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SPEECHES

ANDliETTERS

IN SUPPORT OF THE CANDIDACY
OF

JOSEPH H. CHOATE

FOR

UNITED STATES SENATOR,

being part of the proceedings
AT THE

MASS MEETING OF REPUBLICAN
VOTERS
Held in Carnegie Music Hall, New York City, on the
Evening of Wednesday, December 23, 1896,
UNDER the auspices OF THE
CHOATE CLUB
OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.

CONTENTS. PAGB
Address of Edmund Wetmorey Esq  ]
" " William D. Guthrie, Esq  4
" Elihu Root, Esq  20
Letter of Rev. Richard S. Storrs, B.D  27
" " Hon. Seth Lowr  28
" William Allen Butier, Esq  29
" " Hon. Sherman S. Rogers  32
" Rev. R. S. MacArthur, D.D  32
" " Matthew Hale, Esq  33
Resolutions adopted by Meeting  34

ADDRESS OF EDMUND WETMORE, Esq.
Fellow Citizens:
This meeting has been called to endorse as a candidate
for the office of United States Senator, that life-long Re
publican, that eloquent advocate, that patriotic citizen
and gifted man, Joseph H. Choate.
We propose his name, because we believe him pre
eminently fitted, in ability and character, to uphold the
principles of the Republican Party and worthily represent
the State of New York in our national councils.
It is a time when that party has a peculiar need for the
services of its ablest and strongest men. After a moment
ous political crisis, it has once more been entrusted with
the controlling power in the government of the nation.
It receives that power not only from the hands of its cus
tomary supporters, but from those who, having been its
longest and most earnest opponents, nevertheless when
the safety of the country was at stake, put aside every
consideration of party name or party antipathies, and
worked and voted for the Republican candidates.
Coming into power under these circumstances, it is
under a double responsibility to fulfill its pledges, and deal
with the vast interests committed to its charge, with the
wisdom and fidelity the country has a right to expect.
And it can do that only by a steadfast adherence to its
own princioles. Our Democratic allies who so patriot
ically aided our triumph would despise us if we did other
wise. These principles will form the guide by which its
representatives in Congress and the Senate will endeavor
to mould the legislation that is to aflfect the country.
To aid effectively in that work requires sound judg
ment, ability in debate, power to rightly comprehend the
grave and difficult questions upon the wise solution of
which the very safety of the republic may depend, and an
integrity of purpose that inspires public confidence and
secures the influence that public confidence can alone

bestow. We have the rare satisfaction of finding in Mr.
Choate one who fulfills all these requirements, and there
fore we advocate his election.
That distinguished Democrat, Mr. Hewitt, in an inter
view two days since, lamented the declinfe of statesmanship
in the United States Senate ; we want to do what lies in
our power to supply the deficiency so far as concerns the
representatives of the great State of New York.
I will not usurp the time of the eloquent speakers who
are to follow me in expanding the theme of Mr. Choate's
fitness for the office for which we propose him, but I do
wish to add a word as to the healthful sign of improve
ment in our political life that is evidenced by the awakened
interest that our citizens take in every effort to secure bet
ter government. Men may differ widely as to the wisdom,
and are often prone to doubt the sincerity of those who
are. active in that work and disagree as to the expediency
or effectiveness of what they propose, but no man can
deny that the final preservation of popular government
requires that the great body of the citizens, each according
to his convictions, abilities and opportunities, should take
an active part in the performance of political duties.
And my profound conviction is that the place where polit
ical duties most urgently call for performance is within
party lines. Government by party is not perfect, but it is
the only method of government which, up to this time,
has been developed, or is possible in our republic, and it
is the one with which we have to deal and under which
our national progress has been made and our national in
stitutions preserved. And that party is strongest that, in
the men it selects for its offices and the measures it carries
through, reflects most truly the genuine public opinion
that prevails among its members.
If this truth had been perceived by our political oppo
nents ; if the Democratic party had had leaders instead of
managers, it would not have fallen into the bog of repudi
ation at Chicago and left those who represented its hon
esty and intelligence and patriotism no choice but to leave
its ranks.

3
When, therefore, a Republican Legislature is about to
enter upon the important and solemn duty of choosing a
Senator of the United States, I know no method more ap
propriate, no means more effective for indicating candi
dates whose choice would be welcome to the party and
useful to the State, than the testimony of their fellow-
townsmen in public meeting assembled to the esteem and
confidence in which they are held. That is what we have
assembled for to-night as regards our fellow-townsman,
Mr. Choate. And the esteem and confidence that we feel
and express extend throughout the State. Mr. Choate
stands for no faction. The character and the number of
the Republicans of this State who desire his election are
such and so great that, even if their opinion were over
ruled, it could not be despised. His candidacy will receive
the consideration and carry the weight that his eminence
and character deserve, and no one can be presented for the
suffrages of the Legislature more worthy of the high office
for which he is proposed. Jt is an advance towards better
politics when men, such as he, become candidates. To
support him is a badge of good citizenship ; to elect him
will be an honor to the State.

ADDRESS OF WILLIAM D. GUTHRIE, Esq.
Fellow Republicans :
Your presence here from all quarters of the city on
such a stormy night proclaims that the objects which
we advocate have made a deep - impression on your
hearts and that the people have at last been aroused to
a sense of impending danger.
The men who have summoned this mass meeting of
republican voters expect me, I assume, to state in detail
the issues we are debating, and to invite an expression
of public opinion. They surely conceive it to be impos
sible that any republican majority, mindful of the tradi
tions of our great party, can be deaf to the voice and the
wishes of their constituents. They cannot believe that
the members of our legislature will disregard the
admonitions of duty, conscience and patriotism, or
defiantly reject the instructions of the voters who
elected them. Therefore, it is the purpose of this meet
ing to enlighten the representatives and agents of the
people at Albany as to public opinion and to instruct
them as to our choice.
We are assembled to discuss in the open a great
question of vital public interest ; to emphasize an issue
of political liberty which is of immeasurable importance
to the whole nation ; to secure the election of a worthy
representative of this State in the national senate ;
to save the republican party from taking a step which
would inevitably lead to its defeat and ruin, and to
redeem the State of New York, so far as we can, from
the odium and disgrace of further boss rule.
Intimidated by no threats, dispirited by no calcu
lated chances of success, seeking and expecting no aid
or inspiration except that which is born of the convic
tion that we are in the right, we come here without

