USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Volume II > Part 23
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seemed to be the only objection to its admission, and as a number of States had been accepted with less, it was hoped the bill would pass. But some of the Senators had been looking up the census returns of 1870, and had found there that in that year the total population of Col- orado was only about 40,000, hence it was difficult to persuade them that it had been increased to 150,000 in four years. A lengthy debate ensued. Senator Sargent of California, between whom and Mr. Chaffee there existed some acerbity of personal feeling, raised numerous objections to the measure as it came from the House, and was prepared with a batch of amendments which he proceeded to offer scriatim. The first related to the rather munificent land grants provided for, and also to the section which provided that five per cent. of the proceeds of sales of public lands in Colorado, which had been or should be sold by the United States, prior or subsequent to the admission, should be paid to the State for internal improvements. He then moved to strike out the provision and leave it to read that five per cent. should be paid upon lands sold subsequent to said admission. This being agreed to, he moved to amend the twelfth section by adding a proviso that the section should not apply to any lands disposed of under the homestead laws, or any now or hereafter to be reserved for public uses. This having been agreed to, he moved a further amendment, inserting the word "agricultural," so as to make it read "five per cent. from the sales of agricultural lands," and this was agreed to.
Next Senator Hager secured an amendment excepting all mineral lands from the operation of the act. As if these alterations were not sufficient, Senator Edmunds offered an amendment providing that the proclamation to be issued by the Governor, ordering an election of members of the constitutional convention, should be published within ninety days next after September Ist, 1875, instead of ninety days after the passage of the bill, and fixing the election to adopt or reject the constitution for the month of July, 1876, both of which were adopted. Then Mr. Hager moved to amend the section which provided that fifty sections of land for public buildings in the State should be selected with
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the approval of the President of the United States, and it was agreed to. Mr. Ingalls of Kansas, moved to amend the 13th section so as to make section 2378 of the Revised Statutes applicable to the State when admitted, instead of the act of September, 1841, entitled " An Act to appropriate the proceeds of the sales of public lands, and to grant pre- emption rights," etc., etc. Agreed to.
After the rejection of one or two other amendments, the bill, having been thus overhauled, revised and tinkered to meet the views of the various objectors, was reported to the Senate and passed, yeas 42, nays, I 2. Later, a similar bill drawn by Stephen Elkins, for the admission of New Mexico, which had passed the House about the same time with the Colorado bill, was taken up and the amendments attached to the latter measure were added, on motion of Senator Sargent, when it also passed.
Senators and Representatives from the seaboard States, jealous of their power and constantly apprehensive of the growing importance of the West and its encroachments; regarding Colorado as simply an ephemeral experiment based upon fictitious representations of its resources and development, without other material advantages than small areas where the pursuit of mining yielded only indifferent returns ; destitute of agricultural lands, and lacking the essential pre-requisite of a numerous fixed population for the successful establishment and main- tenance of an independent government, and therefore practically disqual- ified from exercising the rights and responsibilities of statehood, were strongly prejudiced against it, and but for the personal endeavors sagaciously and forcefully put forth by Mr. Chaffee, would have defeated the measure, as they had several of its predecessors.
To illustrate the intense hostility of the Atlantic States, it may be mentioned that during the progress of the bill, some of the more influ- ential newspapers published many sarcastic references to the Territory. For example, one of the leading journals of Pittsburg observed with caustic severity,-" Colorado is one of the most intelligent manifestations of the spirit of Territorial enterprise we have ever had. The discovery of gold and the profligate scenery of the spot is its entire fortune.
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Gen. Denver, in whose honor the capital town is named, is now a prosaic claim agent in Washington. Colorado consists of Denver, the Kansas Pacific Railway, and-scenery. The mineral resources of Col- orado exist in the imagination. The agricultural resources do not exist at all."
