11
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, D KCEMBEK". r'lWtt.- '
I" Russia's Czar Holds the Record
i With George HI a Good Second
V V(iS Witt?' Y iW
Burchard's Famous "Three R's'
That Beat Blaine for President
.COUNT BttriARCK
WHOSE GREATEST
BLUNDER WAS TRYING TO
J3LUFF" EMPEROR WJLLMM
- '.;:z-::::
. MAXIM ILI AH, BLUNDERINGLY
SENT TO MEXICO TO BE .
EMPEROR BY NAPOLEON 7J7.
REV. DR. BURCXARD
WEO'NADE THEmMOUS
RlM, ROMANISM AND
REBELLION "BLUNDER.
BY .DEXTER MARSHALL.
BLUNDERS ' are sometimes the in
struments used by destiny to over
rule '. man's cleverness and shape
lilstory. The present Russian Czar has
made more blunders than any other liv
ing monarch, but the greatest blunder
perpetrated by a ruler within the past 200
years was made before 1776, by. King
Ceorge III, his Prime Minister, Lord
North, and the other advisers who coun-:
seled the course which he pursued to
ward the American-colonists.
The story of King George's- blunder and
the resulting independent Nation on this
eide of the water has filled many of the
most Important pages of history since -he
made it, and is bound to till many more
before the book is finally closed. Some of
tiiE3e--pages tell of gross blunders made
ly Americans, not the least of which, in
Its. effect upon, -political history, was
brought to'mirld the other day by this
notice: . s . .
Died At Santa Ana. Cal.. Frank W.
Mack" after a lingering, illness.
Not that Mack was responsible for the
big blunder which. his death recalls. Far
from it. But he a newspaper reporter
was the Instrument chosen by destiny
to make the blunder public-
The mam. 'really responsible' for the
blunder was a New York political man
ager, who arranged a certain meeting
at the Fifth Avenue Hotel along in the
latter part' of the Presidential campaign
0f.lS84. when Blaine was the candidate
of the Republicans- and Cleveland of the
Democrats. It was this man's idea that
the Blaine cause would be tremendously
furthered if a- reception could be ar
ranged at which Blaine and a number
of clergymen should meet. I have heard
that Blaine was doubtful about the wis
dom of the meeting, and it is certain
that some of his advisers were outspoken
in their efforts to prevent it. showing
mighty little respect for the notion of
"bringing preachers . into the political
game." . . ." '
But the reception was held nevertheless.
One of the ministers was the Rev. Dr.
Samuel D.. Burchard. at that time presi
dent of Rutgers Femala College, an edu
cational institution that has long since
passed out of the public ken. On Sun
days he tilled the pulpit of a struggling
Presbyterian church.
Burchard was selected to deliver the
address of .welcome. Almost at its. be
ginning he showed how wise Jiad been
those who objected to "bringing "preachers
into the political game" by making the
famous declaration that the antecedents
vf the political party to which he was
opposed were "Rum, Romanism and Re
bellion." Chiefly , because the reception had bijen
fsot up for clergymen perhaps It was very
largely attended, but only one reporter
Mack was present. He represented the
Press Association. Its man was sure to
he .there: the.new market was a tiwiv
one that day, and there being little prob-'j
ability that the preachers' reception
could yield anything worthy, of special
nttention the New York papers did not
"cover" if specially.
I had it. from .Mack himself not long
before his death that he had no notion
of being called upon to make much of a
report and that he was rather disgusted
that so unimportant an assignment had
fallen to his lot. He was then in his
early twenties and had not made his
mark, lp spite of his ambition to do this
hs soon as ever he could,- he went to
the hotel In a 1 listless frame of. mind,
quite different from his usual mental at
titude toward bis work.
Most of those expected were late in
arriving and this bored the distinguished
canaicate as much as it did the reporter.
At last, however, enough were In the
room to warrant the opening of the func
tion, and the clergyman destiny's choice
as the man to speak the blundering words
that should overthrow one great politioal
party and put another in power stepped
forward and began to talk.
He was an old man 72 and his head
was bald more than half way back. His
face was clean shaven except for short
"sideboards." and he was so embarrassed
by the fact that he was standing In the
presence of the candidate that what he
said was hardly audible. Mack had to
lean forward to catch the words. The
llrst few sentences were dull and unin
teresting "not worth printing" Mack
thought. Then came the fatal alliterative
phrase-"R'um, Romanism and Rebellion."
