Produced by Ed Ferris
Transcriber's notes:
The dieresis is transcribed by a preceding hyphen. Caps and small
caps have been set as upper and lower case. Names have been corrected
Chapter VIII: "La Fayette", Indiana, kept as a contemporary
variant spelling. McPherson, "clerk of the house" changed to "Clerk
of the House" (of Representatives).
LoC call number: E661.C9
FIFTY YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE
[Frontispiece]
_Photo, by Prince Tota, Washington, D. C._
[Facsimile signature]
SMCullom
FIFTY YEARS
OF
PUBLIC SERVICE
_PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF_
SHELBY M. CULLOM
_SENIOR UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM ILLINOIS_
WITH PORTRAITS
_SECOND EDITION_
CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1911
Copyright
A. C. McCLURG & Co.
1911
Published October, 1911
Second Edition, December, 1911
PRESS OF THE VAIL COMPANY
COSHOCTON, U. S. A.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I Birth to Admission to the Bar, 1829 to 1855
II Service as City Attorney at Springfield, 1855 and 1856
III Election to the Illinois Legislature: Lincoln-Douglas
Debates, 1856 to 1858
IV Other Distinguished Characters of that Day, 1858 and 1859
V Nomination of Lincoln and Douglas for the Presidency, 1859
and 1860
VI Speaker of the Illinois Legislature, and a Member of
Congress, 1860 to 1865
VII Lincoln, 1860 to 1864
VIII Notables in the Thirty-ninth Congress, 1864 to 1870
IX The Impeachment of President Johnson
X Speaker of the Legislature, and Governor, 1871 to 1883
XI Grant
XII General John A. Logan
XIII General John M. Palmer
XIV Governor Richard J. Oglesby
XV Senatorial Career, 1883 to 1911
XVI Cleveland's First Term, 1884 to 1887
XVII Cleveland's Defeat and Harrison's First Term, 1888 to 1891
XVIII Cleveland's Second Term, 1892 to 1896
XIX McKinley's Presidency, 1896 to 1901
XX Roosevelt's Presidency, 1901 to 1909
XXI Interstate Commerce
XXII John Marshall Harlan
XXIII Members of the Committee on Foreign Relations
XXIV Work of the Committee on Foreign Relations
XXV The Interoceanic Canal
XXVI Santo Domingo's Fiscal Affairs
XXVII Diplomatic Agreements by Protocol
XXVIII Arbitration
XXIX Titles and Decorations from Foreign Powers
XXX Isle of Pines, Danish West Indies, and Algeciras
XXXI Congress under the Taft Administration
XXXII Lincoln Centennial: Lincoln Library
XXXIII Consecutive Elections to United States Senate
XXXIV Conclusion
Index
LIST OF PORTRAITS
S. M. Cullom
Shelby M. Cullom, while a Law Student
Richard Yates
Stephen A. Douglas
Abraham Lincoln
James G. Blaine
Andrew Johnson
Shelby M. Cullom, while Governor of Illinois
Ulysses S. Grant
John A. Logan
John M. Palmer
Richard J. Oglesby
Grover Cleveland
James A. Garfield
William McKinley
William Howard Taft
Cushman K. Davis
William P. Frye
John C. Spooner
Theodore Roosevelt
Elihu Root
FOREWORD
"Oh, that mine adversary had written a book!"
Such was the exclamation of one who, through the centuries, has
been held up to the world as the symbol of patience and long
suffering endurance, and who believed that he thus expressed the surest
method of confounding an enemy.
I have come to that age in life where I feel somewhat indifferent
as to consequences, and, yielding to the suggestions and insistence
of friends, I determined that I would undertake to write some
recollections, as they occurred to me, of the men and events of my
time.
Naturally, to me the history of the period covered by my life since
1829 is particularly interesting. I do not think that I am prejudiced
when I assert that while this period has not been great in Art and
Letters, from a material, scientific, and industrial standpoint it
has been the most wonderful epoch in all the world's history.