malice and without factional purpose to submit our
views of political rights and duties for the consideration
of our fellow republicans.
There never has been a time in the history of this
nation when the federal senate stood in greater need
of the highest order of ability, character and patriotism,
when it was more necessary to have able and upright
representation for local as well as for national interests,
for the present as well as for the future, for ourselves
as for posterity.
The great State of New York, with its immense
population, its vast wealth, its incalculable commercial
interests, its seven millions of people, has no larger
representation and no greater voice in the senate at
Washington than the smallest State of only fifty
thousand inhabitants. New York has more than one
hundred times the population of Nevada, yet each
State has two senators. The uneven development of
the country has rendered such a distribution of political
power grossly, absurdly unfair, but that feature of the
Constitution cannot be changed by amendment without
the consent of the States. It is, however, always
within the power of the people of the more populous
States to counterbalance, in some measure at least,
this great disadvantage by sending as their represent
atives to the national senate the foremost and best
equipped of their statesmen.
We have among us, ever ready to perform any duty
that patriotism dictates, an ideal candidate — one of the
greatest of our public men, a most conspicuous and a
unique figure in the eyes of the country, the leader of
the American bar, the successor of Webster as the
foremost constitutional lawyer of the day, an orator of
the highest rank, a scholar and statesman of the broad
est culture, a sturdy American of that sturdy New
England type, a staunch republican — a man of splendid

talents and unblemished honor, to whom jealousy or
hatred can deny no title to glory. If the people wish
to send such a delegate to the national senate, they can
do so in the person of the Honorable Joseph H. Choate,
the true friend, the chivalrous advocate, the lion-hearted
patriot, a man whom no fear can deter and no miserable
calculations of expediency or failure hinder from the
performance of duty. When asked to make this fight
against bossism, he was begged by many friends not to
enter the lists, because it seemed a forlorn hope. The
substance of his answer was as Samuel Adams would
have answered, if I may apply Webster's ringing words,
" My judgment approves this movement, my whole
heart is in it, my patriotic feelings impel me ; all that
I have and all that I am and all that I hope in this
life I am ready here to stake upon it. If I were so
cowardly as to falter now when asked to stand up and
make this fight, simply because I am not guaranteed
success or freedom from inevitable political abuse, may
my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!" A dis
tinguished lawyer advised him to decline to be a can
didate, because the result was doubtful, and failure
would dim his prestige and his reputation. I can
well imagine Choate turning on him, his face glow
ing with indignation, and saying : " If I knew now
that not one man in the republican caucus would
dare to vote for me, I should run and continue to
run, because I believe it to be my duty to protest
against the present political conditions in this State
— a condition that shocks every national instinct
in me and makes my blood boil with indignant re
volt." You all know Choate, whose words have thus
thrilled you. You have seen that grand and stately
figure, a born leader of men, " for dignity composed and
high exploit." If Joseph H. Choate, after his great
career at the bar, and in spite of the affliction that has

so lately darkened his home, is ready to step forward
and lead us, shall we pause and hesitate to follow ?
From every corner of the State, from every fireside
of those plain people who make up the strength and
stability of the republican party, from every State in
the Union, the mere suggestion of the possibility of
Mr. Choate's candidacy has brought forth expressions
of patriotic hope and longing. Everywhere he is pro
claimed to be an ideal candidate and the people's choice.
On all sides, even by his enemies, his brilliant talents
are conceded, his peculiar and great capacity for the
ofifice undisputed, his high character admired, the vital
necessity for just such a statesman admitted. Why
can we not have him as our senator ? Because, as we
are told, even if the republican voters clamored for his
electidn, it is now too late ; because the legislature is
said to be owned by a man who has not yet dared to
come out publicly as an avowed candidate ; because
they say the legislature of the State of New York is
pledged — enslaved — and cannot break its chains. I
deny it. It must be false. It is false. The republican
legislature shall refute that slander by voting for the
candidate of the people.
It is objected that the party cannot send Mr. Choate
to the United States Senate because he is not in favor
of protection ; but they all know he has been an out-
atnd-out protectionist for forty years, and has always
been with his party on that question, on the currency,
on every fundamental principle. I shall read you a
resolution offered by Mr. Choate at a meeting of the
Union League Club in December, 1888, shortly after
Harrison's election, and leave you to judge whether
Choate is a protectionist :
^^ Resolved, that the decisive verdict of the American
people in favor of maintaining the system of protection of
our domestic industries, under which we have enjoyed such
uniform and marvellous prosperity, has perpetuated that

8
system as our cardinal national policy. That returning to
power on this issue on which the canvass has been fought
and won, the republicans are bound to adapt the legisla
tion of Congress to carry out the declared wishes of the
people, and to fulfill their pledges given in successive
national conventions, to reduce taxation to the measure of
the public needs, and to reform and revise the existing
tariff, to prune away its extravagances, and to readjust its
burdens, with a careful regard to the preservation and
protection of our manufactures, vvhich have been fostered
and maintained by its aid."
The next objection is that Mr. Choate criticised the
McKinley Bill. He did. W^hen that measure was being
discussed, Mr. Choate insisted that some of its items
were too high ; that the increases in many instances
were too great and ought at least to have been gradual;
that in any event the act should not go into effect for
at least six months, and that any tariff act that made
radical alterations should take effect only after a reason
able period, so that the trades affected might be able
to prepare and adjust their business accordingly. Such
was the view at the time of other leading republicans,
including Mr. Blaine. Mr. Choate then urged that too
sudden and radical a change would surely lead to defeat
at the approaching congressional elections, and that
such a policy might cost us the control of the govern
ment in 1892. In a word, hefagreed with Mr. Blaine.
You all recall the disaster of 1890 and the loss of the
presidency in 1892. What think you of the states
manship of the man who had the wisdom, the fore
sight and the courage to say to his party that they
were making a mistake ? It was an example of the far-
sighted broad views of public affairs which we need in
the senate to-day. He was sound then, as we know he
is sound to-day. And there Is one man in the United
States who above all others will acknowledge that if
the advice of Choate and Blaine had been followed in
1890, the great defeat of that year and of 1892, and the
subsequent birth of Bryanism might have been averted.

