USA > California > California; an intimate history > Part 16
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then said, in the same loud tones as when directing his fire-laddies at a conflagration, "Now, then, form a circle and the President will talk to you." For a moment no one moved, so aghast were they, until one of the immaculates said like a philosopher, "Come, gentlemen, give attention to the President," and Tyler delivered a short address. After the President ceased he very naturally turned to Broderick as the leader, and the latter, quietly taking the President's arm with an injunction to all Knickerbockers and firemen to "form the line of march," led the way to the landing, where the tardy boat containing the real city committee, with its music and platoons of uniforms, had just arrived. Here he was obliged to surrender his prisoner; and, although President Tyler was so delighted with him that he gave him a lucrative position in the custom-house, he made undying enemies of the oligarchy he had humiliated.
His mother died when he was twenty-four; his brother was accidentally killed. So far as he knew he was alone in the world. But he had no leisure hours for loneliness. When politics spared him he read and studied under the guidance of educated men whom he had interested and who foresaw something of his future. He helped to carry his state for Polk, but his political course was not to be run in New York. His opponents as well as his bitter personal enemies had made up their minds that it was time to get rid of him, and when he ran for Congress not only the Whigs, but the Democratic oligarchy united against him, and he was defeated. At that age he did not know the meaning of discouragement, although he was quite astute enough to see that he could not win against so formidable a combination of forces. Just then came the news of the gold discovery in California. Nearly all his friends joined the hegira, and it was not long before he made up his mind that the new country was the place for him and his ambitions. He sailed via the Isthmus, and arrived in San Francisco on June 13, 1849.
The long unsanitary journey and the usual detention
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in that pest-spot, the Isthmus of Panama, seriously affected his health. He was in no condition for the mines, and the ragged little city of San Francisco, with its hovels and tents, its cloth and lath bunk-houses infested with vermin, its garish gambling-houses, its unpaved streets, knee - deep in mud in winter and sand and refuse in summer, alternately in a wild state of excitement and black depression, must have looked hopeless to a young New Yorker of twenty-nine with an enfeebled body, not a penny in his pocket, and a colossal ambition. But he wasted no time in regrets or despair. Whatever jobs he could obtain to keep body and soul together he worked at faithfully, and within a month he had a lucrative busi- ness of his own.
Col. J. D. Stevenson, who had known him in New York, and appreciated his caliber, lent him a thousand dollars; in company with another New York friend named Kohler, he opened an assay office and manu- factured gold slugs whose intrinsic value was four or eight dollars respectively, but readily passed as five or ten dollar pieces, so delighted were the people to get some- thing more convenient than gold - dust as a medium of exchange. To this lucrative occupation the young men added the manufacture of jewelry, and as the women of commerce were pouring into the town the income of the firm jumped from day to day.
Broderick soon left this business to his partner, how- ever, for, his necessities relieved, he lost all interest in money-making. After the first great fire he organized a fire company on the model of the one whose foreman he had been in New York, and his political career began almost immediately. He was elected to the first state
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legislature in January, 1850, six months after his arrival, and by an overwhelming majority. He was already the best-known young politician in San Francisco, no doubt through his manipulation of that mighty influence in politics, the fire department; and he ruled certain wards despite the already growing power of the Southerners.
Gwin, when he became United States Senator, obtained the complete control of the federal appointments. Prac- tically every office in the gift of the national Executive was filled with Southerners, more or less aristocratic, and the custom-house was currently known as the "Virginia Poorhouse." But when it came to municipal politics the Southern Democrats, astute and accomplished poli- ticians as they were, and with the formidable strength of union, found a rival in this young Tammany man, whose rise to power and distinction was quick and spec- tacular even for that day.
During the second session Governor Burnett resigned and was succeeded by the lieutenant - governor, John McDougal. This left the office of president of the senate vacant, and Broderick was elected to fill it. He was now thirty-one, and already the most active and marked politician in the state of which he had been a citizen for a year and a half. As a presiding officer he won enco- miums even from his enemies, of which he already had a full crop; he had acquired somewhere a thorough knowl- edge of parliamentary law, and he always applied his faculties to the matter in hand with that power of con- centration inseparable from minds born to dominate.
