DEFEAT AND DEATH OF GREELEY
1872
The Republicans of New York welcomed the outcome of the Democratic
national convention. There was a time in its preliminary stages when
the Liberal movement, blending principle and resentment, had assumed
alarming proportions. Discontent with the Administration, stimulated
by powerful journals, seemed to permeate the whole Republican party,
and the haste of prominent men to declare themselves Liberals,
recalling the unhappy division in the last State convention and the
consequent falling off in the Republican vote, added to the
solicitude. Moreover, the readiness of the Democrats to approve the
principles of the Missouri reformers suggested a coalition far more
formidable than the Philadelphia schism of 1866. That movement was to
resist untried Reconstruction, while the Missouri division was an
organised protest against practices in the North as well as in the
South which had become intolerable to men in all parties. Gradually,
however, the Republican revolt in New York disclosed limitations which
the slim attendance at Cincinnati accentuated. Several congressional
districts had been wholly unrepresented, and few prominent men had
appeared at Cincinnati other than free-traders and Fenton leaders.
Such an exhibition of weakness had an exhilarating effect upon
Republicans, who received the nomination of Greeley with derision.
In this frame of mind the friends of the Administration, meeting in
State convention at Elmira on May 15, sent a delegation to
Philadelphia, headed by the venerable Gerrit Smith, which boasted that
it was without an office-holder. Three weeks later the Republican
national convention, amidst great enthusiasm, unanimously renominated
Grant for President. A single ballot sufficed also for the selection
of Henry Wilson of Massachusetts for Vice-President.[1382] The
platform, to offset the Liberals' arraignment, favoured civil service
reform, the abolition of the franking privilege, the prohibition of
further land grants to corporations, an increase in pensions, and "the
suppression of violent and treasonable organisations" in the South.
[Footnote 1382: Wilson received 364-1/2 votes to 321-1/2 for Colfax of
Indiana, who had declared his intention to retire from public life.
When, later, he changed his mind, Wilson possessed the advantage.]
At their State convention, held in Utica on August 21, Republicans
felt no fear of factional feuds since the aggressive Fenton leaders
had passed into the Liberal camp. But reasons for alarm existed. The
election in 1871, carried by the inspiration of a great popular
uprising in the interest of reform, had given them control of the
Legislature, and when it assembled honest men rejoiced, rogues
trembled, and Tweed failed to take his seat. The people expected the
shameless Erie ring and its legislation to be wiped out, corrupt
judges to be impeached, a new charter for New York City created, the
purity of the ballot-box better protected, canal management reformed,
and a variety of changes in criminal practice. But it proved timid and
dilatory. At the end of the session the Tweed charter still governed,
the machinery of the courts remained unchanged, and reforms in canal
management, in elections, and in the city government had been
sparingly granted. In cases of proven dishonesty its action was no
less disappointing. It allowed a faithless clerk of the Senate to
resign without punishment;[1383] it permitted the leaders of the
Tammany ring to continue in office; it decided that a man did not
disqualify himself for a seat in the Senate by taking bribes;[1384] and
it failed to attack the Erie ring until the reign of Jay Gould was
destroyed by the bold action of Daniel E. Sickles.[1385] Never did a
party more shamelessly fail in its duty. Even credit for the
impeachment of the Tweed judges belonged to Samuel J. Tilden. "That
was all Tilden's work, and no one's else," said Charles O'Conor. "He
went to the Legislature and forced the impeachment against every
imaginable obstacle, open and covert, political and personal."[1386]
[Footnote 1383: New York _Tribune_, February 15, 1872.]
[Footnote 1384: _Ibid._, April 11.]
[Footnote 1385: For narration of this _coup de main_, see Morgan Dix,
_Life of John A. Dix_, Vol. 2, pp. 163-167.]
[Footnote 1386: _The Century_, March, 1885, p. 734.]
Such a record did not inspire the party with confidence, and its
representatives looked for a head to its State ticket who could
overcome its shortcomings. Of the names canvassed a majority seemed
inclined to William H. Robertson of Westchester. He had been an
assemblyman, a representative in Congress, a judge of his county for
twelve years, and a State senator of distinguished service. Although
prudent in utterance and somewhat cautious in entering upon a course
of action, his indefatigable pursuit of an object, coupled with
conspicuous ability and long experience, marked him as one of the
strong men of New York, destined for many years to direct the politics
of his locality.