We learn by experience, and the lesson in this instance
was an awful one to the country. Can any man doubt
that Mr. McKinley would say that Mr. Choate was
then right ?
Another objection urged is that Mr. Choate has
held aloof from practical politics, and is not, there
fore, a good judge of men and things. As a traflficker
in ofifice, a distributer of spoils, a solicitor of patronage
at the public crib, he is lacking and will be found want
ing. But in true statesmanship, in familiarity with our
history, in power to perceive the currents of national
feeling, in ability to devise wise, effective and beneficial
legislation, no man living surpasses him. Those who
have heard his great forensic arguments before the
Supreme Court at Wa.shington, in cases of constitu
tional law, know him to be one of the best informed
public men of the day. His discernment of popular
tendencies is equal to Blaine's power. It was he who,
weeks before any one in the East championed the cause,
stepped forward in McKinley's support. Long in ad
vance of the development of McKinley's strength, Mr.
Choate came out for him, boldly declaring that the
people demanded and insisted upon the nomination of
McKinley. Here is an article printed in the Sun of
March 20th (previously published in the Commercial
Advertiser^, three months before the St. Louis Con
vention met :
" I think McKinley is the coming man," said Mr. Choate.
" His selection seems almost a foregone conclusion. Why,
his boom is sweeping across the country with irresistible
force. He stands for Americanism, pure and simple."
" What do you mean by Americanism?"
" Protection and the independence of America. The
wave of patriotic feeling growing out of the Venezuelan and
Cuban controversies which has swept across the country
will naturally cluster around McKinley's boom. McKinley
stands first and foremost for protection to the masses and
classes, and this alone ought to insure his nomination."
" Then you do not believe Governor Morton will win at
St. Louis?"

10
"No, I don't think that Mr. Piatt is honestly supporting
him. He is using the Governor's name merely to get votes
to trade at St. Louis."
" Whom, then, is Mr. Piatt really committed to?"
" No one in particular. He will trade his votes where
he can get the most credit for them."
Has not every word of that declaration proved true?
The only remaining ground of attack upon Mr.
Choate is beneath contempt. It appeared in an edi
torial of the Sun, and it was repeated on Monday
morning in a letter written for the public press by a
member of the legislature, a lawyer acquainted with
the facts, a man who ought to have known better.
This editorial and this letter taunted Mr. Choate with
npt taking any active part in the last campaign and
criticised him for remaining silent. He was silent. But
it was the silence of the darkened home and the sad
dened life of a bereaved father. All through that sum
mer Choate stood at the bedside of a dying daughter.
I shrink from intruding into the privacies of any man's
home life, but in the face of this wanton, cruel and
cowardly attack, it, becomes necessary to lift the veil
that hides a strong man's grief from the public gaze.
At the height of that campaign, death came to the
home of Joseph H. Choate and deprived him of a
dearly loved daughter. His friends appreciated the
greatness of his grief when they saw him bowed with
sorrow and refusing to be comforted because his daughter
was not. Such a desolation should have had enough
sacredness and pathos in it to have shielded him from
this low and brutal calumny. Let us hear no more of
that objection.
Yet is there any man who will assert that even then
Choate ignored the demands of patriotism and party ?
Did he not contribute to the full extent of his means
to the republican national campaign fund ? Did not
Mr. Hanna know the cause of Choate's silence and re
spect and .sympathize with it ? Did he not know that

11
if it became necessary he could still call and that
Choate would respond, however grief-stricken.
Now, men, we are told that this movement is doomed
to defeat, because there is in this State a man so pow
erful, a boss or leader so absolute, that if he decreed
he could send to the United, States Senate a vagrant
from the streets. Mr. Choate is not acceptable to this
man. This boss does not approve of Mr. Choate. This
leader consults no man. He tolerates no discussion
or debate, but in a darkened rear office in the lower
part of Broadway, at his own caprice, controlled by no
principle, responsible to no one, and following no rule,
except perchance it be the famous rule of addition,
division and. silence, he covertly operates and manipu
lates the political machine.
I shall read you a text from the New York Press,
whose republicanism no one will question, and whose
editor surely is just as true a protectionist and as mind
ful of the best interests of the republican party as any
of Mr. Choate's critics. Here is what the editor of the
Press says :
"The Legislature will do what Mr. Piatt directs it to do,
because it belongs to him. He can do anything he pleases
with it. He can elect himself senator. If he chooses he
can name the notorious Lou Payn. Should it so suit his
fancy, he could send from New York to the United States
Senate an outcast from the party or a vagrant from the
streets. And this because the Legislature is his, because
he owns it."
We answer that we cannot believe the republican
party has sunk as low as the Press estimates. If true,
it is high time to revolt and free ourselves of such boss
rule. We hope that no man owns the republican legis
lature. We still trust that on the 19th of January, as
directed by the federal laws and in pursuance of that
State Constitution which was moulded under Choate's
direction as President of the Constitutional Conven
tion, the republican majority will obey the will of

12
the people by selecting Choate as our United States
Senator. The candidacy of Mr. Choate is said to be an attempt
to rob Mr. Piatt of deserved credit and reward, or, as
a writer put it, of the crown of statesmanship. Our
purpose is not to despoil, but to expose ; not to un
crown, but to unmask.
Let us, however, look under the crown and be
neath the mask, and see what we find. Can there be
any question that the candidacy of Mr. Morton was
hopeless from the beginning, and that it was put
forward merely as a basis for dickering and nego
tiations ? Was not Choate right in what he said
last March? Can any one doubt that if Mr. McKinley
and Mr. Hanna had been prepared to make pledges
and pay for peace, they could have bought and se
cured Mr. Piatt's enthusiastic support ? Do we not
all know that McKinley refusfed to make any bargain
for patronage and that he spurned the suggestion ?
Let me recall a sample of Mr. Piatt's statesmanship.
I read from an interview with Mr. Piatt published in
the Sun of May nth, one month before the nomina
tion at St. Louis :
"My opposition to Gov. McKinley proceeds almost
entirely from my belief that he will get the republican
party into turmoil and trouble. He is not a well-balanced
man of affairs. He is not a great man. He is not a trained
and educated public man. He is not an astute political
leader. He is simply a clever gentleman, much too amiable
and much too impressionable to be safely intrusted with
great executive ofifice, whose quest for honor happens tO'
have the accidental advantage of the association of his
name with the last republican protective tariff. "
Yet this man is now put forward as the friend, the
admirer, the loyal supporter, if not the discoverer of
Mr. McKinley as a presidential candidate.
Again, it is urged that we should elect Mr. Piatt as a
reward for his heroic services during the last campaign.
We know of no services except collecting contributions

