheny River and north of Mason and Dixon's line, with surplus means at command, who were not owners of some of this oil stock. Except in a few instances in which capable business men were placed at the head of these oil producing corporations, these stock schemes proved failures, enriching only the promoters who of Pennsylvania 471 floated and sold the stocks. The most successful com- pany of this period was known as the Columbia Oil Company, a Pittsburg corporation, of v/hich Andrew Carnegie, then just beginning to come into prominence, was a stockholder. The great majority of these com- panies were neither honestly organized nor intelligently administered, the purpose of their founders being merely to enrich themselves by stock sales, leaving their deluded shareholders to make the best of their foolish bargains. A farm costing four or five thousand dollars, upon which there were no oil wells and no promise that oil would be found by the most liberal use of the drill, in many instances furnished the basis for a concern capitalized at a half miillion dollars. During this period of wild inflation there was a suflicient number of people who, by lucky strikes, acquired fabulous wealth, almost in a day, keeping the public interest in the oil field in a state of the most hopeful expectancy. Johnny Steele, since known to the world as ''Coal Oil Johnny," a raw country lad, just arrived at his majority, fell heir to the Widow McClintock farm, with a bulging bank account and a dozen wells producing high priced oil. Visiting Phil- adelphia, he squandered his money on hackmen, min- strel troupes and everything else which attracted his fancy, creating the impression among those who wit- nessed his fantastic extravagance that any fool could make a fortune by going into the oil business. The collapse of these speculative corporations, which came about the closing period of the war, would at any other time have inflicted a deadly blow on what has proved to be one of the most profitable industries of Pennsyl- vania and the nation. But with the disbanding of the Union armies, a great multitude of self-reliant men, trained to the hardships of an army life for four years, were turned loose to begin the world for themselves, 472 Old Time Notes and of these a plentiful sprinkling of the most energetic, adventurous and capable drifted to the oil region. These men, with others equally capable, began at the bottom, learned the business, drilled wells, dressed tools, lived in shanties and boarded themselves, and studied and improved upon the methods of drilling and handling oil. Learning how to drill for oil, a half a dozen of these men would lease a piece of territory, erect a derrick and machinery and drill a well them- selves, often eating and sleeping in the shanty engine house while the work was in progress. By this process was trained the great group of successful oil operators who have expanded the production of American oil from 2,500,000 barrels in 1865 to 100,000,000 barrels in 1903. With the close of the war the speculative period of oil development came to an end, and from that time the production of petroleum became first a legitimate and permanent, and later a scientific, in- dustry. The living oil princes, like Ex-Senator Lewis Emery, Jr., of Bradford, John Fertig and the McKin- neys of Titusville, Thomas W. Phillips, the only sur- viving member of the firm of Phillips Brothers, and others scarcely less well known, have accumulated great fortunes by producing oil as a legitimate business, every detail of which they have learned by careful attention and practical experience. The petroleum industry has extended far beyond Pennsylvania. Oil is produced largely in New York, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Texas, Louisiana, Indian Territory, Kansas, California and a half dozen other States and Territories, the total production at this time exceeding 100,000,000 barrels per year, but the business had its origin in Pennsylvania, and in every State and territory where it is now produced the successful operators are Pennsylvanians or men from other States who first learned the business in Pennsylvania. That Of Pennsylvania 473 a new and unheard of business should have sprung up and expanded from nothing to an annual output of more than $100,000,000 in the space of forty- five years, would at first blush seem incredible, but there is no disputing the figures. And the $100,000,000 estimate covers only the value of the crude material. The manufactured product, and it is nearly all manufac- tured to prepare it for consumption, brings two or three times the value of the crude, so that it has come to be one of the most valuable of our great American productions, and one of our most important articles of export to foreign countries, That Pennsylvania has not reaped the full benefit to which the State was entitled from this great natural product, is now conceded. Every gallon of Pennsyl- vania oil should have been manufactured in Pennsyl- vania, and that which was sent abroad should have been exported from Pennsylvania's chief seaport, if the natural advantages of location and distance to market had been permitted full force and effect. That more than half of Pennsylvania's great product is refined and exported from New York and New Jersey and other States, is due to legislative stupidity. One of the important features of the oil industry has been the development of a system of transportation long dis- tances through pipe lines. The legislation which per- mitted the laying of pipe lines for the transportation of oil at first was confimed to eight counties of northwest- ern Pennsylvania, with a proviso that no pipe line should be laid within a mile of the State line. This bottled up the oil producers as to the cheapest and most natural method of bringing their great product to the seaboard. It was not until a pipe line had been laid the whole length of the State of New York, through a free pipe line law passed by the Legislature of that State, that the Legislature of Pennsylvania consented 474 Old Time Notes to uncork its own petroleum bottle by passing a similar bill in the session of 1883, ten years after it ought to have been passed, and after the representa- tives from the oil region had vainly urged its passage. In the meantime the mischief was irreparable, for the stream of crude oil had been diverted to the shores of New York Bay, where great refineries and export warehouses had been established. Since the passage of the free pipe law, a portion of this lost traffic has been recalled to the shores of the Delaware, but not a barrel of it should ever have been lost. No more forcible example of the lack of real statesmanship which has characterized the law making power of Pennsylvania for half a century could be furnished than a mere recital of the fact that the manufacture and export of one of the State's great natural products has been concentrated at the seaports of two other States through the folly and stupidity of its own legislators, who for ten years prohibited petroleum from flowing down hill through their own State to their own sea- port. Of Pennsylvania 475 XCIV. JAMES DONALD CAMERON. Became Prominent National Political Leader in 1876 — Member of the Grant Cabinet — He Forced the Struggle that Made Hayes President After an Overwhelming Popular Defeat — Hayes Rejected Cameron for a Cabinet Office — His Father Resigned His Place in the Senate and the Younger Cameron Elected — Cameron Power Supreme in Pennsylvania Authority — Both the Camerons Four Times Elected to the United States Senate — How Governor Pattison and Secretary Harrity Saved Cameron's Fourth Election in 1891 — Marvelous Record of Political Achievement by the Two Camerons in Pennsyl- vania — The Younger Cameron's Dominating Influence in Tran- quillizing South Carolina and Other Southern States — His Personal Attributes. JAMES DONALD CAMERON, son of Simon Cam- eron, who established a poHtical dynasty in Pennsylvania more than a generation ago, that at times has been halted but never overthrown until the present day, became a prominent leader in National politics in May, 1876, when President Grant appointed him to fill a vacancy in the cabinet, placing him at the head of the War Department. Until then, while he had been a very important State leader for some years, and had become largely the manager of his father's political interests in the State, he had not been known or felt in the arena of National politics, and his appointment to the cabinet was attributed to the influence of his father, then in the Senate. He was always an unusually reticent and unemo- tional man, and was little seen or felt, even in the political contests of the State, outside of the private conclaves where battles were planned and their execu- 476 Old Time Notes tion definitely arranged. He was not ambitious to be conspicuous at the front, but distinctly preferred to rule without being ostentatious in the exercise of his power. The few who knew him intimately fully appreciated his ability, but in the public estimation his qualities were unappreciated because not imder- stood. At the time of his appointment to the cabinet, Senator Cameron and President Grant were in very close accord, and both vindictively hostile to Blaine, who was then apparently the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for President; and the purpose of the President and the Camerons was clearly signaled soon after the younger Cameron's appoint- ment to the cabinet, by the Pennsylvania Republican convention, while certainly two-thirds of the Repub- lican people preferred the nomination of Blaine, being manipulated to instruct the delegation to the Cincinnati convention to vote as a unit for the nomination of Governor Hartranft for President, and the new Secre- tary of War headed the delegation and was its chair- man. But for the Cameron combination in Pennsyl- vania Blaine would certainly have been nominated for President, and certainly would have carried as many States as gave their electoral votes to Hayes; but with the hostility of the National administration, it is doubtful whether the States of Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina would have been manipulated for Blaine as they were for Hayes. The younger Cameron's record as Secretary of War was chiefly notable for the bold and defiant stand he took in the most public way to declare that Hayes was elected President over Tilden, and that the power of the army would sustain the Republicans in the dis- puted States in the South in their struggle to secure the electoral votes for the Republican candidate. Of Pennsylvania 477 He was nothing if not heroic, and once exhibited his genuine Cameron grit by peremptorily refusing a very earnest demand from his father for the appointment of a young man to a Heutenantcy in the army. The father was greatly disappointed, supposing that he had only to suggest the name to his son to secure a commission in the army, and he exhibited some tem- per at the refusal, but afterwards he often spoke of the incident with pride in the positive characteristics of his son. Hayes' election was accomplished by the manipula- tion of the three Southern States which had given popular majorities for the Democratic candidate, and all the power of the administration was exhaustively exercised to attain the declared election of Hayes, in which both the Camerons had played a conspicuous part. Indeed, but for the initiative taken by Secre- tary of War Cameron, and the defiant attitude he sus- tained in the struggle, it is very doubtful whether the declared election of Hayes could have been accom- plished. It was naturally assumed by the Camerons that Hayes would recognize his obligations to the Camerons, and that the least he could do would be to continue the yoimger Cameron in the cabinet. Great pressure was brought upon Hayes in favor of Cameron, delega- tion after delegation visiting him in Ohio before he went to Washington, and occupying much of his time after he had arrived at the Capital. The last delega- tion that called was headed by Benjamin Harris Brewster, and embraced a number of prominent Pennsylvanians. Hayes then announced that he would choose a new Secretary of War, and he was bitterly denounced as an ingrate by most of the Pennsylvanians who had made desperate battle for Cameron's reten- tion in the cabinet. 478 Old Time Notes The failure to have the younger Cameron continued in the cabinet suddenly brought the elder Cameron to the immediate fulfilment of a purpose that he had long had in view after he fotind himself securely in the Senate with the power of his State behind him. He did not conceal his desire to establish a Cameron dynasty and have his son succeed him in the Senate. I have heard him express the purpose on several occasions. I was not in accord with the political aims and methods of the Camerons, but always main- tained pleasant relations with them, and I well remem- ber on one occasion, when in conversation with the elder Cameron, he jocularly remarked that I ought to be United States Senator some time, but that I was young enough to wait for him to finish his career and have his son follow him for one or more terms, when, if I cherished Senatorial ambition, I might be grati- fied if I learned to behave myself politically. The elder Cameron had been elected to the Senate four different times; first, by a Democratic bolt and fusion with the Whigs in 1845 when he defeated Judge Woodward; in 1857, when, by the bolt of Lebo, Maneer and Wagenseller, Democratic Representatives, and the support of the Republicans, he was elected over Fomey ; in 1867, when he was nominated by the Republicans over Curtin and elected by the full party vote, and again in 1873, when he was nominated and re-elected prac- tically without a contest. His first election was to fill an unexpired term of four years, and his second election ended in four years by his resignation to accept a position in the Lincoln cabinet. The third election gave him a full term, and at the end of four years, after his fourth election, he resigned in 1877 to give place to his son. The elder Cameron thus resigned from the Senate when in the very zenith of his power, and there is little doubt Of Pennsylvania 479 that he could have continued to serve as Senator until his death twelve years later. It was his settled pur- pose to retire at some time in favor of his son, and the refusal of President Hayes to continue the younger Cameron in the cabinet precipitated the resignation of the elder Cameron, who desired to teach the new administration that the man he had rejected for Secre- tary of War had the power of a great State behind him, and could enter the Senate practically without a struggle. The Cameron power in all the departments of author- ity in Pennsylvania was then supreme. Hartranft was Governor, and Mackey and Quay were lieutenants of rare efficiency. No intimation of Cameron's resig- nation was given imtil every plan was perfected for the election of the younger Cameron. The Legisla- ture was in session when Hayes refused to continue Cameron as Secretary of War, and not only the Repub- lican leaders, but most of the Republican followers in the Legislature were quickened in their devotion to the younger Cameron by the defeat he had suffered at the hands of the President who had been elected chiefly by Cameron's strategy. The elder Cameron visited Harrisburg, conferred with Hartranft, Mackey, Quay and others, and inside of twenty-four hours had the leaders in both branches of the Legislature thoroughly posted and ready to accept the yoimger Cameron when the resignation of the father was annoimced; and when those who were ambitious for Senatorial honors hurried to Harrisburg to make a battle for the vacant Senatorship, they found that the Senatorial incident was closed, and that opposition to the Cameron power would be utterly hopeless. The result was that James Donald Cameron was elected to fill the unexpired term of two years of his father in the Senate, and it goes without sa3dng 48o Old Time Notes that one of the Senators from Pennsylvania was not enthusiastic in support of the Hayes administion. In the contest of 1878 the Repubhcans carried both branches of the Legislature by a large majority, and Senator Cameron was re-elected for a full term of six years, practically without a contest. Again, in 1884, when Blaine was defeated for President, the Republicans carried the State and Legislature, and Cameron re- ceived his third election to the Senate without serious opposition in 1885, but when the time came for his fourth election to the Senate in 189 1, he was threatened with very serious opposition, and at one time it looked as if his defeat was not only possible, but probable. In the contest of 1890, when Quay, with Cameron's assent, had forced the nomination of Delamater for Governor, and lost the head of the ticket by Pattison's election to a second term, the revolt against the Cam- eron power was large and aggressive, and Cameron's open hostility to what was known as the ''force bill, " then pending in the Senate, became a serious menace in his Senatorial struggle. Cameron had uniformly opposed the force bill after the first experiment had been made in that line, believing that it was unwise as a political measure and dangerous in many respects. Soon after the Legislature had met in 1891, Cameron telegraphed me to meet him at the Continental Hotel, where I found Quay in company with him. Quay, for reasons of policy, was supporting the force bill, although at heart earnestly against it, but, above all, he desired the re-election of his colleague. Cameron informed me of the situation at Harrisburg; that he might be compelled to vote on the force bill before the election of Senator, and, if so, his opponents would probably organize open defection against him. He said that his nomination by the caucus was assured under any circumstance, and that he could be defeated 0{ Pennsylvania 481 only by a combination between force bill Republican bolters and the Democrats. Pattison was soon to be inaugurated as Governor and Harrity was announced as secretary of the com- monwealth. They were both within two squares of the Continental Hotel, and Cameron, desired that they should be conferred with and informed of the ground upon v/hich Cameron was likely to be opposed. The Democrats were intensely hostile to the force bill, and he authorized them to be informed that he was opposed to it and would vote against it, but he believed himself entitled to the assurance that if his defeat for Senator was threatened because of his voting against the force bill, the Democrats should not permit a combination against hirn for the election of a force bill Republican. I left Cameron and Quay and at once visited Pattison and Harrity, and received their positive assurance that if a revolt was attempted" against Cameron by the force bill Republicans, the Democrats would not per- mit him to be defeated for what they regarded as the most patriotic act of his life. There was no hesitation on the part of either Pattison or Harrity, and when Cameron was informed of their purpose he expressed his contempt for his factional opponents. It soon became known at Harrisburg that if a bolt was attempted against Cameron the Democrats would support him against any force bill Republican, and as his defeat was impossible, the Republicans gave him a practically united support. He served the full fourth term for which he was elected, and then volun- tarily retired from public life. During his last term he was not entirely in accord with his party on the silver question, but he had gathered all the laurels of a Senatorial career, was weary of its exactions, and his retirement was in full accord with his own pur- poses and desires. 2—31 482 Old Time Notes The Camerons thus made the most marvelous record ever made by any family in Pennsylvania politics. The father was four times elected to the United States Senate, serving three terms of four years and one of six, making an aggregate of eighteen years, beginning in 1845 continuing at intervals tintil 1877, while the son, who immediately succeeded the father, was four times consecutively elected to the United States Senate, and served an aggregate period of twenty years. There was only one other instance that 1 can recall in which a son succeeded the father in the United States Senate. James A. Bayard, of Delaware, re- signed his seat in the Senate at the early part of the war because he refused to take the oath of allegiance that was then required of Senators, and at the next meeting of the Delaware Legislature Bayard was elected to serve his imexpired term, and on the same day his son, Thomas F. Bayard, was elected the suc- cessor of the father. Henry Dodge was one of the first United States Senators elected from the State of Wisconsin and served from Jime, 1843, "to March, 1857, and Augustus C. Dodge, his son, was the same year elected one of the first Senators from the new State of Iowa, and served from December, 1848, to February, 1855. It was the only instance in which father and son served together in the Senate. Benton served a brief period in the Senate with his son-in-law, John C. Fremont. Only one man has represented more than one State in the United States Senate. James Shields, after having filled several State offices in Illinois, was elected to the United States Senate, but was refused admission because he lacked a few days of being eligible as a naturalized citizen. The Legislature re-elected him as soon as he became eligible, and he served the full term, when he removed to Minnesota, where he was Of Pennsylvania 483 eleoted to fill an unexpired term of one or two years in the United States Senate. After serving with great credit in the army during the Civil War, he removed to Missouri, where he was appointed adjutant general, and later was appointed by the Governor to fill an imex- pired term of one year in the United States Senate. In addition to serving as United States Senator, repre- senting three different States, he once located in Cali- fornia, where he held an important State office. The younger Cameron was not aggressive in states- manship, but he exercised a very potent influence in all important legislation. He was not ambitious to pose as a leader, but he was a man of clear judgment, unusually sagacious, and when occasion required it, heroic in action. He saw the disastrous results of carpet-bag rule in the South, and the great peril of placing the power of the force bill in the hands of such irresponsible agents. His friend, John J. Patterson, who was nomi- nated for Congress in Cameron's district in 1862, and defeated in the revulsion of that year, had gone to South Carolina and secured his election to the Senate. According to the Hayes policy agreed upon between the Hayes leaders and a number of Southern leaders, it was substantially decided that the South should submit quietly to the election of Hayes by giving him the electoral votes of Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina, and that those States should have their Democratic Governors and State officers without dis- pute from the National authority. Of course, it meant a patent fraud on one side or the other, as the vote that would give Hayes the electors of those States would elect the Republican State ticket, but the occasion was too grave to be halted by irregularities of that sort, and Democratic Governors were installed in the three disputed States and recognized by the National administration. 484 Old Time Notes The Kukliix of South Carolina had been provoked to savage activity, and a score or more of them were under indictment in the United States court, where Judge Bond presided, and where they were Hkely to receive severe punishment. On the other hand, nearly all of the Republican leaders of South Carolina, black and white, were indicted in the State courts for embez- zlement and other crimes, and most of them were illy prepared to confront an honest court. In this emer- gency Cameron came to the front, and a general if not a definite understanding was reached that all prosecu- tions in both State and Federal courts should be halted, and Cameron exhibited his fidelity to the compact by securing the admission of Butler, a Democratic claimant for United States Senator from South Carolina. The result was that not a single criminal case against the Kuklux or the Republican leaders of the State has ever been called for trial, and there are several prom- inent colored men who were then leaders in South Carolina politics, who are yet holding positions at Washington, although imder indictment at home for embezzlement. Whether the cases were nol prossed or not I am not advised, but for many years they stood open upon the records of the court with the under- standing all around that they were not to be pressed to trial, and a host of Kuklux marauders and em- bezzling politicians escaped justice to give peace to a long-disturbed and fearfully-plundered State. Since 1877, when peace was reached by agreement with South Carolina, Cameron never favored the enactment of a force bill for the South, and certainly saved his party from that supreme folly as late as 1890. Senator Cameron has many times been felt in the important political struggles of the nation. I have already told of his masterful leadership by which Of Pennsylvania 485 Blaine was defeated at Cincinnati in 1876, but he loomed up even greater in the National convention in Chicago in 1880, when a battle royal was fought out between the Grant and Blaine forces, resulting in the nomination of Garfield after a desperate struggle of more than a week. Cameron was then chairman of the National committee, and called the convention to order. He had a follovv^ing in the convention that was just short of a majority, but thoroughly united and earnest, and ready to follow the Grant leader without question. Blaine had a following of nearly equal numbers and equal earnestness, but lacking in such lustrous leadership as was exhibited by Conkling, Cameron and others. In the preliminary proceedings, when the chairman of the National committee presided, Cameron ruled rigidly in favor of imit voting where such instructions were given, but the convention reversed him, and that was a fatal blow to Grant, as nearly one-third of the New York delegation, with a number of other fractions of delegations, were thereby released from the unit instructions they had received at home, and all took advantage of the new situation and voted against Grant. It was a most earnest and desperate struggle, exhibiting the highest qualities of leadership, but Grant never had a majority within reach, and Cameron fought imtil the last moment, when he stood at the head of the 306 who cast their votes for Grant, and afterwards received, and wore with pride, the medal that was given to the defeated supporters of the Hero of Appomattox. Senator Cameron never employed the arts commonly used by public men to popularize themselves with the people. He despised all such methods in politics, and fortunately for himself was quite big enough to succeed without them. It is said that he once enter- tained the idea of being a candidate for Governor, 486 Old Time Notes but it did not develop to his satisfaction and it was abandoned, but to-day he would probably be accepted as the Republican candidate for Governor if he indi- cated his willingness to accept it. It is an open secret that when Quay died, the Repub- lican leaders of the State urged Cameron to accept the appointment of United States Senator with the assur- ance that he would be elected, but he peremptorily declined it, declaring that tinder no circumstance would he return to the Senate, and his declination was fol- lowed by the suggestion of the name of Attorney General Kjiox. While he was not visible in the move- ments which settled the party leaders in Pittsburg and Philadelphia in favor of Ejiox, it is none the less true that the combination was planned by Cameron and carried to successful execution. Whether he would accept the Governorship is not known even to his closest friends, but there is no man in Pennsylvania who is to-day better equipped for that position than J. Donald Cameron. No man is more familiar with all the great interests of our State, and he is entirely familiar with the political conditions, and the new issues which have come to the front in the flight of time, and he would be thoroughly honest and wisely progressive in his administration of the government of our great Commonwealth. of Pennsylvania 487 xcv. HOYT ELECTED GOVERNOR. The Democratic Victory of 1877 — How Trunkey was Made Supreme Judge — Trunkey Defeats the Late Chief Justice Sterrett — Pattison's First Victory by Election to the ControUership — Quay and Mackey Reform Their Lines for the Election of Hoyt — Notable Contest for Supreme Judge Between Chief Justice Agnew and Judge Sterrett — Quay Side-tracks the Greenback Party Against Fusion, Then De- clares for Sound Money — Hoyt Elected by 22,000 Plurality with Over 80,000 Greenback Votes Side-tracked — Death of Mackey, Leaving Quay Supreme Party Leader. S Pennsylvania was in the violent throes of labor strikes and angry revolutionists before mid- Slimmer of 1877, the political prospect was most unpromising for the Republicans. The party in power has always been held responsible for financial and indus- trial depression, and as the troubles of that year were developed to the extent of plunging Pittsburg into anarchy, whereby railway travel was halted, and mil- lions of railway property destroyed by a mob, with the loss of a score or more of lives and the wounding of many others in conflict between the military and the mob, few of the Republican leaders had hope of party success at the fall election. The industrial dis- turbance was universal throughout the State, with riotous eruptions in most of the centers of population, and such a condition always means disaster to the party in power. The Republicans were in power in city, State and Nation, and that party was compelled to reckon with the starving people who were inflamed to lawlessness. The Democrats took the lead in forming their line 488 Old Time Notes of battle in the contest of 1877. It was an unusual proceeding, but they feh confident of success, and inspired confidence among the people by boldly coming to the front and challenging the dominant party to battle. Their convention was held at Harrisburg on the 2 2d of August, with Congressman William S. Stenger as permanent president. Three State officers were to be elected — supreme judge, auditor general and State treasurer. Henry Warren Williams, of Allegheny, who had been appointed to the supreme bench to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Justice Strong in 1867, and was elected the same year, died in 1877, and President J^idge Sterrett, of Allegheny, was appointed to fill the vacancy. It is worthy of note that two men bearing precisely the same name, Henry Warren Williams, one residing in Allegheny, and the other in Tioga, without relationship, were candidates for the . supreme judgeship. The Allegheny judge first succeeded and died in office, and a few years thereafter Williams of Tioga was appointed to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Chief Justice Mercur, and was elected for a full term the same year, and like his namesake died after a decade or more of service. The contest for the Democratic nomination for supreme judge became intensel}^ embittered, chiefly because the late William M. Singerly, then a strong Democratic power in Philadelphia, threw himself into the breach to prevent the nomination of Ftirman Sheppard, who was the favorite of the convention, and would certainly have been nominated but for Singerly 's aggressive and skillful tactics. The first ballot gave Trunkey 71 and Sheppard 64, with a large scattering vote diffused among a half a score of candi- dates. On the second ballot Sheppard received 103 votes to 100 for Trunkey, with 48 votes scattering; Of Pennsylvania 489 on the third ballot, that was taken in almost breath- less silence, every delegate answered to his name but Uncle Jake ' ' Zeigler of Butler, the leading Democratic politician of his section, who had been clerk of the house for many years. He had retired between ballots with some friends to sample the old rye of the Brady House, and as the ballot progressed, and his absence was noted, several exploring parties were sent out to bring him in before the ballot ended. When the last name on the list was called the vote stood Trunkey 124 and Sheppard 124, but just then "Uncle Jake" entered the hall, and stood up in the main aisle smiling like a bridesmaid, and asked that his name be called. The clerk at once responded and Zeigler 's vote was given for Trunkey, thereby making him the candidate, and giving the State a supreme judge. William P. Schell, of Bedford, who had served in both house and senate, was nominated for auditor general on the second ballot, and Amos C. Noyes, of Clinton, who had served several sessions in the house, and was one of the most popular of the leading lumber men of his region, was nomdnated for State treasurer on the fifth ballot. He was popularly known through- out the campaign as Square- timber Noyes." The platform was very shrewdly drawn to commend the party to the disturbed elements of the State. The Republican convention met at Harrisburg on the 4th of September with ex- Congressman William H. Armstrong as permanent president. Justice Ster- rett was unanimously nominated for the supreme court to succeed himself, and William B. Hart, of Mont- gomery, was also nominated by acclamation for State treasurer. A single ballot was had for auditor general, when John A. M. Passmore, of Schuylkill, was nomi- nated over Howard J. Reeder by a vote of 165 to 82. The platform was reported by Representative John 490 Old Time Notes Cessna, and was skilfully drawn to meet the new con- ditions which confronted the party, but revolutionists never take pause to study political deliverances. In revolutionary times new parties are born in a day, and old side-show organizations are brought into renewed activity. The workingmen held a State con- vention at Harrisburg on the loth of September, and nominated Judge William Elwell, of Columbia, for supreme judge, John M. Davis, of Allegheny, for auditor general, and James L. Wright, of Philadelphia, for State treasurer. The Greenback party also held a State convention at Williamsport on the 19th of Sep- tember, of which Frank W. Hughes was chairman, and Benjamin S. Bentley, of Lycoming, was nominated for supreme judge, with James E. Emerson for auditor general, and James L. Wright, the Workingmen 's candidate, for State treasurer. The Prohibitionists also held a State convention on the 14th of September, at which ex-Congressman A. A. Barker presided, and nominated A. D. Win ton, of Luzerne, for supreme judge, 'A. A. Barker for auditor general, and Samuel Corney, of Chester, for State treasurer. The Republicans made exhaustive efforts to get their broken lines reformed ^ but it was an utter impossibility to bring the revolutionary tidal wave to an ebb, and the entire State ticket was defeated by nearly 10,000 majority. While the Democrats carried all the State officers, the Republicans held both branches of the Legislature, having 31 senators to 19 Democrats, and 120 Republicans in the house to 81 Democrats. The election of 1877 brought to the front Robert E. Pattison, then a young lawyer in the office of Lewis C. Cassidy, and spoken of rather contemptuously by his political