Most of the Western, and a few of the Eastern papers, whose editors and representatives had acquired some actual knowledge of our con- ditions, sustained the movement, but the people generally of New York, New England and Pennsylvania, were unable to divest their minds of a certain aristocratic, illiberal preconception of the wild, lawless, con- stantly shifting nature of the inhabitants of lands beyond the Missis- sippi. Hence, they were, naturally enough, uncompromisingly opposed to the admission to their rather exclusive family table of mere inchoate colonies without development, wholly devoid of culture, education, or the refinements which were necessary to proper recognition and a share in the privileges, bounties and power that had come to them as a sort of divine right. A fair reflex of these sentiments was editorially expressed by one of their periodicals, in this form : "There is not a single good reason for the admission of Colorado. Indeed, if it were not for the mines in that mountainous and forbidding region, there would be no population there at all. The population, such as it is, is made up of a roving, unsettled horde of adventurers who have no settled homes, there or elsewhere, and they are there solely because the state of semi-bar- barism prevalent in that wild country, suits their vagrant habits. There is something repulsive in the idea that a few handfuls of rough miners and reckless bushwhackers, numbering less than a hundred thousand, should have the same representation in the Senate as Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York, and that these few thousands should have the same voice in our legislation and administration of the government, as the millions of other States. A Territorial government is good enough and effective enough for such unformed communities, and to that they should be confined for a generation to come," etc., etc.
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Similar comments, betraying like ill-nature and deplorable ignorance of the true state of affairs, appeared from time to time, and by their influence confirmed and spread the prejudice among the extreme Eastern States, or as Governor Gilpin is fond of styling them, the " salt water despots."
The Colorado bill had to be carried through the Senate, if at all, toward the close of the short session, as a Republican caucus measure. Senator Morton of Indiana declared that he and others who shared his opinion, would fight it to the last extremity unless the President removed Governor McCook, since the dissensions in the party provoked by his reappointment and mal-administration would inevitably throw the incoming State into the hands of the Democracy. McCook had very foolishly declared that if any Republican could be elected, he would return to Washington as one of the Senators, but he doubted if a Re- publican legislature could be elected. Morton insisted, and with much force, that as Governor McCook could, and undoubtedly would create further formidable divisions in his party, it would prove the Democratic opportunity to carry the State. The objection was well taken, for the reason that a Democratic delegate to Congress had been chosen at the last election as one of the results of the divisions already created. As politicians, they argued that the Republicans of the Territory having surrendered to the opposition, their prestige could not be regained in time, if at all, to prevent the election of two Democratic Senators.
McCook and his adherents fomented discord on every side. Repub- lican office holders, who had been appointed by Mr. Chaffee's recom- mendation, were being displaced by new men from the States. Gen. Grant, though repeatedly importuned to send out a new Governor as the one measure of salvation to the Enabling act which he had recommended, and the passage of which he still earnestly desired, hesitated, because it might be regarded as a virtual admission of his error in making the appointment, and his insistence on the confirmation, and impliedly a vindication of Mr. Chaffee's crusade against him.
At length, when he discovered from indisputable evidence that the
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bill could not be passed without the sacrifice of McCook, he yielded to the entreaties of his best advisers, and demanded his resignation. Meanwhile, the Governor wrought persistently, though not very effect- ively, against the bill. His influence lay, not so much in what he was able to accomplish in Washington, as in the disorders which through him rent the party in Colorado. It was this which inclined the Dem- ocrats to favor the bill, and Republicans to oppose it.
Two powerful influences were at work in the Senate and House. While Mr. Chaffee and his friends were pledging the State to the Re- publicans, McCook and Mr. T. M. Patterson, who had been elected a delegate, but was not yet seated, were pledging it to the Democrats. Mr. Patterson used all the influence he possessed with the members of his party toward securing their votes for the Enabling act. He stood as a living illustration of the fact that the Territory had been, and could be carried by the Democratic party. McCook, on the other hand, operated as a "free lance," with the design of defeating Chaffee, and discussed it either way according to the politics or temper of the indi- vidual he happened to be addressing. Having several times refused to tender his resignation, Gen. J. A. J. Cresswell, Postmaster-General, who heartily supported Mr. Chaffee, made frequent attempts to secure a voluntary abdication by the Governor, and at length it was procured, when the President brought matters to a satisfactory conclusion by nominating Col. John L. Routt, then Second Assistant Postmaster-Gen- eral, upon whom all parties in interest had agreed. Almost imme- diately after the name reached the Senate, Routt was confirmed, and the chief obstacle having been thus removed, the Colorado bill passed and went to the House for concurrence in the amendments.