13
from corporations and efforts to secure the nomination
of such members of the legislature as would be accept
able to him. In all that, he is suspected of having
been singularly successful. There only remains the
claim as to the gold clause in the St. Louis platform^
for which. Piatt, notwithstanding all his loud pretenses,
deserves absolutely no credit. The claim is pure fiction
— without any foundation whatever. I shall read what
Mr. Hanna said upon this point on June 23d, two days.
after the convention adjourned :
"The money plank adopted by the convention was in
St. Louis long before ex-Senator Piatt, Senator Lodge
and Mr. Lauterbach arrived. I wish to state most em
phatically that the plank defining the party's financial
position was advocated by western men, drawn up by-
western men, and approved in the exact shape in which it
was finally adopted, before any man from the East reached
St. Louis. The plank, as it was finally approved, went to
the convention without any eastern recommendation or
suggestion. Finally, I may state with equal emphasis that
the plank shown me as representing the eastern sentiment
was not adopted by the convention, nor was it anything like
the declaration made officially for the republican party,
being only two or three sections long."
General Horace Porter, President of the Union
League Club, said at the same time :
" On Friday, the 12 th of June, five days before the adoption
of the platform, I was shown the draft of the solid gold-
standard financial plank prepared by Gov. McKinley
and his friends. With two insignificant changes of words,
and those not affecting the 'gold' clause, that platform
was adopted by the convention by a majority of eight to
one. No one can rob William McKinley and his immediate
advisers of the credit of framing and securing the adoption
of our thoroughly admirable financial plank."
And Timothy L. Woodruff, our next Lieutenant
Governor, also said :
" I do not believe that Piatt had any influence in the
making of the gold plank, but the vote for the gold plank
would have been just as strong if Mr. Piatt had not declared
himself in favor of it."
So much for the pretense that Mr. Piatt deserves the
credit for the gold plank in the St. Louis platform.

14
It is threatened that those who take part in this
movement to elect Mr. Choate will be condemned by
Mr. McKinley, and that he intends to hand over all
the federal patronage to the man who vilified him
seven months ago. What a contemptible estimate of
our next President ! We know that estimate to be
refuted by McKinley's character and his whole career.
There he is, waiting to take the'presidential oath with
the confidence and blessings of the people. He needs
no eulogy from us. Shall we send to the Senate the
man who abused him ? Shall we appoint to represent
this State a man who has never risen above the traffic
in spoils, a man who will organize in Washington a
clearing-house for political tribute, a man who can block,
thwart, hold up the new administration at every step,
demand terms upon every appointment, exact contribu
tions from every corporation in the United States
under the threat and coercion of adverse federal legisla
tion ? Would not the presence of such a senator from
New York be a blight upon the administration, a dark
cloud ever threatening storm and ruin, when God
knows we need a clear sky ? On the other hand, how
auspiciously the new term would begin if you sent
Choate to help McKinley? What could you do that
would more certainly strengthen the new President and
assure success and prosperity for his administration than
to send to Washington a man of great talents and
unblemished honor, his friend — the foremost citizen of
this State ?
I shall now ask you to follow me in an examination
of two aspects of the political condition within our
own party as I believe the situation to exist. Accord
ing to my lights, this is the vital point and the merit of
this whole movement. We have a duty higher than the
mere lauding of our choice, as the principles of eternal
right and patriotism must ever rise above all other con
siderations.

15
The one aspect leads us to inquire whether as Amer
icans we can safely submit to the bossism of any man,
however pure his motives, however assured of his
integrity, however lofty his character ? The other as
pect requires me to go further and ask you how we
come to have such a boss and how he has attained and
maintained his political power? Then I shall go still
further and higher and impeach that boss as unworthy
of being sent to the United States Senate.
In the first place, let us assume that Mr. Piatt's
methods are entirely legitimate and that his record
and talents qualify him to be the leader of the repubr
lican party in the Empire State. Is it not element-
stry in politics, is it not absolutely certain that the
ascendancy of any one man, however pure his
motives or. high his principles, endangers and threatens
the rights of the people ? Is it not intolerable that
a man elected to no office, with neither evidence
nor warrant of trust and confidence on the part of
the people, without responsibility to them, shall be
permitted to exercise such power and dictate who
shall go to the senate ? Is not power concentrated in
an irresponsible individual always a menace to public
liberties ? Such a boss, it is perhaps true, may not en
rich himself from the spoils of office and the flood of
contributions passing through his fingers ; but have we
nothing to fear, to apprehend, to dread, from his
system, from his practices, from his lust of power?
Conceding all that may be said in support of his claim
of personal integrity, does not Mr. Piatt exercise a
power in the administration of the affdirs of this State
monstrous and tyrannical in the extreme ? Does he
not exercise a power and exert an influence to which
the American people will never submit ?
Therefore, if Mr. Piatt's character were as high and
as unblemished as Mr. Choate's, it would nevertheless be

16
our duty to rebel as republicans in order to save the
party itself from the odium and reproach of such methods.
But, there is the other aspect of the case, which is
far more serious and odious. We must have courage
enough to look the facts in the face, and to ask our
selves some plain questions. Let us come, without
flinching, as soon as possible to close fighting and grap
ple on the real ground of battle. What does Plattism
really mean? Whence his power ? Why is he said to '
own the legislature ? Why is it felt and believed all
over the State that his will is supreme and his control
omnipotent? Why is it boasted that he can send him
self to the United States Senate or any puppet or
figurehead he pleases? How is it possible among a
free, spirited and self-respecting people, living under a_
republican form of government, that one taan, who
holds no political office, who represents no political
principles or doctrines except spoils, who is not respon
sible to the people, can wield suchr a power, unlimited,
unrestrained, unchecked, accountable to no one ?
Since the days of Tweed, a new system of political
corruption has come into existence. The individual
legislator is now seldom directly bribed. Corporations
or individuals seeking pro^^ction or valuable charter
rights at the hands of a legislature, retain directly
or indirectly a recognized political boss and pay him
for the service to be rendered. This secures the
desired protection or favor. It is pretended that
these payments are contributions to the party, but
as a matter of fact they are tributes to the fund of
the boss, who turns over to the National, State or
County Committees as much of the spoil as he sees fit,
distributing most of it for the purpose of electing to
the legislature his own nominees. In form, it is a
contribution to the party ; in substance and truth it is
bribery or blackmail. Most of these contributions are

17
said to be made by corporations. The items are sup
posed to be entered on their books under fictitious sundry
accounts and hidden from public investigation. In the ¦
old days, all contributions to the party were made to
the treasurer of the National Committee or the treas
urer of the State Committee or the treasurer of the
County Committee. There was some accountability.
Now they are made to the boss, and there is no account
ability, for secrecy is almost always a condition accom
panying the so-called contribution. In this way, the New
York bosses of both parties are said to collect annually
hundreds of thousands of dollars. Mr. Piatt is the re
publican boss, and levies tribute in our party's name.
No one ventures to deny the existence of this practice.
His champions and defenders concede that this money
passes through his hands, but they tell us that we re
publicans shbuld not object because it is expended
solely for the benefit of the republican party. It would,
indeed, bd interesting to ascertain what proportion of
this year's contributions went to the Republican Na
tional Committee for legitimate purposes, and what pro
portion was reserved to assist in electing the present
legislature. We are told, however, that we ought not to
complain or even to mention this disgraceful fact until
we can prove that some part of the money handled by
Mr. Piatt is devoted to his own enrichment or the en
richment of his henchmen and followers. Does that
answer the charge or lessen the guilt ? The same plea
was advanced on behalf of Mr. Croker. But who
knows the truth of the matter ? To whom is a state
ment furnished ? To whom is there any responsibility ?
Who audits the accounts ? The professional politicians
and bosses of both parties alLover the country somehow
amass great wealth. Suppose the boss were not so
.conscientious as we are to understand Mr. Piatt is, and,
¦becoming contaminated by handling this fund, were in-