opponents as Cassidy 's boy." He had just begun a moderately successful career at the bar, and was little knov^n to the public when his name was first Of Pennsylvania 491 presented. The proposition to place a young man without official experience in the important office of city controller was not at first regarded with general favor, but the more the people studied the character and qualities of Pattison the more valuable he was regarded. Two common pleas judges were to be elected, and Judges Fell, Republican, and Ludlow, Democrat, were accepted by both parties and received the unanimous vote of the people. There was a very earnest struggle for the nomina- tion for district attorney, involving a number of am- bitious expectants, but after a considerable wrangle they were all set aside, and Judge Thayer was made the compromise candidate against Hagert, who had been assistant district attorney under Sheppard. Patti- son 's competitor was Mr. Sayre, an active and popular Republican, and Dr. Gilbert, the Democratic candidate for coroner against Mr. Knorr, who was an earnest Republican and generally acceptable as a candidate, but while the candidates on the Republican State ticket all received majorities in Philadelphia of from 6,000 to 7,000, the entire Democratic city ticket was elected by majorities ranging from 1,000 to 2,000. This defeat of the city ticket was the result of internal dissensions within the party, and not because of special objections to any of the candidates. The selection of Thayer was regarded as specially strong, but he was seriously weakened by Benjamin Harris Brewster accepting the nomination of the Labor party for the same office, and receiving some 5,000 votes. The public estimate of Judge Thayer was shown one year later when he was unanimously re-elected as judge. With such a disaster as that suffered by the Repub- licans in both city and State in 1877, it was only natural that the Republican leaders who were masters in their line would exhaust their resources to regain the State 492 Old Time Notes in 1878, when a Governor was to be elected, and Repub- lican mastery was secured in that contest only by the shrewdest political strategy on the part of the Repub- lican leaders. The Greenback issue had become a very dangerous one, and clearly held the balance of power between the two parties. Its most active leaders were trained in commercial politics, and Mackey and Quay began their campaign by getting absolute control of the Greenback organization. Its State convention was held in Philadelphia on the 6th of May, and Samuel E. Mason, of Mercer, was nominated for Governor. The only condition that Mackey and Quay required from the Greenback leaders was that they should nominate Mason, who was pledged to remain in the field, and under no circumstances to consent to a fusion between the Greenback and Democratic parties. Such fusion would have been natural, as a large major- ity of the Democrats to a greater or less degree believed in the Greenback policy, and a fusion with that party by the Democrats, with a Democrat for Governor and a Greenback man for Lieutenant Governor, would have swept the State. A counter movement was made in the Greenback convention to nominate William H. Armstrong as the candidate for Governor, believing that he would be accepted by the Republicans and thus give the Greenbackers the semblance of victory, but Mackey and Quay had the Greenbackers ticketed through and baggage checked with all the Greenback leaders involved in the deal, including the Greenback nominee for Governor, sworn to resist fusion under any and all circumstances. The Republicans held their State convention at Harrisburg on the 1 5th of May with Mayor Stokley as permanent president. Henry M. Hoyt, the slated candidate for Governor, was nominated on the first ballot by a vote of 161 to 47 for Grow, 29 for Wicker- Of Pennsylvania 493 sham, 1 2 for Beaver and i for Morrell. For Lieutenant Governor Charles W. Stone, of Warren, was nominated on the first ballot by a vote of 182 to 59 for J. Howard Jacobs, and Aaron K. Dunkel, of Philadelphia, was nominated for secretary of internal affairs on the first ballot by a vote of 122 to 106 for McClellan. The only earnest contest of the convention was on the nomination for supreme judge. Chief Justice Agnew's term in the supreme court was about to expire, and he was then well on toward the patriarchal age. He was highly respected alike personally and judicially, and under ordinary circumstances it is quite probable that even his age would not have precluded his renomi- nation, but Judge Sterrett had resigned the president judgeship of Allegheny to accept the appointment of supreme judge in the disastrous year of 1877, when he suffered defeat with his associates on the State ticket, and Quay and Mackey were pledged to the nomination of Sterrett, although Quay was a fellow townsman of Agnew, and had nominated him fifteen years before. The two most notable speeches I have ever heard in a State convention were made on that occasion by the late Lin Bartholomew, of Pottsville, in favor of the nomination of Judge Sterrett, and by ex-Congressman William H. Koontz, of Somerset, pressing the renomi- nation of Agnew. Those addresses rank amongst the ablest of the political deliverances I have heard in a Pennsylvania State convention. Each of the speakers knew the responsibility he had assumed, and both acquitted themselves in a masterly manner, but the organization was omnipotent, and Sterrett was nomi- nated on the first ballot by 154 to 92 for Agnew. The Republican ticket was one of unusual strength. Hoyt was one of the ablest men who ever filled the gubernatorial chair of Penns^dvaania, and with his clean record as citizen, as judge and as soldier he was 494 Old Time Notes a formidable candidate to assail, while Judge Sterrett commanded the confidence of the entire profession of the State, and was universally respected personally as widely as he was known. Stone, the nominee for Lieutenant Governor, had been a prominent name in Pennsylvania politics, having served very creditably in Congress, and was a prominent candidate for Gov- ernor against his namesake to succeed Hasitngs. The Democratic State convention met at Pittsburg on the 2 2d of May with ex-Senator Buckalew permanent president. The contest for Governor was unusually animated, as Wallace, who favored the nomination of Andrew H. Dill, locked horns with William L. Scott, of Erie, in urging the nomination of ex- Congressman James H. Hopkins, of Allegheny. Wallace won out and nominated Dill on the third ballot by a vote of 136 to 89 for Hopkins and 27 scattering. Judge Ross, of Montgomery, was nominated for supreme judge on the first ballot, receiving 162 votes v/ith 71 for Sheppard and 10 for Golden. John Fertig, of Crawford, was nominated for Lieutenant Governor on the third ballot, the vote being 162 to 64 for Sow- den, and J. Simpson Africa, of Huntingdon, was unanimously nominated for secretary of internal affairs. The Prohibitionists met at Altoona on the 20th of May, and nominated FrankHn H. Lane, of Hunting- don, for Governor, and the party would have made no figure in the contest if it had not nominated Chief Justice Agnew for supreme judge, and soon after the nomination had been made, Judge Bentley, the Green- back candidate for supreme judge, retired from the ticket, and the Greenbackers accepted Agnew as their candidate. Thus a fusion was effected between the Greenbackers and Prohibitionists on the single office of supreme judge, but the Republican leaders did not fear any fusion embracing the Democratic party. Of Pennsylvania 495 The Republicans knew that they had a desperate contest before them, and Quay took the chairman- ship of the State committee and became the immediate commander in the battle. He had the Greenbackers safely side-tracked against fusion with the Democrats, and well knew that more Democrats than Republicans would follow the distinct Greenback party flag. He knew also that the Democratic business interests in the State were not in sympathy with the Greenback policy, and he astounded the Democrats and many of his own followers by opening the campaign with Galusha A. Grow as the oracle declaring distinctly in favor of maintaining the credit of the government by adhering to the gold standard, and reaching specie payments as rapidly as could be done without embar- rassment to the business and industrial interests of the country. Under ordinary conditions such a policy would have been fatal, as it would have rushed the Democrats and Greenbackers into fusion, but Quay well knew that he had created an impassable gulf between those two parties, and he decided to take the chance of losing a few Greenback Republicans and winning a larger number of sound money Democrats. No campaign ever organized and fought in the State was more skilfully planned and executed. Many of the Greenback people were aroused to aggressive action in demanding that in the face of the gold stand- ard being flung into their faces by the Republican organization, the Democrats and Greenbackers should make common cause, as thus united they undoubtedly had the power to carry the State. The Greenback candidate for Governor was faithful to his agreement, and the Greenback leaders in charge of the campaign threw every obstacle in the way of fusion. The fact that Judge Agnew polled 99,316 votes for supreme judge by a fusion between the Prohibitionists 496 Old Time Notes and Greenbackers alone, clearly shows that even a measurable fusion between the Greenbackers and the Democrats would have defeated the Republican State ticket. Fortunately for Quay, the Greenbackers had no party leaders to make battle for the integrity of their organization. Many of them were purely com- mercial, and others idealists who were always ready to follow a hopeless flag in support of their faith, rather than mingle it with the faith of others to gain victory. Hoyt took the stump, and his speeches were among the ablest ever delivered in the State. He did not enthuse audiences as Curtin did, but he seriously impressed all intelligent hearers, and came out of the struggle a very much more highly appreciated man than he was when he entered it. Dill made few speeches, but what he did make were of a masterly type. He was one of the ablest men then connected with State authority, as he had served a long period in the senate, but he was one of the most unassuming of all our public men. He was personally popular, for none more nearly completed the circle of all the admirable personal qualities of a public man. No one in the Senate was more highly respected by the Repub- licans than was Andrew H. Dill, and thus the two great parties had eminently able representatives at the head of their tickets, and men completely equipped alike in character and attainments to fill the office of Governor with the highest measure of credit. Africa, the Democratic candidate for secretary of internal affairs, had creditably served in the Legisla- ture, although representing a strong Republican dis- trict, and was very highly respected, while Dunkel, his Republican competitor, suffered to some extent from defection within his own party. The result was the election of Hoyt by a plurality of 22,253, with Mason, Greenback candidate, receiving 81,758 votes. Of Pennsylvania 497 Stone's plurality was 23,255, Sterrett's plurality was 23,821, with Agnew, Greenback- Prohibition, polling 93,- 316 votes, and Dunkel was elected by 12,159 plurality. In Allegheny County Agnew received 10,181 votes, the Democratic candidate for supreme judge received 11,999, Sterrett 19,518, showing a majority in Allegheny against the Republicans, although their State ticket received a plurality of nearly 10,000. In a number of the counties in the State the combined Greenback and Prohibition vote cast for Agnew was larger than the Democratic vote, but the compact between the Republicans and the Greenbackers had held good from start to finish, and Quay won the most important victory in the State that was gained solely by the most superb political strategy. When it is remembered that at the September elec- tion of that year the strong Republican State of Maine faltered, and the Greenbackers and Democrats elected the entire State officers and both branches of the Legis- lature, defeating Hale for Congress, the perfection of Republican strategy in Pennsylvania may be under- stood. Quay and Mackey began early to perfect the policy to divide and conquer the opposition, and they were successful at every stage of the struggle. The Republicans, of course, carried both branches of the Legislature, having 32 senators to 15 Democrats, 2 Greenback Democrats, and i National, and the house had 107 Republicans, 78 Democrats, 7 Greenback Democrats, 3 Greenback Republicans and 6 National. It was in this campaign that Quay made himself the acknowledged Republican master in the State, as Mackey died a few weeks after the election, and Quay, green with the laurels of his great victory, became the supreme leader of the party. a — 39 498 Old Time Notes XCVI. POLITICAL EVENTS OF 1878-9. Quay Makes Himself Recorder of Philadelphia with Large Compensation — Locates in Philadelphia at Eleventh and Spruce — Chairman of Republican State Committee — Succeeded by David H, Lane as Recorder — The Office Finally Abolished — Quay Becomes Secretary of the Commonwealth Under Hoyt — The Pittsburg Four Million Riot Bill — Defeated After a Bitter Contest — Convictions Followed for Legislative Venality — Quay Nominates Butler for State Treas- urer — Serious Hitch When Butler Assumed the Office — How the Treasury Deficit was Covered — Cameron and Quay Make Earnest Battle for Grant's Nomination for a Third Term. THE disastrous Republican defeat of 1877 made the leaders of the party begin at once to per- fect the organization, and to devise the policy for the campaign of 1878, when a Governor was to be chosen. Mackey lived in Pittsburg, and had complete control of the organization in the Western counties. Quay's home was in Beaver, within the radius where Mackey could direct party movements without the aid of Quay. The Camerons were centrally located at Harrisburg, but in Philadelphia they had no great party leaders. Quay's political methods were always expensive, and being then without fortune himself, it was decided by Quay, Mackey and the Camerons that the office of recorder for the city of Philadelphia should be revived with greatly enlarged powers, which would yield to the official not less than $30,000 a year. The bill provided that the recorder should be appointed by the Governor with the approval of the senate, and did not require him to be a resident of Philadelphia at Of Pennsylvania 499 the time he was commissioned. The measure was very desperately fought by most of the Democrats and some reform RepubHcans, but it was carried through the Legislature and approved by Governor Hartranft, who soon thereafter nominated Quay for the position. It required a two-thirds vote in the senate to con- firm him, but after much agitation and some scandal the confirmation was effected by the aid of the Dem- ocratic senator from York. It is notable that for many years York furnished more Democratic legis- lators who served the Republican organization than any other dozen counties of the State. At no time during the political rule of Quay was he without power over the Democratic organization in York County, and in 1 901 it was the direct vote of a Democratic member from York for Quay's candidate for speaker that enabled him to get control of the house by the defeat of General Koontz, the fusion candidate. Dem- ocratic demoralization logically followed such con- tinued commercial Democratic politics in one of the strong Democratic counties of the State, and the cul- mination was reached in 1904 when the Republicans carried the county by a decided majority. Quay at once located in Philadelphia, and made his home in a large double house on the northeast corner of Eleventh and Spruce Streets. He believed that with his official power, and his close relations with the leaders of the party in the city, he could dominate the eastern part of the State, while Mackey ruled the west, but the recorder bill was very odious throughout the State, and specially odious to the citizens of Phila- delphia, who were needlessly taxed to furnish a large income solely for the benefit of a political leader. Quay soon discovered that the office he had wrung from the Legislature weakened rather than strength- 500 Old Time Notes ened his power, as there was very general disapproval not only of the creation of the office of recorder, but of filling it with a political leader from Western Pennsyl- vania. Quay discharged his duties as recorder with great moderation by neglecting to enforce the collection of the large fees he could have commanded. He was also made chairman of the State committee, and devoted himself exclusively to the severe duties that position imposed in the gubernatorial contest of 1878. He won out by the most carefully -planned and well- executed political methods which have been described in a former chapter, and when Hoyt v/as elected Gov- ernor he was ready to abandon the recordership, and was succeeded by David H. Lane, one of the most level-headed and widely-respected of the local Repub- lican leaders. Lane made a great struggle to halt the tidal wave that demanded the repeal of the recorder act, and proposed to revise the duties and preroga- tives of the recorder, to cut off extravagant fees and make it an eminently useful position to the public, but public sentiment was overwhelmingly against the whole scheme, and the recorder bill was finally repealed. It was only natural that Governor Hoyt should tender the position of secretary of the commonwealth to Quay, and it was done soon after his election and promptly accepted. Hoyt called to the attorney generalship Henry W. Palmer, from his own town, a lawyer of eminent ability and one of the most con- scientious of all our Pennsylvania officials. The Hoyt administration would have been rather uneventful but for the agitation and scandal developed in the Legislature of 1879 growing out of what was commonly known as the "Riot bill," and his defiant political deliverance made just before the election of 1882, when Of Pennsylvania he declared against the Republican organization and State ticket headed by General Beaver. Several millions of property were destroyed by the Pittsburg mob in the desperate riots of 1877, in which the Pennsylvania Railroad Company was almost the only sufferer. The laws of the State made Allegheny County liable for the destruction of property by a mob within its jurisdiction, but prominent lawyers of Pittsburg invented the defence that the mob had been provoked to violence and the destruction of property by the State ordering its militia to Pittsburg, thus greatly inflaming the riotous spirit of the people without having sufficient military force to protect person and property. They insisted that as the State had, by its mistaken military movements, caused the destruction of property by the mob, the losses should be paid from the State treasury and not by the people of Allegheny County. This theory was accepted by the leaders, and it was decided to pass a bill making an appropriation of some $4,000,000 to be applied to the payment of property destroyed by the mob, or so much thereof as might be needed. This bill aroused fierce oppo- sition, not only throughout the State, but within the Legislature, and the measure was fought with despera- tion. A large lobby was brought to Harrisburg to aid the passage of the bill, and that intensified the opposition, and led to charges of the employment of corrupt influences to command the approval of the Legislature. Just when the battle for and against the measure was at its height, a resolution was adopted by the house providing for the appointment of a committee of five " for the purpose of investigating the charges made by the member from Union (Mr. Wolfe) and any other improper influences brought to bear upon members 502 Old Time Notes in connection with house bill 103." The committee con- sisted of A. M. Rhodes, C. B. Elliott, Charles S. Wolfe, M. P. Doyle and G. E. Mapes. It began its inquiry on the 24th of April and ended on the 23d of May, when it reported to the house declaring that eight persons, including three members of the house, had been guilty of corrupt solicitation and should be prosecuted. The prosecutions were tried before Judge Pierson in the Harrisburg quarter sessions, and after much legal sparring and considerable delay, the accused parties decided to plead guilty, believing that they would be punished only by fine, but to the overwhelm- ing surprise of the defendants and the very general surprise of the public. Judge Pierson sentenced them to the penitentiary, and that error of the trial judge opened the way for their pardon, as it was held by Attorney General Palmer, whose integrity and ability were unquestioned, to be a sentence entirely unwar- ranted. The scandal arising from the efforts to pass the bill aroused such aggressive opposition that the measure was abandoned, and the riot losses were finally amicably adjusted by Allegheny County. The year 1879 was an off year in politics, as the only office to be filled was that of State treasurer, and Quay decided upon Samuel Butler, of Chester, as the party candidate for that position. That nomination was de- signed as a tub to the reform whale, as the Butler element, in which Judge Butler, brother of the candi- date for State treasurer, was an important factor and a candidate for a seat in the supreme court, was not in sympathy with the machine. When the leaders decided in favor of Butler, the reform sentiment of the State readily acquiesced, and at the convention held at Harrisburg on the 23d of July, of which Galusha A. Grow was president, Butler was nominated by accla- mation, and that convention for the first time in many Of Pennsylvania 503 years declared in favor of a sound financial policy, as Quay had won out with it in the election of Hoyt. For several years prior to that time the Republicans regarded it as unsafe to make a distinct declaration in favor of the gold standard. The Democratic State convention met at Harris- burg on the 1 6th of July, over which A. H. Coffroth presided, and Daniel O. Barr, of Allegheny, was nomi- nated for State treasurer. The Greenbackers also held a convention at Altoona on the 15th of July, and nominated Peter Sutton, of Indiana, for State treas- urer, and the Prohibitionists met at Altoona on the 23d of September and nominated W. I. Richardson, of Montour, for the same office. The contest was not a spirited one, as the Democrats had little hope of success. The result was the election of Butler by a majority of 58,438. The Greenbackers had fallen down to 27,208 votes, and the Prohibitionists to 3,219, giving Butler a decided majority over all. The Legis- lature was also Republican by a large majority. The senate had 32 Republicans, 15 Democrats, 2 Green- back Democrats and i National, and the house con- tained 107 Republicans, 78 Democrats, 7 Greenback Democrats, 3 Greenback Republicans and 6 Nationals. One of the many serious troubles injected into Quay's public experience occurred when State Treasurer Butler came to Harrisburg in the spring of 1880, to take charge of the State treasury. Butler's predecessor was Mr. Noyes, of Clinton, a man of unusual intelligence, but eminent for his amiable and confiding qualities. He was not a financier, nor had he any knowledge of banking, anrl hp entrusted the management of the treasury almost entirely to Mr. Walters, his cashier, who was a very shrewd and capable man with a fond- ness for speculation. A combination was made by Quay with several 504 Old Time Notes men at Harrisburg to speculate largely in some par- ticular stocks about which they believed they had a reliable tip, and without Treasurer Noyes partici- pating in the operation, and most likely without even knowing it, a large amount of the State money was used to aid the speculators. It was not drawn directly from the treasury, but loans were obtained from banks which had State deposits, with the assurance that they would not be called until the obligations were paid. It was common in those days, as it had been for many years before, and as it has been, as a rule, from that time to the present, for State treasurers to favor political or personal friends, or serve private spec- ulative interests of their own, by the use of the public money in the treasury just as Mr. Noyes did, although in violation of both the letter and the spirit of the law. It happened that the stock speculation was a mis- venture, and a large amount of money was lost, involv- ing Quay in the most serious financial troubles he ever experienced. State Treasurer Butler sternly refused to accept the assets of the treasury as they were pre- sented to him, and required that every account should be put upon a strictly lav^^ful basis, to obviate all per- sonal risk on the part of the new treasurer. Many wild stories have been published by the vindictive enemies of Quay relating to this episode in his political career. Detailed accounts have been given of how he was with difficulty hindered by his friends from plunging into the Susquehanna and ending his troubles with his life, all of which were wholly inventions of the malice that ever pursues successful men. Quay was not built in that way. I have seen him in many very severe trials, and in every instance the graver the difficulties the more heroic he was in meet- ing them. The younger Cameron and Kemble promptly came to his relief by advancing a large amount of money Of Pennsylvania that was probably aided by liberal deposits from the treasury, and in a few years Quay was able to repay his friends, with a raoderate fortune left to himself. He was bold in everything, and as bold in speculation as he was in politics. Three times dtiring his public career he would have been utterly bankrupt if called to a settlement of his affairs, and he was as many times the possessor of a liberal fortune. He was evidently fortunate in his financial operations during the tidal v\^ave of increased values that occurred several years ago, as at no time during his life was his accumulated wealth so great as at the time of his death. The death of Mackey, that occurred only a few weeks after the election of Hoyt, in the fall of 1878, was a great loss to Quay. Mackey was one of the safest of advisers in finance as well as in poHtics, and he equaled Quay in boldness of conception and execution; but while Quay lost a most important colleague in the management of the Republican organization, of which Mackey was always the acknowledged leader, the death of Mackey made Quay practically the absolute arbiter of Republican movements and policy in Penn- sylvania. He had the benefit of the counsels of both the Camerons, but the elder Cameron had practically retired from active participation in political affairs, and the younger Cameron, while most valuable in advising and directing political operations, greatly preferred that some other than himself should be at the front and take the honor with its exacting labors. Quay was thus practically in charge of the Republican organization of the State, and never was forgetful of the necessity of wielding his authority. As the National contest of 1880 approached it pre- sented a very serious problem to be solved by Quay and Cameron. They had defeated Blaine for the Presidency in the Cincinnati convention of 1876, after 5o6 Old Time Notes a desperate struggle and by a very narrow margin, and Blaine was looming up as an apparently invincible candidate for the Presidential nomination of 1880. Both Quay and Cameron were weary of Hayes and distrustful of Blaine. They wanted a President who would be in thorough accord with them, and not quib- ble over the advancement of men useful in politics, even though somewhat shady on the score of merit. They very much wanted a Republican President, but they felt that they could not afford to accept Blaine, although they were confronted by the fact that an overwhelming majority of the Republican people of the State were earnestly devoted to Blaine, and de- sired his nomination. Blaine was a native of Penn- sylvania, having been born in Washington County, was educated in the State, and was for some time a teacher in the deaf and dumb asylum of Philadelphia at Broad and Pine. He became a resident of Maine by the accident of marrying an accomplished Maine teacher in Kentucky, when Blaine held a position in one of the prominent educational institutions of that State. His wife's strong love of her home on the far north- east coast, decided the destiny of the man who rose to be the most idolized man of his party since the days of Henry Clay, but who, like Clay, was destined never to be President. Blaine's close political associations in Washington were not in sympathy with the Quay-Cameron asso- ciation, and as Quay and Cameron had defeated Blaine for President in 1876, by sheer manipulation that made Pennsylvania practically voiceless in the contest, they felt that they had little to expect from Blaine if he became President. The differences which existed between Blaine and the Quay-Cameron forces were not logical. They were politicians of much the same type. Blaine believed in old-time political of Pennsylvania S07 methods, and while he gave a passive approval to the civil service ideas, he was never in sympathy with them. His political theory was that the land belonged to the saints, and that his party were the saints, but for some reason, never fully understood outside the circle immediately interested, Blaine became offensive to Cameron, Quay, Mackey and Kemble, and the breach was steadily widened until death interposed to end the contest. They could have made terms with Blaine, as Blaine would doubtless have agreed to their absolute supremacy in Pennsylvania if he became President, but they were entirely distrustful of Blaine, and rejected all of the many overtures which were made to bring the warring interests into harmony. Grant was the ideal President of the men who were in harmony with him. He never quibbled about the demands they made upon him if it was within his power to grant them. Grant, after having made a journey around the world, had returned home and received the grandest ovations ever accorded to an American citizen. It was believed by his friends that the public sentiment was so strongly in sympathy with him that he could be nominated and elected to a third term, and it was only natural that Quay and Cameron should turn to Grant as the most available man to serve them in overthrowing Blaine in the con- vention of 1880. They did not proclaim their preference for Grant, but carefully canvassed the State, beginning even before the advent of the year 1880, and quietly ar- ranged for the election of delegates to the State con- vention at a period long before the time the masses of the party gave any thought to the subject. When the work* of arranging for the ejection of delegates was completed, an obedient State committee was summoned and a snap State convention was called 5o8 Old Time Notes to meet on the 4th of February to nominate State officers, and select delegates to the National convention. The friends of Blaine had practically no knowledge of the systematic movement that had been made to give the State to Grant until they were astounded by the call for the State convention at the earliest period that had ever been named for the meeting of such a body, and when they attempted to organize for the election of delegates, they discovered that the field had been carefully gleaned by Quay and Cameron, and that it was impossible, in the brief period they would have for organization, to make successful battle against the machine. The result was that Pennsylvania was first in the field in 1880 with her State convention, with nearly unanimous instructions for Grant's nomi- nation for the third Presidential term, and with a practically solid Grant delegation instructed to vote as a imit for the hero of Appomattox. Blaine thus lost, at the very opening of his great battle of 1880, the moral power of the second State of the Union, and one in which he well knew that a large majority of the Republicans were sincerely and earnestly anxious for his nomination as the candidate of the party for President, and when the vote of the National convention is carefully scanned, any intelli- gent student will understand that it was this shrewdly conceived and boldly executed movement of Quay and Cameron, at the opening of the year 1880, that defeated Blaine's nomination at Chicago. True, Grant fell with him, but Blaine lost the Presidency, and it was Quay and Cameron who dealt the fatal blow. Of Pennsylvania 509 XCVII. POLITICAL EVENTS OF 1880. Quay and Cameron Call Early State Convention, and Declare in Favor of Grant for a Third Term — Cameron Chairman of National Com- mittee — Ruled Strongly in Favor of Grant in Preliminary Proceed- ings — Reluctant Support Given to Garfield — Blaine's Appointment as Premier Offensive to Quay and Cameron — State Offices Filled at the Election — Memorable Speeches in National Conventions by Inger- soU, Conkling and Dougherty. CAMERON and Quay were compelled to face a huge proposition as 1880 approached, as Blaine's nomination for the Presidency could be defeated only by the diversion of Pennsylvania from its undisputed favorite candidate, and even with that accomplished, most exhaustive efforts were required by the powerful combination that had accomplished the defeat of Blaine at Cincinnati in 1876. Cameron was then in the Senate, and Quay vv^as secretary of the commonwealth with their leadership in the State on all ordinary propositions practically undispiited, but to wrest the State from Blaine in 1880 was a task of great magnitude, and it could not have been accom- plished in any other way than by a snap movement that precipitated the convention earlier than any had ever been held before, after the State had been quietly organized by Cameron and Quay when the Blaine men were entirely off guard. Long before the advent of 1880 Cameron and Quay had quietly organized every section of the State for the election of delegates to the State convention, and not until an official call was issued for the convention to meet on the 4th of February, 1880, had the Blaine Old Time Notes people any intimation of the movements to give the State to Grant. Even with all the advantage the leaders had of qtiiet manipulation when the Blaine people were patiently waiting for the time to act, the instructions for Grant, and requiring the delegation to vote as a imit for his nomination, were passed by a vote of 133 to 113. Had there been an open, square battle between Blaine and Grant in the State, even with all the power of the organization against Blaine, it is not only possible, but quite probable that he would have carried a majority of the convention. Conkling, then as supreme in New York as Cameron and Quay were in Pennsylvania, followed with an early convention in that State, and declared in favor of Grant with like instructions to the delegation to vote as a imit. Thus the two greatest of the States led off for Grant, and for the time his nomination appeared to be inevitable, but Blaine had a vastly larger popular following than had Grant, and it was aroused to desperate resistance. Never was a pre- liminary battle for the Presidency so earnestly con- tested as in the struggle between Grant