Nevertheless, a feeling existed that his course in the Senate had
lacked force. The New York _Times_ severely criticised it, regarding
him too much of a tenderfoot in pushing the reform movement, and on
the eve of the convention it opposed his candidacy.[1387] The _Times_,
then the only paper in New York City upon which the party relied with
confidence to fight its battles, exerted an influence which could
scarcely be overrated. However, it is doubtful if its opposition could
have avoided Robertson's nomination had not the name of John A. Dix
been sprung upon the convention. It came with great suddenness. No
open canvass preceded it. Thurlow Weed, who had proposed it to nearly
every convention since 1861, was in Utica, but to Henry Clews, the
well-known banker, belonged the credit of presenting it "on behalf of
the business men of New York." The captivating suggestion quickly
caught the delegates, who felt the alarming need of such a candidate,
and the audience, rising to its feet, broke into cheers, while county
after county seconded the nomination. One excited delegate, with
stentorian voice, moved that it be made by acclamation, and although
the Chair ruled the motion out of order, the withdrawal of Robertson's
name quickly opened a way for its passage.
[Footnote 1387: August 21, 1872; New York _Tribune_, August 22.
"Senator Robertson failed to be governor only from lack of
boldness."--_Ibid._, May 8, 1880.]
This incident produced a crop of trouble. Because Clews happened to be
the guest of Conkling, Robertson, grievously disappointed, assumed
that the Senator had inspired the _coup d'état_, and from that moment
began the dislike which subsequently ripened into open enmity. "As a
matter of fact," wrote Clews, "Conkling knew nothing of my intention,
but he was either too proud or too indifferent to public sentiment to
explain."[1388]
[Footnote 1388: Henry Clews, _Fifty Years in Wall Street_, pp. 307-309;
New York _Herald_, August 22.]
Dix's political course had been a tortuous one. He followed the Van
Burens in 1848, becoming the Barnburners' candidate for governor, and
immediately preceding the reduction of Fort Sumter advocated the
restoration of the Missouri compromise, perpetuating slavery in all
territory south of 36° 30´. After the war he joined President Johnson,
presided at the famous Philadelphia convention in 1866, and in return
received appointments as minister to The Hague and later to France.
For several years, under the changing conditions of Weed's leadership,
he figured as a possible candidate for governor, first of one party
and then of the other, but the Republicans declined to accept him in
1862 and 1864, and the Democrats refused to take him in 1866. After
President Grant had relieved him of the French mission by the
appointment of Elihu B. Washburne, he inclined like Weed himself to
the Liberal movement until the nomination of Greeley, whom they both
despised.
Seymour charged Dix with being "a mercenary man," who "rented out his
influence gained from political positions to companies of doubtful
character for large pay."[1389] At a later day he sketched his
readiness "to change his politics" for "a large consideration and pay
down." It was a drastic arraignment. "Starting out with a view of
being an Anti-Mason," wrote Seymour, "he shifted to the Democratic
party for the office of adjutant-general. He hesitated between Cass
and Van Buren until he was nominated for governor by the Free-Soilers.
He went back to the Democratic party for the New York post-office
under Pierce. He went over to Buchanan for a place in the cabinet; and
from his Free-Soil views he became so violent for the South that he
would not vote for Douglas, but supported Breckinridge. After
presiding at an anti-war meeting he went over to Lincoln, when he was
made a major-general. To get a nomination for the French mission he
took part with President Johnson. To get confirmed he left him for
Grant. In 1868 he intrigued for a presidential nomination from the
Democratic party; as in 1866 he had tried to be nominated by the same
party for the office of governor. I think this history shows that he
valued his political principles at a high rate, and never sold them
unless he got a round price and pay down."[1390]
[Footnote 1389: Bigelow's _Life of Tilden_, Vol. 1, p. 228.]
[Footnote 1390: _Ibid._, p. 232.]