It is a matter of record that Mr. Chaffee wrought with marvelous energy and remarkable foresight for the accomplishment of the purpose to which he had devoted ten years of his life, and the greater part of his comfortable fortune. He wrestled incessantly with Senators and Rep- resentatives in this behalf. Senator Morton was heard to say, after the contest closed, that nothing but Mr. Chaffee's presence on the floor, 18 II.
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and his very skillful management of the case, prevented its defeat. He was omnipresent at every stage, vigilant, tireless and strong, over- looking and directing every movement, managing his well organized forces with the celerity and precision of a Napoleon in the field.
When the bill passed the Senate, loaded with amendments, it was taken to the House on Friday, February 26th, when Mr. Chaffee asked the unanimous consent of the House that the two bills (for the admission of Colorado and New Mexico) which had been returned from the Senate with amendments, be taken from the Speaker's table, the amendments non-concurred in, and that a committee of conference be appointed. Mr. Randall and Mr. Speer objected, whereupon the House proceeded to the consideration of several bills then before it, chief of which was the sundry civil appropriation, which engaged its attention until five o'clock, when an adjournment was taken until 7:30 P. M., at which time one of the so-called "force bills" for the South was taken up, but only for debate. This action precluded the possibility of advancing the Colorado bill or any other measure, since the debate continued until after midnight. But precious moments were passing. Mr. Chaffee, nervously anxious to secure an opening somewhere, spent the intervening time between Saturday night and Monday, March Ist, in mustering all his available influence and in devising plans for the next movement. But three days of the session remained, therefore much rapid and skillful work must be done in that brief interval.
In the morning hour of March Ist, after the transaction of some miscellaneous business, Mr. Ben Butler of Massachusetts moved to suspend the rules, that the House might proceed to the business on the Speaker's table, to take therefrom the Civil Rights bill and refer it to the Judiciary Committee. This motion was intended to remove that measure from further consideration, as there was no expectation of passing it, and open the way for our bill. Said Butler, "When this matter is disposed of, the House can proceed to the Speaker's table and take up the bills thereon, allowing five minutes debate pro and con, and then dispose of them, subject to all points of order." The vigilant parlia-
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mentarian Randall, instantly penetrated Butler's ulterior purposes and objected. Therefore, nothing was accomplished for the friends of Col- orado that day. The morning of the 2d came and with it renewed anxiety for the fate of our Enabling act. The hours passed swiftly without a single point of vantage having been gained until the evening session, when Butler renewed his motion, but as a two-thirds vote was required to carry it, and as it failed to receive that number, darkness came again. The hours swept on until the last day of the session dawned. It was then that the utmost power of Mr. Chaffee's forces was brought into action. Each day since the expiration of February had witnessed a general rush to secure the passage of important measures. Great confusion prevailed. All the members were on their feet shout- ing, yelling and wildly gesticulating for recognition. It seemed impos- sible for the presiding officer (Mr. Blaine) skillful as he was in the man- agement of that body, to bring any sort of order out of the deafening chaos. Mr. Chaffee had at his command one of the most powerful combinations ever brought into the halls of Congress, but the difficulty was to get a two-thirds vote on a motion to suspend the rules, when a single objection was sufficient to check it. But the time was passing; only a few hours were left, and he felt that desperate measures must be taken. He had arranged with the Speaker for recognition whenever there should be an opening, but no opportunity occurred until after the morning hour of March 3d, when, after the Deficiency bill had been passed, Mr. Hoskins of New York, by arrangement, offered a resolution that "the rules be suspended for the purpose of going to the Speaker's table and concurring in the Senate Amendments to House bill No. 435 to enable the people of Colorado Territory to form a State government, and House bill No. 2418, to enable the people of New Mexico to form a State government." Several attempts to prevent a vote were made, but at length the yeas and nays were called. Two-thirds not voting in the affirmative, it was lost. A recess was then taken till 8 o'clock P. M.
