“Is that where you began your career as an orator?” I asked.
“You mean as a stump-speaker? Yes. I talked for Fremont and Dayton, our
candidates, but they were defeated. We did not really expect success,
though, and yet we carried eleven states. After that, I went back to
my law books, and was admitted to the bar in 1858. That was another
campaign year, and I spoke for the party then, as I did two years
later, when I was a candidate for the state assembly, and won.”
The real glory hidden by this modest statement is that Mr. Depew’s
oratory in the campaign of 1858 gained him such distinction that he
was too prominent to be passed over in 1860. During that campaign, he
stumped the entire state, winning rare oratorical triumphs, and aiding
the party almost more than anyone else. How deep an impression the
young member from Peekskill really made in the state legislature by
his admirable mastery of the complex public business brought before
him, may be gathered from the fact that when, two years later, he was
re-elected, he was speedily made chairman of the committee on ways
and means. He was also elected speaker, _pro tem._, and at the next
election, when his party was practically defeated all along the line,
he was returned.
After briefly referring to the active part he took in the Lincoln
campaign, I asked:—
“When did you decide upon your career as a railroad official?”
“In 1866. I was retained by Commodore Vanderbilt as attorney for the
New York and Harlem Road.”
“To what do you attribute your rise as an official in that field?”
“Hard work. That was a period of railroad growth. There were many small
roads and plenty of warring elements. Out of these many small roads,
when once united, came the great systems which now make it possible to
reach California in a few days. Anyone who entered upon the work at
that time had to encounter those conditions, and if he continued at it,
to change them. I was merely a counselor at first.”
In 1869, Mr. Depew was made attorney for the New York Central and
Hudson River Railroad, and afterward a director. This was the period
of the development of the Vanderbilt system. Mr. Depew was a constant
adviser of the Vanderbilts, and, by his good judgment and sagacious
counsel, maintained their constant respect and friendship. In 1875, he
was made general counsel for the entire system and a director in each
one of the roads.