REMOVAL OF ARTHUR AND CORNELL
1878-9
One week before the election of 1877 President Hayes nominated
Theodore Roosevelt for collector of customs, L. Bradford Prince for
naval officer, and Edwin A. Merritt for surveyor, in place of Chester
A. Arthur, Alonzo B. Cornell, and George H. Sharpe.[1623] The terms of
Arthur and Cornell had not expired, and although their removal had
been canvassed and expected for several months, its coming shocked the
party and increased the disgust of the organisation. George William
Curtis, with the approval of Evarts, urged the promotion of James L.
Benedict for collector, a suggestion which the Secretary of the
Treasury stoutly opposed. If Arthur, the latter argued, was to be
removed because of his identification with a system of administration
which the President desired to abolish, no reason existed for
promoting one who had made no effort to reform that system. No one
questioned Roosevelt's ability, high character, and fitness for the
place, but to those who resented the removal of Arthur his nomination
was an offence.
[Footnote 1623: Sharpe's term having expired he had withdrawn his
application for reappointment.]
Chester A. Arthur had succeeded Thomas Murphy as collector of the port
in November, 1871. He was then forty-seven years old, a lawyer of fair
standing and a citizen of good repute. He had studied under the
tuition of his clergyman father, graduated at Union College, taught
school in his native Vermont, cast a first vote for Winfield Scott,
and joined the Republican party at its organisation. At the outbreak
of the rebellion Governor Morgan appointed him quartermaster-general,
his important duties, limited to the preparation and forwarding of
troops to the seat of war, being performed with great credit. When
Seymour succeeded Morgan in 1863 Arthur resumed his law practice,
securing some years later profitable employment as counsel for the
department of city assessments and taxes.
From the first Arthur showed a liking for public life. He was the
gentleman in politics. The skill of an artist tailor exhibited his
tall, graceful figure at its best, and his shapely hands were
immaculately gloved. His hat advertised the latest fashion just as his
exquisite necktie indicated the proper colour.[1624] He was equally
particular about his conduct. Whatever his environment he observed the
details of court etiquette. His stately elegance of manner easily
unbent without loss of dignity, and although his volatile spirits and
manner of living gave him the appearance of a _bon vivant_, lively and
jocose, with less devotion to work than to society, it was noticeable
that he attracted men of severer mould as easily as those vivacious
and light-hearted associates who called him "Chet." While Fenton,
after Greeley's failure as a leader, was gathering the broken threads
of party management into a compact and aggressive organisation, Arthur
enjoyed the respect and confidence of every local leader, who
appreciated his wise reticence and perennial courtesy, blended with an
ability to control restless and suspicious politicians by timely hints
and judicious suggestions. Indeed, people generally, irrespective of
party, esteemed him highly because of his kindness of heart, his
conciliatory disposition, his lively sense of humour, and his
sympathetic attention to the interests of those about him. He was
neither self-opinionated, argumentative, nor domineering, but tactful,
considerate, and persuasive. There was also freedom from prejudice,
quickness of decision, a precise knowledge of details, and a
flexibility of mind that enabled him to adapt himself easily to
changing conditions.
[Footnote 1624: "You remember, don't you, what Orville Baker told us
about Arthur's two passions, as he heard them discussed at Sam Ward's
dinner in New York? New coats being one, he then having ordered
twenty-five from his tailor since the New Year came in."--Mrs. James
G. Blaine, _Letters_ (January 28, 1882), Vol. 1, p. 294.]
When Conkling finally wrested the Federal patronage from Fenton and
secured to himself the favour and confidence of the Grant
administration, Arthur bivouacked with the senior Senator so quietly
and discreetly that Greeley accepted his appointment as collector
without criticism. "He is a young man of fair abilities," said the
editor, "and of unimpeached private character. He has filled no such
rôle in public affairs as should entitle him to so important and
responsible a part, but as things go, his is an appointment of fully
average fitness and acceptability. With the man we have no difference;
with the system that made him collector we have a deadly quarrel. He
was Mr. Murphy's personal choice, and he was chosen because it is
believed he can run the machine of party politics better than any of
our great merchants."[1625]
[Footnote 1625: New York _Tribune_, November 22, 1871. See also,
_Ibid._, November 21.]