Up to this time the two bills had been carried along together, though under strong remonstrances from many members who were
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favorable to Colorado, but unalterably opposed to the admission of New Mexico. Mr. Chaffee having pledged his influence to Elkins, with characteristic fidelity to his friends persisted in his efforts to procure its adoption until the announcement of the last vote, when it became apparent that both must go down, unless New Mexico was abandoned. During the recess Chaffee's supporters warned him against further insistence upon New Mexico. It must be dropped, or Colorado would not become a State, at that session, and probably not for many years.
The House met at 8 o'clock, when Mr. Ellis H. Roberts of Utica, New York, moved that the rules be suspended and that the House pro- ceed to the consideration of bills on the Speaker's table in order, referring the Civil Rights bill to the Judiciary Committee, and leaving all points of order in force, and that no bill should be passed except by unanimous consent, or a vote of two-thirds, and that if asked for, five minutes' debate be allowed on each side on any bill. Of all the numerous motions to suspend the rules for the purpose named, this was the only one which obtained the requisite two-thirds vote. Here, then, was the only opportunity which had been presented to Chaffee and his coadjutors for the consummation of their aims, and so they made ready for it. No obstacles were permitted to stand in their way. The great coalition prepared at once for a mighty and final effort to carry the bill. Mes- sengers were dispatched to the Senate Chamber for all the influence that could be gathered there; into the committee rooms and cloak rooms ; into the halls and lobbies; down into the restaurant, to the hotels and boarding houses of the city. Even the sacred and forbidden precincts of the enrolling and engrossing rooms were invaded in their mad search for friends of the bill, and every man brought forth to act when the time for a vote should come. When gathered, it was a magnificent force, every man devoted to the pledge he had given. They waited in almost breathless suspense for the critical moment, each in his place, ready for instantaneous action.
Under the Roberts' resolution the bills were taken from the table in order. The few which preceded it on the files having been disposed of,
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mainly without debate, the Colorado bill was called, and the Senate amendments read, when the rules were suspended, the roll called, the vote recorded, and,-to the immeasurable joy of its friends, passed. Soon afterward New Mexico was brought forth, when S. S. Cox of New York, objected, and the bill failed. It was then nearly midnight of the last day. Mr. Chaffee, prepared at every point, had procured a careful enrollment of the bill in advance of its passage, hence, as soon as passed, it was ready for the signatures of the presiding officers of the Senate and House, which were immediately obtained, and a few minutes later the act to enable the people of Colorado to form a State government was on its way to the President for his approval.
From the day when this measure was brought before the Senate, where at the outset it met with sufficient opposition to defeat it from causes already cited, until its final adoption by the House, its supporters, marshaled by Mr. Chaffee, never lost an opportunity to advance their cause. It has been stated that much of the opposition by Republican Senators was due to the dissensions in the party ranks in Colorado, excited by the removal of Governor Elbert, the reappointment of Mc- Cook and the attending consequences of the great contest following these events. The Republicans, apprehending the loss or serious cur- tailment of their majority in the House in the coming fall elections, and having but a small working majority in the Senate, had no inclination to admit a new State which, by the election of two Democratic Senators would not only still further reduce their power in that branch, but might exert a controlling influence upon the next Presidential election, and but for their confidence in the assurances given them by Mr. Chaffee and others whose statements they trusted, the bill would never have passed the Senate. Nor was this all. The leading Democrats in Colorado were constantly, though secretly, advising their political friends in both houses to pass the bill, as they were certain to carry, not only the Con- stitutional Convention, but the State elections under it.
