The Battle still Undecided.--Sunday among the Delegates.--Garfield's
Remark.--Monday another Day of Doubt.--The Dark Horse.--The
Balloting on Tuesday.--Garfield's Remonstrance.--He is
Unanimously Elected on the Thirty-sixth Ballot.--Enthusiastic
Demonstrations, Congratulatory Speeches and Telegrams.--His
Speech of Acceptance.
Garfield's eloquent speech was followed by one from Mr. Billings, of
Vermont, who proposed Senator Edmunds as a nominee. Mr. Cassidy, of
Wisconsin, presented the name of Elihu B. Washburne, of Illinois, and
was seconded by Mr. Brandagee, of Connecticut.
The battle was waged in this manner until a late hour on Saturday
evening. Many of the delegates wanted to continue the balloting after
midnight, and some urged the chairman, Judge Hoar, to ignore the Sabbath
and let the convention go on.
"Never!" he replied; "this is a Sabbath-keeping nation, and I cannot
preside over this convention one minute after twelve."
Garfield attended church in the morning, and dined with Marshall Field.
The conversation at table turned upon the dead-lock in the convention
and the quietus at Washington, where every one was waiting for further
developments.
Addressing the friend who sat beside him, Garfield said,--
"Yes, this is a day of suspense, but it is also a day of prayer; and I
have more faith in the prayers that will go up from Christian hearts
to-day, than I have in all the political tactics which will prevail at
this convention."
When President Hoar called the convention to order on Monday morning, an
anxious crowd hastily took their seats and prepared for the coming
battle. Eighteen ballots were cast during the day and ten more in the
evening, with no decisive result. The weather was extremely hot, but the
hall was filled to its utmost capacity, and at each roll-call the whole
twelve thousand would simultaneously rise to their feet with a noise
like the roar of thunder. It was late at night before the convention
broke up, and some of the delegates did not retire at all.
On Tuesday morning, a pencilled note, it is said, passed from Conkling
to Garfield, which read as follows:--
"MY DEAR GARFIELD,--If there is to be a dark horse in this
convention there is no man I would prefer before yourself.
CONKLING."
The reply was,--
"MY DEAR CONKLING,--There will be no dark horse in this
convention. I am for Sherman.
J. A. GARFIELD."
By the time the thirty-fourth ballot was cast, however, it began to be
very evident that a "break" was imminent. Wisconsin gave thirty-six
votes for Garfield, Connecticut followed with eleven more, Illinois gave
seven, and Indiana twenty-nine.
Garfield immediately rose to his feet and said he had refused to have
his name announced and voted for in the convention.
"I have not given my consent"--he began; but amidst much laughter the
chairman interrupted, and said the gentleman was not stating a question
of order.
The enthusiasm for the new candidate now rose to its highest pitch. When
the thirty-sixth ballot was called, Sherman and the Ohio delegation,
with the New York anti-Grant men, led off in a grand burst of applause
for Garfield. One after another the States transferred their votes to
him, till at last Wisconsin completed the majority.
Before the roll was called a salute of guns was fired in the park
outside, the galleries sprang to their feet, and the wildest scene of
excitement followed.
Each delegation had its State banner, and, with Massachusetts at the
head, an impromptu procession was formed that marched over to the Ohio
delegation and placed all the standards by the side of Garfield. The
military band in the hall then struck up, "Rally round the Flag," and
the whole immense audience enthusiastically joined in the stirring song.
"I shall never forget," writes an eye-witness, "the expression of
Garfield's face at the time that delegation after delegation was
breaking from its moorings and going over to him. I scanned him with
intense curiosity as he listened to the call of States, and the certain
coming of his nomination. His cheeks had a flush upon them, and there
was a far-away expression in his eyes as he listened to the responses of
the chairman, as if he was communing with the future. I can see his face
at this moment as plainly as I saw it then, and I ask myself now whether
as he swept the horizon of the future with his mind's eye, could he
possibly have had a glimpse of the dark apparition that was even then
being invoked into life. He looked anxious, almost troubled."
When the President of the convention announced that James A. Garfield of
Ohio had received three hundred and ninety-nine ballots, the majority of
the whole votes cast, Senator Conkling arose and said,--
"I move that he be unanimously presented as the nominee of the
convention. The Chair, under the rules, anticipated me, but being on my
feet, I avail myself of the opportunity to congratulate the Republican
party of the nation on the good-natured and well-tempered disposition
that has distinguished this animated convention.