and Blaine in 1880. Every State was battled for with desperate energy, and when all the delegations had been chosen to the National convention, Blaine, with the field, had a clear majority against Grant, but Grant had a like clear majority against Blaine. The vote in the convention on the first ballot was 304 for Grant, 284 for Blaine, 93 for Sherman, 31 for Washburn, 34 for Edmimds and 10 for Windom. It was a struggle of giants, and the convention lasted for more than a week. Thirty-six ballots were taken, and Grant varied from 304 to 309 until the thirty-fourth, when he reached 312, and on the thirty-fifth his high- est vote was obtained, 313. On the thirty-sixth and last ballot his vote fell back to 306. Blaine never of Pennsylvania 511 exceeded his first vote of 284 on any of the many ballots, but polled that vote several times. His last vote before the final break to Garfield was 257, and on the final ballot he received only 42, his friends having almost bodily gone to Garfield. The nomination of Garfield was not in any measure acceptable to Cameron or Conkling. True, they had defeated Blaine, and thus accomplished one of the great purposes of the combination, but they long hesitated to give a cordial support to Garfield. The friends of Garfield immediately after his nomination called upon Conkling, and requested him to indicate a candidate for Vice-President, but he refused, in the contemptuous manner that he so often exhibited, to give any inti- mation on the subject. As Arthur was a delegate and cast the vote of New York on several occasions when Conkling was otherwise engaged, and as he was known to be the special favorite of Conkling, the Gar- field people nominated him for Vice-President, but for the time being the nomination of Arthur did not seem to temper the keen disappointment of Conkling. Garfield had been nominated by the supporters of Blaine, and Conkling feared that Garfield would be much more friendly to Blaine than he could afford to have the President. I saw Garfield and Arthur at the general reception given to them on the evening after the nominations had been made, and the occasion was chiefly notable for the absence of Conkling and Cameron. The nomination of Garfield was not cordially re- sponded to by the followers of the Republican leaders in either New York or Pennsylvania. I saw Cameron frequently, and during the early stages of the contest he did not regard Garfield's election as probable, and was not disposed to lose sleep at the prospect of a Republican National defeat. The organization in the State was in his own hands with John Cessna as chair- Old Time Notes man of the State committee, and under any circum- stances the vote of Pennsylvania would be given to Garfield, but New York was then regarded as certain to vote Democratic. The Republican leaders in the Eastern States were very slow to organize for the National battle, and in the early part of the summer Garfield was so much alarmed at the situation that he voluntarily visited New York and stopped at the same hotel where Conkling made his home, and although Garfield was there for several days, Conkling never called upon him. Later in the struggle, when the leaders were required to decide between victory or defeat, Conkling was pressingly invited by Garfield to visit him in Ohio, and after a conference in which Grant, Cameron and others participated, it was decided that Conkling should accept the invitation and confer with their candidate. The result of that conference was that the entire Grant combination decided to give an earnest support to Garfield, and Grant himself went so far as to attend a meeting and deliver a public address in favor of the Republican candidate. General Hancock, who was the Democratic candidate for President, had a strong hold upon the people, and w^as a very popular and dangerous antagonist for Garfield. Thus after having been apparently quite willing for Garfield's defeat for several months after his nomination, the Grant-Cameron combination found, when they de- cided to elect him, that they had an immense contract on their hands, and Garfield's election was finally accompHshed only by a combination with Tammany that made them betray Hancock. The first blow that struck the Grant leaders after the election of Garfield was his public announcement that Blaine would be called to the premiership of his cabinet. When the cabinet was sent to the Senate of Pennsylvania for confirmation, Cameron, more level-headed than Conkling, supported it in its entirety, but when Blaine's name was read in the Senate Conkling said to a fellow Senator that he must either retire from the body or hold his nose to escape the stench of Blaine's name, and he quietly adjourned to his committee room. Another cabinet nomination, that of Wayne MacVeagh for Attorney General, had peculiar dual significance. He was not of the Grant school of politics, but he was the brother-in-law of Senator Cameron, for whom the entire Cameron family cherished just pride. The appointment of MacVeagh would have been fully justified entirely on his own merits, as he possessed high legal attainments, and a reputation without blemish, but mere individual merit and fitness sel- dom control cabinet appointments, and with all of McVeagh's admitted qualifications for the Attorney Generalship, Garfield certainly intended the appoint- ment as a compliment to the Cameron power of the State. Conkling had no faith in Garfield after the appoint- ment of Blaine, and he was not a m.an who concealed his distrust of those who had provoked his disfavor. Finally, the nomination of Robinson for collector of the port of New York, who had led the anti-Conkling forces in the National convention, came like a light- ning stroke from an miclouded sky, and he and Piatt, then a new Senator, in a sudden fit of resentment, sent their resignations to the Governor of New York, and started home confidently expecting to command a re-election. Conkling naturally held Blaine responsi- ble for the nomination of Robinson, but Attorney General MacVeagh assured me that Blaine had never suggested the appointment, and did not know that it was to be made until the President had acted in the matter. The desperate and disastrous struggle made by Conkling and Piatt for re-election to the Senate 2—33 514 Old Time Notes need not be detailed. Before the battle ended, but when all hope had perished with the supporters of Conkling, Garfield died from the wound inflicted by the assassin Guiteau, and Arthur, who was at Albany, as Vice-President struggling for the re-election of his old friend, became President of the United States. Two State offices were to be filled at the election of 1880 — supreme judge and auditor general. Henry Green, of Northam_pton, was then serving by appointment as justice of the supreme court to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Warren J. Woodward, and he was unanimously nominated for election. Senator John A. Lemon, of Blair, was nominated for auditor general on the first ballot, receiving 158 votes to 93 for Mr. Passmore. It was at this convention that Quay startled many of his followers by a very emphatic declaration in the platform in favor of honest elections, declaring that ''imtil a man is considered infamous who casts an illegal vote, our government will not be safe, and whoever deprives a citizen of his right to vote, or of the legal effect of his vote, is a traitor to our government." With this he demanded: "An honest count of all votes regularly cast, and an honest return of whoever is elected, free from all attempts to defraud the people of their choice through technicalities or by the arbitrary rejection of their votes." The State ticket presented unusual strength, as Justice Green had brought to the court of last resort eminent quali- fications alike in character and legal attainments, and Senator Lemon was one of the most popular men in the interior of the State. The Democratic convention met at Harrisburg on the 28th of April, and after selecting delegates to the National convention, George A. Jenks, of Jefferson, was nominated on the first ballot for supreme judge, and Colonel Robert P. Dechert, of Philadelphia, was also on Of Pennsylvania 515 the first ballot nominated for auditor general. The resumption of specie payments had then been accom- plished, although steadily opposed by the Democracy, but the State convention of 1880 made a bold deliver- ance on the money question as follows: "That the Democratic party, as of old, favors a constitutional currency of gold and silver and of paper convertible into coin." Senator Andrew H. Dill was made chair- man of the State committee. The Greenback State convention was held at Har- risburg on the 23d of March, and nominated Frank P. Dewees, of Schuylkill, for supreme judge, and E. A. L. Roberts, of Crawford, for auditor general, without the formality of a ballot, and a resolution was adopted recommending the nomination of Hendrick B. Wright for President. The Prohibition convention met at Altoona on the 20th of May, and nominated George F. Turner for auditor general, but declined to make a nomination for supreme judge. The Greenback element had been practically put out of business by the complete accomplishment of the resumption of specie payments, and its vote was greatly reduced in the State. Hancock, a native of Pennsylvania, and one of the most accomplished and heroic soldiers of the war, inspired the Democrats to unusual enthusiasm, but they knew that the State was hopeless, and the most they could accomplish was to reduce the Republican majority. The Legislature was certain to be Republican in both branches, and the campaign moved on in this State without any violent efforts on either side. Philadelphia gave about 20,000 Republican m.ajority, and the State added 18,000 more, giving 38,030 majority for Judge Green, and 37,276 majority for Garfield. Weaver, the Green- back candidate for President, received 20,068 votes, and the Prohibition vote fell off to 1,940. 5i6 Old Time Notes Two memorable speeches were made in the National conventions of 1880. The speech of Robert G. Inger- soll, presenting the name of Blaine in the Cincinnati convention of 1876, suddenly crowned him with National fame in a single day. It was received with imusual enthusiasm because Ingersoll was little known beyond his own State before he delivered that address, and I remember well when Ingersoll was annoimced at Cincinnati as the man who was to present the name of Blaine to the convention, there was very general apprehension that he would not be equal to the occa- sion ; but I have heard many able speeches in National conventions, and never heard one that was as forceful and impressive as that of Ingersoll presenting the name of Blaine for the Presidency. Conkling's speech nominating Grant in the Chicago convention of 1880 is well remembered as one of the grandest efforts of his life. I sat on the platform within ten feet of him when he rose to deliver it. He was a man of tmusually handsome face and form, with a manner that had the air of majesty, and when his clear silver voice rang out the first sentence to the convention and spectators, making an assembly of fully 10,000 people, the effect was electrical. His first utterance was: "When asked whence comes our can- didate? we say, 'from Appomattox.' " It was a bold, defiant deliverance, rather assertive than persuasive, but it was grand in eloquence and sublime in earnestness. The late Daniel Dougherty delivered the most im- pressive address of his life before the Democratic con- vention at Cincinnati in 1880 when he presented the name of Hancock for the Presidency. Dougherty was not a delegate, and had taken little interest in the proceedings of the convention until, after a long delay, Tilden's letter of declination was received, when he plunged into the fight and urged the selection of Han- Of Pennsylvania cock, whose nomination was practically settled just before the convention met. It was regarded as most important to have some one present Hancock's name whose address would be fully worthy of the great occasion, and the Pennsylvanians at once suggested that Dougherty was the man. A member of the delegation gave Dougherty a substitution, and in- formed him that he was assigned the task of presenting the name of Hancock to the convention. Dougherty never spoke on important occasions without careful preparation and thoroughly commit- ting his address to memory. He had only a few hours to prepare his address, and that doubtless gave it the merit of brevity. Within an hour of the meeting of the convention, Dougherty came up to me in front of the St. Nicholas Hotel, and in a rather excited manner asked me to step around the corner. I did so, and he requested me to permit him to recite his Han- cock speech, and suggest any revision that I might think necessary. The recitation did not require over six or eight minutes, and I was the sole audience while Dougherty repeated, in smothered tones, but with all his impassioned manner, the magnificent address that gave him National fame as a political orator. It was as faultless as it was beautiful, and no changes were suggested. The speech was received with the wildest enthusiasm as he styled Hancock ''the superb," and one whose record was as stainless as his sword. ' The only rift in the lute of Dougherty's eloquent presentation of Hancock was in the fact that Randall, of Pennsylvania, was a candidate for the Presidency, and on the second ballot received 128^ votes to 320 for Hancock. Immediately after the ballot was an- noimced the Pennsylvanians changed solidly to Han- cock, and the final summing up of the ballot gave Hancock 705 votes to 33 scattering. 518 Old Time Notes In Pennsylvania the Republicans held their own in the Congressional delegation, electing 19 of the 27 Congressmen, and the Legislature consisted of 32 Republican senators to 18 Democrats and i National, and 122 Republican representatives to 78 Democrats and I Greenbacker. While occasional murmurs were heard in different sections of the State against the Cameron-Quay rule, everything on the political surface indicated entire harmony and unity of action among the Republican leaders. Hoyt was apparently as solidly in accord with Cameron as was Quay himself, and none then dreamed that they were just on the threshold of the formidable revolt and deadlock of the Legislature, elected the same year, on the United States Senator- ship. The most potent of political revolutions are often started in a single day, and apparently almost by a single breath, while oftentimes the most flagrant political affronts to the people are sullenly submitted to. Galusha A. Grow had made an earnest canvass of the State as an avowed candidate for United State Senator. The leaders welcomed him as an efficient champion of the Republican cause, fully conscious of their power to defeat him in the caucus for Senator, and thus, as they supposed, end the contest. Grow is not of a revolutionary type of political leaders. He is as amiable as he is able, and while he was often grieved at the action of his party, he was counted on as one of the most willing to bow to party orders, and fall in to support the party flag ; but the imrest of the inde- pendent element throughout the State had been quietly and surely widening and deepening, and an unusual number of able men, independent in their tendencies, were in the Legislature of 1881. From under this apparently serene political surface there was a sudden eruption when the Legislature met Of Pennsylvania 519 that dumfounded the leaders, defied their mastery, held the Legislature in deadlock on the Senatorship from the 19th of January to the 23d of February, and defeated every candidate the organization presented; and the aftermath of that contest came in 1882, when, after a unanimous nomination for Governor by an apparently harmonious party. General Beaver was suddenly confronted by an independent eruption that defeated him at the polls. 520 Old Time Notes XCVIII. SENATORIAL BATTLE OF 188L Galusha A. Grow Made an Active Canvass for Senator — Henry W. Oliver the Organization Candidate — Serious Revolt Against Quay-Cameron Rule — Forty-seven Republican Legislators Announce Their Refusal to Enter the Caucus — Oliver Nominated on Second Ballot — Received a Majority of the Entire Republican Vote of the Legislature — Sena- tor John Stewart Leader of the Revolt — Oliver Withdrew and General Beaver was Made Organization Candidate — February 23d Both Factions United on Congressman John I. Mitchell — He Re- ceived the Full Republicans Vote and Was Elected — Wolfe, Independ- ent Candidate for Treasurer. THE battle between Garfield and Hancock for the Presidency did not call out extraordinary exertions from either political party, as the State was not regarded as in any sense debatable, but both sides well maintained their organizations, and very general interest was exhibited in the contest, as is common in all National elections. The one question that was agitated during the campaign was the United States Senatorship, as the Legislature would be called upon to elect a Senator to succeed Senator Wallace. Several avowed candidates were in the field, but the only one who commanded general attention and re- ceived instructions in a number of the counties was Galusha A. Grow, who had served a dozen years in Congress and was Speaker of the House during the first two years of the war. He was not in favor with the Cameron-Quay organization, and had to make his battle against it. The organization did not present a candidate during the campaign, and Grow apparently had the field largely to himself, but he well understood that before the meeting of the Legislature the domi- Of Pennsylvania 521 nant political power of the State would determine upon a man who would be Grow's competitor. The man who was preferred by the regular party organization for the Senatorship was Henry W. Oliver, of Pittsburg, but his name was not canvassed before the people, nor was he an importunate candidate. He was one of the most respected and successful yotmg business men of Pittsburg, and while not seeking party favors, he had been a very efficient supporter of the party organization, and his intimate familiarity with the political questions of the time may be understood when it is known that he drew the tariff planks of he Republican National platforms for the Cincinnati convention in 1876, and the Chicago convention of 1880. He was as unassuming as he was courteous in all his intercourse with his fellows, and I doubt whether any business man in the State, of his years, more thoroughly understood the great and varied interests of the Commonwealth, and how to give them the most practical and certain development. His quiet manners and close devotion to business at home made him a comparative stranger to the public outside of his immediate business circles, and when his name was presented as the candidate of the organi- zation for the Senatorship it was at once resented by the Independents as, an attempt to force a man into the position of Senator from Pennsylvania who lacked the intelligence and culture befitting the high station. The Independents in their address to the public, after they had taken their revolutionary attitude, criticised Mr. Oliver's qualifications as follows: "Wholly inex- perienced in public life, Mr. Oliver was not known to the people of the State beyond the limits of his own county until named in connection with this distin- guished position. Why one so obscure should have been selected out of the great body of the people as the 522 Old Time Notes one of all others best qualified to represent the State, is not for us to explain." This reflection upon Mr. Oliver was far from being just, and the Independents who thus criticised him finally gave a united vote for Mr. Mitchell, who did not approach Mr. Oliver in any of the great qualities necessary to make an efficient and respected United States Senator. Oliver was not an orator, not so much because he was wanting in ability to engage in public disputation, but chiefly because his life pursuits exhausted his energies in other directions, and his dis- taste for ostentatious display made him avoid the platform, but no man would have more intelligently mastered every problem of National legislation, or defended it more intelligently than Mr. Oliver if he had been called to the Senate. He never was justly appreciated by his party or the public until after the Senatorial contest, but he com- manded the respect of friends and foes by his chivalrous retirement when he found that his name was an ob- stacle to party unity. In the business revulsion that followed a year or two later, Mr. Oliver was over- whelmed and bankruptcy appeared to confront him, but his creditors had absolute confidence in his ability and integrity, and they generously aided him in his efforts to rehabilitate his broken fortune. In a few years he had paid all his obligations, principal and interest in full, and for a number of years before his death he was one of the multi-millionaires of Pittsburg, and certainly in the forefront of the most respected public -spirited and philanthropic citizens. How keenly the injustice to Mr. Oliver, by his defeat for Senator in 1881, has been appreciated by the party in Pennsylvania, is evidenced by the fact that had he been living he would have succeeded Senator Quay without a contest; and Governor Pennypacker, in of Pennsylvania 523 tendering the appointment to his brother, George T. Ohver, to fill the unexpired term of Quay, stated that while George T. Oliver fully possessed the character and ability to justify his appointment to the Senate, the commission was tendered to him largely because it would in some measure atone for the wrong to his brother. Mr. Oliver declined the appointment, and it was then tendered to Senator Knox. When the Legislature met in January, 1881, it was known that Mr. Oliver was the candidate of the regular organization for the Senatorship, and that it had the power to force his nomination. The independent sen- timent had been greatly increased and intensified by the action of Cameron and Quay in calling the early convention of 1880 and wresting the State from Blaine by sending a Grant delegation to the National conven- tion. As Grant failed to obtain the nomination, the party harmoniously united in the support of Garfield, but when the Independents reached the contest for Senator, they were ready for revolutionary work, and Grow was their favorite candidate. The Legislature on joint ballot contained 154 Repub- licans, 92 Democrats, with 4 Greenbackers and Fusion- ists. The Republican caucus, to nominate a Senator, was fixed for January 13th, and on that day 47 Republi- can senators and representatives signed and published a pledge to stay out of the regular caucus, declaring that in their belief it was ''not for the best interests of the Republican party or the welfare of the State that we should go into a caucus for the election of a candidate for the United States Senate." The caucus was held at the time appointed, at which 98 Republican senators and representatives appeared. The first ballot gave Oliver 51, Snowden 12, Grow 10, Gilfillan 5, Bingham 5, Ward 4, White 2, Stone 2, Koontz 2 and Morrill 2. On the second ballot Oliver's 524 Old Time Notes vote rose to 63, and on the third ballot to 79, being four majority of the entire Republican vote of both branches of the Legislature, and he was declared the nominee. The Democrats in caucus renominated Sen- ator Wallace by a practically imanimous vote, and the Independents lined up in support of Grow. On the first ballot twenty Republican senators voted for Oliver, 12 for Grow and 16 for Wallace, with i for Agnew. In the House Oliver received 75 votes, Grow 44, Wallace 77 with 3 scattering. The vote of the joint convention footed up 95 for Oliver, 93 for Wallace, 56 for Grow, with i each for Agnew, Brewster, Baird and MacVeagh. The time fixed by law for the two branches of the Legislature to meet in joint convention, having failed to elect by a separate vote in the respective branches, was the 19th of January, when two ballots were taken with precisely the same result. On the 17th of Janu- ary, the day before the two branches voted separately on the senatorship, two addresses were issued to the public, one signed by Senator McNeil, of Allegheny, and chairman of the Republican caucus, presenting to the people of the State the attitude and defense of the regulars, and on the same day the Independents issued a public address that was signed individually by fifty-five members of the senate and house defending their action, and opposing the election of Oliver. The Democrats had sufficient power to make a com- bination with either the regulars or the Independents, and assuring the election of the candidate they united in supporting. They could readily have made advan- tageous terms with either and secured fair congressional and other apportionments, but Wallace commanded the Democratic forces, and he resisted all efforts to make a combination with either of the Republican factions. He was an intense square-toed Democrat, Of Pennsylvania 525 and was naturally averse to lowering the Democrats' standard, as he regarded it, by a fusion with any type of political opponent. Wallace not only acted in accordance with his own tastes in standing resolutely against fusion, but he was willingly repaying an obli- gation to Cameron and Quay, in which Mackey was an important figure, who six years earlier had stood resolutely against the fusion of the Republicans with the Buckalew Democrats to defeat Wallace. In all Republican factional contests Wallace was in hearty sympathy with the regular machine. With the Democrats thus practically eliminated from the contest, it became a struggle of endurance between the Republican factions, and as they were required by the law of Congress, under which Senators were then and are now elected, the joint convention was compelled to meet every legislative day and vote for Senator until one was chosen. During nearly two weeks the opposing lines came up unbroken day after day, but by the time that the second Saturday was reached and many members desired to go home and spend Sunday with their families, as was their habit, a general understanding was reached that any members who dseired to go home on Saturday should be at liberty to do so, and that neither side would attempt to rally its forces and elect a Senator by a minority vote because of absentees. Under the law, if a bare majority of the entire Legislature appeared in joint convention it would be a legal convention with a full quorum, and a majority of that bare majority would constitute a quorum and could elect a Senator. It was necessary, therefore, to have an understanding on the subject. The result was that on the second Saturday, Oliver's vote fell from 95 to 42, Grow's from 56 to 32 and Wallace's from 93 to 47. The joint convention continued to 526 Old Time Notes meet in the hall of the house at noon each secular day of the week from the 19th of January to the 9th of February, without any change in the monotonous grind of the three opposing elements casting fruitless ballots for a Senator. On the 9th of February Mr. Oliver addressed a com- munication to the Republican members of the assembly that was most dignified and temperate in tone. In it he said, " For myself, realizing that the party nominee cannot be elected, owing to the refusal of a large and respectable number of Republicans to join with their brethren in the choice of the majority, it is due to my supporters to say that I am no longer a candidate, and they are free to select any other worthy Republican." On the same day Mr. Grow addressed a letter to Sena- tor Davies, one of the Independent Republicans, in which he said: Please withdraw my name as a candidate for United States Senator in the joint convention of the Legislature," to which he added his thanks to the senators and representatives who had supported him. The regulars, after full consultation, decided to pre- sent the name of General Beaver, and they believed at the time they did it that the Independents could be induced to accept it. It is an open secret that very trivial circumstances prevented the union of the Inde- pendents with the regulars for the election of Beaver. Factional feeling was intensely infiam.ed, and it was quite possible for an accidental expression or action to prevent a union of the belligerent Republican forces. The Independents finally decided to support Congress- man Thomas M. Bayne, of Allegheny, and the first ballot, on the loth of February, gave Wallace 86, Beaver 63 and Bayne 62. Daily joint conventions were held from the loth of February until the 2 2d without any change in the struggle, except the varying of ballots becatise of absentees. Beaver's highest Of Pennsylvania 527 vote was 80 and Bayne's highest vote was 62. On Saturday, the 19th of February, the total vote polled by the three parties was 69, being 28 for Beaver, 21 for Wallace and 20 for Bayne. On the 17th of February the utter hopelesness of the struggle between the Republican factions was well understood by all, and after some outside consultations they, on that day, agreed that each should appoint a conference committee of twelve that should be em- powered to select a candidate for Senator who must receive a two-thirds vote of both committees. The Independent committee consisted of Senators Davies, Lee, Stewart and Lawrence, and Representatives Wolfe, Silverthorne, Mapes, McKee, Slack, Stubbs, Miles and Derickson. The committee of the regulars consisted of Senators Greer, Herr, Smith, Keefer and Cooper, and Representatives Pollock, Moore, Marshall, Hill, Eshleman, Thompson and Billingsley. The joint conference committee held daily sessions, and balloted for a candidate without result until the evening of the 2 2d of February, when they unani- mously agreed upon John L Mitchell, of Tioga, then Congressman from the Sixteenth District, as a com- promise candidate. On the morning of February 23d a joint Senatorial caucus attended by all the regu- lars and Independents was held in which Mitchell was unanimously nominated, and in the joint convention of that day the vote for Senator was: Mitchell 150, Wallace 92, MacVeagh i and Brewster i. Thus ended one of the most earnest and memorable Senatorial con- tests in Pennsylvania, that was surpassed in despera- tion and endurance only by the jangled Senatorial con- test of 1855, when the Know Nothings controlled the Legislature, and when, after a most embittered contest, the Legislature adjourned without electing a Senator, giving the Democrats the opportimity to elect Gover- 52S Old Time Notes nor Bigler the following year when they had gained control of the Leigslature. Senator Mitchell was accepted by the Independents with some reluctance, and he was generally regarded as rather more acceptable to Cameron than to the bolters, but he was universally respected by senators and representatives of his section of the State that he was then representing in Congress, where the Inde- pendent sentiment largely predominated, and the pledge was given by his supporters from that region that under no circumstances would he become subor- dinate to the regular machine domination of the State. He was not asked to give any pledge for himself, and he was elected to the Senate entirely free from any embarrassing obligations, but he fully vindicated the theory presented in the address of the regulars to the people of the State defending the nomination of Oliver, in which the following deliverance was made: "A compromise means temporary relief from a seeming difficulty, and weakness and decimation for years thereafter. Compromise imder existing circumstances means previous consultation with a few leaders, who care more for their own prejudices and hatreds than for the unity of the party. The selection of a vacillat- ing man — the usual result of compromise — ^will be a source of constant chagrin and demoralization." Mitchell was not a man of great intellectual force, and until his bold break against the party organization one year after his election to the Senate, he was always regarded as a submissive partisan. Cameron and Quay felt entire confidence that he would act with the organization, as Cameron had accomplished Mitchell's nomination for Congress when his county was not entitled to it, not so much for the purpose of giving success to Mitchell, as to preclude Senator Strang from a future election to Congress. Mitchell served Of Pennsylvania 529 in the Senate highly respected personally, but without any conspicuous legislative achievement, and his Senatorial career is now chiefly memorable because of the bold and defiant manner in which he assailed the Cameron-Quay organization in 1882, defeating General Beaver for Governor, and transferring the State to Democratic authority. While Senator John Stewart ,of Franklin, was the acknowledged leader of the Independents, the most aggressive and declamatory of the bolters was Repre- sentative Charles S. Wolfe, of Union. It was an open secret that he was ambitious to be elected United States Senator by a fusion between the Independents and the Democrats, and he was inflamed to desperate hostility by the fact that Cameron and Quay, of the regular Republicans^ and Wallace, leading the Democrats, were acting in accord against fusion. Only the oflice of State treasurer was to be filled in 1 88 1, and the Republicans did not call their convention until the 8th of September, when they met at Harris- burg, and the Independents locked horns with the regulars in that body in the struggle for the State treasurership. Silas M. Bailey, of Fayette, was nomi- nated on the first ballot over Senator Davies, of Brad- ford, one of the Independent Republican senators, by a vote of 157 to 84. Wolfe attended the convention and was greatly humiliated by the overwhelming defeat of the Independents. On the following day he announced himself as an independent candidate for State treasurer, by a telegram addressed to the Phila- delphia ' ' Times. ' ' The text of his announcement was as follows: ''The black flag has been raised against the Independent Republicans of Pennsylvania. Please announce that, on my own responsibility, I am an Inde- pendent Republican candidate for State treasurer in full sympathy with the administration, and against 2—34 530 Old Time Notes the rule of the bosses. I will stump the State, and give my reasons for this action." The Republican leaders were startled at the sudden and defiantly hostile attitude assumed by Wolfe, and they made exhaustive efforts to get the party into line. The Democrats held their convention at Williamsport on the 28th of September, and nominated Orange Noble, of Erie, for State treasurer, and for a time it looked as if the Independents would overwhelm the regu- lars by the election of a Democratic State treasurer. Wolfe fulfilled his promise and spoke in different sections of the State, but failed to make any serious impression upon the party organization. He was regarded as a disappointed political aspirant, and that greatly weakened his cause, but he fought the fight out with desperation until election day. Senator Cooper was chairman of the State committee, and managed the Republican battle with great skill. It was an off year, and the Democrats, having known little else than defeat for twenty years, could not be organized to poll a full vote, while the more vital and completely equipped Republican organization brought out a suffi- cient proportion of its voters to elect