43
The Nomination of Garfield
i3
Judge Williams Tells of the Convention of 188C
and Conkling's Quarrel With Chief Executive
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, POItTXATO?, "ATTGrST 26,7 1906.
MA
TQ)
I WAS a member of the Republican
Nation convention of 1880 at which
General Garfield was nominated.
Preceding the convention there was a
widespread discussion as to whether or
not the precedent established by Gen
eral WaBhinpton declining an election
for a third term should be followed
by that convention, this precedent set
by Washington had been so universally
accepted and approved that it came to
be regarded in effect as an unwritten
part of the constitution of the United
States. A movement to override this
precedent was started by Conkllng In
New York, Cameron in, Pennsylvania
and lv:gan in Itlinois. It was thought
that li these three great states com
bined they could largely Influence, if
not control, the convention. Their ob
ject was to nominate General Grant
for a third term. I know from con
versations with General Grant that he
personally favored an adherence to the
ovainT.iA nf Washington, and besides
he had expressed himself to that effect
in a letter written by him in 1876 de
clining a nomination for a third term.
One of the characteristics of General
Grant was his willingness, too often, to
surrender his own good Judgment to
the influence of his friends, and he al
lowed the movement to go on without
jnierrenng one way , or ine uliiji, w uw
own discomfiture.
To accomplish their purpose the
three gentlemen above named, having
secured a majority of the delegates to
the convention In their respective
states, caused the unit rule to be adopt
ed; thut la to say the whole delegation
from a state should vote according to
the will of a majority, contrary to a
ruin that had been adopted in the con
vention of 1S76, that each delegate
should vote according to his own Judg
ment. There was a strong opposition
to the unit rule in each oi the states,
but the influence of the leaders pre
vailed. When the convention assem
bled there wag a good deal of excite
ment and apprehensions were enter
tained that it would be difficult to or
ganize the convention, but the com
mittee on permanent organization
nominated Senator George F. Hoar and
he was elected without opposition.
There were several contested delega
tions, and the committee on credentials
hart great difficulty in coming to a
conclusion and were occupied two
days in preparing their report. An
effort was made on the second day of
its session to compel the committee to
report, but it was defeated. On the
third day of the convention Mr. Conk
ling offered a resolution tu the effect
that every member of the convention
was bound to support the nominee
whoever he might be. This resolution
was adopted, but three of the delegates
from West Virginia voted against It,
and thereupon Mr. Conkling offered a
resolution to the effect that these three
delegates in refusing to abide by the
will of the majority forfeited their
right to vote in the convention.
General Garfield attracted the atten
tion of the convention by, the speech he
made on this last proposition of Mr.
Conkling. W contended that the three
delegates from West Virginia had a
right to vote according to their own
Judgment without forfeiting any right;
that It did not follow that because they
had voted against the resolution they did
not Intend to support the nominee of the
convention, and declared that no con
vention of which he wag a member could
ever bind him to vote against his own
conviction, and in conclusion he appealed
to Conkling to withdraw his resolution,
and Conkllng. seeing that the conven
tion was In. sympathy with the views of
Garfield, acceded to his request.
" The report of the committee on creden
tials led to a Inns and earnest debate.