Of the same age as Dix, Weed knew his history perfectly, which during
and after the war resembled his own. But he had faith that Dix's war
record would more than offset his political vagaries. "When there was
danger that Washington would fall into the hands of the rebels," he
said, "Dix severed his relations with the Democratic administration,
and in concert with Secretary Holt, Mr. Stanton, and Mr. Seward,
rendered services which saved the nation's capital. A few weeks
afterward, when in command of Fort McHenry, by a prompt movement
against a treasonable design of members of the Legislature, he
prevented Maryland from joining the Secessionists."[1391] Moreover,
Weed insisted that conservative Democrats and business men, having
confidence in his integrity, would vote for him regardless of party.
[Footnote 1391: Barnes' _Life of Weed_, Vol. 2, p. 485.]
The platform, endorsing the National Administration, failed to mention
the record of the Legislature. Praise for members of Congress
accentuated this omission. To enlarge the canal for steam navigation
it favoured an appropriation by the general government.[1392]
[Footnote 1392: The ticket was as follows: Governor, John A. Dix of New
York; Lieutenant-Governor, John C. Robinson of Broome; Canal
Commissioner, Reuben W. Stroud of Onondaga; Prison Inspector, Ezra
Graves of Herkimer; Congressman-at-large, Lyman Tremaine of Albany;
Thurlow Weed declined to head the electoral ticket, but suggested the
name of Frederick Douglass, who was nominated by acclamation.--Barnes,
_Life of Weed_, Vol. 2, p. 486.]
The Democrats and Liberals met in separate State conventions at
Syracuse on September 4. In numbers and enthusiasm the Liberals made a
creditable showing. Many Republicans who had assisted at the birth of
their party and aided in achieving its victories, adorned the platform
and filled the seats of delegates. John Cochrane called the convention
to order, Truman G. Younglove, speaker of the Assembly in 1869, acted
as temporary chairman, Chauncey M. Depew became its president, and
Reuben E. Fenton, with Waldo M. Hutchins, Archibald M. Bliss, Edwin A.
Merritt, D.D.S. Brown, and Frank Hiscock, served upon the committee of
conference. Among others present were Sinclair Tousey, William
Dorsheimer, George P. Bradford, and Horatio N. Twombly. In his speech
on taking the chair, Depew, who had attended every Republican State
convention since 1858, declared that he saw before him the men whom he
had learned to recognise as the trusted exponents of party policy in
their several localities.[1393]
[Footnote 1393: New York _Tribune_, September 6.]
In apportioning the State offices the Democrats, after much wrangling,
conceded to the Liberals the lieutenant-governor, prison inspector,
and fifteen of the thirty-four electors. This settlement resulted,
amidst much enthusiasm, in the nomination of Depew for lieutenant-governor.
The Democrats experienced more difficulty in selecting a candidate for
governor. The withdrawal of Hoffman, who "usually made his
appointments to office," said John Kelly, "on the recommendation of
the Tammany ring and at the solicitation of the Canal ring," was
inevitable,[1394] and long before he declined several aspirants had
betrayed their ambition.[1395] But a decided majority of the delegates,
"fully four-fifths" declared the New York _Times_,[1396] preferred
Sanford E. Church, then chief judge of the Court of Appeals, who
became known as the "ring candidate."[1397] On the other hand, Kernan
had the support of Tilden, against whom the same combination arrayed
itself that controlled at Rochester in 1871. Although the Tweed ring
had practically ceased to exist, its friendships, rooted in the rural
press and in the active young men whom it had assisted to positions in
Albany and New York, blocked the way. Besides, Kernan himself had
invited open hostility by vigorously supporting Tilden in his crusade
against Tammany. Thus the contest became complicated and bitter.
[Footnote 1394: New York _Tribune_, August 23, 1872; New York _World_,
September 10, 1874; _Times_, September 11.]
[Footnote 1395: Among them were Augustus Schell of New York, Francis
Kernan of Oneida, Allen C. Beach of Jefferson, then lieutenant-governor,
Homer A. Nelson of Dutchess, formerly secretary of state, and Lucius
Robinson of Chemung, the distinguished comptroller.]
[Footnote 1396: September 6, 1872.]
[Footnote 1397: Bigelow, _Life of Tilden_, Vol. 1, p. 226.]