Bailey by 6,824 plurality, while Wolfe polled 49,984 votes. It was a great opportunity for the Democrats, but they were lacking alike in organization and vitality, and the regular Republican organization won out even with 50,000 defection in favor of an Independent Republi- can candidate. Of Pennsylvania 531 XCIX. PATTISON ELECTED GOVERNOR. The Independent Republican Revolt — Davies Defeated for State Treas- urer — This Led to Full Independent State Ticket in 1882 — Futile Offers of Compromise — Pattison Nominated for Governor by the Democrats — Senator John Stewart as the Independent Leader — C c ter of the Campaign — The Democratic Ticket Elected by In- dependent Republican Votes. WHILE the Republican factions seemed to have been very cordially united in the election of Mitchell to the Senate in 1881, the Independ- ent revolt against the dominant power of the party pervaded every section of the State, and the Independ- ents felt that they had little to expect from the leaders of the party then in power. At the Republican State convention of 1881, when there was only a State treas- urer to elect, the Independents urged the nomination of Senator Davies, of Bradford, who had been promi- nent among the Independent senators in the Legis- lative battle that resulted in the election of Mitchell. Had the Republican leaders been wise, they would have accepted Davies and thus ended the dispute, but the State treasurer was too important to the organiza- tion, and Davies was defeated by a decided majority, and Mr. Bailey, the slated candidate of the leaders, was nominated on the first ballot. On the following day Charles S. Wolfe's card was published all over the State announcing himself as an Independent candidate for State treasurer, giving as the reason that the black flag had been hoisted over the Independents by the leaders, doubtless referring to the defeat of Davies in 532 Old Time Notes the State convention. The Independent organization was thus continued, and as is usual in all factional fights, the estrangement was widened and deepened every day. The Independents took the initiative for the impor- tant contest of 1882 that involved the election of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, secretary of internal affairs, judge of the supreme court, and Congress- man-at-Large. They began their movement to fight out the battle against the bosses on the i6th of Decem- ber, 1 88 1, when the State committee of Independents issued a call signed by 1. D. McKee, chairman, and Frank Willing Leach, secretary, asking the Independ- ents to send representatives from each county to a State conference to be held in Philadelphia on the 12th of January, 1882, to consider the question of nominating an Independent Republican State ticket. This conference was held four months before the meet- ing of the regular Republican State convention, and was intended to take such action as would force the regular organization to yield to the demands of the revolutionists. At that conference it was decided to hold a State convention for the nomination of a State ticket on the 24th of May, which would be two weeks after the regular Republican convention was to be held at Harrisburg, on the loth of the same month. Thus, the two calls for the regular and the Independent Republican conventions were both issued several months before the time of meeting, and the leaders of the Regulars at once began negotiations to unite the conventions on the same ticket and platform. After some outside conference it was agreed that a committee should be appointed by the organization of each of the two factions to consult on the subject of the party differences. The Independents selected Charles S. Wolfe, I. D. McKee, Francis B. Reeves, Of Pennsylvania 533 J. W. Lee and Wharton Barker, and the regulars, appointed by Chairman Cooper, were M. S. Quay, John F. Hartranft, C. L. Magee, Howard J. Reeder and Thomas Cochran. These committees had a prelimi- nary conference in Philadelphia on the 20th of April, when they adjourned to meet on the evening of May I St, at which they agreed upon peace propositions, in which every point in dispute was substantially con- ceded to the Independents. The peace resolutions unequivocally condemned the use of patronage to promote personal or political ends, demanded protection of competent and faithful officers against removal, obedience to the popular will of the State in the National convention, prohibited compulsory assessments for political purposes, and the provisions asked for by the Independents for the election of delegates to the State conventions, and prohibiting snap conventions, with an open declaration that all Republicans, Independents and Regulars, should participate in party primary elections. This declaration of principles and party policy was signed by every member of the two committees nine days before the Regular Republican convention met. Judging the dispute by the records made, and the agreement reached by the opposing factions, it would seem that there was no further groimd for continued revolt against the regular organization, but the Inde- pendents knew that the Regular leaders were not sin- cere in their devotion to civil service reform, and had little faith in their purpose to accept in its full and fair letter and spirit the agreement that had been made. It was this distrust that made the Independent com- mittee issue an address on the 3d of May urging the Independents to a full representation at the State 534 Old Time Notes convention to meet in Philadelphia on the 24th of May for the nomination of State candidates. In that address it was declared that if the Regular Republican convention, to meet on the loth of May, " failed to nominate as its candidates men who in their character, antecedents and affiliations are embodi- ments of the principles of true Republicanism free from the iniquities of bossism," such nominations ''should be emphatically repudiated by the Inde- pendent convention." The Regular Republican convention convened at Harrisburg on the loth of May. I witnessed its pro- ceedings, and noted the fact that but one sentiment seemed to prevail in the body, and that was to place the party in a position to command the support of all fair-minded Independents. General Beaver was nomi- nated for Governor by acclamation, and Senator Davies, of Bradford, one of the leaders in the senate in the Independent movement in the Legislature of 1881, was also nominated by acclamation as the candidate for the second place on the ticket. John M. Greer, of Butler, was nominated for secretary of internal affairs ; William Henry Rawle, of Philadelphia, for supreme judge, and Thomas M. Marshall for Congressman-at- Large. The platform declared in favor of every feature of reform demanded by the Independents, even to the minutest details. The Independents had been conceded the nomina- tion for lieutenant governor, an office that is important only to the man who holds it. It is absolutely with- out power in legislation, and usually without a voice in the dispensation of patronage. William Henry Rawle, who was nominated for supreme judge, was one of the ablest and most aggressive of the reform Republicans of Philadelphia, but as his office was with- out patronage, the Independents saw that all the can- of Pennsylvania 535 didates for offices wherein political influence could be wielded had been accorded to the Regulars. The result was that the Independents held their convention in Philadelphia on the 24th of May, and it had the appearance of a sudden volcanic eruption. Senator Mitchell, usually one of the most submissive of party leaders, was there and fierce as the tigress defending her cubs, while from every section of the State came men of high character and intelligence, who commanded for the convention the highest measure of respect. There was no personal objection to General Beaver, who was one of the purest and cleanest men of the State, with a most gallant record as a soldier, losing his right leg in battle, but they distrusted the power that had nominated him, and that they feared would dominate him, and the many qualities, which under ordinary circumstances would have argued so strongly in his favor, were powerless against the aggressive earnestness of the Independents. The Independent platform was practically a repeti- tion of the reforms which had been agreed upon by the two factional committees, to which was added the following: ''We demand, instead of the insolence, the proscription and the tyranny of the bosses and machine rulers, the free and conscientious exercise of private judgment in political affairs, and the faithful discharge by those who assume representative trust of the ex- press will of the people." Senator John Stewart, of Franklin, was nominated for Governor by a vote of 139 to 62 for Judge Agnew, Levi Budd Duff, of Allegheny, was nominated for lieutenant governor, George W. Merrick, of Tioga, for secretary of internal affairs, William Mc Michael, of Philadelphia, for Congressman-at-Large, and George Junkin, of Philadelphia, for supreme judge. The 536 Old Time Notes Independents selected altogether their best equipped man for such a battle when they nominated Senator Stewart ; a man of sterling honesty, of unfaltering fear- lessness, eminently able and always aggressive when called into conflict. His record, alike as citizen and soldier, was unblemished, and his mingled logic and eloquence as a campaigner made many thovisands re- solve their doubts in favor of the Independent cause. Exhaustive efforts were made by the Regulars after the nomination of the Independent ticket to reach an adjustment of the differences, and unite the party to avert defeat. The Regulars were quite willing to con- cede any place on the ticket except that of Governor. They could not afford to have a resolute and fearless Independent in the position of Governor for four years. Thomas M. Marshall had been nominated by the Regulars for Congressman- at- Large, and after some hesitation formally declined to be a candidate, and the regular convention was reconvened at Harrisburg early in June, and nominated Marriott Brosius to take his place. This convention took the initiative to bring- about a union of the two factions upon one ticket, and a formal communication was addressed to Chairman McKee, of the Independent committee, and it was at once communicated to the Independent candidates. On the 13 th of July a letter signed by Stewart, Duff, Merrill and Junkin, of the Independent ticket, was ad- dressed to General Beaver and the other Republican candidates, who, after stating their position, proposed that all the candidates on both tickets should withdraw, and that none of them should accept a nomination from any convention that year. New primaries were to be held in which all Republicans were to be at lib- erty to participate, believing that such a convention would nominate an acceptable ticket. Mr. McMichael, Of Pennsylvania 537 the Independent candidate for Congressman-at-Large, refused to join in the proposal to decline. On the 1 5th of July General Beaver and all his fellow Republican candidates united in a letter to Chairman Cooper in answer to the letter they had received from the Independent candidates, declining to accept the proposition, in which they said: ''To say that in the effort to determine whether or not our nomination was the free and unbiased choice of the Republican party we must not be candidates, is simply to try the ques- tion at issue." Thus ended the efforts of the leaders of the two Republican factions to attain unity in 1882. Everything that gave promise of unity had been ex- hausted, and the question of harmonizing was never afterwards raised during the contest. Both the fac- tions stripped for the battle, and it was universally accepted as a fight to a finish. The Democrats fully appreciated the advantage that the divided Republican party gave them, and they were very fortunate in presenting a candidate for Governor who had twice been elected by the aid the reform element had given to the Democratic party to the office of controller of Philadelphia, in which posi- tion he had discharged his duties with unfaltering fidelity. The Democratic State convention met at Harris- burg on the 28th of June, with George M. Dallas as permanent president. William U. Hensel presented a very carefully prepared and conservative platform, which was unanimously adopted. The contest for Governor seemed to be narrowed to Robert E. Pattison and ex-Congressman James H. Hopkins, of Allegheny, with a number of candidates receiving a scattering vote. On the first ballot Hopkins received 87 to 61^ for Pattison, but Pattison 's vote steadily increased until the sixth ballot, when he received 126^ to 119^ 538 Old Time Notes for Hopkins, with two scattering. Chauncey F. Black was nominated for lieutenant governor, and Silas M. Clark for supreme judge, J. Simpson Africa for secre- tary of internal affairs, and M. F. Elliott for Congress- man-at-Large. Pennsylvania had thus presented to her people three candidates for Governor, all men of distinction, and all of unblemished reputations. General Beaver addressed the convention after the nomination, in which he said: " I have made no pledges to living man as to what my future course shall be. I can make none now or here- after except this — in the approaching political cam- paign the harmony and success of the Republican party shall be the one great object of desire and effort on my part." Senator Stewart was a member of the convention that nominated him for Governor, and accepted the position in a brief speech, in which he said: ''The Harrisburg convention would send the Republican party on a mission not of principles, but of spoils. We would have the grand old organization disenthralled and redeemed. I say disenthralled because Pennsyl- vania is to-day in a state of vassalage, of bondage, and the voice of the honest people of Pennsylvania has not been represented in a Republican convention in a decade. It is from that control that we would deliver her." The Commonwealth Club, of Philadelphia, gave an enthusiastic reception to Pattison soon after the con- vention adjourned, at which he presented his acceptance, in which he said: There is a widespread discontent at what is forcibly called boss government. This is not without much reason. Popular discontent has gener- ally good cause, for the people have no advantage in unnecessary agitation and disorder. The great evil Of Pennsylvania 539 of boss government is that the interest of the official is made inimical to faithful public service. The Prohibitionists held a convention at Altoona on the 23d of April, and nominated A. C. Pettitt for Governor, with a full ticket. The Greenback State convention was held on the i8th of May, and nomi- nated Thomas A. Armstrong for governor, and the Labor convention met in Philadelphia on the 28th of August, and indorsed the nomination of Armstrong. The Republicans did not regard the battle as entirely hopeless, as they had elected their candidate for State treasurer the year before, with the Independents in the field supporting Wolfe, who polled nearly 50,000 votes, but they did not at first appreciate the increased earn- estness, as well as the enlarged numbers, of the Inde- pendents, which had been created by a year of constant friction between the factions. They counted largely on the high character and war record of General Beaver to command the soldier vote of the State, but failed to reckon the advantage the Independents had in presenting an equally gallant but more fortunate soldier at the head of their ticket, with McMichael, another honored soldier, as the candidate for Congress- man-at-Large. The Independent Republicans had no hope of elect- ing their ticket. They could doubtless have made a fusion with the Democrats and swept the State by a large majority, but they stood squarely on the platform of what they declared to be honest Republicans and fought out their battle with the single purpose, as Senator Stewart declared it, to disenthrall the State from the oppression of boss rule. In other words, the battle of the Independents v\^as directed solely to the defeat of the regular Republican ticket, and that pur- pose was well understood by those who managed the organizations involved in the struggle. 540 Old Time Notes The three candidates for Governor were all able and popular campaigners, and they enthused their friends by addressing large assemblies in every section of the State. The Republican organization was in the hands of Senator Cooper, who was a most accomplished chief- tain in a desperate contest. He brought the regulars into the most perfect organization, and as the election approached they seemed to have increased confidence in the success of their ticket, and the organization boldly predicted a decisive victory over both the Demo- crats and the Independents. While under ordinary conditions such political methods would have been highly advantageous, it proved to be unfortunate for the Regulars, as it changed the action of many thousands of Independents who sincerely desired Stewart's election, but who voted directly for Pattison to assure the defeat of the Regu- lar ticket. This is evident from an examination of the results of the election. Wolfe polled nearly 48,000 Independent Republican votes the year before, when the Independent organization was feeble in comparison with its strength in 1882, but Stewart received 5,000 less votes in the State than were given to Wolfe. In Philadelphia, where the Republicans could readily command a majority of 30,000 or more in a square contest, and where the Independent sentiment was stronger than in any other section of the State, Stewart received only 7,999 votes, while Pattison's vote was within nearly 3,000 of Beaver's. The vote of Alle- gheny exhibited a like landslide of the Independents to Pattison, where Stewart received only 4,726 votes, while Beaver had less than 2,000 plurality over Patti- son. In Tioga County, the home of Mitchell, the vote was very nearly evenly divided between the three parties; Pattison receiving 2,257, Beaver 2,270, and Stewart 2,211. Of Pennsylvania 541 The result in the State gave Pattison 355,791, Beaver 315,589 and Stewart 43,743, electing Pattison by 40,202 plurality. The other candidates on the State ticket fell with their chief. Black was elected lieu- tenant governor by a plurality of 36,028; Clark, for supreme judge, by 40,762; Africa, for secretary of internal affairs, by 36,944, and Elliott, for Congress- man-at-Large, by 40,995. With a knowledge of the peculiar conditions which then prevailed, and carefully scanning the reforms of that election, it is fairly doubtful whether Pattison was not elected by the direct support of Republicans, as nearly one-half of the Independents of the State voted the Democratic ticket to emphasize their implacable hostility to the Republican nominations of the State. The Independents closed the battle of 1882 as abso- lute masters of the political situation in Pennsylvania, and they confidently expected that, with the co-opera- tion they had reason to believe they would command from Governor Pattison, they could enforce a complete reorganization of the Republican party in the State, and the measurable subordination of its most offensive leaders. Why they failed will be told in another chapter. 542 Old Time Notes C. GOVERNOR PATTISON'S FIRST TERM. An Administration of Both Successes and Failures — Appoints Lewis C. Cassidy Attorney General — Pattison Assailed on Account of Cassidy — Attacks that Forced Cassidy to Accept — A Legislature Divided Against Itself — Futile Efforts at Reapportionment of the State — Except as to the Judiciary — An Extra Session of the Legis- lature — The Governor Became Unpopular on Account of This Session — How He Lost His Mastery of the State — The Election of 1884 — Pennsylvania Heavily Republican, though Cleveland Elected President. GOVERNOR PATTISON was called to the chief Magistracy of the Commonwealth under political conditions which would have enabled any sagacious man in politics to hold the divided Republi- can party in open conflict and overthrow its m.astery; but, while Pattison was justly estimated for his stern integrity in public and private life, and had exhibited great ability and unswerving fidelity in the important office of controller of the city, he was without political experience when he entered the broad field of Penn- sylvania politics. He was unequal to the duty of shaping the policy of his own administration. His first serious error was the appointment of Lewis C. Cassidy to the attorney generalship. If the public had known at the time Cassidy was appointed, that he would administer the responsible duties of his office, not only with great ability, but with absolute fidelity, the wide revolt against the appointment would have been measurably or wholly halted, but Cassidy was the Colonel Mann of Democratic politics, and both were ready at times to sacrifice party interests to their own of Pennsylvania 543 mutual interests. Both were members of the Pilgrim Club, an organization made up of the leaders of both parties to divide offices and public profits between themselves, and from the day of Pattison's nomi- nation for Governor he was assailed not only by the Republicans generally throughout the State, but by William M. Singerty, in his widely read ' 'Daily Record, " as "Cassidy's boy" who would be the nominal Gov- ernor, while Cassidy would be the administration. The Republicans were warranted in thus assailing Pattison, because Mr. Singerly's ''Record," the only Democratic organ of Philadelphia, violently opposed him from day to day, and declared that Cassidy would necessarily be his attorney-general, and Samuel Josephs his secretary of the Commonwealth. These assaults upon Pattison were keenly felt in the contest by those who managed his campaign, as Pattison was little personally known outside of Philadelphia. A month or more before the election, Cassidy called at my office, and expressed his apprehension that Pattison might be defeated by the charges made, not only by the Republican press generally, but by Mr. Singerly's widely read newspaper, that he (Cassidy) would be one of the Pattison cabinet, and prominent in directing the administration. He insisted that I should announce, editorially, on the authority of Cassidy himself, that under no circumstances would Cassidy be called to any public office under Pattison, if Pattison became Governor of the State. In obedi- ence to that direction from Cassidy himself, I announced editorially in 'The Times'" on the following day that Cassidy had distinctly authorized a public annouce- ment that if Pattison was elected Governor, Cassid}^ would not be called to any official position under his administration. That announcement was given to the Associated Press, to appear simultaneously in all the 544 Old Time Notes daily journals of the State the following morning. It silenced the objections which had been urged with greatest effect against Pattison's election. It was accepted by all as the absolute truth, as it was given to the public not only on Mr. Cassidy's own authority, but by his own voluntary direction. What v/as regarded as the gravest obstacle to Patti- son's election was removed by Cassidy eliminating himself entirely from the new administration, but a few weeks after the election Cassidy called at my office, and appealed to me to release him from the promise that had been given to the public through me, not to accept any position under the Pattison administration. He informed me that Pattison desired him to be attor- ney-general, and that he especially desired the oppor- tunity thus offered him to prove how clean and credit- able a record he could make as attorney -general of the Commonwealth. I did not doubt his sincerity and personally regretted that I had no right and no authori- ty to release him from the obligation he had made to the public through me. If it had been a mere personal pledge to myself, I could have done so, but it was a pledge that I had given to the public on his authority, and with it had given the positive assurance that the promise was made in good faith, and would be sacredly fulfilled. Cassidy was my own personal counsel at the time, but his acceptance of a cabinet appointment after the solemn pledge given to the public with my own positive editorial endorsement would involve "The Times" and its editor in grotesque insincerity, and I informed him that that pledge was made under such circum- stances that neither he nor I, nor any other, could release him from its fulfilment. Some time before this interview with Casisdy, Pattison had called at my office, and discussed the question of his cabinet in a Of Pennsylvania 545 general way, giving a number of names that seemed to be considered. He named Cassidy among others, and I summarily dismissed his name, and reminded the Governor that Cassidy 's public pledge, that was given the widest publicity throughotit the State, precluded his selection, to which Pattison made no reply. I never had another conference with either Pattison or Cassidy about his cabinet or on any political sub- ject, before the inauguration, and when the nev/ Gov- ernor sent Cassidy 's name to the Senate for attorney general, "The Times" denotmced the appointment as an act of bad faith, on the part of Cassidy, to the people of the State, that the Governor should not have per- mitted, and demanded that his solemnly plighted faith given to the public by Cassidy should be sacredly main- tained. This criticism was resented by both the Gov- ernor and his attorney general, and the result was polit- ical estrangement between the State administration and ''The Times" during Pattison 's term. It is due to Attorney General Cassidy to say that he manfully maintained his purpose, expressed to me at the time he desired his appointment to be sanctioned, by administering the office not only with all the mas- terly legal ability he possessed, but with absolute integrity and fidelity. Not one of the many eminent men who have filled the office of attorney-general in Pennsylvania made a cleaner or better record as law officer of the Commonwealth than did Lewis C. Cassidy. The appointment of Cassidy was the entering wedge that soon thereafter separated the Independent Repub- licans from the Pattison administration. The Inde- pendents expected from Pattison not only an honest administration of the government, but they expected the Executive to rise above the mere partisan influence in the administration of his office. The senate was largely Republican, and the House largely Democratic, 2—35 546 Old Time Notes and it was the duty of the Legislature of that year, as commanded by the Constitution, to pass congressional, judicial and legislative apportionments. The appor- tionments then existing had been made by the Repub- licans, and were shaped greatly to the advantage of that party. They had much to lose by new apportion- ments framed on an equitable basis, and much to gain by. alio wing the old apportionments to stand. The Democratic house insisted upon a number of congressional, legislative and judicial districts corres- ponding to their proportion of the vote of the State, a proposition that was impossible of execution because the party did not have a majority in the counties of the State which would have been necessary to carry out their purpose without violent gerrymander. The Re- publicans of the State, after much wrangling between the two houses, finally yielded to the Independents of the body who desired to act with entire fairness, and presented a congressional bill that was reasonably fair to the Democrats, and much better than the then existing formation of districts, but it was sternly re- jected by the Democrats, and addresses were issued to the public by the Republicans of the senate and the Democrats of the house, appealing their respective causes to the people of the State. Finding that it was impossible for the two houses to agree upon an apportionment, the resolution for final adjournment on the 6th of June was passed by both branches, but on the morning of that day Governor Pattison addressed them a message, summoning them to meet in extraordinary session, beginning on the 7th of June, for the purpose of passing congressional, legis- lative and judicial apportionments. Both branches met in extra session on the 7th of June, and, after intro- ducing a number of apportionment bills, adjourned until the 19th. Partisan prejudices were inflamed by Of Pennsylvania 547 this protracted and bitter controversy, and there seemed to be no prospect of reaching an agreement. On the nth of July, the Republicans of the senate presented their ultimatum, known as the McCracken congressional bill and the Longenecker legislative apportionment, with a resolution for final adjournment on the 24th of the month. An arrangement was finally reached on the judicial apportionment on the 30th of July that was signed by the Governor, but the continued struggle on the other apportionments seemed to widen disputing parties rather than to bring them together. The wrangle continued until the loth of September, when the two houses adopted a resolution directing the appropriation committee to report an appropriation bill to pay the expenses of the extra session, but the Governor re- turned it with a veto. On the 14th of September the senate decided to meet only on Tuesday and Friday. The house met daily and denounced the senate as revolutionary in its actions for refusing to sit continu- ously until the resolution called for was completed. Finally, on the 30th of November, the Democrats, satisfied that congressional and legislative apportion- ments could not be passed, agreed to final adjourn- ment on the nth of December. On that day the Legis- lature of 1883 adjourned sine die, making a special session of 189 days after a regular session lasting from the first of January to the 6th of June. In the apportionment dispute the Governor became alienated from all his Independent Republican stipport, and at the election of 1883 the Republicans carried their State ticket by nearly 20,000 majority. The Republican State convention had met in Harrisburg on the nth of July, and nominated J. B. Niles, of Tioga, for attorney general, and William Livsey for State treasurer. The Democrats held their convention 548 Old Time Notes at Harrisburg on the first of August, and nominated Robert Taggart, of Warren, for attorney-general, and Joseph Powell, of Bradford, for State treasurer. Only the friction between the Independents and the Pat- tison administration to force apportionments satisfac- tory to the Democrats made it possible for the Re- publicans to elect their State ticket. The majority for auditor general was only 17,075. The State administration of Governor Pattison thus lost its mastery over State and legislation by a struggle for partisan advantages that was not only unwise in conception, but blundering in execution. The Legis- lature at that time had no fixed salary for extra sessions, and the pay was $10 per day for each member with teh usual salary to officers, making the Legislature of 1883 the most costly in the history of the Commonwealth. Pattison had, with Cassidy as attorney general, William S. Stenger, of Franklin, as secretary of the Commonwealth, a lawyer of great ability, with large experience in politics, as he was thrice elected to Con- gress in a district naturally Republican. How any administration with two so capable men as Cassidy and Stenger, both ripe in political experience, could have persisted in the blunder of a regular and an extra session of the Legislature lasting nearly a year, is difficult to understand. In all matters outside of mere partisan interests the Pattison administration was clean, aggressively honest and commanded the respect and confidence of the masses of the people. The Granger element was then a vital one in the State, and Pattison was in sincerest sympathy with its general aims and methods. He thus retired from office at the expiration of his term, leaving an administration that was a failure viewed from a mere political standpoint, but that was regarded by the people generally as worthy of confidence because Of Pennsylvania 549 of its fidelity to the interests of the people against the encroachments of corporations, and it was that feeling that recalled Pattison to the Governorship four years later in defiance of the ablest political leaders of the State. Eighteen hundred and eighty-four was a Presidential year, and both parties entered the fight with complete organizations, and the hearty support of their follow- ers. The Republican convention met at Harrisburg on the loth of April. The only State candidate to be nominated was that of Congressman- at- Large, and General E. S. Osbourne, of Luzerne, was nominated on the third ballot. The Democratic convention met at Allentown on the i8th of April, and nominated Gen- eral William W. H. Davis, of Bucks, Congressman-at- Large, without the formality of a ballot. Prohibition and Greenback conventions were held, the first nomi- nating A. N. Attwood for Congressman, and the latter nominating James Black. For the first time the enemies of Blaine, who had defeated him in 1876 and 1880 by diverting Pennsyl- vania from him, gave up the contest in this State, and the State convention declared in favor of the nomina- tion of Blaine and Robert T. Lincoln for Vice-President. The Republican National convention met at Chicago on the 3d of June, and John R. Lynch, colored delegate from Mississippi, was nominated for temporary chair- man by Theodore Roosevelt, now President of the United States, and elected over Powell Clayton, of Arkansas, by a vote of 431 to 387. This was the first time that a colored man had ever presided over a National convention of either of the great parties. The contest for President was between Blaine and President Arthur, and there is little doubt that Arthur would have been nominated but for the fact that Blaine had been twice defeated in conventions in which his 550 Old Time Notes friends felt that he would have been nominated if fair play had been the rule, and they could postpone his nomination no longer. Arthur was very popular with the people generally, as he had made a most dignified and generally acceptable administration. On the first ballot he received 278 votes to 364 for Blaine. On the fourth ballot Blaine had 540 to 201 for Arthur, with a number scattering when the nomination of Blaine was made unanimous, and John A. Logan was nomi- nated for Vice-President without the formality of a ballot. The Democratic National convention met at Chicago on the 8th day of July, and I have, in a former chapter, told how the friends of Randall controlled the State convention and placed Wallace at the head of the delegation with instructions to support Randall for President, and I have also given in detail the circum- stances which led to the withdrawal of Randall in favor of Cleveland, thereby assuring Cleveland's suc- cess. Cleveland's nomination was effected on the second ballot, receiving 683 votes to 81^ for Bayard, 45^ for Hendricks and 10 scattering. The National contest was a very earnest one, but Blaine m.ade the mistake of assuming the management of his own campaign. Defamation of both candidates became rife long before the contest ended, but while it figured largely in the political speeches and party organs of the country, it is doubtful whether it changed a thousand votes out of the many millions cast. The principal scandal against Cleveland was sent to