"I trust that the fervor and unanimity of the scenes of the convention
will be transplanted to the field of the country, and all of us who have
borne a part against each other here will be found with equal zeal,
bearing the banners and carrying the lances of the Republican party into
the ranks of the enemy."
Senator Logan followed Conkling in a similar congratulatory speech; and
Eugene Hale, the defeated leader of the Blaine forces, said:--
"Standing here to return our heartfelt thanks to the many men in this
convention who have aided us in the fight that we made for the senator
from Maine, and speaking for them here, as I know that I do, I say this
most heartily: We have not got the man whom we hoped to nominate when we
came here, but we have got a man in whom we have the greatest and most
marked confidence. The nominee of this convention is no new and untried
man, and in that respect he is no 'dark horse.' When he came here,
representing his State in the front of his delegation and was seen here,
every man knew him because of his record; and because of that and
because of our faith in him, and because we were in the emergency, glad
to help make him the candidate of the Republican party for President of
the United States,--because, I say, of these things, I stand here to
pledge the Maine forces in this convention to earnest effort until the
ides of November, to help to carry him to the presidential chair."
Short speeches followed from members of the other delegations and the
nomination of James A. Garfield was declared unanimous.
While shaking hands with the crowd that gathered around him, Garfield
turned to a correspondent of the Cleveland _Herald_ and said gravely:--
"I wish you would say that this is no act of mine. I wish you would say
that I have done everything and omitted nothing to secure Secretary
Sherman's nomination. I want it plainly understood that I have not
sought this nomination, and have protested against the use of my name.
If Senator Hoar had permitted, I would have forbidden anybody to vote
for me. But he took me off my feet before I had said what I intended. I
am very sorry it has occurred, but if my position is fully explained, a
nomination, coming unsought and unexpected like this, will be the
crowning gratification of my life."
Before nominating the Vice-President, the convention took a short
recess, and Garfield attempted to leave the hall. He was immediately
surrounded, however, by an enthusiastic crowd, who followed him to the
door and tried to take the horses off his carriage that they might draw
it themselves.
A serenade followed at the Grand Pacific Hotel, but Garfield declined to
respond to the ovation further than to give his thanks. More than six
hundred congratulatory telegrams were received during the evening, among
the most notable of which were the following:--
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
June 8th, 1880.
_To General James A. Garfield:_
You will receive no heartier congratulations to-day than
mine. This both for your own and your country's sake.
(Signed) R. B. HAYES.
WASHINGTON, June 8th, 1880.
_Hon. James A. Garfield, Chicago:_
I congratulate you with all my heart upon your nomination as
President of the United States. You have saved the
Republican party and the country from a great peril, and
assured the continued success of Republican principles.
(Signed) JOHN SHERMAN.
"The vote of Maine just cast for you is given you with my
hearty concurrence. I assure you of my belief that you will
have a glorious victory in November."
JAMES G. BLAINE.
MILWAUKEE, June 8th, 1880.
"Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art
promised." LAWRENCE BARRETT.
WASHINGTON, June 8th 1880.
"Accept my hearty congratulations. The country is to be
congratulated as well as yourself." C. SCHURZ.
Similar dispatches were received from other members of the cabinet, and
from various senators and representatives at Washington. When General
Grant heard the news he said, "It is all right--I am satisfied."
At the earnest request of the delegates, an informal reception was held
at the Grand Pacific, and near midnight Garfield responded to the
committee appointed to notify him officially of his nomination, as
follows:--
"MR. CHAIRMEN AND GENTLEMEN,--I assure you that the
information you have officially given me brings a sense of
very grave responsibility, and especially so in view of the
fact that I was a member of your body, a fact that could not
have existed with propriety had I had the slightest
expectation that my name would be connected with the
nomination for the office. I have felt with you great
solicitude concerning the situation of our party during the
struggle, but believing that you are correct in assuring me
that substantial unity has been reached in the conclusion,
it gives me gratification far greater than any personal
pleasure your announcement can bring.
"I accept the trust committed to my hands. As to the work
of our party and the character of the campaign to be entered
upon, I will take an early occasion to reply more fully than
I can properly do to-night. I thank you for the assurances
of confidence and esteem you have presented to me, and hope
we shall see our future as promising as are the indications
to-night."
In a similar manner Senator Hoar and the committee officially apprized
General Arthur of his nomination to the Vice-Presidency; his acceptance
was given in a brief informal speech, but it was not till the "small
hours" that the excited crowds began to disperse.