It was an anxious moment for Tilden. Kelly stood for Schell, Kings
County presented Church, and Robinson and Beach held their friends
firmly in hand. With the skill of an astute leader, however, Tilden
weakened the support of Church by publishing his letters declining to
be a candidate, and by invoking the influences which emphasised the
division between Beach and Schell, gained Robinson for Kernan. The
audacity of such tactics staggered the opposition, and when Beach
surrendered, Tammany and Kings hastened into line. This led to
Kernan's nomination by acclamation.[1398] As further evidence of
harmony Kelly moved the appointment of Tilden as a State
committeeman-at-large, and subsequently, on the organisation of the
committee, continued him as its chairman.
[Footnote 1398: The first ballot resulted as follows: Kernan, 42-1/2;
Beach, 32; Schell, 24-1/2; Nelson, 10; Church, 11; Robinson, 6;
necessary to a choice, 64.
The ticket nominated by the two conventions was as follows: Governor,
Francis Kernan of Oneida, Democrat; Lieutenant-Governor, Chauncey M.
Depew of Westchester, Liberal; Canal Commissioner, John Hubbard of
Chenango, Democrat; Prison Inspector, Enos C. Brooks of Cattaraugus,
Liberal; 1 Congressman-at-large, Samuel S. Cox of New York, Democrat.]
Both conventions endorsed the Cincinnati platform, denounced the
Legislature for its failure to expel dishonest members, and charged
the National Administration with corruption and favoritism. As a
farewell to the Governor, the Democrats resolved that "the general
administration of John T. Hoffman meets the approbation of this
convention."[1399]
[Footnote 1399: New York _Tribune_, September 6, 1872.]
Hoffman's political career closed under circumstances that a more
heroic soul might have avoided. In his last message he had repudiated
the Ring. He had also made some atonement by authorising such suits
against it as Charles O'Conor might advise,[1400] and by vetoing the
Code Amendment Bill, devised by Cardozo and designed to confer
authority upon the judges to punish the press for attacking the Ring;
but the facts inspiring Nast's cartoon, which pictured him as the
Tammany wooden Indian on wheels, pushed and pulled by the Erie and
Tweed combination, had fixed the Governor in the popular mind as the
blind tool of rings. "I saw him in 1885," says Rhodes, "at the
Schweizerhof in Lucerne. Accompanied by his wife he was driving
through Switzerland; and in this hotel, full of his own countrymen, he
sat neglected, probably shunned by many. The light was gone from his
eyes, the vigour from his body, the confidence from his manner;
consciousness of failure brooded in their stead. He had not become
dissipated. Great opportunities missed; this was the memory that
racked him, body and spirit, and left him nerveless and decrepit,
inviting death."[1401] He died in Germany in 1888.
[Footnote 1400: Attorney-General Champlain had publicly announced his
purpose to authorise O'Conor to bring such suits before the Committee
of Seventy had had its interview with the Governor.--Tilden's _Public
Writings and Speeches_, Vol. 1, p. 590.]
[Footnote 1401: James F. Rhodes, _History of the United States_, Vol.
6, p. 401, note.]
For mayor of New York, John Kelly nominated Abram R. Lawrence, a
lawyer of ability and integrity, whom the Liberals endorsed. The
anti-Tammany forces, not yet willing to surrender to the new Boss,
divided their strength, the Apollo Hall Democracy nominating James
O'Brien, its founder, while the associations centring about the
Committee of Seventy supported William F. Havermeyer, whom the
Republicans endorsed. Havermeyer had twice been mayor.[1402] He
belonged among the enemies of jobbery, and although sixty-seven years
of age his mental and physical powers remained unimpaired. The
contest, thus narrowed to Lawrence and Havermeyer, assured a good
mayor.
[Footnote 1402: Elected in 1844 and 1847. Declined a renomination in
1849.]
The campaign opened encouragingly for Democrats and Liberals. "The
antagonisms which civil war has created between the kindred
populations of our country," declared Tilden, in his speech at the
Syracuse convention, "must be closed up now and forever."[1403] This
was the keynote of his party, and, apart from the personal question
of candidates, was the only serious issue of the campaign. In his
letter of acceptance Greeley added a new phrase to the vocabulary of
the common people: "I accept your nomination," he said, "in the
confident trust that the masses of our countrymen North and South are
eager to clasp hands across the bloody chasm."[1404]
[Footnote 1403: New York _Tribune_, September 5, 1872.]