Those were turbulent days in the itinerary capital of the state, as in San Francisco. The austerity and dig- nity of Broderick's character would have dictated an
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unswerving attitude of lofty detachment. But the youth in him made his fists as ready as ever, and even senators appeared in the chamber bristling about the hips, al- though they immediately transferred both pistols and bowie-knife to the desk in front of them! Sometimes these were pushed aside by their feet or obscured by tobacco-smoke, or mayhap they fell into the spittoon; but they never were wholly forgotten. In those days politics were taken far more personally than now, and every man was ready to defend his party with his fists or the more deadly weapon, as with every resource of his brain. Broderick got into more than one fight, and had his duel. He soon proved his mettle, and, although courage and coolness were not overvalued in a community where the coward hardly existed long enough to prove the rule, still a few exhibitions of both were useful in placing a man once for all.
After the adjournment of the legislature Broderick remembered that the ambition of his life was to be a Senator of the United States. He Tammanyized San Francisco, and returned a large number of his friends and supporters to the next legislature. There his name was proposed to succeed Frémont, whose place had been vacant since March Ist of the previous year. The vote he received, although not sufficient to elect him, demon- strated his growing power.
John B. Weller was elected; and Broderick, nothing daunted, began to work for the vacancy which would occur at the expiration of Gwin's term in March, 1855.
He had three years to lay his senatorial wires, and meanwhile he was a member of the first Vigilance Com- mittee, helped to put out the fires that ravaged the city,
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and invested in water-lots the money he had made in slugs and jewelry, an investment that made him a rich man. He seems to have had little personal use for money, for he lived simply, rarely frequenting the society even of men, spending all his spare hours in study, and further improving his mind with what literature there was in the state. But he had much use for gold in his political organizations, and he not only made it as rapidly as he could, but he impressed more and more men that had it into his service. In addition to his political ambitions, recognized by all, he cherished a desire to become San Francisco's most energetic and useful citizen; and, al- though he had to share this honor with such men as William T. Coleman, San Francisco owed many of its improvements and public buildings to his inspiration. It was about this time that he discarded the familiar blue shirt, "pants" tucked into his boots, and silk hat worn far back; the last so distinctive of leading citizens. He sent to New York for the dignified apparel of the truly eminent and respectable, and for the rest of his life was rarely seen save in a "boiled" shirt and black frock- coat and trousers. The silk hat alone was retained.
Always reserved and dignified, he grew more so, more and more averse from talking about himself and his plans save when it was necessary to take associates or henchmen into his confidence. He must have been an imposing figure in those unsartorial days, and I would that he had looked less like a reissue of the Neanderthal race; but the preternaturally long upper lip, the tight mouth with the ruff of hair below, may have had some- thing to do with the absence of those temptations exerted by the fair sex-in spite of his wonderful eyes, keen,
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penetrating, glittering like ice. I would also that, as an admirer of this remarkable and unhappy man, I could record that his political ways were above reproach, as white and open and innocuous as politics one day may be, when in their coffin; but there is little doubt that he employed base tools and that his methods were too often devious and without scruple.
On the other hand, and for the same reason-that he was a great, not a little, politician-no man questioned his word; he never broke a promise-save in the case of Latham-and he was as tender of his friends' interests as of his own, as eager to reward as Gwin himself. But the ideal half of his rapidly developing intellect was at war with the practical brain that made use of life as he found it; and while this saddened him and made him one of the loneliest men that ever lived, he realized that life was too short for one man to reform it and achieve something of his mighty ambitions at the same time.
Sheriff, district attorney, alderman, tax-collector, as- sessor, all were his, and the price was half their gains- nothing was said of mere salaries-to be handed over to the political organization through which Broderick ruled San Francisco. He gave the city a party system, how- ever imperfect, but he did not interfere in local affairs. The dirty work, the ballot-box stuffing, the bullies at the polls, these he shut his eyes to. He needed an organiza- tion for his ultimate purpose, but with its details he would not pollute his mind.