"Great Scott!" gasped the reporter, his
listlessness instantly disappearing. He
could hardly believe his ears.
Neither could some of the clergymen,
little-"versed as they were in .the occa
sional political importance of a word
spoken at the wrong time aud place. They
shrugged' their shoulders and writhed In
deprecatory faahton all over .the room.
Only two, of., all . those present, seemed
unaware .that the great mistake ;of the
campaign had been . made. . They were
thet clergyman speaker and the candidate.'
Burchard droned along, through;- his fa
tuous little speech, while Blaine .seemed
immersed in thought. ' His mind., appar
ently, was wandering far away from Ihe
At firsi Ti was unalterably- opposed to
the plan for seeking- re-election whim
the meeting enthusnititicnll v indorsed,
but "ne finally yielded, and, on Monday,
went with Piatt to Albany, where the
lctfiMl;Ltui-e was In session, to super
intend In person the campaign for re
habilitation. But the wires had been set to work
carrying: the news of the resignation.
. k A?X 1 OLOV777, VHOSE
THE 'RECENT BLUNDERING PUB- II W - ' ' r ViT . , - U W BLUNDER M SITTICKINC
LICATION OF WHOSE MEMOIRS , j1 YS' 'A F PRUSSIA PUT HIM OFF THE
DISPLEASED THE GERMAN EMPEROR 1 1 , - ' 1 Xy, ' j inPERAL ONE OF FRANCE
ivl' iiSj
14- ty.f. TmUi 1 GREATEST BLUNDEKER mTiM Ml
' jClS I? " -- k.'.'h' -tWl The two blunder were not simda; how- Vl "VW Vi, f f 4 .t ht
' , I ' ' ' ''-V' ' V :i$A ever Blame .uffi .ed for the Burchard ff ' Tf "Z&m Jft? f W2
; . - - iing suffered . more severely than Blaine . rTt" MlTBirMlMMiMHiiiftTiiiiiii iiiimii in '
room in. which he was being addressed.
More than one who. saw him doubted that
he -heard Burchard's burning words at
all.-- - . ' . .......
Whether e could have said anything
in response to check the tide-wbich be
gan to .set oistrongly against him when
the new :"three R's" were sent on light
ning wings over the wires . to the., four
quarters of the land is questionable, even
had he heard them At all events, he took
no: notice of them, either then or .when
he saw them in print. But Burchard had
cast the die for Blaine and lost.
Mack's amazement was so great that
he nearly forgot to transcribe the phrase
and the earlier part of the sentence to
which it belonged, but he finally pulled
himself together and wrote It all down.
Then he began to fidget, since it was get
ting late, and unless ne got his dispatch
on the wires soon it could nqt reach the
afternoon papers In time for "the edi
tion." But he had not long to wait. Bur
chard quickly drew his remarks, to a
close and Blaine's response . was short.
He told a friend the same day that he
did not hear. the phrase. He said that
if he had he could have answered it
satisfactorily. f . - .
Without waiting to see what any one
else had to say, Mack hastened away,
knowing that the insignificant assignment
which had been intrusted to his care had
yielded something that would be read
from one end of the country to the other.
He played the part which Destiny had
handed out to him as well as he knew
how: In hair an hour from the time the
blunder was made he was spreading h9
news of it as widely as possible. ; .
Some, readers will ; remember what a
rumpds' lC all kicked up." Before nightfall
hundreds'of excited managing'editors and
city editors .had sent out thousands of
hurrying reporters, some Instructed to get
interviews from men who .would stand by
.Blaine in . spite .of . Burchard's- . break,
others to gather up all the condemnation
therefor that they could find. .
It caused .a vast deal more .excitement
than . any .incident Jn. any Jater .Presiden
tial campaign in my; memory and gave
to r the . Rev. Mr. Burchard ., a ' notoriety
which' caused 'him- the most acute an
guish undermining bishealth so seriously
that his son was forced to ask the news
papers to cease commenting upon it un
less they wished to torture the poor old
man literally to death..