Mr. Patterson, who had been elected to succeed Mr. Chaffee as delegate, had gone down to Washington to exert what influence he
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might possess in the same direction. The Democrats performed their part quietly and confidentially, so as not to antagonize the Republican vote, and at the same time to secure every Democrat who could be induced to favor the passage of the act. Senator Thurman did not credit their representations, and did not favor the bill, but when the vote was taken, walked out of the chamber without casting any vote at all. Samuel J. Randall in the House opposed it all the way through, because he had no faith in the ability of his party to carry the State.
Routt, as Second Assistant Postmaster General, had been a faithful and efficient officer. He had fought under Grant during the war, and when his name was suggested to the President for Governor of Colorado, Grant sent for and had a long conference with him. He had made many sterling friends while in the Postoffice Department, among Senators and Representatives of both political parties, through his courtesy, and conspicuous favors granted them. He was known to be a good organ- izer, and an honest man. Added to this was the assurance that, if appointed Governor, he would devote himself to the reorganization of the Republican party in Colorado, to the healing of its wounds, to har- monizing the several discordant factions, and the restoration of its supremacy,-a pledge which he faithfully kept.
The House of Representatives in the Forty-second Congress con- tained a large number of young, ambitious and able men. Among those who soon acquired prominent places in the confidence and esteem of the strong members and leaders, was Jasper D. Ward of Chicago, who, as the sequel proved, became one of the most ardent and effective advocates of the Colorado bill. He had emigrated to the Pike's Peak gold region among the "pilgrims" of 1860, crossing the plains with Major Jacob Downing,-one of the bravest men, by the way, that ever drew saber,-in the spring of that memorable year. He engaged in mining at Black Hawk and Central City, and later in " Buckskin Joe" and Cal- ifornia Gulch. In the fall he returned to Chicago and canvassed the State of Illinois for Abraham Lincoln, remaining in the campaign to its close. He was a lawyer by profession, thoroughly conversant with political his-
Jasper Awards
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tory, an eloquent and convincing speaker, capable, under happy circum- stances, of extremely pleasing and effective oratory. Having heard him at his best, I speak from personal observation. In 1868 he revisited Colorado, and made several rather brilliant addresses to the people in the Territorial campaign of that year. Returning to Chicago, he was elected to Congress in 1872, and when Mr. Chaffee introduced his bill for an enabling act, at once became its champion. He induced Mr. C. B. Farwell, who was strongly opposed to our admission, to recant and vote for it, and exerted much the same influence with Mr. Bernard G. Caulfield of Chicago, and through him and by personal effort several other influential Democrats were persuaded to support the measure. James C. Robinson, from the Springfield district, W, R. Morrison, S. S. Cox, with many others of like political faith, were brought into line. Mr. Patterson of Colorado, Col. James H. Platt, representing the Petersburgh, Virginia, district, L. Cass Carpenter of Columbia, South Carolina, and Gen. W. T. Clark of Texas (for years Gen. McPherson's chief of staff), were among those who stood steadfastly by our delegate in all the struggles of that anxious campaign, and therefore deserve honorable mention in the history of our State.
But it is uniformly conceded by all the members of the remarkable combination, that Mr. Chaffee was the controlling and directing leader in the great parliamentary and strategic battle which insured the for- tunate result. All agree that it was, unquestionably, one of the most obstinate and skillfully conducted contests that had ever been witnessed in the House of Representatives. The labor which this man performed, the influences which he gathered about him, the skill with which he organized and managed those influences, and the success achieved under strenuous opposition, while much of the time suffering from a painful and dangerous malady, working early and late in defiance of the warnings of his physician, in some degree define his character and his indomitable perseverance in every great undertaking that marked his career. By long association with the politics of the Territory and of the nation, and by virtue of his wonderful faculty for organizing and energizing the
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