_Question_. In view of all this, where do you think the presidential
candidate will come from?
_Answer_. From the West.
_Question_. Why so?
_Answer_. The South and East must compromise. Both can trust the
West. The West represents the whole country. There is no
provincialism in the West. The West is not old enough to have the
prejudice of section; it is too prosperous to have hatred, too
great to feel envy.
_Question_. You do not seem to think that Arthur has a chance?
_Answer_. No Vice-President was ever made President by the people.
It is natural to resent the accident that gave the Vice-President
the place. They regard the Vice-President as children do a
stepmother. He is looked upon as temporary--a device to save the
election--a something to stop a gap--a lighter--a political raft.
He holds the horse until another rider is found. People do not
wish death to suggest nominees for the presidency. I do not believe
it will be possible for Mr. Arthur, no matter how well he acts, to
overcome this feeling. The people like a new man. There is some
excitement in the campaign, and besides they can have the luxury
of believing that the new man is a great man.
_Question_. Do you not think Arthur has grown and is a greater
man than when he was elected?
_Answer_. Arthur was placed in very trying circumstances, and, I
think, behaved with great discretion. But he was Vice-President,
and that is a vice that people will not pardon.
_Question_. How do you regard the situation in Ohio?
_Answer_. I hear that the Republicans are attacking Hoadly, saying
that he is an Infidel. I know nothing about Mr. Hoadly's theological
sentiments, but he certainly has the right to have and express his
own views. If the Republicans of Ohio have made up their minds to
disfranchise the Liberals, the sooner they are beaten the better.
Why should the Republican party be so particular about religious
belief? Was Lincoln an orthodox Christian? Were the founders of
the party--the men who gave it heart and brain--conspicuous for
piety? Were the abolitionists all believers in the inspiration of
the Bible? Is Judge Hoadly to be attacked because he exercises
the liberty that he gives to others? Has not the Republican party
trouble enough with the spirituous to let the spiritual alone? If
the religious issue is made, I hope that the party making it will
be defeated. I know nothing about the effect of the recent decision
of the Supreme Court of Ohio. It is a very curious decision and
seems to avoid the Constitution with neatness and despatch. The
decision seems to rest on the difference between the words tax and
license--_I. e._, between allowing a man to sell whiskey for a tax
of one hundred dollars or giving him a license to sell whiskey and
charging him one hundred dollars. In this, the difference is in
the law instead of the money. So far all the prohibitory legislation
on the liquor question has been a failure. Beer is victorious,
and Gambrinus now has Olympus all to himself. On his side is the
"bail"--
_Question_. But who will win?
_Answer_. The present indications are favorable to Judge Hoadly.
It is an off year. The Ohio leaders on one side are not in perfect
harmony. The Germans are afraid, and they generally vote the
Democratic ticket when in doubt. The effort to enforce the Sunday
law, to close the gardens, to make one day in the week desolate
and doleful, will give the Republicans a great deal of hard work.
_Question_. How about Illinois?
_Answer_. Republican always. The Supreme Court of Illinois has
just made a good decision. That Court decided that a contract made
on Sunday can be enforced. In other words, that Sunday is not holy
enough to sanctify fraud. You can rely on a State with a Court
like that. There is very little rivalry in Illinois. I think that
General Oglesby will be the next Governor. He is one of the best
men in that State or any other.
_Question_. What about Indiana?
_Answer_. In that State I think General Gresham is the coming man.
He was a brave soldier, an able, honest judge, and he will fill
with honor any position he may be placed in. He is an excellent
lawyer, and has as much will as was ever put in one man. McDonald
is the most available man for the Democrats. He is safe and in
every respect reliable. He is without doubt the most popular man
in his party.
_Question_. Well, Colonel, what are you up to?
_Answer_. Nothing. I am surrounded by sand, sea and sky. I listen
to music, bathe in the surf and enjoy myself. I am wondering why
people take interest in politics; why anybody cares about anything;
why everybody is not contented; why people want to climb the greased
pole of office and then dodge the brickbats of enemies and rivals;
why any man wishes to be President, or a member of Congress, or in
the Cabinet, or do anything except to live with the ones he loves,
and enjoy twenty-four hours every day. I wonder why all New York
does not come to Long Beach and hear Schreiner's Band play the
music of Wagner, the greatest of all composers. Finally, in the
language of Walt Whitman, "I loaf and invite my soul."
--_The Herald_, New York, July 1, 1883.