RIVALRY OF TILDEN AND CONKLING
1875
If further evidence of Tilden's supremacy in his party were needed,
the election of Francis Kernan to the United States Senate furnished
it. It had been nearly thirty years since the Democrats of New York
were represented in the Senate, and Tilden sent his staunchest
supporter to take the place of Fenton.[1466] This fidelity disturbed
the members of the Canal ring, who now anxiously awaited the
development of the Governor's policy. The overthrow of the Tammany
ring and the memory of Tweed's fate hung about them like the shadow of
a great fear.
[Footnote 1466: The Republicans voted for ex-Governor Edwin D. Morgan,
the vote standing: Kernan, 87; Morgan, 68; Hoffman, 1.]
Tilden did not strike at once. Treating the matter as he did the Tweed
disclosures, he secretly studied the methods of the Ring, examined
more than one hundred contracts, and employed a civil engineer to
verify work paid for with that actually done. So severe was the strain
of this labour that in February he suffered a cerebral attack nearly
akin to paralysis.[1467] Of the character or purpose of his work no one
had any intimation, and guilty men who obsequiously complimented him
thought him weak and without the nerve to harm them. But on the 18th
of March (1875) he thrilled the State and chilled the Ring with a
special message to the Legislature, showing that for the five years
ending September 30, 1874, millions had been wasted because of
unnecessary repairs and corrupt contracts. Upon ten of these
fraudulent contracts the State, it appeared, had paid more than a
million and a half, while the proposals at contract prices called for
less than half a million. This result, he said in substance, was
brought about by a unique contrivance. The engineer designated the
quantity and kinds of work to be done, and when these estimates were
published by the commissioners, the favoured contractor, learning
through collusion what materials would actually be required, bid
absurdly low prices for some and unreasonably high rates for others.
After the contract was let, changes made in accordance with the
previous secret understanding required only the higher priced
materials. Thus the contractor secured the work without competition or
real public letting.[1468]
[Footnote 1467: Bigelow, _Life of Tilden_, Vol. 1, p. 285.]
[Footnote 1468: The Governor plainly illustrated this device. The
engineer having estimated the amount of work and materials, the
bidders added their prices.
A bid as follows:
100 cubic yards of vertical wall, at $3 $ 300.00
3,855 cubic yards of slope wall, at $1.50 5,782.50
2,400 feet B.M. white oak, at $50 120.00
60,000 feet B.M. hemlock, at $15 900.00
------------
Total estimate of A $ 7,102.50
B bid as follows:
100 cubic yards of vertical wall, at $6 $ 600.00
3,855 cubic yards of slope wall, at 30 cents 1,156.50
2,400 feet B.M. white oak, at $70 168.00
60,000 feet B.M. hemlock, at $3 180.00
------------
Total estimate of B $ 2,104.50
B was given the contract as the lowest bidder, after which the work
was changed as follows:
3,955 cubic yards of vertical wall, at $6 $ 23,730.00
62,400 feet B.M. white oak, at $70 4,368.00
------------
Actually paid B by the State $ 28,098.00
On ten of these contracts, originally amounting to $424,735.90 the
State paid $1,560,769.84.--Tilden's _Public Writings and Speeches_,
Vol. 2, pp. 106-108.]
The Governor recommended various measures of reform, notably a new
letting after any change in the proposals for bids. He also suggested
an investigation of the frauds already perpetrated, and for this
purpose the Senate confirmed a non-partisan commission,[1469] who
quickly reported that the work of one contractor showed fraudulent
estimates, false measurements, and a charge of $150,337.02 for
excavations and embankments that were never made. Neither surveys nor
estimates preceded the letting of the contract, while in every
instance he appeared as the lowest bidder. Eleven additional reports
made during the year showed that similar frauds were repeatedly
practised by him and other contractors. In each case arrests,
indictments, and suits for restitution promptly followed.[1470] It also
appeared that the auditor of the canal department, a former Republican
candidate for secretary of state, had made use of his office to
speculate in canal drafts and certificates.
