"ALBANY, _July 13th, 1885_.
"MY DEAR GOVERNOR,--I send you herewith a copy of a letter
received to-day. I send it because it may serve to amuse, and
because it enables one to measure the sizes of certain men who are
playing their best on the Washington stage. My correspondent is a
truthful writer, and is well entitled to my confidence.
"Faithfully yours,
"DANIEL MANNING,
"M. F. M."
* * * * *
The following is the letter mentioned in the above note:
---- TO DANIEL MANNING
"WASHINGTON, _July 12th, 1885_.
"DEAR MR. SECRETARY,--I have a piece of news for you,
which I can only hope will not annoy you as much as it has some
of us here. You will remember that on one of my visits to the Hot
Springs, I told you that some of the gentlemen of the department
had organized a social club, and out of respect and admiration for
you had named it 'The Manning Club.' Well, the organization seemed
to be a vigorous and thriving one, and we had in it almost every
Democratic chief of bureau and chief of division in the department.
We had rented a fine house for a year, had partly furnished it, and
were rapidly getting into good shape when a bomb-shell fell among us
in the shape of a notification of the displeasure of the President,
and now the organization is completely disorganized and about ready
to disband.
"So far as we can learn, the President was misinformed of
the objects of the club; he was told that it was a political
organization; but even when its real purpose, that of promoting
good feeling and good fellowship among Democratic officers of
the Treasury Department, was explained to him by Judge Maynard,
he insisted upon continuing his disapproval; and intimated that
if the organization were continued, he would write a letter for
publication, denouncing it and kindred organizations. This I learn
from persons who talked with him about it.
"Of course, under the circumstances, there is nothing for us to do
but disband. The president of the club wrote Mr. Cleveland, asking
for an interview at which he might explain to him its purposes.
This was on Friday last. To-day (the 12th) he received a note from
Colonel Lamont saying that the President referred the writer of the
letter to Mr. Fairchild, to whom he (the President) had spoken on
the subject.
"I had a talk with Mr. Fairchild the other day, and found that he
had been misinformed as to the objects of the club; but even after
I had explained its purpose to him, and while he acknowledged the
legitimacy of that purpose, he expressed disapproval of it as liable
to misconstruction, and apt to become a source of embarrassment
to the administration because of the political qualification for
membership.
"The matter is all the more annoying, because there is treachery at
the bottom of it. Mr. Fairchild tells me that on Wednesday evening
last he heard of it and went to the President about it, and that he
found the President already knew of and disapproved of it, as he
then understood it. Judge Maynard, who saw the President on Friday,
and explained the real purposes of the club to him, tells me that on
Wednesday morning he was informed by Colonel Youmans that the club
was disapproved of by the President. Youmans thus appears to have
been the first person in the Treasury to know that the club met with
disfavor at the White House. He knew of it Wednesday morning. On
Tuesday night his name was proposed for membership in the club, and
the person who proposed his name said he had talked with the chief
clerk about the organization that day (Tuesday). It is hard to
think it possible, but almost every member of the club believes that
Youmans carried the information he had concerning the club and his
own impressions of its purposes to the White House.
"However, the club is now a thing of the past; or will be as soon as
we can close up its affairs and dispose of our house and furniture,
and that part of the incident is at an end; but what puzzles all
of us is that a social club of Democratic officials should be
vetoed, while State Democratic associations, with purposes assuredly
partisan, continue to flourish in Washington.
"I do hope, Mr. Secretary, that the matter may not annoy you or
cause you any embarrassment, but I am fearful that it will. I did
not write you on Friday, because I wanted to wait and see how it
would turn out. It is proper that I should write you about it, now
that the President has refused to have the matter explained to him
by our officers, and that we have determined to disband."
* * * * *
Shortly before the receipt of the letter which follows, Mr.
Manning, one day on leaving the cabinet, experienced an apoplectic
attack which compelled him to be transported to his home, and was
destined, I believe, to prevent his ever placing his feet again
in the Treasury Department. As soon as he was able to travel, he
repaired to Albany, where he was accustomed to find the comforts
and consolations of home, and expected in seeking them again to
be speedily restored to health. In this, however, both he and his
friends were disappointed; and though he survived until December of
'87, he early realized that his illness was incurable, and that his
public career, so full of promise, was ended. In the latter part of
July he was invited by Mr. Tilden to join him at the Kaaterskill
House in the Catskills, where Mr. Tilden himself was temporarily
sojourning. To this invitation the following was Mr. Manning's reply: