Stephen B. Elkins on Presidential Conventions
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(Copyright, 1904, by Prank O. Carpenter.)
1ASH1NGTON, June. l$.-Sf.ecIal
f I Correspondence of tThe ; Bie.)
- I "Tit nur nntlnnAl mnvnttnnflrer)
resent the choice of,. the people 1"
' I asked this question .of .Senator,
Stephen. B. Elkins as woj sat. together la -the
library of his house on K street. thla '
afternoon. Wo were discussing the tolit cal
situation,' and . the senator had teen giving-
me some of his experiences In ther
management Of presidential campaign -Be
has, you know, been one of the leaders
of the republican party for more than a
quarter of a century. Ite became a mem
ber of the national committee when he
was a territorial:. delegate from New Mex
ico, at the beginning of Grant's second
term, almost a generation ago,' and bo
was chairman of the republican executive
. committee In the Blaine-Cleveland cam- -palgn
of 18S4. Senator Elkins has had to
do with the making of every presidential
candidate for the 'past twenty-five years.
He was a leader of the Blaine forces li)
(he conventions of 1876, 1880 and 1884, he
was at the head of the Harrison element la
1888. and he knows about as much of tho
Inside history of national conventions a4
any public man In the country. - . f 1
' 'Do our presidential conventions reprfc
sent the choice of the people?" Senator El
kins repeated my question reflectively and
then went on. "I. think not as a rule, ,
Sometimes they do, bat the nominations art '
made by the leaders of the party, many ot
whom are animated by selfish motives and
Who sometimes accomplish, their ends by;
finesse. Intrigue and combination. The re
sult Is that the candidate so made Is of tut '
not the man who la closest to the hearts of
the masses. Indeed, It seems to me that
the presidential nominee Is seldom the first
choice of the people.
"Take the nomination of President Hayes,
for Instance," Senator Elkins continued. "It
was made at Cincinnati In 1876) notwith
standing Blaine had a greater following
than him or any other candidate. I was
there as one of the Blaine representatives,
and I knew all about the Inside workings of
the convention. ... . .
""The chief candidates were James - O.
Blaine, Roscoe Conkllng, Oliver P. Morton,
Haxtranft of Pennsylvania and almost at
the tall of the list Rutherford B. Hayes. ..
The day before the nomination was made .
everything was . In Blaine's , favor. We .
thought we had him nominated; but night
came on, the gas fit the convention hall
bad ' been tampered . with, and. we were
, forced to put off the ballot which would
have secured his candidacy until the next .
day. All that night the opposing forces
worked to defeat us. They finally united,
and, as a result, Hayes became the choice
of the convention. He was then an almost .,
unknown quantity in the minds of the peo
ple." .. .
"It was much the same In lbs convention
Of 1880, was It not?" I asked.
Tea," replied Senator Elkins. "The can
didates of - the ' people In that convention
were ' Blaine and Grant. John Sherman
bad some following, but he bad no strong
bold upon the masses, and Blaine was
more the choice of the whole republican
party than any of the others. Neverthe
less, James A. Garfield, who came from
Ohio as the representative of the Sherman
forces, became the nominee. I don't think
Garfield hoped to be the candidate until
the convention met.
"When I saw him in New York,
two monthes before that, he promised mo
that If at any time It became impossible
to nominate John Sherman he would do
all In his power to throw the vote of Ohio
to Blaine. , The convention met, and the
Blaine forces and Grant forces struggled
and struggled In that famous deadlock,
with the Sherman vote far In the rear.
There seemed no chance for Sherman, and
X tried again and again to persuade Gar
field to give Blaine the Ohio vote on one
ballot at least, but he put me oft with,
Not yet, not yet' He then seemed to
feel that ha would be nominated. The
speech he made for Sherman was a better
speech tor himself than for Sherman, and
whether Intentionally or not It brought
him up In the minds or the people as a
possible oandiJate. The result was that
ho was nominated, taking precedence over
Blaine and Grant, the candidates of the
poop)."
"When was Blaine nearest the presi
dency?" "Mr. Blaine received the nomination In
1S84," said Senator Elkins. "That was a
case in which the choice of the people be
came the choice of the convention. I think '
the same occurred In the nomination of
VcKInley In 1896 and 1M0, and that will bo
the case with President Roosevelt In the
convention next week. In the national eon
Ttntlon of 1884 there were several other can
didates. Arthur, then president, had a
considerable following. Senator Hawley
was presented by Connecticut, Senator
Sherman by Ohio and Senator Logan by
Illinois. Blaine, however, was easily nomi
nated, receiving (41 votes to Arthur's ZOT.
General Arthur professed himself satisfied,
but many of his followers were lukewarm
ta ths campaign which followed.
"I have said that Blaine was nearest the
JTUte House then," continued Senator
m.
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1
8TEPHBPS a,
Elkins. "He was elected, In fact, but the
democrats had the control .of 'the election '
machinery In the state of New York and
they counted a lot of Butler votes as Cleve- y
'land votes and thereby made him president.