[Footnote 1469: This commission was composed of John Bigelow, Daniel
Magone of Ogdensburg, Alexander E. Orr of Brooklyn, and John D. Van
Buren of New York.]
[Footnote 1470: Indictments were found against the son of a State
senator, a member of the board of canal appraisers, an ex-canal
commissioner, two ex-superintendents of canals and one division
engineer, besides numerous subordinates and contractors.--See
Bigelow's _Life of Tilden_, pp. 262-263; for names of the parties, see
Appleton's _Cyclopædia_, 1875, p. 558.]
The excitement over these revelations recalled the indignation
following the Tweed disclosures. Every voter in every corner of the
State knew of them. Furthermore, the arrests of contractors and
officials along the line of the canal multiplied evidence of the
Governor's courage. He spared no one. Of the principal officials and
ex-officials indicted all save two were Democrats,[1471] but his
administration knew no party and expressed no concern. Such creditable
public service made a profound impression, and during a visit to the
western part of the State in August, the people accorded him the
attention given to a conqueror. From Albany to Buffalo crowds
everywhere saluted him with bands of music and salvos of artillery,
while his addresses, characterised by plainness of speech, deprecated
a reactionary policy.
[Footnote 1471: Bigelow, _Life of Tilden_, Vol. 2, p. 263.]
These demonstrations alarmed Republican leaders. They appreciated that
his adroitness and energy in accumulating proof of Tweed's guilt had
fixed the attention of the country upon him as a presidential
candidate, and that the assault on the canal spoilers made his
pretensions more formidable. Moreover, they realised that their own
failure to lead in canal reform in 1873, evidenced by ignoring Barlow
and his incriminating disclosures, yielded Tilden a decided advantage
of which he must be dispossessed. To accomplish this two ways opened
to them. Regarding the canal scandal as not a party question they
could heartily join him in the crusade, thus dividing whatever
political capital might be made out of it; or they could disparage his
effort and belittle his character as a reformer. The latter being the
easier because the more tolerable, many Republican papers began
charging him with insincerity, with trickery, and with being wholly
influenced by political aspirations. His methods, too, were criticised
as undiplomatic, hasty, and often harsh. Of this policy _Harper's
Weekly_ said: "Those who say that the Governor's action is a mere
political trick, and that he means nothing, evidently forget that they
are speaking of the man who, when he once took hold of the Tweed
prosecution, joined in pushing it relentlessly to the end."[1472]
[Footnote 1472: _Harper's Weekly_, August 28, 1875.]
This was the sentiment of George William Curtis, who presided at the
Republican State convention.[1473] It also became the policy of the
managers whom defeat had chastened. They discerned the signs of the
times, and instead of repressing hostility to a third term and
dissatisfaction with certain tendencies of the National
administration, as had been done in 1874, they deemed it wiser to swim
with the current, meeting new influences and conditions by discarding
old policies that had brought their party into peril. The delegates,
therefore, by a great majority, favoured "a just, generous, and
forbearing national policy in the South," and "a firm refusal to use
military power, except for purposes clearly defined in the
Constitution." They also commended "honest efforts for the correction
of public abuses," pledged coöperation "in every honourable way to
secure pure government and to bring offenders to justice," and
declared "unalterable opposition to the election of any President for
a third term."[1474] Furthermore, the convention sought candidates of
prominence and approved integrity. In the presence of threatened
defeat such men were shy. William H. Robertson of Westchester thrice
declined the comptrollership, and insistence upon his acceptance did
not cease until James W. Husted, springing to his feet, declared that
such demands were evidently intended as an insult. Then Edwin D.
Morgan proposed George R. Babcock, a distinguished lawyer of Buffalo,
who likewise declined. In a short, crisp letter, John Bigelow,
chairman of the canal investigating committee, rejected the proffered
honour. Finally, the choice fell upon Francis E. Spinner, formerly
United States treasurer, and although he sent two unconsenting
telegrams, the convention refused to revoke its action. Despite such
embarrassments, however, it secured an array of strong, clean
men.[1475]
[Footnote 1473: Held at Saratoga on September 8, 1875.]