There was a majority and a minority re
port, and the question was whether or
not a delecate from an election district
had a right to vote according to his own
Judgment or was bound to vote according
to the decision of a state convention, tfnd
It was .decided that the delegate was free
to vote as h ples.scd. Mr. Pierpont. of
New York, reported the platform which,
among other things, declared for a pro
tective tariff. There was nothing In it
about civil service rerorm, but It was
amended In the convention by a declara
tion that the civil service reform as pro
posed by President Hayes, should be
fully established. President Hayes had
paid in his first message to Congress:
"I ask the attention of the public to the
paramount necessity of reform In our
civil service, a reform not merely as to
certain abuses and practices of so-called
official patronage which have come to
have the sanction of usage in the sev
eral departments of the Government, but
a change In the system of appointment
Itself a reform that shall ba thorough,
radical and Complete, a return to the
principles and practices of the founders
of the Government. They neither ex
pected nor desired from public officers
any partisan services. They meant that
public officers should owe their whole
service to the Government and the reo
ple. They meant that the officer should
be secure in his tenure aa long as hi
personal character remained untarnished
and the performance of his duties satis
fying. They held that appointments to
office were not to be made or expected
merelv nj; rewards for nflrtisan servires
nor merely on the nomination of mem
bers of Congress as being entitled in any
respect to the control of such appoint
ments." On the fourth day of the convention
the nominations for candidates were
made. James G. Blaine was placed in
nomination by Mr. Joy, of Mlphlgan, and
the nomination was seconded by Mr. Pix
ley. of California, and Mr. Frye, of
Maine. All of the speeches of these gen
- tlemen were eloquent In praise of their
candidate. His ability, patriotism and
statesmanship were described In glowing
terms. The speakers were heartily ap
plauded by the vast audience. Mr. Conk
llng was a conspicuous figure In the con
vention. When he arose to nominate
General Grant he was greeted with vo
ciferous cheers. Among the first words
he uttered was a reference to the hero
of Appomatox, which thrilled the audi
ence like a shot from a J"ignai gun,
and he then proceeded in his usual forci
ble manner to describe the claims of his
candidate upon the gratitude and support
of the people Vor his great and invalu
able service to the country. Qeneral Gar
field then put in nomination John Sher
man. Ho spoke with his usual ability,
but without the enthusiasm which char
acterized the preceding speeches. Fred
rick Billings, of Vermont, presented the
name of Senator Edmunds; Mr. Cassa
day. of Wisconsin, the name of Elihu
B. Washburn, and Mr. Drake, of Minne
sota, the name of William Windom.
These three latter candidates were put
forth a probabilities, and as expressions
of the local pride of the states In which
they lived. These nominations were
made on Saturday and the convention ad
journed until the ensuing Monday.
When the voting commenced on Mon
day, General Grant received 3(H, Blaine
2S4, Sherman 93, FJdmund3 34. Washburn
30. Windom 10 and Garfield 1. Twenty
seven ballots were taken without any ma
terial change, and the convention ad
journed until Tuesday. On the 29th ba'.
lot, Tuelay morning, Sherman received
116 votes; on the 30tn ballot he, received
130 and Windom i. The balloting con
tinued, and on the 34th ballot Wisconsin
gave its 16 votes to Garfield. (Jn the 35th
ballot the most of the delegates who had
voted for Blaine and Sherman changed
to Garfield, and he received 399 votes.
General Grant 300, Blaine 42. Washburn
5, Sherman 3. When the nomination was
made the convention and the audience
went wild with excitement, and aa soon
as he could make himself heard Mr.
Conkllng moved to make the nomination
unanimous, which way done with a shout
that almost shook the rafters of the
building. The Oregon Republican con
vention by whicll" the delegates were
elected instructed them to vote for
Blaine, which they did until the ballot
by which the nomination was made.
Several nominations were made for Vice
President, but it was a foregone con
clusion that Mr. Conkllng and the sup
porters of General Grant should have
the nomination for Vice-President, and
accordingly Chester A. Arthur, the friend
of Mr. Conkllng. was nominated. The
Democratic candidates were General
Wintield S. Hancock for President, and
William H. English for Vice-President.
The convention by which they were nom
inated, among other things, declared in
favor of a tariff for revenue only. Gen
eral Garfield was elected, receiving 214
electoral votes to 15S for Hancock.
General Garfield's administration
was few of days and full of trouble.
Conkling and Grant had made speeches
for him in the Presidential canvass.
Conkllng, who was not lacking In self
esteem, took it Into his head that Gar
field was chiefly indebted to him for
his election, and that his wishes and
interests should be consulted by the
administration in appointments to of
fice. There is no doubt that Conk
ling's speeches were of great benefit
to Garfield, notwithstanding which
Garfield appointed Blaine Secre
tary of State, whom Conkling
regarded as his implacable en
emy. The appointment was entirely
a proper one, but it . made Conkllng
furious, and, to make matters worse,
the President appointed William Rob
ertson, an avowed enemy of Conkllng,
Collector of Customs in New York.