I have never believed (hat Cleveland was .'
fairly elected." -.: " " r '
."How about the nomination of Harrl- :'
son?" I asked. '
"That took place In 1888,", said Senator '.
Elkins, "and largely through Blaine's In- ,
fluence. Mr. Blaine was In Europe that
year, and shortly before the convention he '
sent, home a letter from Florence-in -which ;
he declined to be a candidate. Then John
Sherman,' W. Q. Gresham, Chaunqey De
pew, Russell A. Alger, Joe Hawley, W. B.
Allison and Benjamin Harrison came forth
as candidates. Shortly before the conven
tion met Andrew Carnegie left New York
for. Scotland, where he expected to take a
coaching tour with Mr. Blaine. I had a
chat with'hlm about the time he sailed and
we then made up a code of twenty words
In order that I might cable Blaine about
the convention and what passed be known ,
to ourselves alone.
"Carnegie gave Blaine the code and by It
I cabled Blaine from Chicago. He again
declined to be a candidate, and I asked him
to cable me his choice among those be
fore the convention. He replied: "Take
Harrison." In the balloting which fol
lowed It was Blaine's strength going to
Harrison that made him the nominee, al
though this was greatly helped by the sup
port of Tom Piatt. John Sherman was
also an element In that convention, and he
might possibly had the Blaine following
had he shown more sympathy for Blaine
In the convention of 1876 and 1880."
"You nave bad much to do with the man
agement of campaigns, Senator Elkins,"
said I. "What does It cost to run one?"
"The expenses vary from year to year,"
lepiied Senator Elkins, "but I may say
they are steadily Increasing. The Hayes
campaign cost about $300,000. The Blane
campaign of 1884 cost $460,000 and that of
Harrison, which was managed by Quay,
cost, I have been told, about $1,200,090. Tho
two campaigns since then have, accord
ing to. current belief, cost doubly as much
as the Harrison campaign. So, you see,
the expenses are enormous."
"How about the democrats; do they
spend much money?"
"They spend all they can get." replied
Senator Elkins, "but they are usually not
able to raise so much as the republicans.
In the Blaine-Cleveland campaign they
spent fully as much as we did, and I know
what we spent, for I was then chairman
of the republican executive committee, wfth
Mr. Jones of Pittsburg at the head of the
national committee. Mr. Jones was a very
cautious business man, and we kept close
accounts of everything, so that we knew
Just where the money went."
"But where do these vast sums go, sen
ator? Axe they used to buy votes?"
"No," replied Senator Elkins. "The man
who will sell his vote to you will resell tho
same vote to the democrats, and sven If It
were not dishonest It would not be good
business to buy votes. The money is spent
in various ways. The literary bureaus
which prepare and circulate campaign lit
erature cost enormous sums. Hundreds of
thousands of dollars are paid to speakers,
who must ba read to go to any part of
KUCXN& V .-. - ' .
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the country on . telegraphlo notice. Many
publlo men who give up their whole. time
to the campaign are paid so" much for tho
season, or so much per night Indeed, one ;
United States senator, asked me - $6,000 for .
his services during one campaign.' .' Then 1 1
costs a fortune-to pojl the country-that is, !'
to ascertain" Just ' how many republicans, :
democrats and independents there are In
each . election precinct and how they -will'
vote. It is. upon .-Such polling that every'
campaign Is planned. ' This is largely done
by. the states, but the national committee
helps." :
t'But, senator, is not much or the money
used dishonestly?". I asked. ; V:- " v ""
"I think not," was "the 'reply.' 'I don't
think any of it is knowingly so used "by
the , national committee. ' In a vast ma
chine like that of a political party, how
ever, you will always find dishonest men
and the money given out for. organization
and special ."work sometimes sticks to tho
hands of those who receive It I think wo
lost a large percentage of what we spent
In that way during the Blaine campaign.
"The cost of a national campaign," con-'
tinued' Senator Elkins, "is very great out
side of the actual money spent In politics.
There is an enormous loss of business. Tho
people let politics take them away from
their stores, trades and farms. There is
always an uncertainty as to the results
and as to a possible change of tariff and -other
matters that affect business, so that .
presidential years are lean years as far as
business is concerned."
"But this makes our government a very
expensive one, senator?"
"Yes, it is expensive," was tho reply,
"but it is worth all it costs. The advan
tages of a democracy far outweigh all
such evils. Wo are our own masters and
our expenses are of our own creation and
not those of one man or a half dozen men
as in a monarchical government."
"But ' does' not our democracy tend to
produce a nation of bood'-ers?" ,
"No," replied Senator 131 kins?" 'There Is
some official corruption, 'but the "press ex
poses the mot of it and there are an hun
dred honest men to every rascal.' I am not
afraid of the morality of the American
people and I don't believe there is any dan
ger of our town councils, our state legisla
tures and our national oongTOSs becoming
corrupt. As long as man are men you will
now and ' then find a dishonest one, hero
and there among them, but tho majority
will always bo true to themselves and their
country."