[Footnote 1474: Appleton's _Cyclopædia_, 1875, p. 560.]
[Footnote 1475: The ticket was as follows: Secretary of State,
Frederick W. Seward, New York; Comptroller, Francis E. Spinner,
Herkimer; Treasurer, Edwin A. Merritt, St. Lawrence; Attorney-General,
George F. Danforth, Monroe; Engineer, Oliver H.P. Cornell, Tompkins;
Canal Commissioner, William F. Tinsley, Wayne; Prison Inspector,
Benoni J. Ives, Cayuga.]
A week later the Democrats assembled at Syracuse. They quickly retired
an anti-Tammany delegation led by John Morrissey,[1476] reaffirmed the
platforms of 1872 and 1874, and nominated John Bigelow for secretary
of state. Bigelow, well known as a former editor of the _Evening Post_
and more recently minister to France, had always been a Republican.
Indeed, Tilden named and a Republican Senate confirmed him as one of
two Republicans on a non-partisan board; but for reasons best known to
himself Bigelow changed his party in the twinkling of an eye.
Associated with him were John D. Van Buren, also upon the canal
commission; Lucius Robinson, who won, when comptroller in 1862, great
honour in the teeth of much obloquy by paying the State interest in
coin; and Charles S. Fairchild, then a young lawyer earning
substantial credit, like Bigelow and Van Buren, in the prosecution of
the Canal ring.[1477] In naming this ticket Tilden had exhibited his
characteristic shrewdness. He exaggerated the partisan aspect of
administrative reform, and strengthened his candidacy for President by
appropriating the glory.
[Footnote 1476: After James Hayes' defeat for register in 1874, Kelly
deprived Morrissey of his district leadership because he stirred up
disaffection among the working men and sowed seeds of disloyalty. In
their contest the Morrissey and Kelly factions were known as
"Swallow-tails" and "Short-hairs," Morrissey, to rebuke Wickham's
custom of requiring cards of callers in advance of admission to his
office, having called upon the Mayor during business hours in evening
dress, with white kids and patent-leather pumps.]
[Footnote 1477: The ticket was as follows: Secretary of State, John
Bigelow, Ulster; Comptroller, Lucius Robinson, Chemung;
Attorney-General, Charles S. Fairchild, New York; Treasurer, Charles
N. Ross, Cayuga; Engineer, John D. Van Buren, New York; Canal
Commissioner, Christopher A. Walruth, Oneida; Prison Inspector, Rodney
R. Crowley, Cattaraugus.
On September 22 the Liberals met at Albany. They eulogised Tilden by
name, favored the Greeley doctrine of a single term for President,
arraigned the Federal administration, and recommended the support of
candidates who would coöperate with the Executive in his work of
reform.
For governor the Prohibitionists nominated George H. Dusenberre.]
The Republican press, quickly interpreting his purpose, now changed
from praise to censure, scrutinising and criticising every act in his
long public career. It reviewed his war record, disclosed his part in
the convention of 1864, and hinted at uncanny financial transactions.
His service as the figurehead of Tweed's conventions, and his
passiveness after possessing knowledge of the infamous circular of
1868 to which his name had been forged, also became the subject of
severe censure. Though he neither shared Tweed's corrupt counsels nor
sanctioned his audacious schemes, Tilden's abhorrence of wrong, it was
argued, seemed insufficient to break his silence. But the accusation
that cut the deepest, because without palliation, illuminated his
declination to attend the great indignation meeting that appointed the
Committee of Seventy. This fact, established by abundant proof as well
as by his conspicuous absence, created the belief that had the
_Times'_ exposure failed fatally to wound the Ring, he would have
shrunk from defying Tweed.