About the period of my birth General Andrew Jackson was first
elected President of the United States. Jackson to me has always
been an interesting character. Theodore Roosevelt has declared
very little respect for him, and has written deprecatingly--I might
say, even abusively--of him. But the truth is, there were never
two Presidents in the White House who, in many respects, resembled
each other more nearly than Jackson and Roosevelt.
Jackson was sixty-one years old when elected President--an unusually
old man to be elected to that high office; and he had served his
country during the War of the Revolution. When I consider this
the thought occurs to me, How young as a Nation we are, after all.
Why, I date almost back to the Revolution! President Taft jocularly
remarked to me recently: "Here's my old friend, Uncle Shelby. He
comes nearer connecting the present with the days of Washington
than any one whom I know." And I suppose there are few men in
public life whose careers extend farther into the past than mine.
During my early life the survivors of the Revolutionary War, to
say nothing of the War of 1812, were very numerous and abundantly
in evidence. Up to that time, no man who had not served his country
in some capacity in the Revolutionary War had been elevated to the
Presidency, and this was the case until the year 1843.
During the year 1829 the crown of Great Britain descended from King
George IV to King William IV. That reign passed away, and I have
lived to see the long reign of Victoria come and go, the reign of
Edward VII come and go, and the accession of King George V. Charles
X ruled in France, Francis I in Austria (the reign of Francis Joseph
had not yet begun), Frederick William III in Prussia, Nicholas I
in Russia; while Leo XII governed the Papal States, the Kingdom of
Italy not yet having come into existence. The United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland had not yet a population of 24,000,000,
all told.
From the dawn of this epoch may well date the practical beginning
of a long cycle of political and intellectual upheaval, and the
readjustment of relations which go to make up world-history, arriving
at a culmination in our great Civil War.
In the last half-century--nay, I might say, within the last two
decades--there has been a mighty impulse in the direction of
scientific investigation, of mechanical invention, of preventive
medicine, of economic improvement, and the like. Germany, in some
respects, has led, but our own country has not been far behind.
Independent research has been wonderfully productive, and rivalry
has been keen. Often the mere suggestion of one scientist has been
taken up and elaborated (or discredited) by other scientists; the
idea of one inventor has been seized upon and bettered, or possibly
proved valueless, by other inventors. The paths to the remote and
inaccessible have been toiled over by rival explorers; new records
have been made by rival aviators; while competitive and co-operative
activities in every line have known a phenomenal growth. New names
have been placed in the Pantheon of the immortals, new planets
discovered in the solar system, new stars added to the clear skies
of our nightly vision. Out of all the striving has come a sweeping
advance in lingual requirements. In most departments of Science,
Art, and Manufacture, the processes and methods of to-day are not
those of yesterday, and the doers of new things have freely coined
new words or given new meaning to old ones. The most complete and
exhaustive encyclopaedia of yesterday is to-day found not entirely
adequate to the already increased wants. Upon all these momentous
factors must these "Recollections," in one way or another, touch
from time to time.
Shelby M. Cullom.
Washington, D. C.
_July, 1911_.
FIFTY YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE
CHAPTER I
BIRTH TO ADMISSION TO THE BAR
1829 to 1855
Tides of migration set in about the close of the Revolutionary War,
originating in the most populous of the late Colonies (now States),
debouching from the western slopes of the mountain border-passes
into the headwaters of Kentucky's rivers, and mingling at last in
the fertile valley through which those rivers, in their lower
reaches, find an outlet into the Ohio.
The westward flowing current brought with it two families--the
Culloms of Maryland, and the Coffeys of North Carolina--who settled
in a beautiful valley, not far from the banks of the Cumberland,
which bore the euphonious name of Elk Spring Valley. Richard
Northcraft Cullom, of the first-named family, married Elizabeth
Coffey. They remained in Kentucky until seven children had been
born to them, I being the seventh, the date of my birth occurring
on the twenty-second day of November, 1829. We were a large family,
but not extraordinarily numerous for those times, there being five
brothers and seven sisters.
Kentucky was a Slave State, and my father did not believe in slavery.
He was fairly well to do, and after considering the situation he
determined to seek a home in a Free State and live there to the
end of his days.