He never descended to jobbery, his personal record was above reproach, and he disbursed money with a large hand, excusing his followers from contributions for bands, halls, or any of the expensive paraphernalia of
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elections. He stood alone like royalty, and money was merely one of his slaves to be used for the benefit of the faithful.
It is a curious and interesting fact that Broderick from the first succeeded by sheer ability, for he had not a grace of manner, nor tact, nor policy. To his followers he was an autocrat, and he treated his enemies with open contempt.
Gwin's term was to expire March 1, 1855; Weller's two years later. To the legislature assembling in January, 1855, would fall the duty of electing Gwin's successor. But that was a mere matter of custom and precedent. Broderick had other plans.
He was sure of the legislature of 1854. He was too perfectly equipped a politician not to discount the un- known as far as was humanly possible. He determined that the present legislature should snap its fingers at precedent and elect Gwin's successor.
Some of the Broderick forces were disturbed at this bold affront to custom, for the politician heart is normally conservative; but they rallied to a man. It was Brod- erick or anti-Broderick. His word was law. Obey or leave.
The other forces also rallied, the followers of Gwin, of Weller, those whose personal ambitions Broderick threat- ened, those who opposed him on principle. His first move was to have the migratory capital definitely located in Sacramento; and so captured the votes of members of that ambitious community, and of its near-by farmers and ranchers. Then his friends and henchmen proceeded to corrupt the enemy, and there was a scandal that threat- ened disaster at the outset. A San Francisco banker ap-
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proached an incorruptible, who caught the next boat for Sacramento to tell the story; and it took the combined brains of Hall McAllister, Stephen J. Field, and S. H. Williams to extricate the banker.
The assembly was Broderick's by a large majority, but in the house the forces were almost evenly divided. The bill was on the table for two months. Two Broder- ick men took an otherwise unconquerable foe out for a drive and ditched him. He was unhurt but thoughtful. There was to be no pairing. Each man was to do his own voting. There was a senator from Santa Clara named Grewell, recently a clergyman. His convictions were not iron-clad, and it was known that he had been approached; he was locked up and closely guarded. Broderick held himself haughtily aloof, but the excite- ment grew more intense every moment. Insults, fights, duels, sessions in which men used their firearms to gestic- ulate with-San Francisco had a gallant rival in Sacra- mento.
Grewell, who appears to have listened, at least, when offered a round sum for his vote by a Broderick agent, was kidnapped first by one side and then by the other, finally taking refuge of his free will in the Broderick headquarters. The bill came up in the assembly and passed by a vote of forty to thirty-eight. The assem- bly adjourned to witness the struggle in the senate. There the excitement was so intense that even Broderick was affected and found it impossible to preserve his air of cold detachment. But Grewell was produced and, voting with the Broderick forces, the result was a tie. The president of the senate cast his vote for Broderick, and on one side of the chamber the cheering made the
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ramshackle building tremble on its foundations. No- body questioned that Broderick had won, that the elec- tion of the next Senator of the United States would take place in this his session. But that night the kidnapped was kidnapped again, while his keeper slept the sleep that knows no awakening until whisky fumes have run their course. On the following day he voted for a reconsidera- tion, which was carried by a vote of eighteen to fifteen. Then the senate voted that the subject be indefinitely postponed. Broderick had lost. Such were politics in California in the year of our Lord 1854.
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BUT Broderick was not crushed, not for a moment. It was a bitter disappointment to lose the prize that he actually had fondled in his hand; but he immediately went to work to get possession of the next legislature. His opponents, however, were equally active. They were thoroughly alarmed. So far, whatever Broderick's power in San Francisco, the state belonged to the Chivalry Democrats-"Chivs" in affection or scorn-and they were bitterly opposed to Broderick, both because he was not of their class and far more because he was a vehe- ment antislavery man. Nor was this merely a mental attitude of Broderick's. He-and his great following --- had voted down a bill against the immigration of free negroes as well as a fugitive-slave bill. Moreover, Broderick had denounced Stephen A. Douglas's indorse- ment of squatter sovereignty in Nebraska. But if this uncompromising attitude solidified the proslavery party against him, it attracted to his standard all that were opposed to slavery on principle and all that had begun to think for themselves. In short, he typified the anti- slave sentiment of the state.