18
clined to enrich himself? It was asserted, and perhaps
with equal truth, that Mr. Croker used the funds he col
lected exclusively for the benefit of Tammany Hall.
The principal contributors to this fund are known to
be the corporations. Payments are not made by them
from any feeling of devotion to the party or its prin
ciples. The officers who thus use corporate funds are
clearly responsible for their acts. This is a misuse of
trust funds ; and those who receive are equally guilty —
nay, more guilty, for they know that the payments are
made in most instances to avoid attack upon corporate
property. The time is coming when a fearless investi
gating committee or district attorney will uncover this
whole system, lay it bare, expose it, and put an end
forever to the political contributions of corporations to
the funds of any boss. "Trut will come to sight";
such practices " cannot be hid " much longer. No cor-.
poration has the right to give a dollar for such a pur
pose, and to do so should be made a criminal offense.
Mr. Piatt's great power comes from the handling of
this fund, from the levying of tribute directly and in
directly, and we republicans are determined to stop
that source of supply and the practice and to destroy
that power for the sake of the party itself. We are
not willing to wait until an aroused people vents its
wrath upon the republican party to punish it for the
acts or the crimes of any boss. Our party is as it ever
has been the party of the people, the defender of the
Constitution and of the rights of property, and any such
political methods as we condemn imperil its usefulness
and its future.
Tweed in his day was defiant of public opinion.
" What are you going to do about it ? " he saidj But
Tilden and O'Conor showed him. Piatt likewise is de
fiant, but the people will find the way to pull him down
and destroy his power. When Piatt was fighting

19
against McKinley, he issued a statement, published in
the Sun of May 14, in which he said :
"I submit to the business men of this country, whose
sentiment can always control a nominating convention,
that they would better do some thinking between now and
the i6th of June on other subjects than this silly twaddle of
newspapers about ' bosses ' and ' boss rule.' "
May we not in our turn ask the self-respecting people
of this State and their agents at Albany if they had
not better do some thinking between now and the 19th
of January? Will the people consider this objection to
bosses and boss rule as silly twaddle ?
Our liberty is as much endangered by this system of
boss rule and corruption as our honor and our national
character. It is sapping away the old virile political
spirit of Americans and the integrity of our public life.
It is undermining the foundations of the republic itself.
Unless stopped, the people will lose all confidence in
our institutions and sweep them away. The existence
of the republican party is endangered by such a cor
rupt and debasing system of bossism. This night will
be memorable if it only shows that the party still has
within its own ranks enough courage and spirit to fight
¦for its redemption from boss rule.
Therefore, at the bar of public opinion, I impeach
Thomas Cpllier Piatt as unworthy to be sent to the
Senate of the United States. I impeach him in the
name of the republican party whose trust he has be
trayed, whose prestige he has tarnished, whose honor
he has sullied. I impeach him as being responsible for
a political system conducted in utter defiance of all
morality. I impeach him for poisoning political life at
the primaries, for debauching the noble science of gov
ernment, for corrupting and prostituting those who
should esteem public office as a public trust. I impeach
him in the name of the people of the United States, in
the name of both sexes, in the name of every age, in the
name of every religion, as the common enemy of all.

20
ADDRESS OF ELIHU ROOT, Esq.
Fellow Republicans :
Mr. Joseph H. Choate is a candidate for election to
the Senate of the United States. In the manly and
direct fashion which characterizes him, he has placed
himself in nomination before the Legislature and the
people of the State as a candidate for that high office.
I have been asked to come here and say in this public
meeting of republican citzens of New York what I
think and what I feel regarding his candidacy. I do
it cheerfully, because this is the good old-fashioned New
York way in which the people express their sentiments
and their opinions in order that they may be known
by their representatives in the Legislature, in Congress
and in the various branches of Government. I do it not
under any supposition that we have the election of the
Senator in Congress, that you or I can say who shall be
the representative of New York in the Senate,but because we
are the constituents of some of the member^ of the Senate
and Assembly, because many other constituents and other
members of these houses will hear what is said to-night,
will read what is said to-night, will find courage to express
their views, will be incited, it may be, to range themselves
with us in our expression of opinion ; and far distant may
be the day when the people of the State of New York
yield their assent to the proposition that under any cir
cumstances whatever it is an impertinence for any citizen
of the State, however humble he may be, ^owever few
they may be who agree with him, to express to his repre
sentatives in the Legislature of this State his sentiments
and his wishes regarding their action. (Applause.)
No legislature, no governor, no congress and no presi
dent is the superior pf the people of the United States.
(Applause.) They go to their high places to register and
execute the will of their constituents, and the way in
which that will is made known is by the free, voluntary
and spontaneous expression of individual opinion, however
humble each individual may be. (Applause.) i

21
For such an expression of opinion we are met to-night
I have come here to wage no war, to attack no one, but to
say what is in my mind as furnishing a reason why, in my
judgment, the members of the legislature of the State of
New York would do wisely to vote for Mr. Choate as
Senator in Congress to represent the State. (Applause.)
He is a candidate, and I suppose we are all for him.
Certainly we would not have come through the storm of
this inclement night if we had not been for him. I am
sure that I am for him for reasons.
The first, reason is to be found in the necessary answer
to the question : What member of the legislature can be
found who, if he had groat interests at stake himself, if
his life, his liberty, his property, the deepest and dearest
interests of those for whom he cares were at stake, would
aoept the service of any other man in this State if he
could get the advocacy and support of Joseph H. Choate?
(Applause.) I do not say that he is the only man in this State of
New York fit to be Senator in Congress. There are
many others who would well and worthily fill that
position. There is no other avowed candidate for the
place. (Applause.) There doubtless will be, but no man
can tell who they will be. It is probable that there
will be candidates emerging in the future who are not fit
for the position ; it is highly probable that there will be
pthers who are fit for the position, but I do undertake
to say from what we have seen of this gentleman as he
has gone in and out among us for more than a generation,
as we have watched the splendid achievements of his
brilliant talents, as we have known the sterling qualities
of his estimable character that there cannot be found in
the length and breadth of this State or of any other state
between the Atlantic and the Pacific a man more worthy
to be Senator in Congress than Mr. Choate. (Applause.)
I am for him not only because he is my dear friend of
many years, but because I have a pride in the Republican
party and I wish it to be well and gloriously repre
sented ; because I have a pride in my state in which I was