In the presence of such a record it was ludicrous to deny that Tilden,
although resembling a reformer, was simply an adroit politician, who
had cultivated some queer political associates and had countenanced
some very shady transactions. Nevertheless, Tilden would not be
diverted from the singleness of his purpose. To make the issue a
personal one he took the stump and traversed the State from one end to
the other, always addressing immense crowds. At Utica the contemporary
press estimated the throng at twenty-five thousand persons. With
directness and business brevity he sought to arouse the people to the
importance and gravity of the issues at stake. "To-day about one-half
of the tax contributed by the farmer," he said, "goes to the State to
carry on public affairs.... It is in the power of the Legislature and
the Executive at Albany to reduce this State tax one-half if you send
the right men.... We began this work last winter. It made great
conflict and turmoil, the attempt to remove the fungus-growths which
had sprung up all over our State institutions, and which were
smothering their vitality.... It is not alone the saving of dollars
and cents, for you cannot preserve your present system of government
unless you purify administration and purify legislation."[1478]
[Footnote 1478: Address at Utica Fair, September 30, 1875.--Tilden's
_Public Writings and Speeches_, Vol. 2, pp. 229-233.]
During the anti-slavery struggle Tilden's incapacity to measure the
moral force of public sentiment had undoubtedly kept him in error. He
failed entirely to appreciate the close connection between rebellion
and slavery, and in finally yielding to the war-failure resolution at
Chicago in 1864 he did not realise how completely abolition and a
restoration of the Union were associated in the hearts of the people.
But with the advent of the business period, although his bodily
presence was weak and the external elements of popularity were
wanting, his subtle, strong mind and great administrative capacity
brought him irresistibly to the front, and his shrewd, homely appeals,
without mixed metaphors or partisan allusions, reduced the issue of
the campaign to the attractive one of saving dollars and cents by
protecting the treasury against the raid of canal spoilers.
Conkling did not attend the Saratoga convention.[1479] But he did not
remain silent during the campaign. The Democratic and independent
press, illuminating the story of Louisiana under carpet-bag-negro rule
which culminated in the ejection of members of the Legislature by a
file of soldiers under command of General Sheridan, had greatly
increased the disfavour of the Administration's policy toward the
South.[1480] So intense had been the excitement following the
publication of Sheridan's despatches that a great indignation meeting
called out William Cullen Bryant, then past eighty, who addressed it
"with the vehemence and fire of a man of thirty."[1481] Moreover, the
exposure of the Whiskey ring which began under Bristow, then secretary
of the treasury, added to the advantage of the Democrats. The chief
conspirator figured as Grant's most generous gift-giver, who claimed
collusion with the President's private secretary. The Executive's
evident displeasure with Bristow also increased the unrest. Indeed, it
seemed a period of exposure. Public opinion had become aroused and
inflamed. "Great as are the frauds of Tammany," said Charles A. Dana,
"they sink into insignificance not only beside those of the carpet-bag
governments of the South, but still more beside those committed by the
Republican Administration at Washington."[1482]
[Footnote 1479: In the summer of 1875 he made a brief visit to
Europe.--Conkling, _Life of Conkling_, p. 490.]
[Footnote 1480: See Rhodes' _History of the United States_, Vol. 7, pp.
104-127. Also, Tilden's message to the Legislature, January 12, 1875,
_Public Writings and Speeches_, Vol. 2, pp. 75-84.]
[Footnote 1481: Godwin, _Life of Bryant_, p. 357. This meeting was held
January 11.]
[Footnote 1482: New York _Sun_, February 17.]
These revelations, however, did not call more loudly for Conkling's
defence of his party than did the popular applause which everywhere
greeted the reform Governor. The work and rising fame of Tilden
alarmed the Senator if it did not irritate him. He saw the tremendous
throng at Utica; he had read the plain, brief, unadorned statement
about dividing the State-tax by two; and he recognised a rival who had
leaped into the political arena full-armed and eager. Moreover,
Conkling was himself a candidate for President. Grant's letter of May
29,[1483] interpreted as a declination to be a candidate for a third
term, set him free to enter the lists, and the argument of his
availability, based upon his power to carry the pivotal State, made a
Republican victory in 1875 of the highest importance. For him to take
part in the campaign, therefore, was imperative, and he selected
Albany as the place and October 13 as the day to begin. Other
engagements followed at Buffalo, Utica, New York, and elsewhere.[1484]
[Footnote 1483: Appleton's _Cyclopædia_, 1875, p. 743.]