The state Democratic convention assembled in Sacra- mento in July, 1854. Broderick as chairman of the state committee arranged the preliminaries. He hired the
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First Baptist Church in Fourth Street and directed his followers to enter by a rear door an hour before the con- vention opened and occupy the front seats. The Op- position were welcome to the back of the room, where they might see or hear or attract attention as Providence willed.
But the Opposition was not asleep. It now numbered representatives of every faction opposed to Broderick, eager for the fray and determined to extinguish him. They had their spies in the enemy's camp. Knowing also that Edward McGowan had been selected by Brod- erick to preside at the convention, they resolved upon former Governor McDougal, and upon a list for the com- mittee on credentials and organization.
They reached the front door of the church just as the Broderick cohorts were about to enter by the rear. Thirty men, including David S. Terry, surrounded McDougal, forced the door, and ran down the aisle tow- ard the platform. The Broderick men, who had now swarmed in, attempted to head them off, but, although the afterward notorious James Casey and Billy Mulligan were there to use their fists, the Opposition forces managed to secure as many front seats as the Broderickites. The tension may be imagined.
Broderick walked on to the rostrum from the rear door, looking more granite than human, and called the con- vention to order. (The word order must have been a standing joke in the fifties.) The moment he had uttered the necessary formalities a man named O'Meara sprang to his feet and nominated McDougal for president of the convention. But simultaneously a Broderick man was on his feet (if, indeed, he had sat down) nominating McGowan. Broderick said peremptorily :
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"I nominate the gentleman from Santa Clara. The seat of the other is contested, and I will not recognize him."
There were loud and indignant protests. Broderick ignored them and put the question on the nomination of McGowan. The other side indulged in a similar formality and carried the nomination of McDougal. Both nominees were rushed wildly to the platform by their friends. Pandemonium broke loose. Screaming, and brandishing fists and pistols, both sides struggled to get close to their men. A pistol went off. Three of the most excitable but less war-like delegates bolted through a stained-glass window. Another shrieked that he could feel blood running down inside his "pants." He was carried out fainting and quite whole.
In spite of the confusion the two candidates managed to reach the platform simultaneously. They seated themselves side by side, and while glaring at each other shouted the names of their vice-presidents. Pushing and jostling, tripped and elbow-ribbed, these dignitaries also reached the rostrum and seated themselves beside their winded superiors. Then two sets of committees were appointed, and when they had shouted themselves hoarse two sets of reports were made. Then everybody for another hour tried to make a speech, of which the only words distinguishable were "bolting" and "treachery." No doubt there were others which the polite stenographer omitted. But there were wild accusations of every sort. The men shouted, snarled, sprang on their chairs, bran- dished their fists, made megaphones of their hands, or tried to look oratorical.
It was quite impossible to accomplish any business. Broderick merely sat like a rock, hardly looking to the
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right or the left, but conveying the impression that so he could sit until the end of time. The clergyman and trus- tees, alarmed finally at the noise, entered and asked the statesmen to leave. They were invited to go about their business. However, they refused lamps. Darkness had fallen. Some one produced two candles, lighted them, and placed one in front of each president.
At nine o'clock everybody was tired out. Both sides, which had consistently opposed adjournment, suddenly compromised. The two presidents locked arms and walked down the center aisle. The candidates for the vice-presi- dency followed, side by side; then the delegates, also paired, joined the stately procession. The church was re- stored to the trembling pastor.
Really, women, when they are sufficiently enfranchised to hold conventions, may be no better than men, but they hardly can be worse.
This uproar, part of the time in almost total darkness, had lasted five hours. Only once had Broderick been at- tacked personally. A man sprang to the platform and brandished a pistol in his face. "Take care!" said Broderick. "Take care! That might go off and hurt somebody." As the man's jaw fell Broderick gently captured the pistol and placed it on the table. His mere personality had conquered, as often before, and the man slunk to the back of the church.
