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The Commoner1
VOTJ. 1G', N61;l
30
Gary Dinner to iRoosevelt Recalls
Blaine's "Belshazzar" Feast
fiProm The Washington Post, Doc.
2 3. J.
On Friday night of last wook Col.
Roosevelt, formor prosldent of tho
United, States, wan the guest of honor
at a private dinner given by Elbert PI.
(Jury, chairman of the United States
Steol corporation. On account of the
wealth represented by tho guests, es
timated, conservatively at $12,000,
000,000', it has boon called Roosc-velt'billion-dollar
dinner. If, as a
result? ol' that banquet the candidacy
of Col. Itoosevolt should bo an
nounced, what, politicians aro ask
ing1; would bo tho political effect of
) this hobnobbing with Wall street 11
luinclora and multimillionaires?
In tho late summer of 1884, when
IUainc was a candidate for president
on the republican ticket, he was the
guest of honor at a dinner tendered
him by tho most influential financial
magnates of New York city. Men In
those days did not talk in billions.
Thoro were many millionaires, how
ever, and tho guests around that fes
tive board counted their wealth in
millions. That was Blaine's million
dollar dinner. His political enemies
termed It the "Bolshazzar feast."
Dominated Wall Street
The men who supped with him
were IIiobo who dominated the Wall
stroot of that day, owners of rail
roads still unchecked by tho regulat-
, lug hands of tho Interstate Commerce
commission, and bankers unimpeded
' by imo'dorn restrictions upon tholr
' manipulation of tho funds Intrusted
I to their keeping.
The lato Collis P. Huntington, one
of tho groatost, if not tho greatest
railroad man of his tlmo, financier
and-politician, and a dominant figure
in his .party, was ono of tho moving
spirits Jn organizing this dinner and
bringing Blaine boforo that wealthy
company. The ropubllcan candidate
hesitated long before accepting. To
his partisan colleagues managing the
campaign he expressed the fear that
hlaoing would result in harm, but
hcPt;oiVi'ted the favor of thoso men of
woalth, and accepted tho invitation.
His fears wore realized.
Blnmo Million-Dollar Dinner
The fact that Blaine was the gliest
of.hojjpr at this feast, was heralded
frmnMjio end of tho country to tho
othor&ns ovldonco of his complete
oheclfetico to tho monoy powor. Tlio
Illustrated papers were filled with
cartoons and the dally press dinned
it into tho minds of readers day af
ter da' that Blaine, if olocted, would
be subservient to those whose guost
ho had been. Blahu was defeated,
not by a vote so largo that he could
accept tho osult with some degree
of complacency, hut by a paltry 37
votos In the electoral college Of
these, Now York state alono cast JIG.
The "Hum, Romanism and Robcllion"
speech of Dr. Burohard, and tho Mul
ligan letters helped some to bring
about defeat, but Blaino and his
friends always attributed tho result
to that million-dollar dinner.
tf Col. Itoosevolt expocts to be a
candidate, oven of a united repub
lican party, ho would do well to re
cairthat episode in tho life of James
G". Blaine, his friends here said yes
terday. Tho peoplo today are pretty
much what they wore In 1884. If
they suspected Blaine of having gone
dvor to the plutocrats of his day,
would thoy not be justified in suspect
ing that when he" went' to the famous
Gary dinner Col. Roosevolt at least
was flirting wi U that small group of
dinner guests who are said, to, repre
sent one-fifth of the woalth of the
United States. That is, if he is a
candidate.
Here are the names of the men
who attended the dinner: Chairman
Gary, Col. Itoosevolt, Jacob II. Sehiff,
George F. Baker, George W. Perkins,
A. Barton Hepburn, Frank A. Van
dcrlip, Cornelius Vanderbllt, Freder
ick W. Whitrldge, Frank B. Kellogg,
Daniel Guggenheim, August Belmont,
C. A. Coffin, Henry Walters, of Bal
timore; Richard V. Landabury, of
Nowark; 13. C. Converse, Clarence H.
Mackay and George B. Cortelyou.
Roosevelt Not CuiiKht Napping
It is doubtful, however, if the po
litical future of Col. Roosevelt was
a subject so much as touched upon
at this dinner. Col. Roosevelt, what
ever his enemies may say of hira,
knows quite as well as anybody olso
that if his candidacy is to be
launched, political association with
the men at that dinner, even though
Goorge W. Perkins was a guest,
would not bo approved by the pro
gressives with whom he has trained
for four years.
Col. Roosevelt is always spectacu
lar, but his friends yesterday said
that even if he was hoping to become
the candidate of the ropubllcan party
under the management of the old
guard, he could not be Inveigled into
so spectacular a manner of showing
his return to the fold.
A list of the guests shows there
were men present who aro not fa
vorablo to Col. Roosevelt as a candi
date and never would be. President
Wilson, had at least one warm per
sonal friend at tho table in the per
son of Richard V. Landabury, of
Nowark, N. J. The guests at that
dinner have declined to state what
subject was under discussion. The
dinner, it is said, was but a vehicle
for a secret conference, and the per
sonnel of the list of those in attend
ance, friends of Col. Roosevelt said
yestorday, made untenable the sug
gestion that It was his candidacy.
Preparedness the Thome
A person close to Col. Roosevelt
declared last night that If he were
required to make a guess he would
say that the subject under discussion
was the preparedness of this country
for the future, the character of legis
lation necessary, and the commercial
and financial relations, under existing
conditions, between this country and
Europe.