Burchard's was not the only big blun
der of that .campaign. The other one
came after the election, when the claim
of Blaine's election was made; a claim
which half of the country believed to be
true, but which the other half looked
upon as a deliberate attempt to mislead
the public. That claim was since found
to have been based upon blunderingly, il
legible figures written by a' New Ydrk
telegraph office clerk in a list of votes
cast . by districts and misread by the
footers. The blunder cost the country
weeks of unexampled political suspense.
The Famous "Me Too". Blunder.
It is a curious thing in the history of
politioal blunders In this .country that
another of the most far-reaching of such
mistakes was made by Roscoe Conkling,
for years the strougest enemy within his
party's lines tnat Blaine ever had to
fight. ;
. The two blunders were not similar, how
ever. Blaine suffered for the Burchard
blunder, but he did not make It. Conk
ling suffered . more severely than Blaine
did. since Conkling was driven out of
public .lite by his. while Blaine was not
by Burchard's. But Conkling made his
own blunder.- - - .
, There, are . many among the younger
readers f this article whq .have - the
haziest notions only as to the nature of
the "Me Too" blunder which changed the
course of political events quite as much
as the Burchard "three R's" did, and,
only, the other day, in a group of half
a dozen fifty-year-olds, there was but one
who could give a. connected account of
the episode. .....
It was the political sensation of 1SS1.
Roscoe Conkling and Thomas Collier
Piatt, then respectively senior- and
junior Senator from New York, were
not on very good terms with President
Garfield,- who, elected the previous
year, had made Blaine Secretary of
State, and had not consulted the New
York' Senators regarding the Cabinet
make-up. Soon after his inauguration,
also, to make matters more acute, Gar
field appointed Judtce William H. Rob
ertson Collector of Customs ' for the
Port. of New York. i
As Judge Robertson was a prominent
member of the so-called "half-brPbd"
wing of the party; while Conkling was
at the head of the "stalwart" wing,
Conkling furiously objected. He de
clared that the President had violated
the -immemorial but traditional rule of
courtesy to the Senators, which pre-,
scribed that they should be consulted
and deferred to whenever an' important
appointment like that of Collector; was
to be made. -
But while Conkling blazed with
wrath and was long believed to be the
originator of the course which he and
Piatt pursued, -it has since -been as-
sorted that such' was not :. the case.
Anyivay, they actually- did have re
course to a modified, form of English
political practice. They resigned and
appealed to their constituents- the
New York Legislature, to be more ex
act ;for vindication. Apparently there
wasn't the slightest Aoubt of their tri
umphant re-election. Thls-would show
the President something he ought to
know about.
Their resignation took place one day
in May. It was then given out and
denied by nobody tiwit Conkllng's bril
liant mind conceived and laid out the
whole scheme; that his Imperious will
put it through. Conkling resigned
first. Piatt resigned directly afterward
and the wording of his resignation in
dicated clearly that he was following
the lead of his illustrious colleague;
it was a sort of "Me Too" utterance
that fastened upon him the nickname
of "Me Too" Piatt for many years.
Ten or 11 years later it came out
that Conkling never thought of re
signing until Piatt broached the proj
ect and that, when he did resign, Conk
ling purposed not seeking re-election
but retiring permanently from public
life, practicing law and winning, a
competence. ' In 1893 A. R. Conkling,
Roseoe's nephew, stated categorically
that this was the case and that it was
not until the following Sunday evening,
May 22, that he changed his mind.
On that evening a meeting of his po-
'itical friends was held at the New
York homo of Vice-President Chester
A. Arthur, which. . Conkling. attended.
as a little more than three. years later,
they were to spread the news of Bur
chard's break. The Legislature had ad
journed -on the previous Friday and
its members had gone home aver Sun
day. Before returning on Monday they
had tulked the whole matter over with
the voters. It is probable that, had
the election taken place before the
legisJutors had got in touch with their
home people, Conkling and Piatt would
have been re-elected, . since . the Legis
lature was naturally strongly "stal
wart." But as tlie. "half-breed" leaders had
shrewdly suspected, the voters who
had been urged in the campaign by
Cemkllng to support Garfield, and had
done so loyally, sympathized more with
tile President than with the Senators
in their quarrel and were angry about
the resignation. This- was made so
clear that no election was possible for
a long time, and before it took place
President Garfield was shot by Guit
eau. After that the ultimate defeat of
Conkling and Piatt was foreseen by
everybody.