This last appointment of President
Garfield subjected him to severe criti
cism and looked very much like a wan
ton act of Ingratitude. On the 2d of
July, 1881. the President was shot by
Charles Guiteau'at the railroad depot
in Washington. I was present In the
court room a part of the time when
Guiteau was on trial. He appeared to
me to be a crazy man. He had a wild,
distracted look which could not be
simulated. He was convicted and ex
ecuted. It seems that Garfield In early life
had a fondness for the sea, and after
he was wounded, at his request he was
removed from the White House to El
beron, N. J., where he could look out
upon the ocean and feel Its cool and
refreshing breezes and where he died
on the 10th day of September, 1881.
On the 27th day of February, 1882,
memorial services for the dead Presi
dent were held In the House of Repre--sentatives
and James G. Blaine was
the orator of the occasion. I doubt if
the life and services of a distinguished
man were . ever celebrated In a mora
fitting manner than In the masterly
oration by Mr. Blaine at these memo
rial services, the concluding words of
which I, give: "As the end drew near
his early craving for the sea returned.
The stately mansion of power had
been to him the wearisome hospital
of pain. He begged to be taken from
his prison walls, from Its oppressive
and stifling air, from Its homelessness
and its hopelessness. Gently, sgently,
the love of a great people bore the
pale sufferer to the longed-for healing
of the sea to live or to die, as God
should will, within sight of the heav
ing billows, within the sound of Its
manifold voices. With a wan, fevered
face tenderly lifted to the cooling
breeze, he looked out wistfully upon
the ocean's changing wonders, on Its
far galls, on "it restless waves roll
ing shoreward to break and die be
neath the noonday sun, or the red
clouds of evening arching low to the
borizon; on the serene and shining
pathway of the stars. I,et us think
that his "dying eyes read a mystic
meaning which only the rapt and part
ing soul may know. Let us believe
that in the silence of the receding
world he heard the great waves break
ing on a farther shore and felt already
upon his wasted brow the breath of
the eternal morning."
GEO. HI WILLIAMS.
Athletics the Rich Man's
Salvation
Continued From Page Forty.
of the fifth Earl of Desart. Young Cut
ting, who is an impulsive ci.ap, was made
secretary to Joseph H. Choate when that
eminent lawyer went to London as Amer
ican Ambassador. Cutting met Lady
Cuffe at one of the first functions he at
tended after getting settled in London,
and their engagement was announced
soon afterward. There rs a story, which
need not be verified, that he had not
known her two hours before he asked her
to marry him. He took to his diplomatic
Job as energetically as he did to his love
making, but concluded after marriage to
mire from public life and go into the
sugar-refining business, beginning at
Nordhoff, Cal. His bride flight that a
good thing to do; sugar refining certainly
is a more remunerative business than
diplomacy, and, while young Cutting's
family Is rich, he has to make his own
money. She would be known as Lady
Sybil" Cutting In England, but she an
nounced soon after marriage that she
would drop the. title altogether and be
known as Mrs. Bayard Cutting, Jr., ex
actly as if born an American. Cutting's
athletic stunts were polo, football, rowing
swimming and golf.
Ogden Livingston Mills, scion of Col
onial aristocracy as well as modern plu
tocracy. Is a, famous expert among his
own kind at polo and lawn tennis.
Peter and K. L. Goelet play baseball
well, along with one of Commodore
Gerry's sons, Arthur Burden and John
Ismay Blair. The last named Is a grand
son of John I. Blair, who was a pioneer
railroad builder In the prairie country
before the Civil War and died a few
years ago. full of millions and years, be
ing only half a decade less than a hun
dred. Ogden Alms Reld, son of the present
Ambassador to Great Britain, who Is the
millionaire on-In-law of multi-millionaire
D. O. Mills, is an enthusiastic football
player, against the wishes of his parents,
and the list might be continued till It In
cluded the names of nearly every one of
the families of exceptional wealth in the
whole country. -
Destroying the Evidence.
Meggendorfer Blatter.
Host (to his guests) The wine
you'll get presently wag laid down in
my cellar on my daughter's birth.
Daughter (aside to the butler) John,
wipe the cobwebs oft the bottles before
you serve.
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