Blaine, and he committed the error of forwarding it to his National committee, and the chief scandal against Blaine was sent to Cleveland, but he forwarded it to his National committee with positive instructions not to give it publicity. When Cleveland was most bitterly and malignantly Of Pennsylvania 551 assailed, the Indianapolis "Sentinel," the leading Democratic organ of the West, astounded the country by bringing out the Blaine scandal with picturesque embellishments. When Cleveland was advised of the publication of the personal scandal printed against himself his answer was: ''Tell the truth." Blaine, always impulsive and often unbalanced in judgment, as any man would be who assumed the management of his own campaign for the Presidency, brought suit against the Indiana journal that had given publicity to the scandal. He evidently did not appreciate the lesson that Clay had learned when he declared, after his final defeat for the Presidency, that if there had been another Henry Clay to direct his battle he would have been elected. That Blaine erred in bringing his suit was later evi- denced by the fact that after the election he withdrew it, and never pressed its trial. I well remember the morning the announcement was made of Blaine's suit against the "Sentinel." I was then resting in the mountains, and after breakfast was sitting in front of the hotel with President Arthur, Secretary Freling- huysen, Judge Strong, William Henry Rawle and one or two others, when the New York papers were brought to us, and all of them were profoundly impressed with the fact that Blaine had committed a serious blunder. The paper that had made the publication was one of the greatest violent partisan journals of the country, and conducted with great ability. Its answer to Blaine was a challenge for a speedy trial and the emphatic reiteration of the details of the scandal. This action of Blaine greatly magnified the importance of the scandal, and made it a serious political factor, while from the day that Cleveland made the simple answer, "Tell the truth," and thus challenged his accusers, the 552 Old Time Notes defamation gradually faded out and ceased to be seri- ously employed or felt in the struggle. There was practically no contest in Pennsylvania, as it was not possible to wrest the State from Blaine, and the resources of the party were largely directed to aid the contest in New York. Blaine carried the State by 81,019, leading his ticket some 6,000, as the majority for Congressman-at- Large was only 75,227. The National contest was decided in New York, where Cleveland carried the State by 1,100 majority, and more than enough to have changed the result in favor of Blaine was lost by Blaine accepting a public dinner from Jay Gould and others, and meeting the ministers of New York, where the Burchard incident occurred. He had made his fight and practically won his battle, but on his way home he unfortunately tarried in New York city, and the two incidents referred to cost him vastly more than enough to have reversed the vote of the State and thereby made him President. Of Pennsylvania 553 CI. THE GREAT STEEL INDUSTRY. Steel Was Used Almost Wholly for Edge Tools a Generation Ago — Struc- tural Steel Practically Unknown and Steel Unthought of for Rail- ways — Disston Developed American Steel for His Saw Works; for Many Years Had to Stamp Them as English — America Now Pro- duces the Finest Steel in the World — Colonel Wright's View of the Helplessness of the South — Believed War Impossible in 1861 Because the South Could Not Tire a Locomotive — Advent of Andrew Car- negie — Started at Five Dollars a Week Under Colonel Scott — Became the Great Genius of the Steel Trade — Raised Up Half a Score or More of Multi-Millionaires — He Is Now Among the Half-score of Richest Private Citizens in the V/ orld — His Gifts of Millions to Libraries and Education — His Thorough Self-reliance — He Alone Directed the Movements Against the Great Homestead Strike of 1884 — The Monu- ments Reared by Scott and Carnegie. THE development of the steel trade during the last twenty years is entirely tinexampled among the industrial enterprises of the world. I well remember, in the early seventies, when common iron rails for our railroads commanded from ninety to one hundred dollars a ton, and President J. Edgar Thompson, of the Pennsylvania Railroad, made the first experi- ment in the use of steel rails, at a cost of one hundred and seventy-five dollars per ton, to be used on the mul- tiplied tracks about the Philadelphia station of the com- pany, because the constant use of the tracks wore out the iron rails in a very fevv^ years. Steel was then un- thought of for railroads and structural steel was prac- tically unknown, but to-day nearly or quite all of the imposing buildings erected have a complete steel struc- ture. Steel was practically unthought of, excepting for edge tools, until the discovery of the Bessemer pro- 554 Old Time Notes cess half a century since, but great improvements have been made in the manufacture of steel, and it is now in universal use for railroads, which are gener- ally laid with steel rails ranging from eighty to one himdred poimds to the yard. When Mr. Disston, who founded the Disston Saw Works, of Philadelphia, began his work on a very small scale, he informed me that his tools would not have been accepted by the public if they had not been made entirely of English steel, as it was then believed that America could not produce steel sufficiently refined for edge tools. He was a well-trained, practical me- chanic in his line, and he finally produced an American steel that was thereafter used entirely in his works, but for many years his product would have been unsalable if not stamped as English steel. To-day, America pro- duces the finest steel in the world, and not only supplies the entire American market, with rare exceptions, but exports a considerable proportion of its product to Germany and other foreign countries. When the Civil War began in 1861, there was not a pound of steel produced south of the Potomac and Ohio rivers. I remember dining with Colonel John A. Wright at his home at The J. Edgar Thompson Steel Works, near Lewistown, soon after the Presidential election of i860. The secession of the Cotton States had already begun, and all were appalled at the pros- pect of fratricidal war. Colonel Wright was then re- garded as the most experienced steel manufacturer in the State or country, and I was amazed when he told me to dismiss all apprehension of a war with the South, as the South could not then furnish tires for a single lo- comotive, and it would be impossible for it to maintain a war for a year when cut off from the many things for which it was solely dependent upon the North. He was right as to the producing power of the South, at Of Pennsylvania 555 that time, but even without steel the Confederacy man- aged to maintain a bloody war for four long years, and to-day Birmingham, Alabama, produces cheaper iron and steel than can be furnished in any other industrial center of the world, and exports many thousands of tons annually. The man who had the genius, energy and courage to develop the steel trade in this country to the highest possible point of perfection was Andrew Carnegie. I knew him well when he was quite a young man and the clerk of Thomas A. Scott. He was exceptionally bright, genial and tireless in industry, and at first thought he was getting along well in the world on a salary of five dollars per week. He had the best of training un- der President J. Edgar Thompson and Vice-President Colonel Scott, of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and was greatly aided by them in making his start as a manufac- turer. He finally located near Pittsburg, and there for many years mastered every feature of the steel business, promptly utilized and controlled, if possible, every im- provement invented, until he finally became known as the ''Steel King" of the new world. There grew up around him a number of men who began the work in early life, most of whom were trained to the thorough mastery of their great business enterprise, the details and profits of which were practically unknown to the outside world. There are to-day, novv^ in more or less active business in the great industrial enterprises of the country, half a score or more of multi-millionaires, solely because of their early association and training with Carnegie. Charles Schwab, whom I recall in his very early manhood as a driver of a two-horse stage up in the Alleghenies, was fortunate in becoming one of Carnegie's boys, and when the United States Steel Company was organized, vv^ith a capital of a billion dol- lars, Schwab became its president with a salary of one 556 Old Time Notes hundred thousand dollars a year. Later, he retired from that position and is now engaged in steel enter- prises involving many millions. Andrevv^ Carnegie is to-day in the fore-rank of the few preeminently prominent Americans, both in his native country of Scotland and his adopted country in the new world; certainly ranks among the half-score of richest private citizens in any country, and it is doubtless whether any, excepting Rockefeller, surpasses him in in- dividual fortune. His love for the people among whom he was born made him return to Scotland, where he has acquired one of the most magnificent estates in the Province, and where he dispenses his charity with a lavish hand. He spends most of his winters in his pa- latial residence in New York, constructed by himself some years ago, and devotes his spare time to the syste- matic advancement of education in the United States. He is eminently practical; his money was acquired by the most careful and thoroughly practical methods, and his chief interest in gratifying his benevolent tastes is in teaching all that they must help themselves. His expenditure in this country in the establishing of libraries and the cause of education generally has already amounted to many millions. Hundreds of libraries have been established throughout the country by his generous contributions, all of which teach the highest appreciation of self- advancement by requiring libraries to be generously supported by those to whom they were given. Of all our multi-millionaires, Car- negie is the most generous giver, and he studiously aims to obtain the best practical results to the beneficiaries of his gifts. Mr. Carnegie possesses, in an eminent degree, the inherent Scotch quality of self-reliance. One of the severest trials through which he passed was in 1884, when the Homestead strike convulsed the nation, and of Pennsylvania 5S7 certainly contributed to, or controlled, the election of the first Democratic President who ruled after the W ar. He was generously just to those in his employ, but sternly just when his vast industries were halted by what he regarded as most unhealthy control of the united labor of the State. He remained in Scotland during the entire strike, which lasted many months, but absolutely commanded the situation on this side by refusing the concessions demanded. The result was great sacrifice on the part of Carnegie, but when his bat- tle was won he was safe from a repetition of such inter- ruptions in his business, and from that time until his entire great enterprise was absorbed by the United States Steel Company, he rapidly accumulated wealth. While his business was conducted in the most method- ical and economical manner consistent with his general business methods, he was always the first in the steel trade to foresee advantages and grasp them, regardless of necessary cost. The result was that when the pro- position came to combine the great steel establish- ments of the country, Carnegie was the most important factor, as he was the great teacher of the trade, and when he finally retired he was one of the richest private citizens of the world. It is worthy of note that Colonel Scott, the great railroad genius of the country, and Mr. Carnegie, the great steel genius of our land, both started in their careers friendless and fortuneless, and they have left the greatest monuments of industrial and commercial progress to be found in the annals of the State. 558 Old Time Notes CII. QUAY ELECTED SENATOR. Quay's Senatorial Battle Begun in 1885 — His Early Political Relations and How He Stood Toward Senator J. D. Cameron — Quay's Candi- dacy for State Treasurer — His Turning Down of McDevitt of Lan- caster — His Cleverly Managed Campaign and Election — The State Battle of 1886 — General Beaver, Who Had Been Defeated in 1882, Easily Chosen Governor — Quay Before the Legislature of 1887 — Triumphantly Chosen as U. S. Senator — Soon Becomes a Great National Leader — His Relations to Blaine — State Offices Filled in 1888 — How a Democrat Reached the Supreme Bench — The National Campaign of 1888. QUAY'S battle for the United States Senatorship began in 1885. purpose was not openly declared, but all in close relations with him well understood that his struggle for the position of State treasurer in 1885 was simply a preliminary skirmish to gain a commanding position whereby he could win out in the Senatorial contest of 1886-87, when he fought his Senatorial battle in the open. Quay had long looked to the United States Senate with earnest expectations. Very few of his friends knew how nearly he became involved in a direct struggle with Cameron in 1867, when Curtin and his friends dis- covered that Cameron had Curtin defeated in the Re- publican caucus. Quay was then a member of the house, admittedly the Republican leader of the body, and was the Curtin candidate for speaker, but was defeated by a combination of the field Senatorial candi- dates organized by Cameron. The contest for Senator had reached large commercial proportions which Curtin was unwilling or unable to meet, and at that stage Quay communicated to me in strict confidence that he Of Pennsylvania 559 was seriously considering the question of taking Curtin's place in the Senatorial battle, and playing the commer- cial game to the limit against Cameron. Quay was without fortune himself, but he had one friend, who then possessed a large fortune, and could have made a commercial combination in support of Quay that would have stood abreast with the Cameron organization. George K. Anderson v/as a Juniata County boy, with whose people I was well acquainted while residing there, and when General Irwin, of Quay's county, and largely by Quay's influence, was appointed commissary general at the beginning of the war, I induced Quay to join me in pressing the appoint- ment of Anderson as a clerk under General Irwin, and it was accomplished. Anderson knew that he had obtained his position largely through the influence of Quay, and never ceased to appreciate it. In the early days of the oil development in Venango County, an oil company was formed chiefly by men in Harrisburg, and Anderson was selected to manage it. He was thus in the oil region at the beginning of the oil fever, and soon commenced operating for him- self. He was most fortunate in his ventures, and at the time of the Senatorial contest of 1867 his net income was estimated at $2,500 a day, and he was able to com- mand probably a million of money. He proposed to back Quay, if they could see any chance of winning out against Cameron. Quay held it under advisement for several days, but finally decided that the double risk of failure and exposure was too great to assume, and he never made himself known as a candidate, but finally arranged with the younger Cameron to move the unanimous nomination of Cameron after he had received the votes of a majority of the caucus. That was the beginning of Quay's relations with the Camerons. 560 Old Time Notes Anderson became ambitious for political advance- ment himself, and I simply repeat his own statement to me when I say that he spent $70,000 in a contest with the elder Delamater for the Republican nomina- tion for State senator in Crawford County. Dela- mater was also a man of fortune, and doubtless was comxpelled to expend a large amount of money. He defeated Anderson in his first attempt to reach the Senate, but Anderson was nominated to succeed Del- am.ater, and served a senatorial term. Finally, as his revenues from oil gradually diminished, his generous nature made it difficult for him to diminish his lavish gifts and expenditures, and the restilt was that he became hopelessly bankrupt, and the last time I saw him he borrowed a small amount of money to pay his expenses to Washington to accept an appointment in Arizona, or New Mexico, where he died soon after enter- ing upon his official duties. The Legislature to be elected in 1886 was to choose a United States Senator to succeed Senator Mitchell, of Tioga, and Quay decided that he would make his battle for the Senatorship at that time. He did not at first intend to be a candidate for State treasurer, and James McDevitt, of Lancaster, was practically slated for the office by Quay and his friends very early in the year, but Quay saw that he had little hope of winning the Senatorship in the Legislature of 1887 tmless he could place himself in the position of supreme command of the party. He did not want the office of State treas- urer, as it would have been practically under his con- trol if McDevitt had been chosen, but he was Napoleonic in his methods and decided that if he could obtain a nomination and election as State treasurer in the face of the independent sentiment that had erupted and overwhelmed Cameron and himself three years before, of Pennsylvania he would be absolute master of the party organization, and thus command the Senatorship. Mackey was dead; the younger Cameron had just been re-elected to the Senate by. the Legislature of 1885, nominal leader of the party in the State with Quay as lieutenant. Quay knew the danger of provoking a sudden and desperate revolt among the Independents by proposing himself as a candidate for the only office to be filled in 1885, but he perfected his plans with the sagacity that he always exhibited in his many political struggles. My first knowledge of his candidacy for State treas- urer came from himself before his name had been pub- licly mentioned in any quarter. He called at "The Times" office and frankly told me that he had decided to be a candidate for State treasurer himself. I was greatly surprised at his announcement, as I appre- hended that he would at once rekindle the Independent revolt, and that his name on the ticket would inflame it to huge proportions, but he well understood the peril that confronted him, and before he permitted his name to be announced as a candidate for State treasurer he personally visited a large number of the leading Inde- pendents, and after full conference with them, in nearly every instance he either obtained their assent to his candidacy or so mollified them as to prevent anything like a spontaneous eruption against him. The result was that when his name was publicly announced as a candidate for State treasurer most of those interested in politics were am^azed to learn that no general protest came up from the Independents, and that only in exceptional instances were feeble pro- tests called out against him. It was indeed surprising that an Independent movement, embracing a large number of the most intelligent and influential Republi- cans of the State, that had made open battle against 2 — 36 562 Old Time Notes Quay's mastery only three years before, as a rule either actively or passively assented to his candidacy for State treasurer, when his would be the only name on the State ticket. The only trouble he had in his contest for nomination was from McDevitt, his own friend whom he had origi- nally slated for the position and who took the bit in his mouth, and resolutely refused to decline in favor of his chief, but even with McDevitt in the field Quay was nominated on the first ballot in the convention that met at Harrisburg on July 8th, by a vote of 196^ to 27 for J. H. Longenecker and 1 5 for McDevitt, with 1 2 votes scattering. The Democratic convention met at Harrisburg on the 26th of August and nominated Conrad B. Day, of Philadelphia, as Quay's competitor. The Greenback party nominated N. C. Whitney and the Prohibition- ists nominated Barr Spangler. Quay looked well to the organization of his party, and in an off year, as it was, a party that has organization and discipline can be most effectively handled. He understood the whole State and left no means unemployed to secure a sub- stantial victory for himself. The result was his elec- tion by a majority of 43,516. He had thus won his high position as political master of the party by a very large majority from the people, and with the State treasury as his base for political operations during the following year it was not difficult for him to shape the new Legislature by timely atten- tion to nominations and generous support to his friends in doubtful districts and have it substantially at his own command. The triumphant election of Quay for State treasurer blazed the way very distinctly for the renomination and election of General Beaver in 1886. He had been defeated by the Independents four years before, not of Pennsylvania 563 because of personal objection to his qualifications or character, but solely because he was the candidate of Cameron and Quay, and as the people had just given Quay a large majority for a most responsible office in a square contest, the nomination and election of Beaver were practically assured. The Republican State convention nominated Beaver by acclamation, and Senator William G. Davies, of Bradford, who had been one of the Independent senators in 1881 and was defeated with Beaver in 1882, was also renominated for lieutenant governor without a contest. Senator A. Wilson Norris was nominated for auditor general, and General Thomas J. Stewart for secretary of internal affairs. The Democrats had a bitter struggle in their con- vention over the nomination for Governor. In a former chapter I have related the circumstances of Senator Wallace announcing himself as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, and that Randall had in personal conference assented to it, but their factional f oUow^ers were always averse to anything like unity between them, and they forced the issue of separating Randall and Wallace in the struggle, and Randall, being then dominant in the party, defeated Wallace's nomination and made Chauncey F. Black the Democratic candidate. With him were nominated Colonel R. Bruce Ricketts for lieutenant governor, William J. Brennan for auditor general and J. Simpson Africa for secretary of internal affairs. As the Independents had acquiesced in the election of Quay there was no visible ground for revolt against the nominations of Beaver and Davies, and excepting in a few individual cases the old Independents fell in under the party flag. Beaver entered the campaign and fought it out heroically from start to finish, visiting every section of the State and speaking sometimes at 5^4 Old Time Notes several meetings in a day. Black was then just in the prime of intellectual and physical vigor, and stumped the State from Lake Erie to the Delaware, but it was a hopeless battle from the start. The Repub- lican party was practically united and gave a very cor- dial support to Beaver, while the Democrats were somewhat disintegrated by the Granger element that forced Black into the support of a State policy that chilled a considerable Democratic element in business and financial circles. The Prohibitionists nominated Charles S. Wolfe, who was the free lance candidate for State treasurer several years before, and a natural and able kicker, but even with the regular Prohibition nomination he polled little more than half the vote he had received when an Inde- pendent Republican candidate for State treasurer. The entire Republican ticket was elected by substan- tially the same vote, with over 40,000 plurality, and the Republican Legislature was carried with 34 Republicans in the senate to 16 Democrats, and 135 Republicans in the house to 67 Democrats and one Greenback and Labor. Governor Beaver was inaugurated with imposing ceremonies, as the Republicans emphasized their appreciation of restoration to authority in the State, after four years of Democratic rule. He called a strong cabinet about him, consisting of Charles W. Stone, of Warren, as secretary of the commonwealth, W. S. Kirkpatrick, of Northampton, for attorney general, and Daniel S. Hastings, as adjutant general. It was not disputed by any that Quay had an over- whelming majority of the Republicans of the Legis- lature pledged to his election for United States Senator, but he was ambitious to have his nomination as nearly unanimous as possible, and he very adroitly introduced a district system of Legislative conferences in different Of Pennsylvania 565 sections of the State, to which the RepubHcan senators and representatives of the district were invited, and in each of these conferences it was proposed and earn- estly urged that they should cast a united vote in favor of the candidate preferred by the majority. In each of the districts thus mapped out Quay had a clear majority ; in nearly every instance the plan was successful, and the result was that Quay was nominated in the Republican caucus on the 4th of January, 1887, by a vote of 154 to 9 for Galusha A. Grow. In the Democratic caucus Senator Simon P. Wolverton was nominated as the Democratic candidate, receiving 46 votes to 14 for Wallace, 4 for Robert E. Wright and 3 for James F. Comley. The vote in the senate for United States Senator was 33 for Quay, 14 for Wolver- ton and 3 not voting. In the house, Quay received 133 to 66 for Wolverton, 2 not voting. Quay thus carried to triumphant completion the policy he inaugurated in 1885, when he announced himself as a candidate for State treasurer, and when, as he told me when conferring on the subject at the time he informed me of his purpose to be a candidate, he felt that he must either take the risk of a defeat for State treasurer, or lose the control of the organization of the State. He said he was fully convinced that he must make a battle for the State treasurer, or surrender the party sceptre, and he added that he preferred to fall fighting to being relegated to a secondary position in party control. From the time of Quay's election to the Senate in 1887 until his death, he wielded absolute mastery in the Republican party of the State. Eighteen hundred and eighty- seven was an off year in politics, and with the triumphant election of Quay as State treasurer in 1885, of Beaver, as Governor, in 1886, and Qua}^ as United States Senator in the Legis- lature of 1887, Quay's domination of the party in the 566 Old Time Notes State was conceded by all. There were a few Independ- ents who criticised Quay's methods and autocratic mastery, but there was no popular demand in the party ranks for revolt, and Quay entered upon his new career as a National Legislator with the most serene political conditions as his environment. The country was enjoying an unusual degree of pros- perity. The National treasury was overflowing with surplus revenues, as the Cleveland administration had severely halted improvident appropriations, and the Democrats, with a united Republican party confronting them, accepted the situation in Pennsylvania as utterly hopeless for them. Chief Justice Mercur had died early in the year, and Henry Williams, of Tioga, was appointed to succeed him. The Republican State con- vention unanimously nominated Judge Williams for election, and William B. Hart for State treasurer, and the Democrats nominated J. Ross Thompson, of Erie, for the supreme court, and Bernard McGrann, of Lan- caster, for State treasurer. There were no Congress- men or Legislators to elect to inspire interest in local contests, and the political battle of 1887 was a per- functory one, as the Democrats understood from the beginning that they had no prospect of winning. The result was the election of the Republican State ticket by over 40,000 majority. The year 1888 developed Senator Quay as a great National leader. He had served only a single session in the Senate, but he was speedily recognized as a very important political factor, and he at once assumed a potential attitude in the direction of National party affairs. Blaine had been defeated in 1884, and he was undecided as to his candidacy for 1888. Blaine was a fatalist, and was profoundly impressed, after his defeat for the nomination in 1876, that he was fated never to reach the Presidency. I remember his Of Pennsylvania 567 saying soon after his defeat at Cincinnati that he had the largest measure of popular following and yet believed that, like Clay, he could never reach the Presidency. Quay was not an ardent supporter of Blaine for the nomination in 1884. His fellow Senator, Cameron, had just married into the Sherman family, and Quay and Cameron decided to take the initiative in Pennsyl- vania, where they had absolute control, and select an instructed delegation for Senator Sherman for President. Had Blaine been a positive candidate, the selection of a Sherman delegation in this State would have involved a contest, but while Blaine would doubtless have very willingly accepted the nomination if he had reasonable prospect of election, he hesitated to allow himself to be considered as an aspirant, and Quay and Cameron had an easy triumph in carrying the delegation for Sherman. Quay placed himself at the head of the delegation, and selected Adjutant General Hastings to present Sher- man's name to the convention in behalf of Pennsyl- vania. Quay and Cameron were both very earnestly enlisted in the Sherman cause, but General Alger had made serious inroads upon Sherman's support in the South, and the National convention at Chicago, after several days of balloting, finally gave the nomination to General Harrison, of Indiana. Two State offices were to be filled in 1888 — supreme judge and auditor general, and the Republicans nomi- nated Thomas McCamant for auditor general and James T. Mitchell, the present chief justice, for the supreme court. The Democrats nominated Henry Meyer for auditor general and J. Brewster McCollom for the supreme court. As the contest was regarded by the Democrats as hopeless, they had much difficulty in selecting a candidate for supreme judge. It was offered to Judge Arnold, Samuel Gustine Thompson, 568 Old Time Notes who later filled the position by appointment, and a number of other prominent members of the bar, but all declined, and when the convention met there were several aggressive candidates for the nomination who lacked the character and attainments neces- sary to make an acceptable ticket for so dignified a position. Finally Judge McCollom's name was presented with- out his knowledge, and the assurance given by close friends that he would accept, and he was placed on the ticket. Soon after the nomination had been made, Judge Trunkey of the supreme court died in London, making two vacancies to be filled, and under the Consti- tution the people could vote for but one candidate, thus assuring the election of both the Republican and the Democratic candidates. . While the contest of 1888 was very earnestly fought in the debatable States the Democrats of Pennsylvania, knowing that they could not give the State to Cleve- land, confined their efforts largely to the Congressional and Legislative districts. The Republican majority for electors and State officers was about 80,000, but McCollom, Democrat, was elected supreme judge along with Mitchell, being chosen as the minority candidate, as provided by the supreme law of the State. The Republicans realized when the National cam- paign of 1888 opened that they had a desperate strug- gle before them, and that under all ordinary condi- tions the most successful and efficient party manage- ment would be likely to win. It was this condition that called Senator Quay to the chairmanship of the National committee, and there is little doubt that New York was given to Harrison, in the face of a large Dem- ocratic majority for the State ticket, solely by Quay's strategy and his combinations with Tammany. New Of Pennsylvania 569 York decided the election against Cleveland and in favor of Harrison. Quay was undoubtedly the chief- tain of the struggle, and he was at once recognized throughout the entire country as one of the most ac- complished leaders of the party. He was thus recog- nized until the day of his death, and the story of his career from that time until his life work was ended will furnish another most interesting chapter in the annals of the Commonwealth. 570 Old Time Notes cm. QUAY AND WANAMAKER. Aftermath of the 1888 Election — How Wanamaker Became a Great PoHtical Factor — Personal Choice of President Harrison for Post- master General — Appointment Distasteful to Cameron and Quay — • His Masterly Administration — Pie Acquires Powerful Influence in State Politics — The Contest for Governor in 1890 — Delamater Made the Republican Nominee — Pattison Renominated by the Democrats — Ex-Senator Wallace and W. U. Hensel — Hensel's Important Position — Pattison Re-elected — Harrity and Hensel in Pattison's Cabinet — J. D. Cameron Re-elected to His Last Term in the Senate — The Bardsley Defalcation — How Quay Counteracted Its Effect. QUAY'S management of the National campaign of 1888, in which he v/renched victory from the very jaws of defeat by his skilful political move ments in New York city, the citadel of Democratic power, made him suddenly and universally recognized by his party as its most accomplished political leader. It is entirely safe to assume that but for Quay's sagacity and heroic methods in managing the contest in New York, Cleveland would have been re-elected President, as Cleveland was the only man on the Democratic ticket who did not receive a majority in the Empire State. Harrison carried New York over Cleveland by 14,373 plurality, and at the same election Hill was re- elected Governor by 19,171, Jones, Democratic candi- date for Lieutenant Governor, had 22,234 plurality, and Gray, Democratic candidate for court of appeals, had 3,425 plurality. It was the most expensive National campaign ever conducted in the country. The business men, especi- ally the manufacturers, contributed more generously of Pennsylvania 571 than ever before or since to defeat Cleveland and over- throw the Mills tariff that was framed on the basis of revenue with only incidental protection. Philadelphia manufactirrers contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars, and John Wanamaker and Thomas Dolan were in the forefront in giving and obtaining the unusually large contributions which were poured into the treasury of the National committee, and that was handled ex- clusively by Quay himself. Quay was never accused of economical methods in either public, political or private affairs. He knew that only by having an immense campaign fund at his command could he make a successful deal with certain Tammany leaders who were quite willing to crucify Cleveland, and to either restrain Democratic frauds or neutralize them by imitating Democratic methods. He was the sole manager of the political movements in New York which controlled the National contest, and to him was universally accorded the credit of having won the battle that made Harrison President. Just when Quay seemed to have reached the very zenith of fame and power as a political leader, he brought to the front by his own achievement the one man who, in all Quay's struggles in Pennsylvania, was able to lock horns with him, greatly endanger his power from year to year, and finally defeated him for re-elec- tion to the Senate. That man was John Wanamaker. He was untrained in the political methods of the time, but he was an ardent Republican, had fairly won his position as a prince of merchants, was in hearty sym- pathy with a large religious element of the State, and Yv^as a master in all movements which commanded his efforts. He was singularly keen in perception, fearless in action, able and adroit as a disputant, and no man in the State more thoroughly understood the great business and industrial interests of the entire country. 