The contest was bitter, however, and
lasted for weeks. It widened the al
ready deep rift between the two wings
of the Republican party in New York
and brought about the state of party
weakness which, in 18S4, when Blaine
was running for President, made it
possible for the blundering words of
Burchard to bring about defeat.
Whether the excitement following
the Conkling-PIatt resignation . was
really responsible for the mental con
dition of Garfield's assassin, as so many
believe, has often been discussed by
those who delight to speculate on such
matters. If so. then the great Sena
torial resignation blunder was far room
influential on political history than
Burchard's.
Neither Blaine nor Conkling bore
easily the blunders that wrecked their
fondest hopes. Blaine remained in pub
lic life, but Conkling never sough re
entrance, settling in New York ami
digging away at the practice of law as
fiercely and doggedly as he did -when
just beginning, many years earlier, at
Utica. To the last he was a? self-sufficient
and as proud as he was during
his public career.
As a talker Conkling was overwhelm
ing. -A. few months before his death
a' certain man called upon him to get
a bit of information. The ex-Senator
got upon the subject of the resigna
tion and discussed it for live hours,
his caller never getting the slightest
chance to explain why he ' had called.
Finally, when he said goodhy, Mr.
Conkling grasped his hand heartily.
"Come in and see me again." he ex
claimed. "Come any time. I do so liko
to hear you talk!"
Blsinnrck'ii Mont Serloun Blunder.
The blunder recently made . by the
present Prince Hohenlohe, of Germany,
in publishing his father's memoirs
without first consulting the Kuiperor
has subjected the Prince to some per
sonally uncomfortable moments, since
the Emperor was very angry about th
publication. But this blunder will have
no serious consequences to anyone but.
the Prince. It will be remembered that
the elder Hohenlohe succeeded ' Bis
marck as Premier.
Bismarck's most serious blunder,
whioh was told of is detail in
the book, drove him into retirement and
probably had large Influence upon the
immediately following course of events.
Bismarck's blunder was in sizing up
his man. He thought the present Em
peror William, whose grandfather he
had virtually made the first ruler of
the modern German Empire, could he
controlled. Believing this. Bismarck,
who in turn had been made Prince by
the man he made Emperor, set up his
own will against his imperial master's.
The result might have been foreseen
had anyone suspected the strength of
the young Emperor's will and charac
ter. Nobody , did. however: least of nil,
Bismarck himself. To him, more even;
perhaps, than to the rest of the world,
it was Inconceivable that William
would risk going it alone without the
benefit of the ripe judgment, the wide
experience. the profound political
knowledge and the rocklike steadfast
ness of him who. more than any other
man, was responsible for the change of
the Hohenzollerns from a royal to an
Imperial family. His surprise when he
found that William was determined to
be a real Emperor, that he was not
content, as his grandfather had been,
to be somewhat of a puppet, quickly
changed to amazement and then to con
sternation. '
When he realized all that the young
monarch's mental attitude stood for. the
old Prince had sense enough to "yield,
though he could not do so gracefully. And
then the man who had boasted, soon af
ter the close of the Franco-Prussian War,
that if he couldn't unify the North Ger
man states as an empire with a'Hohon
zollern on the imperial throne he would
unify it as a republic, got out of the.
service of the family he had served and
domineered over for many years and dis
appeared permanently from public life.
But he had the satisfaction of knowing,
even in his hour of humiliation, that no
blunder of his had cost his beloved Ger
many dear.
Some Imperial Blunders.
Colossal though the blunders of tho
Russian t'zar have been, he has not yet
had to suffer for them as Napoleon III.,
otherwise known as Louis Napoleon, had
to suffer for his mistakes. His. blunder
In declaring war on the Germans in 1870
gave Bismarck the chance without which
he might never have been able to provu
his greatness.
Yet Louie Napoleon's blunder in attack
ing the Teutons, though of much greater
Influence upon world history, was specifi
cally no more of a blunder than his send
ing Maximilian. Austrian Grand Duk
and brother of the now reigning Emperor
of Austria-Hungary, Francis Joseph, to
Mexico to found an empire on North
American soil in defiance of the Monroe
Doctrine. But he was hardly responsible
for either of these blunders: they were
both planned by Eugenie, his wife, who,
still alive, has been spared more bitter
years than most historic blunderers have.
ConcluUcl on Page 43.)