22
born and have lived all my life, and I wish it to be well
and gloriously represented ; because I have the interest of
my country at heart, and I v?ish it to have the services of
its best and noblest citizens in these coming years which
I feel are to be years of trial.
I believe he is the best man for the place. He is wise.
Can proof be required of it better than the stream of the
wise, the most successful, the most sagacious, the most
acute of the citizens of this, great city who seek the doors
of his office day by day to ask his advice upon the most
intricate, difficult and important questions. He is able.
Can better proof be required than the stream of applicants
for his service, who come from every city and from every
State, wherever the greatest and most important questions
are to be determined by our highest courts. His mind is
stored with learning, the wisdom of past generations, of
great minds who have thought upon questions of govern
ment, of politics, of economy. His mind is trained by
literature, by familiarity with the great writers, the great
orators, the great philosophers of past ages, and this
has given to him that wonderful style with which we are
so familiar as clear, as direct, as simple, as effective, as
ever proceeded from the mouth of any man within the
hearing of any one within this hall. (Applause.)
He is not only wise and learned from books ; he knows
the book of life. He knows human character, and, with
a rare insight, plays upon it in the interests of the causes
which he represents as skillfully as the born genius in
music touches the strings of his instrument. Before a
court, before a jury, before any assemblage whatever, this
wise and sagacious man, with his keen insight into the
human heart and character, touches in all ways the true
chords that he wishes to respond.
He has eloquence. He has the keen, incisive wit
that clears the way in the dullest understanding, for the
bitterly cold and certain logic that proceeds always direct
from certain premises to irrefutable conclusion. He has
the wonderful power to adorn the cold hard processes of
reasoning with the gentle and graceful play of humor.

23
All the qualities which go to make up the statesman, the
legislator, the orator, the mover and the wielder of men,
whether it be in the forum or upon the rostrum ; whether
it be before courts, before public assemblages, or in the
halls of legislation, this townsman of ours combines in
his own person. And he has a high and serene courage
which fails under no circumstances, and in no emergency.
He does not carry his heart upon his sleeve for daws to
peck at, but those who know him know that no man ever
surpassed him in the quality of faithful friendship. When
his time comes — far distant may it be — to render his ac
count, he can say, like the young Cameronian hero of
romance: "God, so do to me, and more also if ever I
gave my back to a foe or my shoulder to a friend all the
days of my life." (Applause.)
I repeat the question, what member of the Legislature
of this State would accept inferior service if in an hour of
great emergency his dearest interests were involved, and
he could secure the aid of this great advocate?
There are some things in which one dispenses business
and opportunity as a matter of favor. There are some bits
of business ¦ which are given to nephews and the sons
of friends and personal and social acquaintances, because
one man can do them as well as another, and it is a very
good thing to help along a friend pecuniarily or in
his profession ; but when a man's life is at stake, when his
liberty is at stake, when his property is at stake, how
quickly all that vanishes. How quickly he seeks the man
who can save him, and accepts no inferior service.
Now, what is the cause that the State of New York has?
What service does the State of New York require from
its Senator in Congress? Is it a holiday procession, this
Senate of the United States, in these years now to come,
to which one shall send some favored associate to be dis
played in the trappings and to bear the honors of office? Is
this a piece of business which is to be given as a favor to
some one who will profit by it? Is it something which is to
be used to please a friend ? Or is it something serious and
earnest? Why, how can one ask the question? The flags

24
are hardly yet withdrawn from our streets under which
marched the procession of the people of New York of all
parties, of all creeds, of all shades of previous opinion,
united with one great effort, to face and meet manfully a
common danger. The sounds of the voice of patriotism
have hardly died away since the great conflict of No
vember was brought to a conclusion. Thousands of
our fellow citizens, belonging to the party which we
insist is inferior to ours in patriotism, in willingness
to sacrifice itself in the love of country, turned their
backs upon their party in that contest, sacrificed
such hopes of political preferment as they may have
had, and made common cause with their political
adversaries for the comipon good of our beloved coun
try. (Applause.) We have heard a hundred times
within the last few months the indisputable truth
that the crisis which we have just faced was the most
serious crisis which America has ever had to meet since
the constitution of the United States was first established —
more serious than the terrible stress of civil war in 1861.
We believed it, did we not? It is true, is it not, that the
people of America were obliged to face the assaults of an
enemy more deadly than foreign or than civil war could
produce? Assaults upon national honor; assaults upon
the sacred right of contract ; assaults upon the independ
ence of our judiciary; assaults upon the power of the
Union to enforce its own laws ; assaults upon the very
basis of our social condition ; assaults by men who sought
to tear down the government of the United States in order
to set up another and a different government in its place !
Patriotism has but lately ruled in all the hearts of good
and honest Americans. A great victory has been won.
But, is the war over? Ah! no. We know it is not. The
prosperity for which we looked so hopefully has not yet
come, and it has not come because but one battle has been
gained, and the war is still on and still to be fought out ; be
cause the hosts that were assaulting the citadel of national
life and honor are gathering again for the assault, and the

25
first battle-field where they are to be met is the Senate
of the United States. (Applause.)
From that high vantage ground this year and next year,
and every year until the election of 1900', will go forth loud-
sounding notes of heresy and error tothe misguided millions
who voted for Bryan on last election day. In that body of
power and influence the financial legislation which our
country so sorely needs to be wise and prudent is pre
vented by Senators of the United States ; in that body to
day trembles perhaps the dreadful balance between war
and peace, with all the untold horrors that a wrong
decision may bring. Is it an opportunity to oblige a
friend, to decorate a friend? Ah, no, — the duty of
patriotism, the duty of self-interest, the duty of plain
common sense, require that to that battlefield, to that
point of stress and conflict, this great State, with one-tenth
of the population of the Union, with far more than one-
tenth of its wealth, with its enormous commercial and
manufacturing and agricultural interests, with more at
stake than any other part of the Union, — this great State
should send the best, the ablest, the greatest of its war
riors to fight the battle of the Constitution, of the law, of
national honor, of the independence of the judiciary, of
our social system, of independent Americanism. (Applause.)
Now is the opportunity for the people of New York to show
thatthey care for our country, and are willing to render it
aid in hours of trial ; now is the opportunity for the
people of New York to show that they are really fit to
govern themselves (Applause) by doing, through the
best and the strongest that they can send, good work for
the cause of the Union and of national honor. (Applause.)
Ah, how would the wise and good men of the senate wel
come a coadjutor like Choate? How gladly would Aldrich
and Allison, and Sherman, and Hoar, and Frye, and Hale,
and all the other of the stalwart and staunch Republicans
who have been fighting the battles of honesty and honor
against the crowd of repudiators and agitators and an
archists, welcome the assistance of Choate! (Applause.)
How soon may the time come when before the great