In party initiative Arthur's judgment and modesty aided him in
avoiding the repellent methods of Murphy. He did not wait for
emergencies to arise, but considering them in advance as possible
contingencies, he exercised an unobtrusive but masterful authority
when the necessity for action came. He played an honest game of
diplomacy. What others did with Machiavellian intrigue or a cynical
indifference to ways and means, he accomplished with the cards on the
table in plain view, and with motives and objects frankly disclosed.
No one ever thought his straightforward methods clumsy, or
unbusinesslike, or deficient in cleverness. In like manner he studied
the business needs of the customs service, indicating to the Secretary
of the Treasury the flagrant use of backstair wiles, and pointing out
to him ways of reform.[1626] He sought in good faith to secure
efficiency and honesty, and if he had not been pinioned as with ball
and chain to a system as old as the custom-house itself, and upon
which every political boss from DeWitt Clinton to Roscoe Conkling had
relied for advantage, he would doubtless have reformed existing
peculation and irregularities among inspectors, weighers, gaugers,
examiners, samplers, and appraisers.[1627] Until this army of placemen
could be taken out of politics Secretary Sherman refused to believe it
possible to make the custom-house "the best managed business agency of
the government," and as Arthur seemed an inherent part of the system
itself, the President wished to try Theodore Roosevelt.[1628] It is
safe to conclude, judging the father's work by the later achievements
of his illustrious son, that the Chief Executive's choice would have
accomplished the result had Conkling allowed him to undertake it.
[Footnote 1626: See his letters to the Secretary of the Treasury, New
York _Tribune_, January 28, 1879.]
[Footnote 1627: In his testimony before the Jay Commission, Arthur
spoke of "10,000 applicants," backed and pressed upon him with
unabated energy by the most prominent men "all over the country."--New
York _Tribune_, July 28, 1877.]
[Footnote 1628: Arthur was offered an appointment as consul-general to
Paris.--See Theodore E. Burton, _Life of John Sherman_, p. 294.]
When Conkling felt himself at ease, in congenial society, he displayed
his mastery of irony and banter, neither hesitating to air his opinion
of persons nor shrinking from admissions which were candid to the
verge of cynicism. At such times he had not veiled his intense dislike
of the Administration. After Hayes's election his conversation
discovered as aggressive a spirit as he had exhibited at Rochester,
speaking of the Secretary of State as "little Evarts," and charging
the President with appointing "a Democratic cabinet," whose principal
labour had been "to withdraw Republican support from me." Apropos of
Schurz, he told a story of the man who disbelieved the Bible because
he didn't write it. He criticised the Republican press for praising
Tilden as governor and "lampooning" him as a candidate for the
presidency, pronounced Packard's title as good as Hayes's, and
declared the President's "objectionable and dishonourable" record
consisted not in the withdrawal of the troops but in bargaining with
Southerners. "Every man knows," he said, "that on the face of the
returns Packard was more elected than Hayes. You cannot present those
returns in any form that will not give more legality to Packard as
Governor than to Hayes as President. People say this man assumes all
the virtues of reform in an office which he has gained by the simple
repudiation of the ladder that lifted him. It is the general record of
usurpers that though sustained they do their favours to the other
side.... I have no faith in a President whose only distinct act is
ingratitude to the men who voted for him and to the party which gave
him its fealty. In the domain and forum of honour that sense of Mr.
Hayes's infidelity stands forward and challenges him. It is felt by
honest men all over the country. He smiles and showers on the
opposition the proofs of a disturbed mind."
Speaking of the civil service order the Senator was no less severe.