"How about official morality at Wash
ington? How much can a United States
senator legitimately maker
"He can make Just $6,000 a year," said
Senator Elkins, "and not one cent more. I
am tired of this talk about senatorial cor
ruption. I know it is said there are mem
bers of 'the senate whoso votes are for
sale, but, if so, I do not know them. No
one has ever approached me with an offer
for my vote or my Influence. The profes
sional lobbyist Is largely a newspaper fic
tion. He did exist in tho past, but at
present, If ho exists at all, bis welgHt is so
small as to be Imperceptible."
"But how about making money out of
information as to probable legislation f
Congress is supposed by some to bo
kind of aa annex to .Wall street"
"It Is not so," replied Senator Elkins.
- "I don't - think senators speculate ' upon
Such' matters. ' In the first place how can
one be sure of his information, and,' if so,
how be sure that the markets will go as
you expect them to go. - The truth Is the
Wall street brokers can discount' the action
Of congress quite as well as we can, and
such of our senatorial lambs as have gone
to Wall street have come' back badly
shoru. There are not many, but now and
then one may take a' flyer, as it is called,
but It is usually to his sorrow. ' Indeed, I
have never heard of any senator or rep
resentative making much money by such
speculations. I don't believe it ' possible,
unless backed ' by an experience and abil
ity In such matters which would make tho
man a success on ' the outside. ' Besides,
most of the senators are poor, and that
In itself is an evidence ot their innocence
as to this charge."
' "But, Senator Elkins, some men do make
a great deal but of the government. How
about the Cleveland bond sale, of $02,000,
000, whereby, according to the papers, Pier
pont Morgan made $1,000,000 In one day?"
"I remember that statement," said Sen
ator Elkins. "I quoted It In one of my
speeches In the senate. But Plerpont Mor
gan is not a United States senator. He
Is a New York banker of International note,
and greater In business than any or all
of the senators put together. The money
he and his fellows made out of that salo
was in the ordinary course of legitimate
business, and their success came largely
from playing upon the fenrs of the ad
ministration and the country.
' "I can't see why Grover Cleveland called
that matter up at this time," continued
Senator Elkins. "It may be that he wants
to be the democratic candidate for the
presidency, and thinks that this feature
of his administration may help him. To
my mind it is far from commendable, and
I showed this at the time by a resolution
which 1 'introduced into- the senate provid
ing that no further sales of bonds should
be made without' advertisement or by pri
vate contract. I believe that resolution
saved Uncle 'Sam a great deal of money.
When it-was before ' the" senate Russell
'. Sage wrote me that' I had saved the gov
ernment $6,000,000 "by It". ' -. 8 V '
"Give me the story in" a nutshell," said I.
-r "Since Grover Cleveland has revived tho
subject I have no objection to doing so,"
replied Senator Elkins.' "It was in the lat
ter part of 1895 that Cleveland made his
contract with certain New York bankers to
take $62,000,000 worth of United States 4
per cent bonds at 104V4 and place them in
Europe.'' This contract was made without
advertisement for bids and as a private
sale to J. Plerpont Morgan. The reason for
it was that there seemed to be a scarcity
of gold in the country, and the gold reserve
fund in the treasury had fallen consider
ably below the $100,000,000 mark, which is
the legal reserve. Shortly after the sate
was made it was reported that Mr. Morgan
took the bonds to New York, and within
twenty-four hours thereafter sold them
for 112, and more, so that the 'syndicate
made about $6,000,000 out bf the deal. Of
this it was alleged that J. Plerpont Mor.
gan received $1,000,000. .
"At the same time, more gold was needed,
and it was proposed to issue $100,000,000 or
$200,000,000 more of bonds in the same way.
Our laws provide that even tho smallest
of our publlo contracts shall be by adver
tisement, and only to the highest bidder,
and I did not think it was right to sell
the bonds in this way to private parties
without such advertisement I also thought
there was plenty of gold in the country,
and that the bonds could be sold at home.
I was so convinced of this, that, although
I was then new to the senate and back
ward about pushing myself to the front
and although all my friends advised against
It I offered my resolution that no further
bonds should be placed at private sale
or under private contract and that no
sale whatever should be made without duo
advertisement for proposals, and then only
to the highest bidder." '
"How did tho resolution take in the sen
ate when it was offered?" I asked.
"I was warned that It would create a
panic Some of tho senators thought It
would throw tho nation Into bankruptcy
and begged mo to keep quiet' I offered tho
resolution, nevertheless, and in speaking
upon It showed that war loans aggregating
more than $2,600,000,000 placed In time of
peril had been put out at less expense to
tho government than these $62,000,000 Is
sued In time of peace. I showed that
ths loans of the civil war wore placed
at commissions of less than I per cent ts
tho government while the New York bank
era had already made more than I per cent
out of that contract with Undo Bam and
that they now expected to make as much
or a greater percentage on the $100,000,00
or tho $200,000,000 then under Considera
tion. In other words. If the issue of $200
000,000 was sold through them at tho sama
rats their profits would bo about $ls
000,000."
"How did It turn out senator ?"
"Tho result was that tho people began ta
protest against further private sales, said
6enator Elkins. "Tn president and tssj
(ConUnuad on Pag Tbirtsia '