[Footnote 1404: _Ibid._, May 22, 1872.]
This was a taking cry, and as the great editor moved across
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, the general demonstration of interest
created considerable uneasiness at Republican headquarters. "His name
had been honoured for so many years in every Republican household,"
says Blaine, "that the desire to see and hear him was universal, and
secured to him the majesty of numbers at every meeting."[1405]
Greeley's friends interpreted these vast audiences as indications of a
great tidal wave which would sweep Grant and his party from power. In
the latter part of September they confidently counted upon carrying
the October States. The South's endorsement of the Thirteenth,
Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, its declaration that the public
credit must be sacredly maintained, and its denunciation of
repudiation in every form and guise, created the belief that the North
and South would, indeed, "clasp hands across the bloody chasm."
[Footnote 1405: _Twenty Years in Congress_, Vol. 2, p. 534.]
In New York, however, although the Democratic leaders stood loyally by
their candidate, pushing Kernan boldly to the front wherever Greeley
seemed weak, the inequality of the fight was apparent. Tammany and
old-time Democrats could not forget that the _Tribune's_ editor had
classed them with blacklegs, thieves, burglars, gamblers, and keepers
of dens of prostitution.[1406] Moreover, only three Republican
newspapers had declared for Greeley,[1407] while many leaders like
Lyman Tremaine and James W. Husted, whose criticism of the President
had encouraged the belief that they would favour the Cincinnati
nominee, preferred Grant.[1408] Besides, the business men of the
country thought the Republican party without Greeley safer than the
Democratic party with Greeley.
[Footnote 1406: "We asked our contemporary [_World_] to state frankly
whether the pugilists, blacklegs, thieves, burglars, keepers of dens
of prostitution, etc., etc., who make up so large a share of our
city's inhabitants, were not almost unanimously Democrats."--_Tribune_,
January 4, 1868.
"So every one who chooses to live by pugilism, or gambling, or
harlotry, with nearly every keeper of a tippling house, is politically
a Democrat.... A purely selfish interest attaches the lewd, ruffianly,
criminal and dangerous class to the Democratic party by the instinct
of self-preservation."--_Ibid._, January 7. Conkling quoted these
extracts in his Cooper Institute speech of July 23.--New York _Times_,
July 24, 1872.]
[Footnote 1407: New York _Tribune_, Syracuse _Herald_, and Watertown
_Times_.]
[Footnote 1408: New York _Tribune_, August 22.]
After the Cincinnati convention a Republican Congress passed a General
Amnesty Act, approved May 22, and in the interest of "a free breakfast
table" placed tea and coffee on the free list. The reduction of the
public debt at the rate of one hundred millions a year, as well as
large annual reductions in the rate of taxation, also inspired
confidence, while to the President and his Secretary of State belonged
great credit for the Geneva arbitration. This amicable and dignified
adjustment of differences between England and the United States,
leading to new rules for the future government of Anglo-American
relations, and making impossible other than a friendly rivalry between
the two nations, sent a thrill of satisfaction through the American
people. Until then the settlement of such irritating questions had not
come by the peaceful process of law.
As the campaign progressed both sides indulged in bitter
personalities. In his Cooper Institute speech, an address of great
power, Conkling's invective and sarcasm cut as deeply as Nast's
cartoons.[1409] Greeley's face, dress, and manners readily lent
themselves to caricature. "I have been assailed so bitterly," wrote
Greeley, "that I hardly knew whether I was running for President or
the Penitentiary."[1410] The _Tribune_ told of a negro woman who was
heard cursing him in the streets of an Ohio river town because he had
"sold her baby down South before the war."[1411] Grant did not escape.
Indeed, he was lampooned until he declared that "I have been the
subject of abuse and slander scarcely ever equalled in political
history."[1412]
[Footnote 1409: New York _Times_, July 24. "The longest and greatest
campaign speech of his life."--Alfred R. Conkling, _Life of Conkling_,
p. 436.]
[Footnote 1410: Hollister's _Life of Colfax_, p. 387, note.]
[Footnote 1411: The same article enumerates some of the charges
published against him: "In Washington he was a briber. In Albany he
was the head of the lobby. In New York he was a partner in the Ring
frauds. He defended the rascalities of Tweed. He sold the influence of
his paper to Tammany Hall. He intrigued to restore the thieves to
power. He was involved in schemes for robbing the national treasury.