572 Old Time Notes He very warmly espoused the cause of Harrison, as between them there was the most cordial religious as well as political sympathy, and they were certainly in sincere accord in the desire to elevate the political sys- tem of the government and purify our political methods. The first cloud that came upon the then brilliant political horizon of Senator Quay was the announcement by President Harrison of John Wanamaker as Post- master General. It did not meet the approval of either of the Pennsylvania Senators, as neither Cameron nor Quay was in sympathy with Wanamaker 's ideal political theories. It was President Harrison's own appointment, and when the Senators were consulted on the subject, they assented to it chiefly because they saw that they could not offer substantial objections to Wanamaker 's promotion, while it soon became evident that Harrison intended to make the appointment and that objections would be unavailable. I had Senators Cameron and Quay with me at dinner alone a few days after the inauguration of Harrison, as I desired to learn the actual political conditions, and found them both at that early day thoroughly dis- gruntled at Harrison. Quay told of his first visit to the President, when he expected to receive the most fervent and grateful congratulations on his achieve- ment, but he was greatly disappointed and almost dum- founded at Harrison's statement that Providence had been on their side and gave them the victory. Quay, the son of an old-school Presbyterian preacher, had as severe a religious training as Harrison himself, but he had learned the lesson that when elections were to be won, as a rule, religious services and religious methods were not among the most effective. Quay spoke of the President's expression of gratitude to Providence for his success in wresting New York from the Democracy as the utterance of a political tenderfoot. To use Of Pennsylvania 573 Quay 's own expression : Providence hadn 't a damned thing to do with it, " to which he added that he supposed Harrison would never learn how close a number of men were compelled to approach the gates of the peni- tentiary to make him President, where he could return thanks to the Almighty for his promotion. Wanamaker entered the cabinet as Postmaster Gen- eral, and it is admitted by all that his record in the management of the Post Office Department has rarely been equaled and never surpassed in any of the impor- tant qualities of statesmanship. His administration of his department was clean from beginning to end, and he was progressive even beyond the point to which he could bring his party. He conceived and drove the entering wedge that doubled and has finally quad- rupled the service of the postal department to the peo- ple of the entire country, and I doubt whether the President had in any of the members of his Cabinet a man of clearer judgment on any of the many intricate questions which are presented to the Government for solution. While he was thoroughly in accord with the President in his convictions as to an ideal civil service and the in- tegrity of elections, he understood much better than did the President that our political system could not be revolutionized in a day, and that men in power must deal with existing conditions on broad and liberal lines. Beyond selecting a postmaster for his own city of Philadelphia, who was not acceptable to the political leaders, he accorded to the Senators and Representa- tives of the party in the State their full measure of con- trol of the patronage of his department and of the Government. He carefully avoided forcing any issue with the Senators and Representatives, and while all knew that his own individual ideas of administering the Government were at variance with the dominant math- 574 Old Time Notes ods, they had no reason to complain that he had need- lessly obstructed their plans. While Harrison was not heartily supported by the party because be obtruded his ideas and political con- victions offensively at times, Wanamaker commanded the respect of the leaders generally, and did much to prevent growing estrangement between party leaders and the administration. Harrison was severely con- scientious, and a stranger to the art of popularizing himself. He was universally respected, but the best commentary that could be made upon his position as a political leader is given in the fact that while he had served six years in the Senate with men who were in active politics when he was nominated for President, there was not one of his associate Senators who came to the front to struggle for his nomination. No man ever entered the Presidential office with higher ideas of unfaltering devotion to public duty, but Wana- maker, with equally high ideals in politics, possessed consummate tact and never undertook to amend or overthrow the political organization because it did not accord with his views in its political methods. Wanamaker greatly strengthened himself with the party in his State and commanded the respect of the entire coimtry for his administration of the Post Office Department, and retired without ever having com- mitted a breach between himself and the Republican Senators and Representatives of the State. Thus, Quay's exceptionally brilliant achievement in forcing a Republican Presidential majority in a State that elected all of the other Democratic candidates, brought to the front Wanamaker as a Cabinet officer, whereby Wanamaker was trained for the desperate struggles he made later in the State to' overthrow Quay's mastery. Eighteen hundred and eighty-nine was an off year, with no State officer to elect but a State treasurer. Of Pennsylvania 575 The Republicans nominated Mr. Boyer, who was later speaker of the house and superintendent of the mint, and the Democrats nominated Mr. Bigler, of Clearfield, son of the ex-Govemor. The Democrats were generally discouraged and had little incentive to make a vigorous contest, and they were defeated by over 60,000 in the State. There was not a ripple on the surface indicat- ing opposition to Quay's domination of the party in Pennsylvania, but in 1890 a Governor and other State officers were to be elected, and Quay committed the error, so often exhibited by political leaders, of attempt- ing to force the nomination of a candidate for Gover- nor against the undoubted sentiment of the party. The contest for Governor in 1890 was between Sena- tor Delamater, of Crawford, and Adjutant General Hastings, of Centre. Delamater had been prominent as a Republican senator, v/as generally regarded as a rich banker and understood to be a favorite of the Standard Oil Company, that was then at war with a large element of oil producers in the State. In all of Quay's political career he never allowed himself to get out of touch with the Standard Oil corporation, and in some severe emergencies it proved to be a very im- portant factor in his achievements. Delamater was not wanting in ability, nor was he vulnerable in char- acter, but he was not the choice of the Republican peo- ple, and his nomination had to be forced by the power of the organization. Hastings had made himself very generally and popu- larly known to the people of the State by his heroic efforts at Johnstown after the terrible disaster that almost effaced the town and sacrificed thousands of lives. He was sent there by Governor Beaver to see what could be done to begin the work of restoring trans- portation and rehabilitating the desolated city. Hast- ings found that the work required heroic direction, 576 Old Time Notes and he assumed the responsibihty of leading the great work of gathering the dead for sepulture and gradually restoring a number of the homes. He labored night and day, giving up every comfort and greatly endan- gering his health, and thus made himself very gratefully known to the great mass of the people of the State. He entered the contest for Governor without any aid from the Quay organization, but long before the con- vention met it was clearly evident that Hastings could be defeated for the nomination only by the most abso- lute and despotic command of the Quay leadership. I saw Quay alone two weeks before the convention met, and found him greatly exercised about the nomination for Governor. He then realized that the nomination of Delamater would alienate a large portion of the Republican people from his fellov/ship, but he did not believe it possible for the Democrats to defeat any can- didate the Republicans might nominate. I told him that I thought the wise thing for him to do was to adjust himself to the manifest wishes of his party, to which he replied that he very much desired once to have a Governor of his own. He forced the nomination of Delamater by the sheer power of the party organization, and Hastings, who was young enough and shrewd enough to understand that the future belonged to him, came promptly to the front and led the fight for Delamater 's election. He thus made himself solid with the Republican people of the State, and from that time until the convention met four years later, it never was possible for the party leaders to get even an organized movement against Hastings as a candidate. The nomination of Delamater led to open revolt, and the Democrats saw their opportunity. They were not then led by mere political traders who care only for personal honors or advantage, but by those who of Pennsylvania 577 thoroughly understood the poHtical conditions and knew how to adjust the party to give it the promise of victory. Governor Pattison had left the Executive office at the end of his first term with a strong Demo- cratic element opposed to him, but there was universal confidence among all the people in his public and pri- vate integrity, and the Granger element was a powerful factor in politics at that time. The man who managed the Pattison nomination and election was William F. Harrity, of Philadelphia. Harrity had been chairman of the city committee in Philadelphia, where he held the Democrats in complete organization, and achieved repeated victories by association with the reform Republicans. When the contest for the Democratic nomination for Governor was in doubt between Senator Wallace and Governor Pattison, Harrity decided the issue by accepting Patti- son as the candidate because he believed that Pattison was the most available. He was not at variance with Wallace, but the reform Republican element that was in revolt against Delamater was not in sympathy with Vv^allace, while it was in very hearty sympathy with Pattison, and looking to the legitimate party interests he accepted Pattison because he believed Pattison could be elected. Harrity, Hensel and Black were measurably es- tranged from Pattison during his first administration. Hensel and Black were ranked as friends of Randall as against Wallace, and when Harrity decided to support Pattison they refused to go along with him. Hensel and Black had their respective delegations in Lancaster and York instructed for them for Governor, and when the convention met at Scranton they joined Wallace in opposition to Pattison. When it became apparent that Wallace could not be nominated, Wallace, Hensel and Black decided to make a combination to nominate 2—37 578 Old Time Notes Silas M. Clark, of Indiana, then a judge of the supreme court. The three joined in a telegram to Clark at Indiana simply asking him to not answer any de- spatches received from Scranton during the sessions of the convention, and a despatch in which three great leaders of the party joined was respected by Clark. Wallace assumed that he could deliver his followers to Clark. It was arranged that he . would go into the con- vention, withdraw his name and nominate Clark, and that Hensel and Black should follow, declining and declaring for Clark. After fixing their programme they separated late in the night, and an hour or two later Wallace retiu^ned to Hensel's room, roused him up, and informed him that he could not deliver his followers to Clark, and that his withdrawal would make enough of a break to Pattison to give him [success. After a few minutes of awkward silence Hensel said: " Well, Wallace, what are you going to do?" To which he answered, ''I am going to let my name go before the convention and take my licking. What are you going to do?" Hensel answered, " I propose to pack my satchel in the morn- ing and return home." Pattison was nominated, re- ceiving 200 votes, with 132 for Wallace, 12 for Robert E. Wright, 12 for Hensel and 11 for Black. Although specially invited, Wallace and Hensel refused to appear before the convention after the nominations were made. As a tub to the opposition whale Black was again nominated for Lieutenant Governor. Hensel's position in the party was one of unusal im- portance. He was not a place-hunter, but was con- spicuous for his devotion to honestly organized Democ- racy. He had tried to nominate Clark for Governor in 1882 when Pattison was first nominated and elected, and he was then tendered the nomination for Congress- man- at-Large that meant an election, but he took the Of Pennsylvania 579 floor in the convention and declined in favor of Morti- mer F. Elliott, who was nominated and elected. He was made chairman of the State committee by the country candidates against the protest of Pattison, Cassidy and the immediate friends of Pattison, but he managed the contest vv^ith such consummate skill, with Harrity's aid as chairman of the Philadelphia city committee, that all confessed his eminent ability and unfaltering fidelity. While opposed to Pattison 's nomination in 1890, he delivered a number of addresses in important centers of the State in support of Pattison which attracted more attention than any of the many other leading speeches. His address in the Academy of Music in Philadelphia was one of the ablest of the political deliv- erances of the time, and when Pattison was elected, it was only natural that Harrity should be tendered the secretaryship of the Commonwealth, and the Governor was quite willing to yield to Harrity 's vv^ishes to have Hensel his associate in the cabinet. Their appoint- ment to the cabinet was simply the logical result of the battle they had won, and both made exceptionally creditable records as State officers, records which are models of intelligent and thoroughly honest adminis- tration. Harrity was so highly appreciated as a political leader that two years later he was invited to accept the chairmanship of the National Democratic committee, and he conducted the Cleveland cam- paign of 1892, winning the last victory of the Democ- racy in our National contests. A successor to Cameron in the Senate was to be chosen by the Republican Legislature elected at the same time that Pattison was chosen Governor, and there was an evident disposition on the part of some of the Republi- can senators and representatives to rebel against the Quay-Cameron domination of the State by defeating Old Time Notes Cameron's election. The result might have been doubtful but for the fact that Cameron was openly hostile to the Force bill then pending in Congress, by which some of the radical Republican leaders assumed that they could control elections in the Southern States. I have stated in a previous chapter how Cameron and Quay visited me in Philadelphia a short time be- fore the meeting of the Legislature, and how it was then arranged with Governor-elect Pattison and Harrity, then prospective secretary of the Commonwealth, to come to the support of Cameron for the Senatorship if the Republicans organized against him on the ground of his opposition to the Force bill. It soon became known that the Democrats would make any sacrifice to sustain a Republican Senator who was opposed to the Force bill, and Cameron's election was thereby made absolutely safe. The Republicans saw that they could not defeat him, and they gave him an almost united party vote, but there was much smothered hostility to the Quay-Cameron domination, as they were accused of losing the Governor to the party in the State by defying the wishes of the Republican people. Eighteen hundred and ninety-one was an off year, but the defalcation of John Bardsley, treasurer of Philadelphia, whereby the State and city lost a large amount of money, involving Republican Auditor General McCamant and State Treasurer Boyer, sud- denly threw the Republican leaders into confusion, and threatened the party with defeat. Pattison was Governor, and his stern integrity made him hew to the line in bringing the financial officers of the State to accountability. He summoned the senate in special session to pass upon the question of dismissing the audi- tor general and State treasurer for complicity in the embezzlement of State money. The senate was strongly Republican, and most of its of Pennsylvania 581 members regarded the preservation of the Republican party as of paramount importance, and they were most willing to find some way of escaping judgment upon the State officials. The legal acumen of Rufus E. Shapley opened a way for them by insisting that their alleged offenses were indictable in the courts, whereby their dismissal could be accomplished as the logical result of conviction. His argument was one of master- ly ability in support of the theory that the senate could not usurp the place of the grand jury and the criminal courts where offenses were committed by public officers. The senate welcomed the back door of escape that was offered them, and without passing upon the merits of the case, dismissed it for want of jurisdiction, but the people of the State were greatly aroused, and Quay's mastery was very seriously threatened. Quay well appreciated the peril that confronted him, and when his State convention met he had an elaborate platform adopted in which Postmaster General Wana- maker was highly commended for his " clean, business- like and comprehensive administration of postal affairs." It also commicnded the Republican officials of Philadelphia for the prompt conviction of John Bards- ley for embezzlement, and demanded that the proper officials should prosecute to conviction any and every guilty official without regard to politics." He knew that he could not propose any candidate for auditor general who was active in political affairs and command the confidence of the people, and he nominated General Gregg, the greatest of Pennsyl- vania's living soldiers at the time, for auditor general. Gregg had never been in politics, but his nomination was an absolute assurance to the people of the State that the office would be administered with absolute integrity and fidelity. With him he nominated J. W. Morrison for State treasurer, a man of high character 582 Old Time Notes and admitted ability. The Democrats nominated Mr. Vv right, a man of blameless reputation, for auditor general, and Mr. Tilden, a prominent business man, for State treasurer, but the nomination of Gregg saved the party, as it placed a man in the one important position in the State where profligacy or fraud in the use of State funds could be halted. The result was the election of the Republican State ticket by over 58,000 for auditor general, and 54,000 for State treas- urer. Quay thus saved the party and his political mastery in the State by giving the people an auditor general who would certainly halt every attempt at the misappropriation of the funds of the State. of Pennsylvania 583 CIV. PENNSYLVANIA POLITICS 1892-1895. Quay and Cameron Not Heartily for Harrison — But He Was Renomi- nated — Cleveland a Presidential Candidate for the Third Time — Tammany's Intense Opposition to Him — Local Pennsylvania Inter- ests — Quay's Second Election as U. S. Senator — General Hastings Elected Governor in 1894 — His Relations with Quay Not Very Cordial — Democratic Opposition Not Formidable — Old-Timers Re- called to Public Life, Especially Galusha A. Grow — Governor Hast- ings and the State Committee — Organized Action Against Quay in Philadelphia — Penrose Sacrificed for Mayor — Creation of the Penn- sylvania Superior Court. EIGHTEEN hundred and ninety- two opened with generous promises to the Republicans. The country was enjoying a more than ordinary degree of prosperity, as our manufactures had been greatly quickened by the McKinley tariff bill of 1890, although it had been repudiated overwhelmingly by the people in the election of a Congress soon after its adoption, when the Democrats reached highwater mark in their majority of Congressmen. Harrison was universally respected and there was very general con- fidence in his public and private integrity. He was not personally popular with the leaders of the party, but the Republican people had faith in him and de- manded his renomination. While Harrison was in some measure an element of weakness on the Republican side, Cleveland appeared in the early part of the campaign of 1892 as a much greater element of discord in the Democratic party than was Harrison with the Republicans. The Demo- crats of New York elected a solid delegation to the 584 Old Time Notes National convention instructed and publicly pledged to make aggressive opposition to the renomination of Cleveland, and as New York was regarded as the pivotal State of the contest, the Republicans were very san- guine of success. Senators Cameron and Quay were not cordial sup- porters of Harrison. Their relations with the Presi- dent had been rather severely strained during the entire period of his administration, and as Blaine seemed to be the only competitor, they had no more love for Blaine than they had for the President. The attitude of Cameron and Quay on the Presidency was clearly indicated by the fact that the Pennsylvania delegation in the Minneapolis convention, where Harri- son was nominated on the first ballot, receiving 535 1-2 votes to 182 1-2 votes for Blaine, 182 for McKinley, 4 for Reed and i for Lincoln, gave 42 to McKinley, 19 to Harrison and 3 to Blaine. The Democratic National convention met at Chicago, and Cleveland was nominated on the first ballot. After several days of very stormy sessions, in which the entire New York delegation bitterly denounced and opposed Cleveland, he received 617 1-3 votes to 114 for Hill, 103 for Boies, 362 for Gorman and 16 2-3 for Stevenson. The campaign of 1892 presented the singular spectacle of both candidates for President being nominated against the wishes of the leaders of their respective parties, but the dominant sentiment of each party behind the leaders had controlled the nominations. Notwithstanding the intense opposition of the Tammany leaders to Cleveland, from the time the campaign fairly opened until election day, Cleve- land steadily grew in strength and Harrison visi- bly weakened, it resulted in Cleveland's election by a large popular and Electoral majority, with a Demo- cratic majority of 3 in the Senate over Republicans Of Pennsylvania 585 and Independents, and a majority of 80 in the House. While Quay was not an enthusiastic supporter of Harrison, the Legislature to be chosen that year would be charged with the election of his successor, and he gave special attention to the State contest, resulting in a majority of 63,747 for Harrison in the State, and substantially like majorities for Judge Dean, Repub- lican, over Judge Heydrick, Democrat, for the Supreme court, and for William Lilly and Alexander McDowell, Republicans, over George A. Allen and Thomas P. Merritt, Democrats, for Congressmen-at-Large. His special care of the senatorial and representative dis- tricts was exhibited in gaining an increased Republican majority on joint ballot in the Legislature, the senate standing 33 Republicans to 17 Democrats, and the house 134 Republicans to 70 Democrats, giving the Republicans 80 majority on joint ballot. No organized opposition was developed against Quay's re-election, and on the 17th of January, 1893, he was elected to his second full term in the Senate, receiving 33 votes in the State senate, to 14 for George Ross, Democrat, one for William Mutchler, Democrat, one absentee, and one present but not voting. In the house the vote was 132 for Quay, 66 for Ross, one for William F. Harrity, one for John Dalzell and four absentees. Quay's nomination in the caucus was made on the first ballot, the vote being 146 for Quay, 14 for Dalzell, one for Gobin and three absent. Quay's election by practically a unanimous vote of the party in the Legislature, and without any serious attempt at organized opposition to his leadership, apparently made him more strongly entrenched in supreme authority over party affairs in the State than he had ever been before, and the off year contest of 1893 gave him a largely increased majority, as Jackson, the party candidate for State treasurer, was elected 586 Old Time Notes over Osborne, Democrat, by 135,146, and Judge D. Newlin Fell, Republican, vv^as elected supreme judge over Samuel G. Thompson, then serving by appoint- ment of Governor Pattison to fill a vacancy, by sub- stantially the same majority. In 1894 Quay was compelled to face a political con- dition in which he could not be absolute master. His party leadership was undisputed, but the Republican people of the State wanted General Hastings for Gov- ernor in 1890, when Quay forced the nomination of Delamater, who was defeated. Hastings had made the fight on the stump for Delamater, came out of the contest greatly strengthened, and Quay could not defeat him for the nomination in 1894 without resorting to such violent methods as would have again defeated the party. He was literally compelled to accept a candidate for Governor whom he did not want. There was no open estrangement between Quay and Hastings, but Quay knew that Hastings was human, and did not forget the fact that Quay had crucified him four years before. Quay's only course was to fall in with the support of Hastings, and while their rela- tions were apparently close and friendly during the campaign, each distrusted the other, and both felt that the time was not far distant when an open issue would arise between them. Quay accepted the situation and gave Hastings the nomination practically without a con- test. With Hastings were nominated Walter Lyon, for Lieutenant Governor, Amos H. Mylin, for auditor general, and General J. W. Latta, for secretary of in- ternal affairs, with Galusha A. Grow and Mr. Huff, for Congressmen-at-Large. The Democrats nominated William M. Singerly for Governor, by a unanimous vote, with John S. Rilling for Lieutenant Governor, David F. Magee for auditor general, W. W. Greenland for secretary of internal Of Pennsylvania 587 affairs, and Mr. Meyer and Mr. Collins for Congress- men-at-Large, and he entered into the contest with great enthusiasm and high hopes of success. He traversed the State in a special car, savv^ the people of every section, and when he returned home a week before the election, he was absolutely confident of his success. It was his first experiment in contact with the enthu- siasm of country political assemblies, and he informed me three days before the election that he certainly had more than an even chance to be the next Governor of the State, and he was dumfounded when a majority of nearly a quarter of a million was rolled up against him, with substantially like majorities for all the Republi- can candidates. The contest of 1894 called back into public life a man who for more than fifty years has been intimately con- nected with National affairs, and who rendered most conspicuous service to his party and to the country. Galusha A. Grow was made a compromise candidate for Congress in the Wilmot district in 1850. Wilmot had been renominated for a fourth term, but the old line Democrats had bolted against him, and nominated another Democratic candidate. Ten days before the election Wilmot agreed to withdraw if Grow was taken in his place, and he was accepted and elected as a regular Democrat. He was re-elected in 1852 on the Democratic ticket, and in 1854 was elected to a third term as an anti-slavery Democrat. In 1856 his anti- slavery convictions brought him into the most sympa- thetic relations with the Republican party, and he was elected to a fourth term as a Republican, and was re- turned as a Republican by the same district in 1858 and i860. In 1862 a new apportionment had been made, giving him the district of Luzerne and Susque- hanna instead of his old district of Susquehanna, Bradford and lioga, and in the Republican slump of 588 Old Time Notes 1862 he was defeated after having served twelve years consecutively in Congress. Mr. Grow has many important monuments to his statesmanship to make his name memorable. He was the author of the free homestead law, and battled many years before he achieved success. Even when he had accomplished the passage of a very crude home- stead bill by both branches of Congress, it was defeated by the veto of President Buchanan. He v/as so highly respected that when Congress met in 1861, just when the Civil War had spread the shadows of the angel of sorrow over the entire land, he was elected speaker of the House, and he was the acknowledged leader of the loyal forces in the popular branch of Congress. He accomplished the final passage of the homestead law that has given free homes to tens of thousands of our people, and his slogan in the political battles of those days was free soil, free homes and free schools. Had he not been retired from Congress by an unfortun- ate Congressional apportionment, that attempted to give an additional Republican district, he would doubtless have continued to preside over the House during the entire period of the war. He was not a political mana- ger in the narrow and meaner sense of the term. No man could better master a broad wise policy for the party in State or Nation, but he was a stranger to the arts of modern politics, and for many years was not in favor with the dominant power of the Republican party in Pennsylvania. After filling a vacancy for one year, he was nominated for Congressman- at- Large in 1894 chiefly because Quay believed it to be wise to make that concession to the anti-machine element of the State. Grow had been the independent bolting can- didate for Senator in 1881, and had been turned down several times in struggles for the Governorship or the Senator ship. Quay exhibited his usual sagacity in Of Pennsylvania 5^9 thus calling Grow back to the political life he had honored years before, and so acceptable was Grow's service in the National Congress that he was renomi- nated and re-elected to four consecutive terms as Con- gressman- at- Large, ending his last service in the councils of the Nation on the 4th of March, 1903, just fifty-two years after he had first appeared there, and the two periods of his service aggregated twenty-one years, a continuous service of twelve years beginning in 1 85 1, and a continuous service of nine years begin- ning in 1895. He was one of the Republican leaders whose skirts were never stained by personal graft or political dishonesty, and his ability as a disputant, with his genial personal qualities, commanded the mingled respect and affection of all who were brought into intimate relations with him. The Congressmen- at-Large were elected simply be- cause of a new apportionment that gave Pennsylvania two additional members, and the Legislature failed to add the additional districts. But for the fact that an apportionm^ent had been passed by the Legislature to fill our entire delegation by separate districts in 1902, there is little doubt that Mr. Grow would have been continued as Congressman-at-Large as long as his advancing years left him equipped for the performance of its duties. Although well passed the patriarchal age when he retired from his long and conspicuous Congressional service, he was one of the most active and efficient of all our Representatives, and he stood out with singular eminence as one of the great men of the past who live with continued usefulness in the present. By the tidal wave that carried the Republi- can ticket to overwhelming victory the Democratic strength in the Legislature was almost annihilated, the Senate standing 43 Republicans to 7 Democrats, and the House 117 Republicans to 27 Democrats. 