CONKLING DEFEATS FENTON
1870
The Republican State convention which assembled at Saratoga on
September 7 was not so harmonious as the Tammany body. For several
years Senator Morgan and Governor Fenton had represented the two
sections of the party, the latter, soon after his inauguration on
January 1, 1865, having commenced building his political machine. As
an organiser he had few equals. One writer declares him "the ablest
after Van Buren."[1245] At all events he soon became the head of the
party, controlling its conventions and distributing its patronage.
After entering the Senate he paid assiduous attention to the
President. The repeal of the Tenure-of-Office Act and an effort to
secure the confirmation of Alexander T. Stewart for secretary of the
treasury opened the way to Grant's heart, and for these and other
favours he received the lion's share of appointments. In the meantime
his opponents insisted that under cover of loud radical professions he
had relied wholly upon trickery for success, banning able men and
demoralising the party.[1246]
[Footnote 1245: Charles E. Fitch, formerly editor of the Rochester
_Democrat-Chronicle_.]
[Footnote 1246: _Harper's Weekly_, June 24, 1871.]
To these criticisms and Conkling's advances the President presented a
listening ear. Conkling had not thrust himself upon Grant, but the
more the President tired of Fenton's importunities, the more he liked
Conkling's wit and sarcasm and forceful speech. As patronage gradually
disappeared Fenton redoubled his efforts to retain it, until in his
desperation he addressed a letter to the Chief Executive, referring to
his own presidential aspirations, and offering to withdraw and give
him New York if the question of offices could be satisfactorily
arranged.[1247] This ended their relations.
[Footnote 1247: Conkling's speech, New York _Times_, July 24, 1872.]
Subsequent appointments, however, did not meet with more favour.
Fenton declared them fatal to party harmony, since some of the new
officials, besides holding confidential relations with Tammany, had
been friendly to the Philadelphia movement in 1866 and to Hoffman in
1868. Bitter criticism especially followed the nomination of Thomas
Murphy for collector of New York in place of Moses H. Grinnell. "The
President appointed Murphy without consulting either Senator," says
Stewart, for thirty years a senator from Nevada. "Grant met him at
Long Branch, and being thoroughly acquainted with the country and
quite a horseman he made himself such a serviceable friend that the
Chief Executive thought him a fit person for collector."[1248] The New
York _Times_ said, "the President has taken a step which all his
enemies will exult over and his friends deplore."[1249] The _Tribune_
was more severe. "The objection is not that he belongs to a particular
wing of the Republican party," it said, "but that he does not honestly
belong to any; that his political record is one of treachery well
rewarded; his business record such that the merchants of New York have
no confidence in him; and the record of his relations to the
government such that, until cleared up, he ought to hold no place of
trust under it."[1250] Yet Murphy bore endorsements from men of the
highest respectability. "Of those who in writing recommended his
appointment or confirmation," said Conkling, "are Edwin D. Morgan,
George Opdyke, Henry Clews, John A. Griswold, Charles J. Folger,
Matthew Hale, George Dawson, and others. Their signatures are in my
possession."[1251]
[Footnote 1248: William M. Stewart, _Reminiscences_, p. 255.]
[Footnote 1249: June 17, 1870.]
[Footnote 1250: September 19, 1871.]
[Footnote 1251: New York _Times_, July 24, 1872.]
Nevertheless, Conkling preferred another, and until urged by his
friend Stewart to secure Murphy's confirmation "to avoid the possible
appointment of a less deserving man," he hesitated to act. "I told him
that the struggle to confirm Murphy would enlighten the President as
to the political situation in New York, and that he would undoubtedly
accord him the influence to which he was entitled. Then, to force the
fight, Conkling, at my suggestion, objected to further postponement."[1252]
The contest came on July 11, 1870.
[Footnote 1252: Stewart, _Reminiscences_, pp. 255-256.]
Fenton recalled Murphy's malodorous army contracts, spoke of his
disloyalty to the party while a member of the State Senate, submitted
proof of his unscrupulous business relations with the leaders of
Tammany, and denounced his political treachery in the gubernatorial
contest of 1866. In this fierce three hours' arraignment the Senator
spared no one. He charged that Charles J. Folger and Chester A. Arthur
had appeared in Washington in Murphy's behalf, because to the latter's
potent and corrupt influence with Tammany, Folger owed his election to
the Court of Appeals in the preceding May,[1253] while Arthur, through
Murphy's unclean bargaining with Tweed, was fattening as counsel for
the New York City Tax Commission.[1254]
[Footnote 1253: Under the provisions of the new judiciary article of
the Constitution a chief justice and six associate justices of the
Court of Appeals were elected on May 17, 1870, each party being
allowed to put up only four candidates for associate justices. To
complete their ticket the Democrats selected Folger and Andrews, two
of the four Republican candidates. The election resulted in the choice
of the Democratic ticket.]