"That celebrated reformatory order was factional in its intent, made
in the interests of envious and presuming little men. Sherman
(secretary of the treasury) goes out to Ohio and makes speeches in
defiance of it; McCrary (secretary of war) goes to Iowa and manages a
convention in spite of it; and Devens (attorney-general) says the
order meant itself to be disobeyed, and that the way to obey it was to
violate it."[1629]
[Footnote 1629: New York _Herald_, November 9, 1877. Respecting this
interview Conkling made a personal explanation in the Senate, in which
he said: "Though some of the remarks in question may at some time have
been made in private casual conversations, others of them never
proceeded from me at any time."--New York _Tribune_, November 13. It
is assumed that the portions quoted above, taken from a three-column
interview, are substantially correct, since they are corroborated by
several persons now living (1908) who heard the Senator's expressions.
See, also, Alfred R. Conkling, _Life of Conkling_, pp. 552-554.
"Mr. Conkling, in all his conversations, seemed to consider men who
differed from him as enemies of the human race."--White,
_Autobiography_, Vol. 1, p. 188.
"Conkling spoke with great severity of President Hayes, and said he
hoped it would be the last time that any man would attempt to steal
the presidency."--Hoar, _Autobiography_, Vol. 2, p. 44.]
Conkling's criticism of the fitful execution of the civil service
order was not too severe. Instead of justifying the expectations he
had aroused by vigorously enforcing the principles of his letter of
acceptance and inaugural address, the President, as if inthralled by
some mysterious spell, had discredited his professions by his
performances. The establishment of a real change in the system of
appointments and of office-holding control invited a severe contest,
and success depended upon the courage and conviction of the
Administration itself. For firmness, however, Hayes substituted
hesitation, compromise, and in some instances surrender. Numerous
cases were cited in proof of this criticism, notably the reappointment
of Chauncey I. Filley, postmaster at St. Louis, whom George William
Curtis pronounced the most conspicuous office-holder in the country
for his active manipulation of politics. "He is a shining example of
'the thing to be reformed.'"[1630]
[Footnote 1630: _Harper's Weekly_, December 8, 1877.]
The President's removal of Arthur and Cornell, it was argued, was no
less irrational. In failing to charge them with inefficiency he
subjected himself to the graver charge of inconsistency, since his
letter of acceptance and inaugural address declared in substance that
efficient officers would be retained. The President meant, his friends
assumed, that political activity nullified efficiency, to which
opponents replied that the President, after inviting Arthur to carry
out the recommendations of the Jay Commission, had condoned the
collector's wrong-doing if any existed, making him an agent for
reform, and that his subsequent removal was simply in the interest of
faction. Cornell's case likewise presented a peg upon which to hang
severe criticism, since the Administration, when asked for the reason
of his removal, dodged the decisive one. Such inconsistency showed
timidity and confusion instead of courage and conviction,
disappointing to friends and ridiculous to opponents.
Conkling made use of these and other points. Indeed, for more than six
weeks after Congress convened he bent all his energies and diplomacy
to defeat the confirmation of Roosevelt and Prince. That a Republican
senator might be substituted for a Democrat on the commerce committee,
of which he was chairman and to which the nominations were referred,
he delayed action until a reorganisation of the Senate. Finally, in a
forceful and pathetic speech, regarded by colleagues as his most
impressive address,[1631] he illuminated what he deemed an act of
injustice to Arthur and Cornell. It was less bitter perhaps than that
in the contest with Fenton over the confirmation of Thomas Murphy, but
no less carefully worked up and quite as successful. To the
consternation of the Administration, which relied upon a solid
Democratic party, the Senator won by a decisive vote, having the
support of several Democrats and of all the Republicans except five.
[Footnote 1631: Conkling, _Life of Conkling_, p. 373.]
It was an important victory for Conkling, who must soon begin another
canvass for members of the Legislature. It sent a thrill of joy
through the ranks of his friends, renewed the courage of
office-holding lieutenants, and compelled the Administration's
supporters to admit that the President was "chiefly to blame."[1632]
Moreover, the cordial support given Conkling by Blaine created the
impression that it had led to their complete reconciliation, a belief
strengthened by a conversation that subsequently occurred between them
on the floor of the Senate Chamber in full view of crowded galleries.