590 Old Time Notes While Governor Hastings did not precipitate a fac- tional war with the Quay power of the State, it soon became evident that the relations between the Governor and the Senator threatened the party with internal disturbance. Several times they were on the point of open breach during the first month of the administra- tion, but the sore was temporarily healed by the inter- position of friends and compromised, but later all masks vv^ere torn off on both sides, and Hastings decided to lock horns with Quay to wrest the party mastery from the old Senatorial leader. When the estrange- ment between the two leaders had passed the point of compromise. Quay adopted the heroic method of pub- licly announcing himself as a candidate for the position of Chairman of the Republican State committee some months before the meeting of the State convention that would have the power of appointment. Quay's announcement was met by the public an- nouncement of Governor Hastings that he would be a delegate in the coming State convention, and would be a candidate for president of the body. It was the custom of the party for the president of the State con- vention to appoint the chairman of the State con- mittee, after consulting the candidates on the State ticket, but the president of the convention is only a servant of the body, and subject to its orders on all questions of party policy. In 1865, when Cameron, by adroit management, secured the president of the convention that had a majority of Curtin delegates in it, Cameron expecting thereby to get possession of the State organization by naming the chairman of the com- mittee, the convention, on motion of Thaddeus Stevens, elected John Cessna chairman by resolution of the body, and Senator Welsh was, in like manner, made chairman of the Democratic State committee by the Reading convention of i860. Of Pennsylvania 591 The arrangement to bring out Governor Hastings as an open candidate for president of the convention, with a view of controlling the State committee, was made in Philadelphia at a dinner given to the Governor by some of his special friends, who were hostile to Quay. Late in the night after the dinner adjourned, one of the guests came to the editorial office of ''The Times," and in- formed me that Quay was now beaten for chairman of the State committee, as Governor Hastings had agreed to announce himself as a candidate for the presidency of the convention, and that he could not be defeated. I reminded him that the president of the convention was not supreme in the matter of selecting the chair- man of the State committee, and that even if Hastings won the presidency of the body, it would be in the power of the convention to elect Quay or any other person to the position of chairman, but it was believed that Hastings, who vv^as then just at the beginning of his administration, could not be defeated, and the organization against Quay was earnestly extended to every section of the State. It was recognized on all sides as a fight to a finish between Quay and Hastings, and both exhausted their efforts to win. Quay was not then in specially easy circumstances, but he plunged into the fight, strained his credit to raise money, and personally visited all of the strong counties of the State. While Hastings had occupied a strong position before the people as Gover- nor, he vv^as outclassed by Quay in a contest that de- pended largely upon skilful and desperate political man- agement. The result yvrs that Quay astounded the Governor and his followers at the convention by coming to the front with a decided majority of the delegates and giving himself a triumphant election as chairman of the State committee. It was a very close struggle to Quay, but he realized the fact that he had to choose 59^ Old Time Notes between winning the battle against the Governor, and confessing that his leadership in the State was subor- dinated to the domination of a superior power. The murmurings of factional discord were heard immediately after the election of Hastings, and they took shape in organized action against Quay's mastery in Philadelphia early in 1895. Charles A. Porter, then senator, and David Martin, since senator and secre- tary of the Commonwealth, were in absolute control of the Republican organization in the city, and they gave the first sign of aggressive hostility to Quay's leadership. Boies Penrose, then a member of the State senate, was apparently slated, with the consent of leaders generally, as the candidate for mayor at the February election, and a card signed by a thousand prominent citizens, and occupying a page of the leading newspapers, was published, supporting Penrose's can- didacy. For a time all seemed to be serene, and Penrose's nomination and election were accepted as assured, but several weeks before the meeting of the convention Penrose was publicly and violently assailed in various religious quarters, and the friends of Penrose became convinced that the scandals were inspired by Martin and Porter for the purpose of compelling the retirement of Penrose. Quay, Penrose, Durham and their adher- ents in the city had been gradually drifting away from the Martin-Porter leadership, and it soon became evident that Martin and Porter had decided to defeat Penrose in the convention, but they did not permit the name of the man to take his place to be known until the morning of the convention, when they gave orders for the nomination of City Solicitor Warwick, and the order was obeyed. This was the first skirmish against Quay in 1895, and it was logically followed by his con- test with Governor Hastings. of Pennsylvania 593 When Warwick was nominated by Martin and Porter, without having been even suggested as a candidate at the primaries, Quay was ready for open revolt, and in a moment of forgetfulness he rose in the United States Senate and made a personal attack on Martin. The Democrats, believing that in the disturbed condition of the Republican party they could elect the mayor, asked ex-Governor Pattison to accept the nomination, but he refused unless he was assured of the support of the Quay and Durham element of the city. Mr. Har- rity presented the situation to me and asked me to go to Washington and confer with Quay directly on the subject. I did so and spent the evening with Quay at Senator Cameron's house, where the matter was fully discussed. Cameron took no part in it, as he declined to be involved, but Quay, after going over the whole question very fully, instructed me to advise Harrity that Pattison would be supported by him and his friends against Warwick. I telegraphed Harrity at once, and it was that assur- ance from Quay that made Pattison accept the nomi- nation. There had been severe business and industrial revolution in the country that was charged to the Democratic tariff bill, and the discussions of the Demo- crats in Congress against sound money disgusted the business men of Philadelphia to such an extent that it was found impossible to make them participate in a revolution that would give Philadelphia a Democratic mayor. Quay and Durham were thus finally com- pelled by conditions which they could not control to give a passive support to Warwick, who was elected by a majority of 61,309. But for the assurance given by Quay, which at the time he made in perfect good faith, Pattison would not have accepted the nomination for mayor. Quay regarded Penrose as having been crucified to 2—38 594 Old Time Notes gratify factional interests, and it was that rejection of Penrose for mayor by the Martin-Porter leadership that made Quay finally accept Penrose as his candidate for United States Senator, and to fight one of the most desperate battles of his life to make Penrose his Sena- torial colleague. The superior court of Pennsylvania had been created by an act of the Legislature of 1895, and under the act providing for the election of the seven judges, each voter could vote for but six, thus giving the Democrats one member of the court. The Republicans nomi- nated present President Judge Rice and Judges Beaver, Willard, Wickham, Reeder and Orlady, all of whom were elected, and Yerkes, Moorehead, Noyes, Smith, Bechtel and Magee were the Democratic candidates, of whom Smith received the highest vote and became the seventh member of the court. It was originally given final jurisdiction in cases not exceeding $1,000, but later that jurisdiction was enlarged to $ i , 500. Since the enlargement of the jurisdiction it fairly divides the busi- ness of the higher court, and has enabled the supreme judicial tribunal of the State to give due deliberation to the many important questions presented for its final judgment. Of the judges originally chosen Reeder and Wickham died in service, and Willard, William W. Porter and Mitchell, the last two having been elected to fill vacancies, resigned, leaving as the present court President Judge Rice with judges Beaver, Orlady, Porter, Henderson, Morrison and Head. Of Pennsylvania 595 CV. WANAMAKER VERSUS QUAY. Wanamaker's Ambition to Be U. S. Senator — Aspiration Hopeless With- out Quay's Aid — Negotiating With Quay — An Agreement Reached — How a Rupture Came — Wanamaker as an Open, Aggressive Can- didate — The Contest for the Party Nomination — Penrose Nomi- nated and Elected — The National Politics of 1896 — Gubernatorial Battle of 1898 — Quay Forced to Accept William A. Stone as Can- didate — The Wanamaker Opposition of That Campaign — The Battle Fought in the Legislative Districts — Quay Prosecuted for Misap- propriating State Funds — Fight for U. S. Senator in the Legislature — The Famous Deadlock of 1899 — Quay Acquitted in Criminal Trial and Appointed U. S. Senator by Governor Stone. EIGHTEEN hundred and ninety-six was Presi- dential year, and it opened with apparently quite serene political conditions for Senator Quay. His triumph over Hastings in 1885 in his struggle for the chairmanship of the State committee made Quay and Hastings respect each other sufficiently to understand the necessity of pooling their political issues, and the Governor was one of the first to fall in with Quay's idea to strengthen himself in the State and country by Pennsylvania presenting his name to the National convention as its candidate for President. A United States Senator was to be chosen by the Legislature elected in the fall of 1896, as Cameron was weary of Senatorial duties and honors, and was not in hearty accord with his party on the silver issue. It was understood early in the year that Cameron would not be a candidate under any circumstances, and a number of aspirants were in the field, most of v/hom were among Quay's lieutenants, and he decided to let the contest for Senator progress without interference 596 Old Time Notes on his part until the time came when he could decide intelHgently how best to direct the final outcome. Ex-Postmaster General Wanamaker was ambitious to be United States Senator, and openly expressed his wishes to his friends on every suitable occasion. He did not want the care and worry of dispensing patron- age, but with his wonderful adaptability during his four years as a Cabinet officer, he made himself an unusually intelligent master of all the problems of statesmanship, and felt that he could render his State some service and wear the Senatorial honors with credit to himself. He had frequently discussed with me the question of becoming a candidate for Senator, and I was anxious to have him succeed. Some time in the early months of 1896 I told him that he could never hope to be Senator without the aid of Quay; that Quay had absolute control of the organization of the party in the State, and that meant a decisive advantage in the nomination of Senators and Repre- sentatives, and there was no reason why he and Quay should not be in entire harmony. Quay wanted the control of National and State patronage to maintain his organization, while Wana- maker would be more than willing to have the vexa- tions of local contests for appointments go entirely to his colleague. He wanted to be a Senator, and to be free from the tide-water Senatorial duties of wrestling with political aspirants throughout the State. Wana- maker 's ambition was to make his mark in intelligent and practical statesmanship, and he was entirely will- ing to unite with Quay on the basis of Quay running the party organization with Wanamaker as chief con- tributor for the necessary expenses. After full discussion of the subject Wanamaker re- quested me to go to Washington and present the matter to Quay. I did so, and found that the only obstacle Of Pennsylvania 597 to entire harmony between Quay and Wanamaker was Quay's apprehension that Wanamaker, if he reached the Senate, might become ambitious to control the organization himself and supplant Quay. I insisted that Wanamaker had no such purpose, and that if he had, he could not accomplish it for want of practical knowledge of modern political methods; and after discussing the question for an hour or more, Quay finally decided that he and Wanamaker could harmon- ize on the basis of Wanamaker becoming Senator and Quay to retain control and mastery of the organization. Quay made an appointment to see Wanamaker in Washington the following day, and I telegraphed Wana- maker that Quay's secretary would meet him at the train and take him directly to Quay's committee room. I did not remain in Washington, and had no knowl- edge of what transpired between Quay and Wana- maker until the morning after Wanamaker had re- turned, when I called upon him and inquired whether their conference had been entirely satisfactory. He informed me that they had agreed on every question of detail. Wanamaker was to contribute the necessary means for Quay to maintain his organization in the State, and Quay at the proper stage of the contest was to make a combination to elect Wanamaker to the Senate. I told him that I wished no further infor- mation as to their arrangements, and left entirely satis- fied that, with the active or passive support of the people in the party that Wanamaker represented. Quay could control the organization on any lines he chose to adopt. That condition continued for six weeks or two months without any public knowledge of the agreement between Quay and Wanamaker. Finally, it became necessary for Quay to organize a movement in one of the im- portant counties of the State that needed campaign 598 Old Time Notes funds, and Quay 'phoned Wanamaker stating what was required. Wanamaker promptly answered acced- ing to Quay's suggestion, but unfortunately named a third man who would conduct the business transac- tions with Quay, and the man named was at that time regarded by Quay as not especially friendly to him. Quay's suspicion was immediately aroused, and he petulantly answered that the arrangement was off, and closed the 'phone. It was a mistake on both sides. Wanamaker should have brought in no one between Quay and himself, although he named a man who would have been in- capable of treachery to either. Quay erroneously- assumed that Wanamaker was shifting the responsi- bility to another, thus declining to assume his share with Quay, and placing Quay in the hands of a third man who would have opportunity to betray him. Wanamaker promptly advised me of the unfortunate breach, and exhaustive efforts were made to restore the old relations between them, but Quay openly declared his distrust of Wanamaker 's fidelity, and thus came the breach that not only precipitated upon Quay a most desperate struggle for the control of the Legislature, but renewed the struggle for Governor two years later, defeated Quay for re-election to the Senate, and was responsible for his prosecution in the criminal courts. Wanamaker became an open and aggressive candi- date for United States Senator, with Mr. Van Valken- burg, now editor of the North American," as his chief lieutenant. The war was carried into every senatorial and representative district where it was expected to elect Republicans. Van Valkenburg resided in Tioga County, had been one of Quay's lieutenants, was thor- oughly familiar with Quay's political methods, and he proved a most formidable leader against the Quay Of Pennsylvania 599 organization. A number of senatorial districts were deadlocked, and finally required the expenditure of thousands of dollars to accomplish nominations. Wana- maker contributed lavishly, as it became necessary thus to strengthen his lines and hold them against the equally or more lavish expenditure of the Quay organ- ization. A fearful crop of scandals and some criminal prose- cutions grew out of this extraordinary contest for the control of the party nomination, and the election of candidates after having been named b}^ the party, but the prosecutions were finally adjusted because mutual interests dictated the necessity. Quay had a decided advantage in the struggle because he had the organi- zation of the party, that often counts even against a popular majority, and Quay captured a majority of the Republicans of both senate and house. When the Legislature came to the election of the United States Senator, a test vote in the house caucus gave 93 for the Penrose representatives and 71 for Wanamaker's, and in the joint Republican caucus, on January 5th, Penrose received 133 votes to 75 for Wanamaker, i for J. B. Robinson and i for Cameron. Wanamaker bowed to the mandate of the party, and his friends made the nomination of Penrose unanimous. Penrose was elected on the 19th of January, receiving the votes of 42 senators to 6 for Chauncey F. Black, Democrat. In the house the vote was 168 for Pen- rose, 33 for Black and i for Wanamaker. While Penrose was elected by nearly a unanimous vote of the Republi- cans of the Legislature, the factional feeling was in- tensely embittered, and it continued until it reached its culmination two years later, when Quay was defeated. There were some very severe complications in the contest of 1896 affecting the disputing factional leaders. Martin and Porter were in command of the organiza- 6oo Old Time Notes tion in Philadelphia, and they were bitterly hostile to Quay. As they had lately crucified Penrose as a can- didate for mayor, they were much less willing to have him as United States Senator. They asserted their mastery in a rather violent manner by nominating Coro- ner Ashbridge, later elected mayor, for sheriff over Alexander Crow, Jr. Crow represented the Quay and Penrose interests with Durham as the active leader, and they decided to overthrow the Martin- Porter con- trol by defeating the candidate for Sheriff. A conference was had with Harrity and his friends, who then controlled the Democratic organization in the city, and they finally agreed to make Crow their candi- date for sheriff if he ran as an Independent. The pro- gramme was carried out, and after a contest of unusual bitterness. Crow defeated Ashbridge by 18,995 majority at the same election that gave McKinley, the Republi- can candidate for President, 113,139 majority. This defeat of the Martin- Porter domination, followed by the election of Penrose, was soon followed by Quay, Penrose and Durham capturing the organization of the city, and practically retiring the Martin-Porter element. Quay had absolute control of the Republican State convention and received a very cordial endorsement as Pennsylvania's candidate for the Republican nomina- nation for the Presidency. The only opposing element in the convention was that controlled by Magee, of Pitts- burg, who with others refused to support Quay. The ballot in the National convention gave 661 1-2 for McKinley, 84 1-2 for Reed, with 61 1-2 for Quay, 58 of which were given by Pennsylvania, 2 by Georgia, i by Mississippi and one-half by Louisiana. In the early part of the struggle for the Presidential nomination it looked as if Quay might have some chance, as the contest between McKinley and Reed was aggressive and bitter, but some weeks before the of Pennsylvania 6oi convention met Vermont led off for McKinley against Reed, and was followed by broken delegations in one or two of the other New England States, which practically retired Reed, and McKinley 's nomination was conceded before the convention met. Quay's organization car- ried the State for McKinley by 295,070 plurality, and Galusha A. Grow and Samuel A. Davenport, Republi- cans, were elected [Congressmen-at-Large over Dewitt and Allman, Democrats, by a like majority. Eighteen hundred and ninety- seven was an off year with only a State treasurer to elect, and James S. Beacon was Quay's slated candidate, and he was nominated prac- tically without a contest and elected over Brown, Democrat, by 129,717 plurality. In 1898 Quay was confronted by the most formidable opposition that he had ever met in any of his many desperate struggles to maintain his mastery. William A. Stone, then a Representative in Congress from Allegheny, with a gallant record as a soldier, had made an aggressive battle for the Republican nomination for Governor. He was not originally slated by Quay, but the strength he developed and the devotion he had exhibited for Quay in all his conflicts led to Quay accepting Stone as his candidate. Wanamaker was smarting under the defeat he had suffered for Senator two years before. He felt that the power of organiza- tion rather than public sentiment had given success to his opponent, and a conference of the anti-Quay men was called to meet in Philadelphia, attended by a number of leading representative Republicans, at which, after a conference with Wanamaker, it was decided that he should take the field as a candidate for the party nomination for Governor. Not only was a determined fight made against Quay's candidate for Governor, but the war was also carried into the Legislative districts and defeated 6o2 Old Time Notes Quay's re-election to the Senate. Wanamaker entered into the campaign with great earnestness and enthusi- asm, and deHvered a series of pubHc addresses, which for ability and skill have rarely if ever been surpassed in our State. His addresses were carefully reported and published in most of the daily newspapers every morning, and they exhibited a versatility and a master- ly grasp of both general and local political problems that greatly enthused his friends and astounded his opponents Special attention was given to the Legislative dis- tricts, and a number of the Quay candidates were defeated in close districts by the Independents, under the lead of Wanamaker, either supporting third candi- dates or voting directly for the Democratic nominees. The Republican ticket consisted of Stone for Governor, General J. P. S. Gobin for Lieutenant Governor, General J. W. Latta for secretary of internal affairs, and Grow and Davenport for re-election as Congressmen-at-Large. The Democrats nominated George A. Jenks, one of their ablest men in Western Pennsylvania, for Gover- nor, with William H. Sowden for Lieutenant Governor, Patrick DeLacey for secretary of internal affairs, and J. N. Weller and F. B. lans for Congressmen-at-Large. The campaign was fought with great earnestness on both sides, and Wanamaker was again outclassed in locking horns with the Quay organization, and Stone won an easy victory for the nomination. While there was no organized opposition to the Republican State ticket, a furious battle was fought out in the legislative districts, and the Democrats were greatly encouraged by the aggressive attitude of Wana- maker. The result was the election of Stone by 117,- 906 plurality, but the Independents gave the Demo- crats considerable gains in the Legislature. On joint Of Pennsylvania 603 ballot the Republicans had 164, Democrats 84, and the Fusionists (anti-Quay) 6. The anti-Quay men, under the lead of Wanamaker and his lieutenants, confronted Quay in the Legislature in his struggle for re-election to the Senate. So in- flamed had factional passion become between the Quay and anti-Quay forces of the State that it led to the indictment of Quay on the charge of misappropriation of State funds. That indictment was pending when the Legislature met, and the demand was made at Har- risburg that no man under indictment for the misap- propriation of public funds should be considered as a candidate for Senator until acquitted by a jury. This prosecution was a political blunder, as the result proved. Every dollar of State money had been ac- counted for; there was no allegation that the State funds were not intact, but he was charged as technically guilty for having State funds deposited in certain banks whereby he could obtain loans for his own individual benefit. With Quay indicted in the Phila- delphia courts, and a powerful political element demanding his conviction and disgrace, as well as his defeat as Senator, the Legislature was halted in the re-election of Quay. The Senatorial caucus met on the 3d of January, and was attended by 108 of the 164 Republican members. Over 40 Republicans who had refused to attend the caucus held a meeting on the following morning, and agreed that they would not vote for Quay until the courts had settled whether he was innocent or guilty of the charges against him. The executive committee of the anti-Quay members framed an address to the Republicans of Pennsylvania. The Democrats nomi- nated George A. Jenks, their late candidate for Gover- nor, for Senator over Chauncey F. Black, by a vote of 65 to 14 and a resolution looking to fusion with the Old Time Notes anti-Quay Republicans was defeated. Quay had suffi- cient control of the Democratic leaders to prevent the Democrats from uniting with the Wanamaker forces. The first ballot for Senator was taken on the 17th of January, when the senate gave Quay 2 7 votes to 1 2 for Jenks and 3 for Dalzell, with i each for Hull, Charles Emory Smith, Erwin, Stewart and Stone. In the house Quay received 85 votes to 70 for Jenks, with 13 for Dalzell and 33 scattering. On the following day a joint ballot was had and Quay received 112, Jenks 84 and 52 Republican votes scattering. The Legislature was required to ballot in joint convention daily until the election of a Senator, and the ballots proceeded from day to day with no substantial change. On many days there was no quorum voting, and one day, on the 25th of March, only ten votes were cast. But for Quay's control of the Democratic leaders, Wanamaker would have been elected, as the Demo- crats could have furnished him the full number of votes required with the aid of his Independent followers ; but although Wanamaker 's battle had given many of the Democratic members their election. Quay was able to hold their leaders and thus prevent the success of his opponent. I saw him frequently during the struggle, and he was hopeful of success in some way until Magee broke away from him a short time before the final adjournment. Magee really desired Quay's election and did not then wish to be made United States Senator himself, but hoped to succeed Quay six years later. I heard Quay on more than one occasion express his purpose to throw his forces to Magee and elect him Senator whenever it became entirely clear to him that he could not succeed himself. He doubtless would have preferred Magee if he had accepted the contingency, but he never was willing to confess that he was defeated, and a short time before the final adjournment of the Of Pennsylvania 605 Legislature Magee informed me that there was no chance of Quay's election, and that he had decided on the fol- lowing Monday to vote for some other candidate, who might be elected. I was to dine that evening with Magee and some others, at the house of a friend, who was warmly attached to Quay, and I informed Quay that Magee was about to leave him and strongly ad- vised him to withdraw from the contest and to confer with Magee at once on the question of electing some compromise candidate. He accompanied me to the dinner, although not an invited guest, and at once retired with Magee to the library, where they were alone for a considerable time. Quay insisted that he was not finally defeated, and Magee insisted that his election was impossible. In- stead of agreeing, they simply agreed to disagree, and dined and spent the evening pleasantly together with- out further referring to the subject. Magee 's defection made Quay's battle an utterly hopeless one, and extra- ordinary efforts were then made to force the Democrats into a fusion. Mass meetings were held in Harrisburg and in Philadelphia at which impassioned speeches were made against Quay's election, and resolutions passed declaring that no man under arrest for con- spiracy to use the State moneys should be elected to the Senate. The anti-Quay men voted for Dalzell most of the time. On April 4 they gave 5 1 votes to Judge Stewart, who had led the Independents in 1882. On the 13th of April the anti-Quay Republicans held a meeting and addressed a letter to Senator John C. Grady, a leading Quay man, suggesting a conference to reach a compromise candidate, but that was followed by a meeting of the Quay supporters, to whom Quay ad- dressed a letter appealing to them to stand by him, stating that " to temporize with those persons who for 6o6 Old Time Notes three months have prevented the election of a Senator in Pennsylvania would extricate them from the abyss into which they have plunged. Instead of making their treason to the party odious, their treason would be made respectable, and treason made respectable would become fashionable." Quay thus continued as a candidate, receiving a decreased vote, and the last ballot was taken on the 19th of April, without material change in the vote, and on the following day the Legislature adjourned finally. Quay's trial had been in progress for a week or more before the final adjournment, and on the 20th of April, the morning after the final adjournment, the trial was ended by his acquittal. It was one of the notable trials of Philadelphia, at which such prominent lawyers as Wg^tson, of Pittsburg, and Shapley and Shields, of Philadelphia, conducted the defense, while Rothermel, then just inaugurated as district attorney, conducted the prosecution, exhibiting a measure of ability and dignity that at once ranked him among the foremost members of the bar of the city. Within an hour after the verdict of the jury was rendered acquitting Quay, Governor Stone announced Quay's appointment to fill the vacancy. It was con- sidered by many that the Governor's authority to appoint under the circumstances was more than doubt- ful, but Quay accepted his commission, and promptly applied to the Senate for temporary admission as his own successor. His struggle before the Senate for admission, and for the re-election that he accomplished two years later, must be deferred for another chapter. Of Pennsylvania 607 CVL QUAY RE-ELECTED UNITED STATES SENATOR. The McCarrell Bill of 1899 and the Quay Trial — Democrats Divided by Bryanism — A Faction of Them for Quay — Quay Appointed Senator by the Governor, but the Senate Refused to Admit Him — The Grounds for His Exclusion — A Memorable Political Controversy — Senator Hanna's Position — A Great Humiliation to Quay — The State Convention and the Quay Battle in 1900 — Wanamaker in State Politics — Overwhelming Republican Triumph — Quay Re-elected by the Legislature of 1901 — A Famous Declaration by Him — Death Ends His Career Before His Term Expires. IN addition to the absorbing question of the elec- tion of a United States Senator in the Legis- lature of 1899, the house was convulsed for several weeks by the battle over what was known as the McCarrell bill, that proposed an important change in the criminal jurisprudence of the State. In the trial of important cases the district attorney then possessed the right to stand aside jurors without peremp- tory challenge, while the defendant had only the right of limited peremptory challenge, thus giving the pros- ecution an indefinite right to challenge beyond that possessed by the defendant. Senator McCarrell pre- sented a bill repealing that feature of the common law in criminal trials, and giving the Commonwealth and the defendant a precisely equal nimiber of chal- lenges in the selection of a jury. It was well understood that the measure was pro- posed for the benefit of Senator Quay, whose trial was to come on very soon thereafter. The bill passed the senate, but most of the Democrats finally united with 6o8 Old Time Notes the Independents of the house, and the bill never reached final passage in that body. Various earnest efforts were made to secure its passage, but when it came up in the popular branch on second reading on the 19th of February, the house voted to postpone action ur ' il the 21st of March by a vote of 93 to 92, with SOT ;iteen Democrats voting with the minority. It was aSvi^omed that by that time the Quay trial would be over. It is worthy of note that the Legislature of 1 90 1 passed what was practically the McCarrell bill. The Democrats of the State were greatly dem_oralized, and were an easy prey to the power of the Republican State organization. While the Democratic Legislators could not vote directly for Quay for Senator against the Democratic candidate, there were more than enough of them actually in the interest of Quay to make fusion against him impossible. An earnest effort vv^as made at an early stage of the contest to bring the Democrats into the support of Wanamaker, who could have commanded the solid vote of the Independents, and a number of the leading Democrats were very much interested in aiding to accomplish it, but they found, after a careful canvass of their forces, that if the Dem- ocrats abandoned Jenks and accepted Wanamaker as their candidate, thus leaving the Democrats to choose between two Republicans, the entire Quay contingent would vote directly for Quay and thus secure his elec- tion. The demoralization of Bryanism told fearfully on the integrity and vitality of the Democracy of the State. The Democratic State convention of 1896, that met for the election of delegates to the National convention, made a most emphatic deliverance in favor of sound money by declaring that the gold standard must be maintained in our monetary system. After the nomination of Bryan and the adoption of the free of Pennsylvania 609 silver platform, the same convention, consisting of the same members, that v/as reconvened for State pur- poses, nearly unanimously adopted a resolution against sound money and in. favor of the free coinage of silver. This action of the party drove a number of the ablest and most trusted leaders of the party from its fellow- ship. It was this demoralization that widened and deepened in the Democratic ranks that enabled Quay to accomplish his re-election in the Legislature of 1901. The old Congress had expired by limitation on the 4th of March, 1899. Quay had no opportunity to present his commission and demand his seat in the Senate until the session of the new Congress met. The question of admitting Senators by appointment of the Governors of the States on commissions which had more or less evidence of irregularity, had been considered several times in the Senate, and had been apparently decided both for and against the right of Quay to be admitted. In other words, it seemed that the Senate had been influenced rather by its desire for the admission or rejection of a particular Senator than by any very sacred regard for the constitutional pro- visions affecting the case. Quay was known to be personally very popular in the Senate, not only with most of the leaders of his own party, but also with a number of the prominent Democratic leaders. His most devoted personal friend in the body was Senator Vest of Missouri, one of the ablest of the Democratic leaders. They were almost inseparable, and no one other man so often sat with Quay at his dinner table. Under ordinary circum- stances there is little doubt that Vest would have taken the lead in favor of Quay's admission, and thus enabled him to win out in his fight, but, unfortunately, Senator Vest had made a most exhaustive, and indeed an unan- swerable, speech in a former contested case, where a a— 39 6io Old Time Notes seat was claimed by appointment, and it was not pos- sible for him to do otherwise than vote against Quay's admission. I personally know that it was one of the sorest regrets of his public career that he could not aid Quay. His argument had been accepted by the Senate as a clear interpretation of the Constitution, and it told just as effectively against Quay as if it had been delivered in his own case. While Senator Vest could not support Quay, he rendered much service to Quay's cause by helping other Democrats to get into line on the Quay side. When Quay first presented his commission every- thing seemed to point to his admission. It was under- stood that Hanna was in his favor; Hanna had cer- tainly so expressed himself, and it was not doubted that Quay would win by a liberal majority. I did not believe that the Governor had any right under the Constitution to make the appointment, and editorially protested against Quay's commission. The National Constitution authorized the Governor to appoint Senators to fill vacancies occurring during the recess of the Legislature, but this vacancy had occurred on the 4th of March when the Legislature was in session, and continued in session for fifty days thereafter. The command of the Constitution, then, was for the Gov- ernor to reconvene the Legislature, but that was sum- marily abandoned as it was believed that Quay would be admitted to the Senate, and that he would be able to fight this battle for re-election in the next Legis- lature on the vantage ground of being in possession of the office. I saw President McKinley two weeks before the final vote was taken on Quay's admission, and was surprised when he informed me that Quay would certainly be admitted to the Senate. He spoke most kindly of Of Pennsylvania 6ii Quay, and complained that the prominent RepubH- cans of the State had appealed to him to deny Quay a voice in the disposal of Pennsylvania patronage. He told me that he had answered such a complaint from a committee a few days before by reminding them that the President could only recognize the action of the party organization of the State, and he reminded them that only a year before Ohio had nominated McKinley for President and Pennsylvania had nominated Quay for the same office, and that a large majority of the Republican members of the Legislature had earnestly supported his re-election to the Senate. Knowing the close relations between the President and Senator Hanna, I did not doubt that Hanna would be in the forefront in