[Footnote 1254: New York _Times_, July 12, 1870.]
In his reply Conkling spoke for an hour in his most vigorous style.
"Every sentence," said Stewart, "was replete with logic, sarcasm,
reason, and invective. Sometimes the senators would rise to their
feet, so great was the effect upon them. Toward the conclusion of his
speech Conkling walked down the aisle to a point opposite the seat of
Fenton. 'It is true,' he said, 'that Thomas Murphy is a mechanic, a
hatter by trade; that he worked at his trade in Albany supporting an
aged father and mother and crippled brother, and that while thus
engaged another visited Albany and played a very different rôle.' At
this point he drew from his pocket a court record, and extending it
toward Fenton, he continued,--'the particulars of which I will not
relate except at the special request of my colleague.' Fenton's head
dropped upon his desk as if struck down with a club. The scene in the
Senate was tragic."[1255]
[Footnote 1255: Stewart, _Reminiscences_, pp. 256-7.
"In early life Fenton, having undertaken to carry $12,000 to Albany,
reported the money lost. He was arrested and discharged after much
testimony was taken. Whether accused justly or unjustly (most persons
thought unjustly) it blurred his career. Conkling had a copy of the
proceedings before the criminal court."--_Ibid._ See also _The
Nation_, July 14, 1870.]
It was a desperate battle. For several weeks heated politicians, with
pockets full of affidavits, had hurried to Washington from all parts
of New York, and while it was admitted that the appointee was not a
shining credit to his backers, the belief obtained that the control of
the party in the State depended upon the result. The two Senators so
understood it, and their preparation for the contest omitted all
amenities. Fenton, regardless of whom he hit, relied upon carefully
drawn charges sustained by affidavits; Conkling trusted to a fire of
scathing sarcasm, supported by personal influence with his Democratic
colleagues and the President's power in his own party. The result
showed the senior Senator's shrewdness, for when he ceased talking the
Senate, by a vote of 48 to 3, confirmed the appointment.
From Washington the contest was transferred to Saratoga. Fenton,
desiring to impress and coerce the appointing power, made a herculean
effort to show that although Conkling had the ear of the President, he
could control the convention, and his plan included the election of
Charles H. Van Wyck for temporary chairman and himself for permanent
president. No doubt existed that at this moment he possessed great
power. Delegates crowded his headquarters, and a score of lieutenants
reported him far in the lead. From Fenton's accession to the
governorship a majority of the State Committee had supported him,
while chairmen, secretaries, and inspectors of the Republican district
organisations in New York City, many of whom held municipal
appointments under Tweed, had been welded together in the interest of
the Chautauquan's ascendency. To try to break such a combine was
almost attempting the impossible. Indeed, until the President, in a
letter dated August 22, expressed the wish that Conkling might go as a
delegate, the Senator had hesitated to attend the convention.[1256]
Even on the eve of its meeting he counselled with friends on the
policy of not taking his seat, while his backers talked of harmony and
proposed George William Curtis for chairman. The confident Fenton,
having retired for the night, would listen to no compromise. Meanwhile
the senior Senator, accompanied by Thomas Murphy, visited the rooms of
the up-State delegates, telling them that a vote for Fenton was a blow
at the Administration.[1257] This was the argument of desperation. It
meant to one man the loss of a federal office and to another the hope
that one might be gained. Such a significant statement, addressed by
the favourite of the President to internal revenue and post-office
officials, naturally demoralised the Fenton ranks, and when the
convention acted Curtis had 220 votes to 150 for Van Wyck.[1258]
Promptly upon this announcement Conkling, with great cunning, as if
acting the part of a peacemaker, moved that the committee on
organisation report Van Wyck for permanent president. The acceptance
of this suggestion without dissent settled Fenton, who an hour later
heard Conkling named at the head and himself at the foot of the
committee on resolutions.
[Footnote 1256: A.R. Conkling, _Life of Roscoe Conkling_, p. 328. New
York _World_, September 8, 1870.]
[Footnote 1257: The _Nation_, September 15, 1870.]