26
questions which that body has to determine in the near
future, questions affecting the very life of our Union, the
honor of our country, the perpetuity of our institutions,
the continuance of our social status, — how soon may the
time come when every father, every good law-abiding citi
zen of this Statp will be ready to cry, " Oh, for one hour
of that clarion voice to speak from that high vantage
ground the great truths on which our Union, our honor
and our country rest ! Oh, for one thrust of that keen
and incisive wit to puncture the false pretense of error.
(Great applause.) Oh, for one American like Choate in
the Senate of the United States to do unto the heresies of
dishonor, of national degradation, what Webster did for
nullification, what Sumner did for human slavery."
Our voice in this great contest is but the voice of one
crying in the wilderness. Members of the Legislature are
elected, they are about to take their places, they are about
to declare their choice. But. one thing we can do. We
can say so loudly, so often, what we think it is the duty
of the State of New York to do, that if our fellow-citizens
agree with us they, too, will take up the cry ; they, too,
will send the message to their representatives at Albany,
and that body, which is always really responsive to pub
lic opinion, if made to believe in its existence and ' to
realize what it is -^that that body will rise to the true dig
nity of the opportunity, will realize the duty which is
before it, and will do for the State of New York what the
plain interests of our common country and the interests
of their constituents demand — send to the Senate the best
man for the performance of the great, important duties
which are to be performed.

27

LETTERS READ AT THE MEETING.

LETTER OF REV. RICHARD k. STORRS OF BROOKLYN.
Deoembee 22r>, 1896.
. Mt Deae Sie : —
I regret extremely that it is not in my power to accept
the invitation to the meeting proposed to be held in New
York to-morrow evening, for furthering the election of
Mr. Choate to the United States Senate. Imperative
engagements at home detain me; and I can only hope
that if a similar meeting shall be held in Brooklyn in the
coming days I may be able to take part in it.
The matter is not one which concerns Mr. Choate alone
or chiefly, or his personal friends, but the State and the
Nation. The office of Senator at Washington, — repre
senting a great State in the council of the States,-^is
surely one which demands the highest qualities of mind
and spirit. An unblemished reputation is of course the
first essential condition of fitness for it, with entire free
dom from suspicion of any crafty and mercenary manipu
lation of local politics for personal ends. But beyond
these are needed the highest order of intellectual ability,
a matured and commanding civil wisdom, the power of
influencing others by convincing and eloquent speech, a
fearless and an uplifting temper which abides on high
levels, the noble patriotism which consults the welfare of
the whole country, with a sense of relationship to the
great history in which the Senate has borne aforetime so
distinguished a part.
It is not often that a man can be found qualified for so
exalted an office, and at the same time willing to accept,
at whatever private sacrifice, its manifold labors and vast
responsibilities. The opportunity presented when such a
man appears is one which tests democratic institutions.
To fail to improve it, and, instead of improving it, to
place the honor and power of the State in hands inade-

28
quate or unfit for the majestic trust, would be at any time
more than a calamity, more than a blunder, it would
involve disgrace for all concerned in the evil work.
Especially must this be the consequence at a time so
critical as the present, when gravest questions are before
the nation for illuminating discussion and final decision ;
questions affecting our permanent public and private
Interests, as well as our important and far-reaching foreign
relations. At a time like this, to have the State of New
York consent to be represented in the Senate by a dexter
ous and ambitious manager of the caucus, when the oppor
tunity is at hand for placing a really great man, honest
and incorruptible, in the seat of Seward or Silas Wright,
it would almost make one despair of the Republic. Cer
tainly the honor and the moral coherence of the Repub
lican party would suffer heavily through any such action.
With all my heart, therefore, I am with you in the effort
to have the State rise to the level of the great occasion,
and send Mr. Choate to counsel and speak for it in the
Senate. Faithfully yours,
Richaed S. Stoees.
Me. Edmund Wetmoee, President, etc.

LETTER OF HON. SETH LOW, President of Columbia University.
Deoembee 23d, 1896.
Paul D. Ceavath, Esq.,
Chairman.
My Deae Sie: —
Three years ago, the Republican Party in this State
made Mr. Choate a member of the Constitutional Conven
tion and elected him President of the Convention. In this
capacity Mr. Choate splendidly vindicated, by his fidelity
to the duties of the position, by his dignity, by his tact, by
his good judgment, and by his great ability in debate, the

29
sagacity of the Party in selecting him for this high and in
fluential position. There is little doubt that the people of
the State confirmed the choice of the Party in this case with
satisfaction and enthusiasm. The State having thus re
ceived good service from Mr, Choate in this conspicuous
position, I believe that it would be good judgment to avail
of his great abilities again by electing him to the Senate of
the United States. Some men have the gift of measuring
up to their opportunities, whatever they may be. Such
an (ine I think Mr. Choate will show himself to be in the
Senate Chamber of the United States, should he be elected
to that high office. Therefore, I cordially endorse and
support his candidacy and join with pleasure in the move
ment to urge him upon the Legislature for the Senatorship
about to become vacant. Respectfully, Seth Low.

letter of william allen butler, esq.
54 Wall Steeet, New Yoek,
Dec. 23d, 1896.
Edmund Wetmoee, Esq.,
President of tlie Choate Club.
My Deae Sie :
I regret that I am disabled by a cold from taking part
in the meeting to be held this evening in aid of Mr.
Choate's Candidacy for the United States Senate, which I
think ought to commend itself to our incoming Legislature
for the following, among other reasons :
1st. The Senate of the United States, desijite the jns*t
criticism and censure it has provoked, is still a most essen
tial and important factor in our system of free constitu
tional government. Aside from the Legislative powers
which it shares with the House of Representatives, the
more important Executive offices can Jbe filled only with
its advice and consent, and it exercises, in conjunction