He was plotting the payment of the Confederate debt. He had promised
pensions to Rebel soldiers. He was an original Secessionist. He was
once a slave-trader in Memphis. He was the friend of the Ku-Klux and
ballot-box stuffers.... Dix blamed him for expressing ten or twelve
years ago sentiments identical with those of Dix himself."--New York
_Tribune_, November 22, 1872.]
[Footnote 1412: _Messages and Papers of the Presidents_, Richardson,
Vol. 7, p. 223.]
Early elections increased Republican confidence. North Carolina, then
a doubtful State, gave a Republican majority in August.[1413] Vermont
and Maine followed in September, and Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana
practically settled the question in October. Finally, the election on
November 5 gave Greeley, by small majorities, Georgia, Kentucky,
Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas, or sixty-six electoral votes
to two hundred and seventy-two for Grant, whose popular majority
exceeded three-quarters of a million. Dix carried New York by 55,451
majority.[1414] Of thirty-two congressmen the Republicans elected
twenty-three, with a legislative majority of seventy on joint ballot.
To the surprise of Tammany, Havermeyer was elected mayor by over 8,000
plurality, although Greeley carried the city by 23,000 majority.[1415]
A comparison of the vote with that cast for Seymour in 1868 showed
that a marked percentage of Democrats refused to support Greeley, and
that a larger percentage did not vote at all.[1416] Other slights
added to his disappointment. "I was an Abolitionist for years," he
said, "when to be one was as much as one's life was worth even here in
New York, and the negroes have all voted against me. Whatever of
talents and energy I have possessed, I have freely contributed all my
life long to Protection; to the cause of our manufactures. And the
manufacturers have expended millions to defeat me. I even made myself
ridiculous in the opinion of many whose good wishes I desired, by
showing fair play and giving a fair field in the _Tribune_ to Woman's
Rights; and the women have all gone against me."[1417]
[Footnote 1413: After the North Carolina election would-be Liberals
rejoined the Republican party in great numbers.]
[Footnote 1414: Grant, 440,759; Greeley, 387,279; majority, 53,480.
Dix, 447,801; Kernan, 392,350; majority, 55,451. Robinson, 442,297;
Depew, 397,754; majority, 44,543. Tremaine, 438,456; Cox, 400,697;
majority, 37,759.]
[Footnote 1415: Havermeyer, 53,806; Lawrence, 45,398; O'Brien, 31,121.]
[Footnote 1416: Seymour (1868), 429,883. Greeley (1872), 387,279.
Kernan (1872), 392,350. Cox (1872), 400,697.]
[Footnote 1417: George W. Julian, _Political Recollections_, p. 348.]
Before the vote of the State was officially canvassed Greeley had gone
to his rest.[1418] The campaign had overtaxed his strength, and upon
his return from the western speaking tour he watched at the bedside of
his wife until her decease on October 30. After the election he
resumed editorial charge of the _Tribune_, which he formally
relinquished on the 15th of the preceding May, but it was plain that
the robust animal spirits which characterised his former days were
gone.[1419] The loss of his wife, the mortification of defeat, the
financial embarrassment of his paper, and the exhaustion of his
physical powers had broken him. The announcement of his death,
however, although the public got an early intimation of the cruel work
which his troubles were making upon a frame that once seemed to be of
iron, came with the shock of sudden calamity. The whole country
recognised that in the field of his real conquests the most remarkable
man in American history had fallen, and it buried him with the
appreciation that attends a conqueror. At the funeral President Grant,
Vice-President Colfax, and the Vice-President-elect, Henry Wilson,
rode in the same carriage.[1420]
[Footnote 1418: He died November 29, 1872.]
[Footnote 1419: "In the darkest hour my suffering wife left me, none
too soon for she had suffered too deeply and too long. I laid her in
the ground with hard dry eyes. Well, I am used up. I cannot see before
me. I have slept little for weeks and my eyes are still hard to close,
while they soon open again." Letter to his friend, Mason W. Tappan of
New Hampshire.--Hollister's _Life of Colfax_, p. 387, note.]
[Footnote 1420: New York _Tribune_, December 5, 1872.]