[Footnote 1258: "During the vote the delegates commenced a system of
cheering, first for Conkling, then for Fenton. Senator Conkling was
very conspicuous throughout the balloting. His friends gathered around
him, while the other side surrounded Fenton, and whenever either moved
their friends cheered.... Had there been a secret ballot Fenton would
have won in spite of the threats and bribes."--New York _World_,
September 8, 1870.]
Thus far Conkling's success had been as unexpected as it was dazzling.
Heretofore he had been in office but not in power. Now for the first
time he had a strong majority behind him. He could do as he liked. He
possessed the confidence of the President, the devotion of his
followers, and the admiration of his opponents, who watched his
tactics in the selection of a candidate for governor with deepest
interest. It was a harrowing situation. For several weeks Horace
Greeley had been the principal candidate talked of, and although the
editor himself did not "counsel or advise" his nomination, he admitted
that "he would feel gratified if the convention should deliberately
adjudge him the strongest candidate."[1259] Several circumstances added
to his strength. Conkling had encouraged his candidacy to checkmate
Fenton's support of Marshall O. Roberts. For this reason the President
also favoured him. Besides, Stewart L. Woodford, who really expected
little, offered to withdraw if Greeley desired it,[1260] while DeWitt
C. Littlejohn, always a Titan in the political arena, likewise
side-stepped. These influences, as Conkling intended, silenced Fenton
and suppressed Roberts.
[Footnote 1259: New York _Tribune_, August 27, 1870.]
[Footnote 1260: _Ibid._, September 8.]
On the other hand, Greeley's old-time enemies had not disappeared. No
one really liked him,[1261] while party managers, the shadow of whose
ill-will never ceased to obscure his chances, shook their heads.
Reasons given in 1868 were repeated with greater emphasis, and to
prevent his nomination which now seemed imminent, influences that had
suddenly made him strong were as quickly withdrawn. It was intimated
that the President preferred Woodford, and to defeat Fenton's possible
rally to Roberts use was again made of Curtis. The latter did not ask
such preferment, but Conkling, who had made him chairman, promised him
the governorship and Curtis being human acquiesced. In the fierce
encounter, however, this strategy, as questionable as it was sudden,
destroyed Greeley, humiliated Curtis, and nominated Woodford.[1262]
Conkling's tactics neither commended his judgment nor flattered his
leadership. But Conkling did not then possess the nerve openly to make
war upon Greeley. On the contrary, after secretly informing his
lieutenants of his preference for Curtis, he dodged the vote on the
first ballot and supported Greeley on the second, thus throwing his
friends into confusion. To extricate them from disorder he sought an
adjournment, while Fenton, very adroitly preventing such an excursion
to the repair-shop, forced the convention to support Woodford or
accept Greeley. The feeling obtained that Conkling had lost the
prestige of his early victory, but in securing control of the State
Committee he began the dictatorship that was destined to continue for
eleven years.
[Footnote 1261: Edward Cary, _Life of George William Curtis_, p. 230.]
[Footnote 1262: Three ballots were cast as follows:
Woodford 153 170-1/2 258
Greeley 143 139 105-1/2
Curtis 104-1/2 87-1/2 20
------- ------- -------
Total 390-1/2 397 383-1/2
The following ticket was nominated: Governor, Stewart L. Woodford,
Kings; Lieutenant-Governor, Sigmund Kaufman, Kings; Comptroller, Abiah
W. Palmer, Dutchess; Canal Commissioners, Absalom Nelson, Erie;
Alexander Barkley, Washington; Prison Inspector, John Parkhurst,
Clinton.]
The New York _Times_ charged Greeley's defeat upon Fenton, insisting
that "the fault is not to be laid at the door of Senator
Conkling."[1263] Conkling also explained that "Greeley was
pertinaciously supported by all those connected with the custom-house.
He failed from a want of confidence in him, so general among the
delegates that electioneering and persuasion could not prevail against
it, and even those who voted for him declared, in many instances, that
they did so as a harmless compliment, knowing that he could not be
nominated."[1264] Greeley himself avoided the controversy, but his
acknowledgment of Fenton's loyal support and his sharp censure of
Curtis indicated full knowledge of Conkling's strategy, to whom,
however, he imputed no "bad faith," since "his aid had not been
solicited and none promised."[1265] Nevertheless, the great editor did
not forget!
[Footnote 1263: September 10 and 14, 1870.]
[Footnote 1264: From speech of July 23, 1872, New York _Times_, July
24, 1872.]
[Footnote 1265: New York _Tribune_, September 13, 1870.]