[Footnote 1484: See remarks of Forster of Westchester, a delegate to
the Republican State convention of March 22, 1876.--New York
_Tribune_, March 23, 1876.]
Attracted by the critical situation and an intense curiosity great
audiences greeted him, and hundreds of friends cheered an address,
which, as usual, contained from his point of view the whole Republican
case. He recited the Democratic party's history during the war;
described reformers as selfish, hypocritical, and pure, placing
Republicans in the last category; claimed that the canal frauds
originated under Democratic rule and were connived at by Democratic
State officials; and proved that Republicans had administered the
canals and the State's finances more economically than the Democrats.
He also admitted reform to be the principal issue, thanked Tilden for
the little he had accomplished, severely castigated Bigelow for
accepting place on the canal commission as a Republican and on the
State ticket as a Democrat, and drew attention to Kelly as a bad man
and to the extravagance of Democratic rule in New York City.
Throughout it all his treatment was characteristically bold,
brilliant, and aggressive. "The bright blade of his eloquence with its
keen satiric edge flashed defiantly before the eyes of the applauding
audience,"[1485] and every period exhibited his profound sense of the
duty of maintaining the ascendency of a party which to him promised
best for the public.
[Footnote 1485: The _Nation_, October 28.]
With wisdom and sound argument Conkling had opposed inflation, and
after the passage of the bill on April 14, 1874, he had encouraged the
President's veto. He had likewise advocated with no less fervour and
sagacity the resumption of specie payment, which became a law on
January 14, 1875. This service justly entitled him to the highest
praise. Nevertheless, in his speech at Albany he failed to show that
Republican success in 1875 would not mean a continuation of those
things which helped a Republican defeat in 1874. Hostility to a third
term and sympathy with a generous Southern policy were the conspicuous
features of the Saratoga platform, and upon these issues he maintained
a notable silence. His address was rather an appeal to the past--not
an inspiring assurance for the future, seeking pure administration. Of
his personal honesty no one entertained a doubt, but for party ends he
had failed to use his opportunities in exposing and correcting abuses.
To him the country under Republican rule, whatever its shortcomings,
was in the safest hands, and he exhibited no sympathy with those
whose great love for their party made them long to have it stand for
civic righteousness, regardless of whom it might destroy.
As the campaign grew older Republicans cherished the hope of victory.
The break between Kelly and Morrissey had led to the formation of the
Irving Hall Democracy. In this organisation all anti-Tammany elements
found a home, and to test its strength Morrissey declared himself a
candidate for the Senate in the fourth or old Tweed district, which
usually recorded eleven thousand majority for Tammany. The Republicans
promptly endorsed the nomination. This challenge had turned the whole
city into turmoil. Morrissey's audacity in selecting the invincible
stronghold of Tammany for his field of battle, throwing the glamour of
a gloveless ring-contest over the struggle, brought into life all the
concomitants of such a bout. Kelly, leaving his uptown home,
personally led the Tammany forces, and on election day the paralytic,
the maimed, and men feeble from sickness were brought to the polls.
Nevertheless, when the votes were counted Morrissey proved the winner.
Indeed, to the chagrin of Kelly and the alarm of the Democrats,
Tammany candidates had fallen in every part of the city, their
overthrow encouraging the belief that the State had been carried by
the Republicans. Subsequently, when Bigelow's plurality of nearly
fifteen thousand was established, it made defeat doubly
disheartening.[1486] It put Tilden on a pinnacle. It left Conkling on
the ground.
[Footnote 1486: Bigelow, 390,211; Seward, 375,401. Robinson, 389,699;
Spinner, 376,150. Legislature: Senate: 20 Republicans, 12 Democrats.
Assembly: 71 Republicans, 57 Democrats. Morrissey's majority, 3,377.
Dusenberre, Prohibitionist, total vote, 11,103.--Appleton's
_Cyclopædia_, 1875, p. 564.
Bigelow's majority in New York City was 17,013.--New York _World_,
November 7, 1875.]