A treaty with the Indians in 1784, at Fort Stanwix, had secured
from the Iroquois all claims to the lands which now make up the
States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. At the time of our removal
the State of Illinois was only eleven years old, and but a small
portion of it had any considerable settlements. These were mainly
in the south half of the State. Chicago was then a small village,
Fort Dearborn being at that time of more consequence than the
village. Now Chicago is the second greatest city in the Union in
population and business.
My father, together with Alfred Phillips and William Brown, his
two brothers-in-law, entered land in the same portion of the County
of Tazewell, and at once, on their arrival from Kentucky, pitched
their tents and began the erection of log cabins, in preparation
for winter. Phillips was a large, vigorous man, both in body and
mind. He was a man of the highest integrity, and soon became one
of the leading citizens of Tazewell County, continuing so until
his death. William Brown was a Methodist preacher and was a worthy
example of the consistent minister of the Gospel of Christ. He
was called upon by the people for many miles around to perform
ceremonies on wedding occasions and, in time of sorrow, to preach
at the funerals of departed friends.
My father lived longer than either Phillips or Brown. They both
raised large families, and to-day the youngest son of Phillips--
the Hon. Isaac N. Phillips--is recognized as one of the able lawyers
of the State, and is the reporter of the Supreme Court of Illinois.
My father was a farmer, but he always took great interest in the
affairs of the country, and especially of the State in which he
lived. He was a Whig, and believed in Henry Clay. He took an
active part in political campaigns, and was several times a member
of the House of Representatives of the State Legislature, and once
of the State Senate.
Tazewell County, in which he resided, became a very strong Whig
county, the Whigs having their own way until the Free-soil party,
which soon became the Republican party, took its place as against
the Democratic party. When that time came, Tazewell, like Sangamon,
became Democratic. Sangamon County, in which I live, and Tazewell
County, in which I was raised, were both strong Whig counties while
the Whig party survived; but when it died, the population being
largely from Kentucky and other Southern States, naturally sympathized
with the South on the question of slavery. They drifted into the
Democratic party in large numbers, and gave the control to the
Democracy for a time; and the two parties still struggle for control
in both counties.
My father became well acquainted with Abraham Lincoln while the
latter was a young man. The first time I ever heard of Lincoln,
was when two men came to my father's house to consult with him on
the question of employing an attorney to attend to a law case for
them at the approaching term of the Circuit Court. I remember
hearing my father say to them that if Judge Stephen T. Logan should
be in attendance at court, they should employ him; but if he were
not, a young man named Lincoln would be there, who would do just
about as well. Readers will see by this that while Lincoln was
yet a young man he was ranked among the foremost lawyers at the
Bar. At that time Stephen A. Douglas was beginning to be heard
from.
Judge Logan was one of the best lawyers of the Mississippi Valley.
He was a Kentuckian by birth, and, as a lawyer, was a very great
man. Douglas was a great statesman and a leader of men; a great
debater, but, in my opinion, not a great lawyer. The law is a
jealous mistress; there are no great lawyers who do not give
undivided attention to its study, and Douglas devoted much time to
public affairs.
On the arrival of my father at the grove where he had previously
determined to locate his family, he pitched his tent near a little
stream, then called Mud Creek, afterwards called Deer Creek, because
it was a great resort for wild deer. He soon erected a log cabin
and moved into it with his family. I was less than one year old
when the family located in Illinois. We lived in the cabin for
several years. It was not a single cabin, but there were two cabins
connected together by a covered porch; which was a very pleasant
arrangement in both summer and winter.
Finally, my father built a frame house. During all this time the
wild deer were numerous, and often I have counted from the door
from five to twenty deer feeding in a slough not a quarter of a
mile away.
I never killed a deer. The beautiful animals always seemed to me
so innocent that I had not the heart to shoot them.
The Winter of 1830-31 was long remembered by the early settlers of
Illinois, and of all the now so-called Middle States, as the "winter
of the deep snow." For months it was impossible to pass from one
community to another in the country.
My education was obtained at the local schools and at the seminary
at Mount Morris two hundred miles distant from my father's home.