The next day the two parties held separate conventions and made their nominations for the coming state elec- tions. Both put up strong men, and so did the Whigs. On election day, September 6th, Broderick once more was beaten.
In San Francisco on that day a characteristic incident
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took place. There were the usual bullies and fist-fights at the polls. Broderick and Colonel Peyton met when about to vote, and the "Chiv," already heated by several alter- cations, immediately burst into speech and informed the Tammany man what he thought of him. Finally Peyton made a significant movement toward his hip pocket. Broderick had his right hand in his overcoat pocket, and he fixed the temperamental Southerner with his cold and glittering eye.
"Move, Colonel Peyton," said he, "and you are a dead man."
Peyton knew what that meant: Broderick had a der- ringer in his concealed hand. His own hand remained suspended. Broderick continued in those cold incisive tones for which he was famous:
"There is no need for us to kill each other or to have any personal difficulty. Let us take a boat out on the bay or a walk under the trees and talk this matter over. If we cannot agree then I am ready to fight to the death. Come on."
Peyton nodded, and the two men walked out the Mis- sion road. When they returned they were arm in arm. And they were friends for life. Possibly if Broderick had yielded oftener to the impulse to be conciliatory he would have won many supporters as well as admirers from the ranks of both the Whigs and the Chivs.
Among Broderick's followers were men of the highest probity, and one of them finally remonstrated with him for employing pugilists and bullies to surround the polls. "You respectable people I cannot depend upon," replied the chief. "You won't go down and face the revolvers of the other side, and I have to take such material as I
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can get hold of. They stuff ballot-boxes and steal the tally-lists, and I have to keep these men to aid me."
Once more Broderick was undismayed and began to lay a new set of senatorial wires. Gwin, whose term expired in March, wished to succeed himself. The legislature convened in January. Broderick knew that he could not be elected by it, during its first session at all events. But neither should Gwin. The great leader of the Chivalry Democrats had more than a majority of the Democratic members, but far from a majority of all the members put together. His only hope was to induce the Democrats to go into caucus; as the caucus nominee he would be assured of election as his own successor.
Broderick organized his forces and prevented the caucus. The entire session was frittered away. At its end neither Gwin nor any one had been elected. Brod- erick had persuaded a sufficient number of the legislators that he and his party represented the genuine Democracy. Gwin was far weaker than at the beginning of the term.
But there was another enemy in the field. The Whig party in the United States had been wrecked by the de- feat of Gen. Winfield Scott for the Presidency in 1852. Almost simultaneously that party of short but vigorous life known first as the American and then as the "Know- nothing" party (owing to its reticence) sprang into exist- ence. Its leading principles were well enough known: opposition to foreigners and foreign immigration (mean- ing principally the Irish), and to the Catholic Church. They absorbed the greater number of the Whigs and many of the disgruntled Democrats, and in 1854 they had multiplied in California. In 1855 they held their first state convention in Sacramento. After the fashion
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of political parties, they promised all good things, and nominated John Neely Johnson for governor, Hugh Murray and David S. Terry for justices of the Supreme Bench. They carried their ticket in September, and it looked as if the Broderick power was broken in California. From the following it will be seen that they used strong language, but nothing else in those days made much impression :
Evil has followed evil, and calamity has followed calamity, until the young state which yesterday filled the world with renown to-day lies bankrupt, crime-ridden, and abject.
Not that they were so far wrong.
But Broderick did not know the meaning of defeat. During the session of 1856 he again prevented the ap- pointment of Gwin's successor, as there was no hope during that legislature for himself. In 1857 the Demo- crats, united against the Whigs and the Know-nothings and the new Republican party, were once more in power. Broderick had made capital of every weak point, and recaptured the recalcitrant members of his own party, visiting them all over the state. It was the year of the presidential election - Buchanan and Breckinridge on the Democratic ticket, Frémont and Dayton on the Republican, Fillmore and Donaldson on the Know- nothing. Buchanan and Breckinridge were elected. The other parties were prostrated. Broderick ruled in Cali- fornia.
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