David Davis had added to the tableau by putting an arm around each,
thus giving the meeting the appearance of an unusually friendly
one.[1633]
[Footnote 1632: _Harper's Weekly_, December 22, 1877.]
[Footnote 1633: New York _Tribune_, December 17, 1878.]
But the President, if he had previously omitted to say what he meant,
determined not to surrender, and on July 11 (1878), after the
adjournment of Congress, he suspended Arthur and Cornell and appointed
Edwin A. Merritt and Silas W. Burt. Arthur's suspension did not
involve his integrity. Nor was any distinct charge lodged against
Cornell. Their removal rested simply upon the plea that the interests
of the public service demanded it, and the death of Roosevelt very
naturally opened the way for Merritt.[1634]
[Footnote 1634: Theodore Roosevelt died on February 9.]
All his life Merritt had been serviceable and handy in politics. After
holding successively several local offices in St. Lawrence, the people
sent him to the Assembly in 1859 and in 1860. When the rebellion began
he entered the quartermaster's and commissary departments, and at its
close served as quartermaster-general of the State until appointed
naval officer in 1869, an office which he lost in 1870 when Conkling
got control of the patronage. Then he followed Fenton and Greeley into
the Liberal party, but returning with other leaders in 1874, he
accepted the nomination for State treasurer in 1875, the year when
administrative reform accelerated Tilden's run for the White House.
This made him eligible for surveyor, an office to which he had been
confirmed in December, 1877. His unsought promotion to the
collectorship, however, was a testimonial to his ability. Whatever
Merritt touched he improved. Whether quartermaster, naval officer, or
surveyor, he attended rigorously to duty, enforcing the law fairly and
without favour, and disciplining his force into a high state of
efficiency, so that revenues increased, expenses diminished, and
corruption talk ceased. In selecting him for collector, therefore, the
President had secured the right type of man.
Nevertheless, Hayes's action roiled the political waters. Conkling's
friends accused the President of violating his own principles, of
endeavouring to set up a new machine, and of grossly insulting the
Senator. On the other hand, Administration supporters maintained that
the law authorising removals was as obligatory as that empowering a
senator to advise and consent to appointments, and that in removing
Arthur the President did not insult Conkling any more than Conkling
insulted the President by rejecting the nomination of Roosevelt. This
renewal of an ugly quarrel was auguring ill for the Republicans, when
the organisation of the National Greenback-Labour-Reform party,
suddenly presenting a question which involved the integrity and
welfare of the country, put factional quarrels and personal politics
into eclipse.
Conkling had exhibited both tact and skill in that campaign. He did
not lead the gold column. In fact, it was not until the last moment
that the Saratoga committee on resolutions which he dominated,
substituted "the fixed monetary standard of the commercial world" for
the word "coin." But after the guide-boards pointed the way he became
a powerful champion of hard money. Besides, the moderation and good
temper with which he discussed the doctrine of the inflationists did
much to hold dissenters within the party and justly entitled him to
high praise. His unanimous re-election to the Senate followed as a
matter of course. Not that unanimity of action implied unanimity of
feeling. It was rather, perhaps, a yielding to the necessity of the
situation.[1635]
[Footnote 1635: The strength of the anti-Conkling sentiment was clearly
shown in the contest for speaker of the Assembly. Thomas G. Alvord
received 52 votes to 43 for George B. Sloan of Oswego. Although Sloan
and his supporters declared for Conkling, Alvord was confessedly the
Conkling candidate.]
Nevertheless, to all appearances Conkling had recovered the prestige
lost at Rochester. His conduct at the convention and in the campaign
excited the hope, also, that he would drop his opposition to Merritt
and Burt. Such a course commended itself to the judgment of a large
majority of the New York delegation in Congress as well as to many
stout legislative friends; but re-election seemed to have hardened his
heart, and when, ten days after that event, he rose in the Senate to
defeat confirmation he exhibited the confidence of the man of
Gath.[1636]
[Footnote 1636: New York _Tribune_ (correspondence), February 1, 1879.]