In my boyhood years there were no common schools. There were only
such schools in the country as the people by subscription saw proper
to provide. The schoolhouse in the neighborhood in which I lived
was built of logs, covered with thick boards, and supplied with
rude benches on its puncheon floor for the scholars to sit upon.
We sat bolt upright, there being nothing to lean against. There
were no desks for our books; and had desks been obtainable there
were but few books to use or care for. We boys whispered to the
girls at our peril; but we took the risk occasionally.
It was my duty as a school-boy, after doing the chores and work
inseparable from farm life, to walk every morning a long distance
over rough country roads to school. After I had attained to a fair
common-school education, I concluded that I could teach a country
school, and was employed to teach in the neighborhood; first for
three months at eighteen dollars per month, and then for a second
term of three months at twenty. I think I have a right to assume
that I did well as a teacher, since the patrons raised my wages
for the second term two dollars per month.
My efforts in teaching school did not secure sufficient funds to
enable me to remain at school away from home very long, and I
determined to try another plan. My father had five yoke of oxen.
I prevailed on him to lend them to me. I obtained a plough which
cut a furrow eighteen to twenty inches wide, and with the oxen and
plough I broke prairie for some months. I thereby secured sufficient
money, with the additional sums which I made from the institution
at Mount Morris at odd times, to enable me to remain at the Mount
Morris Seminary for two years.
I never shall forget the journey from my home in Tazewell County
to Mount Morris, when I first left home to enter the school. As
it well illustrates the difficulties and hardships of travel in
those early days in Illinois, I may be pardoned for giving it
somewhat in detail.
It was in the Spring of the year. My father started with me on
horseback from my home in Tazewell County to Peoria, a distance of
fifteen miles. A sudden freeze had taken place after the frost
had gone out of the ground, and this had caused an icy crust to
form over the mud, but not of sufficient strength to bear the weight
of a horse, whose hoofs would constantly break through. Whereupon
I dismounted and told father that he had better take the horses
back home, and that I would go to Peoria on foot, which I did.
The weather was cold, and I was certainly used up when I arrived
in Peoria. I went to bed, departing early the following morning,
by steamer, for Peru, a distance of twenty-five miles. From there
I took the stage-coach to Dixon, a distance of twelve miles.
There came up another storm during the journey from Peru to Dixon,
and the driver of the stage-coach lost his way and could not keep
in the road. I ran along in front of the coach most of the way,
in order to keep it in the road, the horses following me. From
Dixon I crossed the river, proceeding to Mount Morris by private
conveyance. I never had a more severe trip, and I felt its effects
for very many years afterwards.
The days I spent in old Mount Morris Seminary were the pleasantest
of my life. I was just at the age which might be termed the
formative period of a young man's career. Had I been surrounded
then by other companions, by other environment, my whole future
might have been entirely different. Judged by the standard of the
great Eastern institutions, Mount Morris was not even a third-class
college; but it was a good school, attended by young men of an
unusually high order. In those early days it was the leading
institution of higher learning in Northern Illinois. I enjoyed
Mount Morris, and the friendships formed there continued throughout
my life.
I do not know whether I was a popular student or not, but I was
president of the Amphictyon Society, and, according to the usual
custom, was to deliver the address on retiring from the presidency.
During the course of the address I fainted and was carried from
the chapel, which was very hot and very crowded. I was rolled
around in the snow a while and speedily revived. I was immediately
asked to let one of the boys read the remainder of the address,
but the heroic treatment to which I had been subjected stirred me
to profane indifference respecting its fate. Later I was selected
to deliver the valedictory. So I suppose I must have enjoyed a
reasonable degree of popularity among my fellow students.
It was at Mount Morris that I first became intimate with the late
Robert R. Hitt. He and his brother John, who recently died, were
classmates of mine, their father being the resident Methodist
preacher at Mount Morris. Robert R. Hitt remained my friend from
our school days until his death. He was a candidate for the Senate
against me at one time, but he was no politician, and I defeated
him so easily that he could not harbor a bitter feeling against
me. He was quite a character, and enjoyed a long and distinguished
public career in Illinois. One of the early shorthand reporters
of the State, the reporter of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, he became
intimate with Lincoln, and Lincoln was very fond of him. He filled
numerous important positions at home and abroad, and married a most
beautiful lady, who still survives. He was later appointed Secretary
of Legation at Paris.