The dinner guests were the men
who are the head of the great finan
cial institution:! through whom the
bills of foreign governments aro be
ing paid. Others are the controlling
factors, the great captains of indus
try, whose concerns are going day
and night in the manufacture of sup
plies. From the start Col. Roosevelt has
been the ono great, outstanding
American who has stood for national
preparedness in its biggest and most
comprehensive sense. He has point
ed out the lessons of tho present war
and the dangers that will confront
this nation when tie war is over He
has studied the question, and in at
tempting to aid in solving the prob
lem has said unpleasant things be
cause only by plain talk could he
hope to bring the American people
to see the possibilities of the future
as ho sees it.
Get His Views on War
What more natural, the friends of
Col. Roosevelt say, than that these
men who are so vitally interested in
having the United States prepared to
prevent war in the future should ask
Col. Roosevelt to set forth his views
he being the exponent of prompt,
vigorous and effective, action that
looks to national protection.
Col. Roosevelt, they say, has am
ple time In which to determine whom
he will support for the presidential
nomination. In the meantime, how
ever, his friends declare he believes
that preparedness is the paramount
issue before the American people and
in pressing that issue he and every
other American needs the assistance
of men of weal.'i and large affairs.
This, they believe, was the secret
of the dinner at which the colonel
was a guest, and not politics, al
though the democrats all over the
country are endeavoring to so repre
sent it to the people, in the hope that
it will bo of advantage to the demo
cratic party in the coming campaign.
GARY DINNER TOPIC OF POLIT
ICAL GOSSIP
From the Washington Star, Dec 22.
New York, Dec. 21. Regarding
tho dinner given by Chairman Gary
to Col. Roosevelt in New York Fri
day night, the Tribune says:
The Gary dinner, held at the home
of the head of the stoel corporation
in honor of Col. Theodore Roosevelt
Friday night, is still the ltvest topia
in political circles. It is likely to
hold Its vitality as a political wonder
until some one of the eighteen prom
inont men present come out in the
open and declare more definitely just
what happened. They all continued
to maintain a strict neutrality yester
day and declined to discuss the
"purely private affair."
In the light of reflection' and dis
cussion, however, prominent local
politicians were inclined yesterday to
put the soft pedal on the assumption
that it was held essentially to foster
the Rooseveltlan possibilities as the
next republican presidential candi
date. It was looked upon rather as
a gathering of "practical business
men" whose influence is country
wide, and whose anxiety for tho. fu
ture prosperity of the country led
them to talk matters over with the
colonel with the view of drafting him
in the republican cause without un
duly arousing his presidential bee.
Colonel Anxious to Get Back
That Col. Roosevelt is anxious to
get back into the republican fold and
work on the inside, rather than to
lead again what many consider a
hopeless independent cause, is known
to some of his close friends. These
same friends believe also that he
does not desire to be an active can
didate for the presidency in either
camp, although some of the old guard
republicans have their doubts as to
how far he might go if he was ad
mitted to the republican councils.
It was1 pointed out that the Gary
dinner, from the personnel of the
guests, was essentially a "steel din
ner," and in that respect the colonel
was among "his old friends," and
some of his best advisers in the past.
While the political activities of some
of them have not been pronounced,
their business influence is large, and
it was suggested that their appeal
would most likely have been along
such practical lines for the colonel
to re-enter the lists in a common
cause to re-establish Industrial sta
bility in the place of the present the
oretical, wabbling policies.
Would Help Defeat Wilson
With the colonel's declaration that
he proposed to work for a reunion of
forces to defeat the present unsatis
factory administration of industrial
affairs, with the future prosperity of
the country as the chief issue, repub
lican success would practically be as
sured next year, according to some of
the republican leaders. That was
most likely to have been the drift of
the talk at the Gary dinner, it was
said.
George B. Cortelyou, who was in
Col. Roosevelt's cabinet and managed
his campaign .until ihe colohelsplfi
the republican ranks, said yesterday
that many of the political, inferences
drawn so far from tile Gary dinner,
at which he was a guest, were not
based on facts. When it was suggest
ed to him that the inference had been
drawn that the affair was a begin-,
ning toward healing the republican
progressive breach, he insisted that .
the proprieties had to be observed
and ho could not discuss what had
taken place at a private dinner.
All overtures to Col, Roosevelt to
discuss the gathering of Friday night,
met with the same polite refusal, and
the reply that he would have nothing
to "say until after the first of the
year," meaning, presumably, until
after the meeting of the progressive
national committee in Chicago, Jan
uary 11.
011 REVENUE OXLY
The people are rapidly arriving at
the conclusion that "preparedness"
is not intended for any other purpose
but to feed the munition and war
supply manufacturers of this country
and stuff the coffers of the monied
concerns of Wall street. After the
end of the European war, there will
not be a nation in all Europe that
will be in a position to engage in an
other war for half a century. Death
and debt will have made that impos
sible. Then why all this bluff ancl
bluster about ."preparedness" if not
for revenue only? Kearney (Neb.)
Democrat. ' '"
Tho Modern Way
Flubdub Isn't there some fable
about tho ass disguising himself with
a lion's skin?
Synicus Yes, hut now the colleges,
do the trick with sheepskin. Buffalo.
Courier.
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