Prior to his re-election Conkling had not voluntarily moved in the
matter. To him the settlement of one thing at a time sufficed. Early
in January, however, the Secretary of the Treasury, on his own
initiative and with the skill of a veteran legislator, had addressed
the President of the Senate, setting forth that Arthur's conduct of
the custom-house was neither efficient nor economical. To this Arthur
answered, denying inattention to business or loss of revenue, and
affirming that he had recommended a system of reform upon which the
Secretary had not acted.[1637] After the reception of this letter
Conkling demanded immediate action. But the Senate, by two majority,
preferred to wait for Sherman's replication, and when that statement
came the Senate again, by a vote of 35 to 26, put off action until the
document, with its many exhibits, could be carefully examined.[1638]
These delays augured ill for the Senator. It appeared that a
Democratic member of his own committee had left him, and on the day
fixed for consideration other Democrats, while calmly discussing the
matter, disclosed a disposition to desert. Alarmed at their loss
Conkling suddenly moved to recommit, which was carried by a _viva
voce_ vote amidst shouts of approval and whispered assurances that
further action should be deferred until a Democratic Senate convened
on March 4. Then some one demanded the yeas and nays.
[Footnote 1637: _Ibid._, January 28.]
[Footnote 1638: These exhibits made a document of 423 pages, of which
308 were extracts from the testimony taken by the Jay Commission, then
published for the first time.]
Believing the matter practically settled, Conkling, to improve the
last chance "of freeing his mind," he said, unexpectedly took the
floor, and for more than an hour, with a bitterness and eloquence not
excelled at Rochester, assailed the President and those associated
with him. To illustrate the insincerity of the Administration's desire
to reform the civil service he read several place-seeking letters
addressed to Arthur while collector and written by the President's
private secretary, by a member of the Cabinet, and other reformers.
One letter sought a position for the son of Justice Bradley, who had
figured conspicuously on the Electoral Commission. Such a scene had
never before been witnessed in the Senate. Exclamations of mock
surprise followed by fun-making questions and loud laughter added to
the grotesque exhibition. It was so ludicrous as to become pitiful and
painful. Although no particular harm was done to anybody, the
Government for the moment was made ridiculous.
At times Conkling was blessed with the gift of offence, and on this
occasion he seems to have exercised it to its full capacity. Before he
began speaking the Senate exhibited a readiness to recommit the
nominations, but as he proceeded he lost ground, and when he finished
several Republican senators, unwilling to afford another opportunity
for such a scene, demanded that the matter be disposed of at once and
forever. Each succeeding name, as the roll-call proceeded on the
motion to recommit, showed more and more the change that had taken
place in senators' feelings. Failure to recommit turned defeat into
confusion, and confusion into disaster. When the three roll-calls were
over it was found that Merritt had been confirmed by 33 to 24 and Burt
by 31 to 19. An analysis of the "pairs" increased the rout, since it
disclosed that twenty-five Democrats and fifteen Republicans favoured
confirmation, while only seven Democrats and twenty-three Republicans
opposed it. In other words, the Administration required only five
Democratic votes to match the strength of the dissatisfied
Republicans. Kernan, although he had spoken slightingly of Merritt,
refused to vote, but Blaine, who had joined heartily in the laughter
provoked by Conkling's thrusts as he read the letters, antagonised the
President. This noticeable desire of the Maine statesman to attach his
fortunes to those of the New York Senator neither escaped the
attention nor faded from the memory of Secretary Sherman.
The next morning everybody knew what had happened. Although secrecy
was removed only from the vote, nothing of the seven hours' conflict
remained untold, the result of which to all New Yorkers proved a great
surprise. They had supposed Conkling invincible in the Senate.
Nevertheless, to most Republicans, whether friends or foes, his defeat
on February 3 was a great relief. Merritt had made an excellent
collector, and a feeling existed, which had crystallised into a strong
public sentiment, that it was unwise to force into his place an
official unsatisfactory to the Secretary of the Treasury.