Bob Hitt told me that he asked President Grant for the appointment,
and the President at once said that he would give it to him.
Washburne, who had been Secretary of State for a few days, and who
was then minister at Paris, was much astonished when Hitt appeared
and said that he had been appointed Secretary of Legation. Mr.
Washburne denounced both President Grant and Secretary of State
Fish for appointing anybody to fill such an intimate position
without his consent.
Ambassadors and ministers, however, are not consulted as to who
shall be appointed secretaries. These appointments are made by
the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate;
but Mr. Washburne, as usual, though that he was a bigger man than
any one else, and that an exception should have been made in his
case. But, when officially informed of the appointment, he submitted
gracefully, and they got along together quite amicably. Strange
to say, Hitt represented Washburne's old district in Congress for
a number of years--many more years than Washburne himself represented
it.
It was as a member of Congress that Mr. Hitt distinguished himself.
He did what every man should do who expects to make a reputation
as a national legislator; and that is to specialize, to become an
expert in some particular branch. He was peculiarly fitted for
foreign affairs. He was a man of education and culture, a student
always, had served abroad for years, had mingled in the highest
society, and it is not strange than in a comparatively few years
he was recognized as the leading authority on all matters coming
before the House pertaining to our foreign relations.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the House is not nearly so important
a committee as the Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate, and
I may be pardoned for saying that I am chairman of the latter
committee myself.
The reason is this: the Constitution provides that treaties shall
be made only with the advice and consent of the Senate; hence it
is that all such treaties, and consequently the foreign policy of
the general Government, must pass the scrutiny of the Foreign
Relations Committee of the Senate while the House and its committees
have nothing whatever to do with them.
But nevertheless of all the House committees, that of Foreign
Affairs is at times the foremost, and it never had an abler chairman
than Robert R. Hitt. He was certainly in the most remarkable degree
what might be termed a specialist in legislation. He gave but
scant attention to any other branch of legislation. He had little
time or liking for the tariff, finance, appropriations, or for any
branch of legislation that failed to come within his own especial
province. He was, in fact, so indifferent to the general business
of the House that he told me one day that he did not even take the
trouble to select a regular seat; that when any question came up
in which he was interested he would talk from the seat of some
absent colleague. Hence it was that he was seldom seen on the
floor of the House except when some question was raised concerning
our foreign relations; at which time he was immediately sent for.
And it is only justice to him to say that he was the only man in
the House in his time, and no one has since appeared there, who
could so successfully defend or attack the policy of an administration
concerning its foreign affairs.
The late Senator Morgan of Alabama, a most extraordinary character,
of whom I shall have something to say later, and Robert R. Hitt
and myself were appointed members of a commission to frame a form
of government for the Territory of Hawaii, which we had just
acquired. We travelled to Hawaii together. No two more delightful,
entertaining, or interesting men could be found. They are both
dead, and it was my sad privilege to eulogize their public achievements
in the Senate.
In what I am writing from time to time, now, as the months and
years go by, when I have the leisure from my public duties to devote
to it, and without knowing whether what I am writing will ever be
published, I do not want to eulogize any one. If what I say about
men and events shall offend their friends living, I can not help
it. I want only to give my own estimate of the men whom I have
known. Robert R. Hitt was a good man; his honesty and uprightness
were never questioned; he never did a great deal for his district
but he was one of the most useful legislators in his own line--
foreign affairs--whom I have ever known during my service in
Congress. I think this is a fair and just estimate of him.
But to return to Mount Morris, Professor D. J. Pinckney was president
of the Seminary when I was a student there. He knew my father
intimately, and naturally took more than ordinary interest in me.
When I became ill at school, he took me into his own home and kept
me there for a month or more, treating me with the greatest kindness
and consideration.