30
with the President, the Treaty-making povrer. The fore
most names in American Statesmanship are connected
with its annals. Out of the twenty-three Presidents of
the United States, thirteen have presided over, or been
members of the Senate. Of these the first was John
Adams and the last Benjamin Harrison. Our own State
has in former days sent its most distinguished public men
to the Senate. Silas Wright when he resigned in 1844 to
become Governor of New York was its most esteemed
member. Since then, William H. Seward, John A. Dix,
Edwin D. Morgan, and Roscoe Conkling, not to mention
others, have been fit representatives of the Empire State
in the Senate. The highest personal character, a large
experience in public affairs, a knowledge of Constitutional
and Parliamentary law, skill in debate and' wisdom in
council, are among the indispensable requisites for a fit
discharge of the duties of a Senator.
,2nd. It is conceded that Mr. Choate possesses all the
requisite qualifications. If he is willing to serve the
State as a Senator in Congress, his eminent fitness ought
to make his election sure. There is special need now of
well-trained jurists in the Senate. The active, intelligent
and able lawyers who will so largely control our next
State Legislature know perfectly well that Mr. Choate is
the best and worthiest man New York can at the present
juncture send to the Senate. They know, too, that for a
lawyer the indispensable requisite for his standing and re
pute is the esteem and respect of the members of his own
profession. Any lawyer who casts his vote in the coming
Senatorial election at the dictation of partisan leadership
or for selfish political ends, instead of the highest public
interest, deserves to forfeit the good opinion of the Bar of
New York.
3rd. The present situation of the country demands new
safeguards against national perils. Sound men are just
as necessary as sound money. We have escaped a great
disaster by the united efforts of citizens who, in the face
of threatened dangers, made party subservient to patriot-

31
ism. Certainly we should not fall back upon the machin
ery of party as the rule of action when the popular will
has declared, as in this State, in an unexampled way, that
the safety of the Republic is the highest law for political
leaders and managers as well as for the people at large.
4th. There is no worthy candidacy in opposition to that
of Mr. Choate. The public seems to have adjusted itself
to the idea that the action of the Legislature in the elec
tion of a United States Senator is to be that of a voting
machine, set in motion by a single hand to register the
decree of a single will. If the Legislature of New York
has come at last to such base uses, the fact should be made
clear and patent and not disguised under subterfuges aud
evasions. If a candidacy which in 1881 was a source of
political disturbance and disquiet until it shrank out of
sight into a self-chosen obscurity, is to be rehabilitated in
1897 as a necessary outcome of a restored party supremacy,
it is not unreasonable to challenge and scrutinize its claims.
Candor and common sense, as well as the settled law which
governs political issues, demand this. Public men must,,
as to public matters, be judged by this record, and when
the issue is as to a claim for the highest recognition and
reward, the burden of proof is on the claimant to show
superior fitness and good ground for the preferment which
he seeks. The Legislature of 1897 is to be the arbiter of this
issue, and all right-minded men, as it seems to me, would
regard with alarm and indignation, however repressed or
hindered in their utterance by party ties or affiliations, a
result which would inevitably lower the standard of the
public service in its most exalted sphere. This peril can
only be averted by the election of Mr. Choate.
Yours very truly,
Wm. Allen Butler.

32
LETTER OF HON. SHERMAN S. ROGERS OF BUFFALO.
Buffalo, 22nd Deer., 1896.
W. D. GuTHiiiE, Esq.,
& Paul D. Ceavath, Esq.,
for Committee.
Gentlemen :
I greatly regret my inability to attend the Carnegie Hall
meeting tomorrow evening for I most warmly favor Mr.
Choate's candidacy and would gladly say so on that occa
sion with whatever emphasis I could command.
Two things seem so clear at this time that I cannot
imagine how any good citizen, and especially any good
Republican citizen, can 'fail to see them. The first is,
that the State of New York stands in urgent need of a
great Senator. The other is, that in Mr. Choate the need
would be fully supplied. Why, then, should he not be
nominated? Most sincerely Yours, Shebman S. Rogees.

LETTER OF REV. R. S. MACARTHUR, D.D.
Calvary Baptist Church.
57th St., bet. 6th & 7th Aves.
Pastor's Rbsidbkob,
358 West 57th St.
New Yokk, Dec. 21, 1896.
Me. Paul D. Ceavath,
Deae Sie :
Yours of the 19th inst. I answered last Saturday
evening verbally, as I was so engaged at the moment I
could not write. I appreciate the honor of the invitation
given me to address the meeting to be held at Carnegie
Music Hall in favor of the election of Mr. Choate to the
United States Senate, but an engagement to lecture that
evening in another part of the City forbids my acceptance
of the invitation.

33
I hail with joy the possibility of Mr. Choate's election
to the Senate. His election would confer honor upon the
City, the State and the Country. The presence in the
Senate of a man of his wide learning, great eloquence and
high character would remind the country of the Senate's
great days when its walls echoed with the patriotic elo
quence of Sumner, Webster and men of like character.
The election of Mr. Choate would give us the oppor
tunity of putting a scholar, a patriot and a statesman into
the Senate of the United States. The Senate much needs
men of his character and worth. Every instinct of patriot
ism should lead all true Americans now to favor the elec
tion of a genuine statesman. The mere politician ought
not to be in demand when a senator from the great State
of New York is to be elected. Our State is much in need
of senatorial representation worthy of the population,
wealth and character of the Empire State.
Very truly yours, R. S. MacAethur.

LETTER OF HON. MATTHEW HALE OF ALBANY.
Law Offices of Hale, Bdlkeley & Tennant,
35 North Pearl Street,
Albany, N. Y.
DECEMBEli 21, 1896,
Paul D. Ceavath, Esq.,
107 East 37th Street, New York.
Deae Sir :
I regret that I could not accept your invitation to attend
the Choate mass meeting Wednesday night. As a citizen
of the State of New York, interested in her prosperity and
greatness and wishing that she might be worthily repre
sented in the Senate of the United States, it would have
afforded me much satisfaction to aid in the expression of
a public sentiment in favor of the election as Senator of

34
a man of the high attainments, the great ability and the
conceded integrity of Mr. Choate. No one who knows
him can question his rare qualifications for the position.
The mention of his name takes us back to the traditions
of the times when such men as Webster, Rufus Choate,
Clay, Calhoun, Silas Wright, Marcy, Dix and Seward
were members of that body. ¦* * *
Wishing you the greatest success in your meeting Wed
nesday evening and in the hope that the Legislature may
see that the honor and credit of the State can be best pro
moted by the election of Mr. Choate to the Senate, I
remain Very truly yours, Matthew Hale.

RESOLUTIONS UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED BY THE MEETING.
Hesolved : That the Republican voters of New York
City, present at this meeting, hereby organize themselves
into a Committee to be styled the " Choate Club," for the
purpose of furthering the movement for the election of the
Hon. Joseph H. Choate to the United States Senate;
Resolved : That the " Choate Club " shall have a Presi
dent, a Secretary, an Executive Committee of five (5) (in
cluding the President), which shall have power to increase
its own numbers, and such Vice-Presidents as the Execu
tive Committee may determine :
Resolved ; Tha;t the Executive Committee may add fur
ther names to the General (Committee, and take, from time
to time, such action as to, them seem best to further the
movement in support of which the "Choate Club" is
organized.

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