support of Quay, but to the utter surprise of Quay and his friends Hanna was absent from the Senate when the vote was taken, and Senator Depew, who was friendly to Quay, declined to vote, announcing that he had paired with Senator Hanna on the opposite side of the question. Why Hanna had changed his position I have never known, and I believe that Quay never fully understood the cause of the change. It was defection from Quay by Hanna that made Quay the opponent of Hanna in his National leadership, and its far-reaching results may be appreciated when I state that it was that de- sertion of Quay by Hanna that made Quay, in the National convention of 1900, unite with Senator Piatt, of New York, who had a like grievance against Hanna, to defeat the Administration programme in the nomi- nation of a candidate for Vice-President. Quay had no special love for Roosevelt, who was a civil service reformer and generally on a politically antagonistic line to Quay, but the Administration was in favor of the nomination of either Senator Allison or Mr. Bliss, of New York, for Vice-President, as Hanna explained to 6l2 Old Time Notes me himself, just before the convention met, because it was necessary to have an able and conservative candi- date on the ticket with McKinley. I well remember Hanna's expression when he spoke of the necessity of nominating a man for Vice-President who comm.anded the confidence of the business inter- ests of the country. Shrugging his shoulders, he said : " You know Presidents die sometimes, and where the would we be if Roosevelt should become President of the United States." I saw him in Washington a few months after Roosevelt had become President, and reminded him of the remark to me about Roosevelt at the time of the Philadelphia convention. He then told me that he would give me the sequel of that con- versation. In a letter that he wrote to McKinley on the evening after the ticket had been completed and Roosevelt made the candidate for the second place, he said to McKinley: We have done the best we could; it is now up to you to live." It was the desertion of Quay by Hanna in the contest for Quay's admission to the Senate that made Roosevelt the nominee for Vice- President against his own earnest protest, and thus made him President of the United States. Quay lost his battle for the Senatorial seat on the Governor's commission by the narrowest margin, the vote being 33 to 31, and Hanna's influence and vote alone defeated him. It was a humiliating defeat for Quay, but he was ever most heroic when threatened with the gravest perils. He decided to carry his cause to the people of Pennsyl- vania, and in the State convention of the party that met on the 24th of August he was endorsed in the strongest terms. The platform declared : " The Repub- lican party owes a debt of gratitude to her senior United States Senator, Matthew Stanley Quay, who for more than a quarter of a century has stood in the forefront Of Pennsylvania 613 of the battle for Republican supremacy," and de- nounced the action of the Senate for denying Pennsyl- vania full representation in the body. Colonel Bar- nett, of Washington, was nominated for State treasurer, and J. Hay Brown, of Lancaster, for judge of the supreme court. The Democrats nominated Repre- sentative Creasey for State treasurer, and President Judge Mestrezat, of Fayette, for supreme judge. The Democrats were deficient in organization and utterly hopeless of success, and after a quiet and uneventful campaign the Republican ticket was elected by over 100,000 majority. There were two vacancies on the supreme court, and each voter could vote for but one candidate as directed by the constitution, resulting in the election of both Brown and Mestrezat as the supreme court judges. The year 1900 was accepted alike by Quay and his opponents as presenting the direct issue of Quay's con- tinued mastery or defeat. Quay's control of the party organization was complete, and he called the State convention to meet as early as the 5 th of April to form his line of battle. The Republican platform com- mended Governor Stone for having appointed Senator Quay, and denounced the United States Senate for having refused his admission and thus denied Penn- sylvania full representation. It also specially com- mended General Elkin for his "masterly and logical argument before the Elections committee of the United States Senate" defending the appointment of Quay. The following is the precise text of the expression of the convention on Quay himself: ''We express our confidence in Senator Quay's leadership, and we believe in his political and personal integrity. A great wrong has been done him which the people will right at the proper time, and therefore we urge and insist that the Hon. Matthew S. Quay shall be a candidate for re- 6i4 Old Time Notes election to the United States Senate, in which he has so long served the people with such distinguished ability and fidelity, and to this end we pledge him our hearty and cordial support." Senator Hardenbergh was nominated for auditor general and Grow was re-nominated for Congressman- at-Large, with Mr. Foerderer, of Philadelphia, as his colleague. The Democrats nominated P. Gray Meek for auditor general and Mr. Grimm and Mr. Edwards for Congressmen-at-Large. There was practically no fight made by either side for the respective National tickets, as it was accepted by all that McKinley wotild carry the State by an increased majority, but a des- perate battle was made, with Wanamaker in the lead, for the election of anti-Quay senators and representa- tives. Quay for the first time in his political career made a public canvass of the State, and delivered a series of speeches of singular pungency on the political conditions of the State, and often embellished them with unusual classic elegance. Mr. Wanamaker was on the stump, and with his friends made exhaustive efforts to make fusion com- binations with the Democrats for the Legislative candi- dates. Wanamaker, like Quay, was nothing if not heroic. He was as fearless as he was able in expression, and well proved his right to rank not only as one of the ablest of our political disputants, but as one of the most skillful and popular orators. He defined his position in an address at Pottstown as follows: "A Legislature must be elected overwhelmingly hostile to the Machine and all its works, and to its whole corrupt and sinister spirit, in order that the present protection to fraud at the polls shall be swept away by an act enforcing true ballot reform." Quay spoke at Phoenixville a few days after the Wanamaker deliverance at Pottstown, in which he took Of Pennsylvania 615 Up the candidates and supporters of the fusion Legis- lative ticket in Chester County, and after stating that the friends of good government had raised a large amount of money to expend in the Legislative contests he said: One of the candidates upon the fusion ticket is the custodian and dispenser of the fund here, and his recent visits to Philadelphia have a history. In the cause of good government they will bribe piously, they will bribe prayerfully ; you can scarcely say them nay. Take their money, lay it carefully out of reach until after the election, then there are laudable charities at hand to the use of which it can be properly donated, and you can consider the propriety of mentioning the donors." Quay's last speech in that campaign was delivered in Philadelphia, just on the eve of the election, in which he paid his respects to the " Press," The '"Times," the "Record," the "Ledger" and the "Telegraph," all of which were opposed to his political mastery. He said : " I have no desire to flutter the cote of these soiled doves of Pennsylvania journalism. They wire in and wire out at the heels of their charmer, everywhere slobbering venom in their slot. " He had been severely criticised by those journals, and he withheld his reply to them until the battle was practically ended. The Republican victory in the State was the greatest that had ever been achieved. McKinley's plurality was 288,433, "the entire Republican State ticket was elected by some 20,000 less. Notwithstanding the organized fusion movement in various sections of the State, the Republicans had the largest majority in the new Legislature that had ever been chosen. The senate had 37 Republicans to 13 Democrats, and the house 161 Republicans to 49 Democrats and 4 Republi- can fusionists, but when the Legislature met and Quay 6i6 Old Time Notes lined up the supporters of his re-election to the Senate he found himself without a majority. The Republican Senatorial caucus was attended by 113 members, being four short of a majority in joint assembly. Quay was nominated, receiving 119 votes to two for John Dalzell and two for John Stewart. Quay said that without the control of the organization of the house it would be impossible for him to succeed in the Senatorial contest. Representative Marshall was nominated by the Quay forces in the Republican caucus for speaker, but a fusion was formed between the Demo- crats and Independents in support of General Koontz, of Somerset, and but for Quay's control of demoralized Democrats, Koontz would have been elected and Quay defeated. The Democratic leaders made an earnest effort to hold their forces, but so many Democrats were rotten at the core that it was impossible for them to prevent desertions. Marshall, Quay's candidate for speaker, was elected by one majority, and that was accom- plished by one Democrat voting directly for Marshall and several withholding their votes without pairs. Quay thus had the control of the committees and the power of the house, and it was vv^ielded by Marshall with the single purpose of aiding Quay's election. On the 15th of January Quay was elected for the unexpired term of four years in the Senate, receiving 26 votes in the Senate, with 12 for Guffey, Democrat; 10 for Dalzell and one each for Charles Emory Smith and George E. Huff, Independents. In the house Quay received 104 votes to 44 for Guffey, 24 for Dalzell, 1 1 for Smith, 6 for Huff, 3 for Stewart and one each for McCormack, McConway, Harris, Tubbs, Olmstead and Swallow, with five not voting. Quay's election was accomplished by one Democratic- Populist senator and one Democratic representative voting directly for him, of Pennsylvania 617 and with two Democratic representatives being absent without pairs. It was a most desperate struggle, and only one of Quay's masterly political ingenuity and skillful control of Democrats of easy virtue could have won out in the fight. Thus ended Quay's last great battle, when he was the central figure of the contest, and as he had regained his position in the Senate for a four year term, and publicly announced his purpose not again to be a candidate for any office, the factional feeling that had harassed him for many years gradually perished. On the 14th of May, several months after his election, he was invited to address the State League of Republi- can Clubs in the Philadelphia Academy of Music, and his speech on that occasion will be cherished as a classic. The opening sentence was: ''At three score years and ten the world grows lonely ; through wilderness almost desolate the stream of life lies darkly toward the eternal gulf, ' ' and that was followed by this utterance : " My political race is run. It is not to be understood that God's sword is drawn immediately against my life, or that my seat in the Senate is to be peremptorily vacated, but that with the subscription of my official oath on the i8th of January my connection with the serious labors and responsibilities of active politics ceases, excepting in so far as I may be committed to certain measures pending in the present Legislature. I will never again be a candidate for or accept any official position. I have many friends to remember; I have no enemies to punish. In this regard I put aside the past." After referring to the general political conditions of the country, he spoke of the necessity of expansion, and traced the history of nations in the development of our Christian civilization with a beauty of diction and a measure of historic illustration that would embellish 6i8 Old Time Notes the oration of an Everett. He closed by quoting the elder Cato in the Senate of the Roman Republic. He said: " Think not that Rome is founded alone upon her seven hills and her ponderous and shining marbles. No, but upon the honest purpose, brave hearts and strong arms of her citizens. Think not that, by mere force of arms alone, this Republic attained its present pitch of greatness. No, but by things of a very different nature. Industry and discipline at home, abstinence and justice abroad, a disinterested spirit in counsels, unblinded by passion and unbiased by pleasure. ' ' To which Quay added: " Thus spoke the elder Cato in the Roman Senate, and his voice seems wafted down the centuries for our guidance." Beyond Quay's sudden assertion of political authority in defeating the present Justice Elkin for the nomina- tion for Governor in 1902, and making Judge Penny- packer the Republican candidate. Quay's political career was uneventful from the time he re-entered the Senate until his death. His Senatorial term expired on the 4th of March, 1905, and such were political con- ditions at the time he fell in the race that he would cer- tainly have been re-elected to the Senate without a contest had he been living when the choice was made. While he had made public announcement several years before that under no circumstances would he be a can- didate for, or accept, political position, it was generally understood that he would be elected to succeed him- self, and then probably resign to give place to some friend of his own selection. At no time in his long and fretting political career was his party more entirely in harmony with him than in 1904, but his health was sadly broken, and he evidently realized that his life work was finished. After failing to regain strength in the South and at the seashore, he returned to his home in Beaver, to die of Pennsylvania 619 among his loved ones and his loving neighbors. His favorite resort was his library, where he could indulge his love of literature and art, and pore over the classics which had been largely the study of his life. A short time before his death, knowing that the end was near, he had himself borne from his sick room to pay a last visit to the old-time friends in books and art which filled his library, and looking out upon the bright spring day that was garlanding the earth with beauty and fragrance and the promise of future plenty, he said: ''It is very beautiful; it is very beautiful." A few hours thereafter the trained lightning announced to every section of the country that Matthew Stanley Quay was dead, and friend and foe bowed regretfully over the grave of Pennsylvania's ablest and most chival- rous political gladiator. 620 Old Time Notes CVIL REPUBLICAN REVOLT IN 1901. Political Conditions in Philadelphia Started an Aggressive Revolt — Rothermel Rejected by the Party Leaders Because Fugitives, Charged With Political Crimes, Could Not Return While he Prosecuted — Formation of the Union Party — Judge Yerkes, Democratic Candidate for Supreme Judge, Endorsed by the Union Republicans, and Repre- sentative Coray Nominated for State Treasurer — The Violent Con- test in the City — Colossal Frauds Practised in Philadelphia — Rother- mel Returned as Defeated — Potter and Harris Elected by a Large Majority — The Revolt of 1901 Made Quay Crucify Attorney General Elkin and Nominate Pennypacker for Governor. REPUBLICAN politics in Pennsylvania had been decidedly cyclonic for several years before 1901, and there was little promise of Republican harmony when the politicians began their movements in the beginning of that year. Quay had won out in his re-election to the Senate by a very violent manipu- lation of the Democrats in the Legislature of that year, and there was a large measure of unrest in most sections of the State. Two State offices were to be filled — supreme judge and State treasurer — and the Republi- cans nominated the present Justice Porter, who was then serving by appointment, for supreme judge, and Harris for State treasurer. Both of these candidates possessed high character and qualifications for their respective positions, and while there might have been some Republican dissatisfaction here and there through- out the State, there would have been practically no contest for the State offices if it had been a square battle between the Democrats and the Republicans. Peculiar political conditions in Philadelphia started of Pennsylvania 621 the revolt of 1901, as like conditions in Philadelphia started the revolution of 1905. P. F. Rothermel, a man of high character and legal attainments, was urged to accept the nomination for district attorney. That position had been filled by such eminent prosecutors as Reed, Cassidy, Mann, Sheppard, Hagert and Gra- ham, and it was deemed a political necessity not to lower the standard of the public prosecutors. Mr. Rothermel, after much hesitation, reluctantly accepted the nomination and was elected by a large majority. His first important case in the criminal courts was the trial of Senator Quay, which he conducted with mas- terly ability and dignity and he proved that in the discharge of his official duties he was ever faithful to his high trust. Political complications, involving criminal methods, arose which made Rothermel unacceptable as district attorney. There were fugitives from justice, charged with political crimes, who could not return for trial while Rothermel was the public prosecutor, and a change in that office was an imperative political neces- sity. It was the decision of the leaders to overthrow Rothermel that led to the revolt in Philadelphia in 1 90 1, that extended into different sections throughout the State. The more violent of the anti-Quay element were ready for rebellion against the State ticket, and the overthrow of Rothermel in Philadelphia aroused the people to aggressive revolutionary action. He was nominated by an independent mass meeting that adopted the name of the Union Party, and that led to the Union State convention at which Attorney General McCormick, of the Hastings administration, delivered the chief speech urging the support of Harman Yerkes, the Democratic candidate for supreme judge, and Representative Coray, the Independent Republican candidate for State treasurer. 622 Old Time Notes Potter had been appointed by Governor Stone, his law partner, and was not widely known throughout the State, although occupying a high position at the Pitts- burg Bar, and Yerkes was well known in the State, having served two terms in the senate, where he was recognized as one of the ablest of the Democratic lead- ers, and had been for nearly twenty years judge of the Bucks County court. The Democratic organization of the city was under control of the Republican leaders and refused to accept Rothermel as its candidate. Only seven thousand votes were cast for the straight Democratic candidate, but most of the followers of the Democratic organization voted directly for Weaver, the Republican nominee. The contest was one of unusual activity and bitterness, and as both of the political organizations of the city, Republican and Democratic, were practically supporting the same cause, there was little or no restraint upon fraud, and the most colossal frauds ever practised in Philadelphia were exhibited in the returns. Rothermel and Yerkes were returned as defeated in the city by thirty-five to forty thousand majorities. The chief battle was made against Rothermel, and the conclusive evidence of fraud was shown by larger majorities returned against him, in some instances, than there were legal voters in the ward. That he was re-elected district attorney by the honest vote is not disputed by the intelligent, fair- minded men in the city. A contest would have in- volved enormous labor and expenditure and was not attempted. Judge Potter developed extraordinary personal strength in Pittsburg and the western counties of the State, where he was known. He carried Allegheny by nearly twenty thousand majority and nearly all of the western and northwestern Republican counties of the State gave him their full off year majorities. The per- of Pennsylvania 623 sonal strength of Judge Yerkes was also greatly felt in Philadelphia and in his own home counties of Bucks and Montgomery, where he was given nearly five thou- sand majority, The only other counties seriously affected by the Republican revolt were Chester, where the Republican majority was practically vviped out, and the anthracite region, where Lackawanna gave four thousand for the Union ticket, Luzerne twelve thou- sand, and Schuylkill three thousand. Representa- tive Coray was the Union candidate for State treasurer, and represented the anthracite interests in the Legis- lature. The Democratic counties, outside of the anthracite region, as a rule, gave no more than the usual ofE year majorities, and the result was the election of Potter and Harris by large majorities, but the battle left the vital embers of revolution in Philadelphia which, four years later, led to the hurricane of disaster that overwhelmed the organization leaders in both city and State. It was this admonition that made Quay crucify Attorney General Elkin, who was the generally ac- cepted candidate for Governor and who had won great distinction by his able defense, before a com- mittee of the United States Senate, of Quay's right to a seat by appointment from Governor Stone. Quay was not dissatisfied or distrustful of Elkin, but he felt that it was necessary to place a man at the head of the Republican ticket for Governor in 1902 whose high character and creditable discharge of judicial duties would disarm the disaffected elements of the State. Quay's decision to change the nomination of Governor was not reached until Elkin had practically a majority of the delegates in his favor. Along with several other gentlemen, I dined with Quay in Philadelphia on the night that he had his ap- pointment with Attorney General Elkin to advise El- 624 Old Time Notes kin to withdraw from the Gubernatorial contest. When the party had reached cigars, after the dinner was served, Quay left and stated the mission upon which he was going. He returned later in the even- ing greatly distressed, as he had failed to convince El- kin of the propriety of withdrawing, but he was reso- lute in his purpose to change the candidate for Gover- nor, and by an exhibition of his most heroic political methods he faced a convention that was positively committed to the nomination of Elkin, and accom- plished the nomination of Pennypacker. As Penny- packer was invulnerable, he thus weakened oppo- sition to Quay's rule and postponed aggressive ac- tion, but it was delayed only for a few years, and when its final culmination came in the overwhelming defeat of the party in 1905, Quay slept the dreamless sleep of the dead. Of Pennsylvania 625 CVIIL AFTER QUAY THE DELUGE. Quay Died Just in the Omnipotence of His Political Power — His Death Developed Antagonistic Party Elements — The Struggle for United States Senator — Offered to Ex-Senator Cameron, Who Suggested Attorney General Knox — All finally Agreed to Support Knox, and the Governor Withheld Proclamation for Extra Session — Knox First Appointed and Then Elected by Unanimous Republican Vote — Revolution Developed in Philadelphia — Estrangement of Mayor and Party Leaders — Independent Ticket Elected in the City — Dem- ocratic State Treasurer Elected by Over Eighty-Eight Thousand — Comparative Vote of 1904 and 1905 — Justice Stewart Received a Unanimous Vote. a \ FTER me the deluge" might well have been U\ uttered by Senator Quay before his death, could he have had any conception of the political disruption and revolution which were to follow, but when he looked out upon the setting sun from the library to which he was borne for the last time to gaze upon the literary and art treasures he so greatly loved, there was not a cloud upon the Republican horizon. Looking over his political work, as it then appeared, he could have assumed that he and his organization had finally reached omnipotence without peril from internal or external political foes. His party was thoroughly united in every section of the country on its National candi- date and policy, and the formidable enemies he had encountered in his many conflicts of the past were then unseen and unfelt in the political movements of the State. Had he lived until the meeting of the Legislature of 1905, he would have been re-elected United States Senator, regardless of his fixed resolve a — 40 626 Old Time Notes to retire from public life because of his hopelessly broken health. He would have accepted the unani- mous and generally very hearty support of his party for another Senatorial election, but would certainly have resigned soon after qualifying in the special session of the Senate in March, 1905, while the Legislature was yet in session, and dictated the election of his successor. The death of Quay in the early summer of 1904 brought to the sirrface various antagonistic elements of the party, which were not visible on the surface while Quay continued as the omnipotent Republican leader of the State. Half a score of candidates speedily developed to contest ,the vacant seat in the Senate, and many earnest but disagreeing conferences were held in Pittsburg, Harrisburg and Philadelphia to bring about harmonious action on the Senatorship. The plain mandate of the Constitution required the Governor to summon an extra session of the Legis- lature to choose a Senator, and had the conditions been ordinary, Governor Pennypacker would doubtless have performed that duty. The Senatorship was sought by many, and the various conferences held, looking to harmony, gave no promise of unity of action, and for a time seriously threatened disruption. It is an open secret that after many unsuccessful efforts had been made to reach an agreement on the Senatorship, the leaders, who were then most potent in the selection of a Senator, summoned Ex-Senator J . Donald Cameron and asked him to accept the position, but he peremp- torily declined it. Attorney General Philander C. Knox, then a resident of Pittsburg, had not been aggressive in politics and was devoted to his profession, in which he had attained distinction. Cameron sug- Of Pennsylvania 627 gested Attorney General Knox for the Senator ship, and as Knox was free from all factional entanglements, he was finally accepted by all, and the organization, which was then supreme in the mastery of the party, was thoroughly united in the assurance to Knox that he would be elected by the next Legislature without a contest. Knox greatly preferred to continue in the line of his profession, as he had no taste for, or experi- ence in, political management, but he finally decided to accept the new position when his election by the next Legislature was fully assured. The Governor was then placed in a very embar- rassing position, as the strict letter of the fundamental law required that he should summon the Legislature to chose a Senator, but that involved the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars to accomplish what could be readily attained without the intervention of the Legislature, and the Governor assumed the re- sponsibility, that would doubtless have been questioned under ordinary conditions, of appointing Knox as United States Senator to fill the vacancy made by the death of Quay. Governor Stone had appointed Quay to a vacancy in 1899, when the Legislature had ad- journed without choosing a Senator after a protracted and bitter contest between Quay and his political enemies, and the Senate refused his admission by a single vote. The appointment of Knox, however, was in such entire accord with the wishes of the party and its organization that he was admitted to the Sen- ate, on the Governor's commission, without question, and his election for the few weeks of Quay's unexpired term, and also for the full succeeding term, was given by a unanimous Republican vote. At the election of 1904, Pennsylvania voted Republi- can by nearly a two-thirds vote. The Democrats ap- parently ceased to be a factor in Pennsylvania politics. 628 Old Time Notes This was accepted by the Republican leaders as an indefinite lease of absolute political domination, un- mindful of the fact that not only in the city of Phila- delphia, but throughout the State, there was profound unrest within the Republican household that might be easily provoked to revolutionary action. The first distinct murmurs of discontent were heard in Phila- delphia when the leaders, many of whom were interested in municipal contracts involving many millions, first decided to increase largely the property assessments for the twofold purpose of enlarging the revenue with- out increasing the tax rate, and to empower the city to increase its loans. This movement caused consid- erable public irritation, and when it was followed by a proposition to extend the lease of the gas works for half a century to bring twenty-five millions of money into the treasury, and thus warrant the completion of the immense contracts for filtra- tion, boulevards, etc., a popular uprising, unexam- pled in the history of the city, confronted the party leaders. The public revolt was not so much against the lease of the gas works, for the terms of the lease might reasonably be considered quite as favorable to the city as to the United Gas Improvement Company that pro- posed to become the lessee, but the fact that the lease was to be made solely to obtain twenty-five millions of money to be expended in contracts which were gener- ally regarded as profligate, and alleged by many to lack the important element of honesty, intensified the already inflamed public mind to the most determined and desperate revolutionary efforts. Mayor Weaver, who was assumed to be in accord with the organization that elected him chief magistrate, became gradually estranged from the party leaders, and they decided Of Pennsylvania 629 upon heroic retributive measures, involving the passage of what is known as the " Ripper" bills, greatly limiting the power of the mayor, and his threatened impeach- ment and removal from office. So general and inflammatory was the revolutionary feeling that it threatened even mob violence to the councils when they were to act upon important measures on which the leaders and the mayor were at issue. The councils finally bowed to the omnipotent sentiment that environed them and gave implicit obedience to the demands of the mayor, unanimously approving the displacement of the friends of the leaders in the mayor's cabinet and the selection of persons who were aggressive in their hostility. The councils even went so far as to repeal the assent of the city to a number of rural railroad franchises, although the franchises had been granted by the State, simply assented to by the city, and issued in full conformity with the law. A full city ticket for the important officers of sheriff, coroner and city commissioners had been nominated by the leaders early in the year, and when those nomi- nations were made, the election of the men named was regarded as absolutely assured without a contest, but when the revolutionary tempest struck them, the leaders were compelled to withdraw the entire ticket and try to temper the violence of the opposition by presenting new candidates with the cleanest records. The atonement was made too late, however, and an independent ticket swept the city by nearly forty- five thousand majority. There was but one State officer to elect, that of State treasurer. J. Lee Plummer, of Blair County, chairman of appropriations and Republican leader of the House, 630 Old Time Notes was nominated for State treasurer without serious opposition, and at the time the nomination was made there was not a ripple on the surface of RepubHcan unity. The Democrats nominated WilHam H. Berry, mayor of Chester, who had been chosen by the people of that strong Republican city because of his well known integrity, business qualities and courage in discharging public duties. The death of Justice Dean made a vacancy in the supreme court to be filled by the Governor until next January, and added another State officer to be chosen by the people. The Independent revolution had just fairly started when this vacancy occurred. The Republicans wisely decided to temper the hostility of the Independents in both city and State by nominating Judge John Stewart, of Franklin, to fill the vacancy in the supreme court. Stewart was as conspicuous in political inde- pendence and integrity in the Republican party as Berry was in a much narrower circle in the Democratic party, and the Democrats seized the opportunity to invite the independent Republicans to support a thoroughly independent Democratic candidate for State treasurer by giving Judge Stewart a unanimous nomination for supreme judge. Independent local nominations were made by the City party, the Lincoln party, the Citizens party, and the Independence party, but all, with the exception of the Citizens party, which was confined almost wholly to Pittsburg, united in the support of Berry, the Democratic candidate for State treasurer, and the result was the election of Berry by over eighty-eight thousand. The following table shows the revolution in Pennsylvania by a comparison of the vote for President in 1904 and the vote for State treasurer in 1905: of Pennsylvania 631 President — 1904. Roosevelt, R 840,949 Parker, D 335 A3° Swallow, Pro 33.7 1 7 Debs, Soc 21,863 Total vote 1,231,959 Republican plurality 505,519 Republican majority 449,939 State Treasurer — 1905. Berry, D 546,892 Plummer, R 458,698 Ringler, Soc 10,390 Drugmand, S. Labor . . 1,622 Scattering 68 Total vote 1,017,670 Democratic plurality 88,194 Democratic ma j ority 76,114 It will be seen that the total vote for State treasurer was over one million, being entirely unexampled in any off year conflict, and the manner in which parties were divided up is best exhibited by the following: Judge Stewart's Vote for 1905. Republican 515,249 Independence 17,808 Democrat 236,540 Citizens , 34,160 Prohibition 38,839 Lincoln 116,758 Judge Stewart thus received 959,054 votes, being the only supreme judge ever chosen by a practically unanimous vote. It is impossible to determine the exact Democratic vote and the exact Republican vote polled, in the general confusion of parties, but taking the average Republican vote of 610,394, given for Governor Beaver's re-election to the superior court, and the vote of 305,218, given to John B. Head, Demo- cratic candidate for the superior court, doubtless gives the nearest possible approximation to the strength of the two parties, showing an apparent Re- publican majority of about three hundred thousand. One of the notable incidents of the campaign is the fact that Judge Stewart and ex-Governor Beaver were both on the Republican State ticket, Stewart for supreme judge and Beaver for the superior court. In 1882, Beaver was the Republican candidate for Governor 632 Old Time Notes and was defeated by Stewart's Independent Republi- can candidacy for the same office. Such are the strangely conflicting political records of 1904 and 1905, and it is evident that there must be a reforming of the political lines to enable the Republi- can party to unite in the support of candidates for Governor, Congressmen, Legislators, etc., at the fall election of 1906. What will the harvest be? Made in Italy 05-14 STD 0 3 29 1 9"9 9 1 40 9 wwwxolibrisystem.com