Years after I left the institution he became interested in politics,
and ran as an independent for Congress against Horatio C. Burchard,
Republican (who was, by the way, a very excellent man and my friend).
Burchard defeated him. When the campaign was on I was invited to
go to Galena and make a speech for Mr. Burchard. It never occurred
to me at the time that I was going into Pinckney's district; but
when I discovered the truth, I could not very well back out. I
made my speech, but was careful not to say a word against Professor
Pinckney, simply advocating the election of Mr. Burchard as a good
Republican. Professor Pinckney, however, took great offense, and
was very cold toward me from that time until his death. I felt
that he had been misled, that it would all come right, and that
some day I would have a plain talk with him; but he died before we
ever got together. He has a son now living in Chicago, a prominent
circuit judge of Cook County.
Among other classmates of mine at Mount Morris, was the late General
John A. Rawlins, who became a distinguished officer and was General
Grant's chief of staff. No better, no truer, man ever lived than
General Rawlins. He was essentially a good man and never had a
bad habit.
Rawlins was a Democrat, and a strong one, during his school days,
and I believe that he remained one until the Civil War. Robert
Hitt and his brother John, together with Rawlins and myself, formed
a sort of four-in-hand, and we were very intimate. We would take
part in the discussions in our society, and Rawlins was especially
strong when a political question was raised. I have heard him,
during his school days, make speeches that would have done credit
to a statesman. He would have done himself and country credit in
any civil office. He served as Secretary of War a few months.
Like so many others who entered the war without the slightest
military training, he came out of it with a brilliant record as an
officer and soldier.
Judge Moses Hallett, a United States judge, retired, of Colorado,
was another classmate of mine. He was an exceptionally good man,
and developed into a very able lawyer and judge. He is still
living, and has become quite wealthy through fortunate real-estate
investments in the vicinity of Denver.
But I fear I might tire the reader by dwelling longer on my school
life at Mount Morris. To look back over those happy early days is
interesting to me; but it is sad to think how few, how very few,
of my schoolmates, then just beginning the journey of life, with
all the enthusiasm and hope of youth, are living to-day. They soon
scattered, some to one vocation, some to another; some to achieve
distinction and fame, some failure; but certain it is that I know
of very few who are now living.
My health was impaired when I left school, and I returned home to
work on the farm. Soon I became strong again, but the labor was
so arduous and uncongenial that I determined upon a change: if
there was any other way of making a honest living, I would try to
find it.
In the meantime I had leased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres
from my father. When Spring came I told him that I wanted to be
released from my contract; that I had deliberately come to the
conclusion that I could make my living some other way--that I
intended to study law. My father did not hesitate to relieve me
of my obligations, and the succeeding October, 1853, I started for
Springfield to enter upon the study of law. I consulted with
Abraham Lincoln, and on his advice I entered the law offices of
Stuart and Edwards, both of whom were Whigs and friends of my
father. They were both very good men and distinguished lawyers.
At that time Abraham Lincoln and Stephen T. Logan and Stuart and
Edwards were the four ablest lawyers of the capital city. I studied
two years in the offices of Stuart and Edwards, pursuing the usual
life of a law student in a country law office, and was admitted to
the Bar in 1855, and elected City Attorney the same year.
Meanwhile, however, I had been ill of typhoid fever for several
months. During the period of my convalescence, I was advised to
return to my home in the country and spend much time riding horseback.
I did so, but the time seemed to drag, and finally I went to the
city of Peoria to learn whether I could direct my restorative
exercise to an additional profitable end. The result was that for
several ensuing weeks I rode about the countryside, buying hogs
for Ting & Brotherson; at the expiration of which time I had regained
my health, was richer by about five hundred dollars, and was thus
enabled to return at once to Springfield and take up again my
interrupted studies.
Having been inducted into the office of City Attorney, I was fairly
launched upon a political career, exceeding in length of unbroken
service that of any other public man in the country's history. In
fact I never accepted but two executive appointments: the first
was an unsought appointment by Abraham Lincoln, after he had become
the central figure of his time, if not of all time; and, second,
an appointment from President McKinley as chairman of the Hawaiian
Commission.