USA > Connecticut > Connecticut as a colony and as a state; or, One of the original thirteen, Volume IV > Part 9
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Up to that time, individuals of wealth and taste were obliged to procure house-furnishings of all descriptions from foreign markets, if they were anxious to satisfy their ideas of grace and propriety ; the masses, blissfully ignorant, rejoiced in the unfortunate specimens of "home-production" which
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now often cause us to blush in the retrospect; and the few who were afflicted with small purses and grand ideas were forced to resign themselves to unsatisfied yearnings. But when the gates of Fairmount Park were open, with the treas- ures of the world displayed within, and all loyal Americans hastened to the "Centennial" which was the absorbing inter- est of the summer of 1876, there was a revelation of the pos- sibilities of beauty in everyday things. People saw the folly of the old way of sneering at "antique Greek patterns" as unpractical, and they learned that the moderns as well as the ancients could apply the principles of beauty, and simplicity, and fitness to objects of daily use, without detracting from their worth. In fact, they quickly perceived, by the enthu- siasm for Italian majolica and Venetian glass, for Japanese and Chinese carving and bronzes, for the models of English country-houses with their esthetic but inexpensive furnishings, that there was a real money-value in good taste.
The inhabitants of the United States could justly consider themselves in the front rank as to ingenuity and skill in labor- saving devices, in agricultural implements, in wonderful machines and firearms; and still admit that they were neglect- ing the business advantage to be derived from the gracious art of pleasing; and they foresaw that the time would come when neither quickness nor cheapness of production, not even durability, would insure profitable sales if the wares lacked attractiveness.
With the usual American adaptiveness, the lesson was taken to heart; and coincident with the demand for "high art" in chairs and tables and lamps and wall-paper and plates and glasses, came the establishment of schools of industrial art, and the supply of tasteful products of American manufac- ture designed by American students. The field of industry
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was at once widened in proportion to the rapid cultivation of taste, and capital and labor united in saying it was well. Probably no world's fair, excepting the famous first one of 1851, has made so decided and lasting an impression on the nation within whose borders it was held, as that of 1876.
And it was the occasion of untold happiness to the crowds that surged through Fairmount Park all through the bright summer and autumn days. It may seem now like archaic simplicity to close the gates at six o'clock, to know nothing of the fascination of the Midway; but to almost all the visitors, the scenes had the merit and charm of novelty, affording fresh ideas at every turn.
The fair had, too, the delightful flavor of patriotic fer- vor: women had organized and worked for it all over the land with something of the zeal that had inspired them dur- ing the Sanitary Commission days ; and it seemed to put the seal not only on our stability as a nation, but on the reality of our return to the paths of peace.
Connecticut's display of corn, wheat, oats, of forest-trees, of the resources of the mines, could easily be surpassed by other States; her fruits ripened too late to find a place for exhibition ; her silks were not then the webs of beauty that they now are : but she could point with pardonable pride to her Colt's revolvers, her Winchester repeating rifles and car- bines, her Hotchkiss and Gatling guns, to her Yale locks, her Isham combination locks and unrivalled table-cutlery, to her sewing-machines, unsurpassed in number and excellence, to her axes and other edge-tools recognized wherever men clear the forest or open new soil as the best in the world, and to her high rank in the realm of iron-manufacture.
She could tell the world to look at steel rails reduced in a few years from $150 a ton to $45, and could explain that
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even ingenuity in machine-making, and protection of steel would not have accomplished this if a Connecticut man, Alex- ander Holly, had not taken unbounded pains to introduce the Bessemer process to this country.
She could look with satisfaction on the gleaming products of the electro-plating industry which marked a century's progress from the tin-pails made in Berlin in 1770, and on the triumphs of precision and nicety in machine-making as shown by Pratt & Whitney; and she could listen to the deep tones of the Seth Thomas clock at the east entrance to Machinery Hall,-a clock ten feet high, weighing 7,000 pounds, and with a pendulum weighing 500 pounds, and connecting with twenty-six electric clocks in different buildings.
With equal pride she could turn to the products of the cottom loom and ask what they would have been if her adopted son, Eli Whitney, had not invented the cotton gin; she could call attention to the Blake Stone Breaker, then comparatively new, but now ranked with the great labor- saving and wealth-producing inventions of the world; that too thought out, perfected, and given to the public by another New Haven man, Eli Whitney Blake, a relative and name- sake of the first Eli Whitney. Untold good has been accom- plished by that efficient means of crushing the hardest rock, so that wherever the foundation of bridges or great build- ings are to be laid, railroads are to be stone-ballasted, the pathways of civilized life are to be made, or the mine is to yield its treasures, the Blake stone-breaker is used. Mr. Blake was led to invent this epoch-making machine by the need he saw as he was superintending the macadamizing of a street in New Haven; and his knowledge and scientific skill were exercised to such advantage that the first machine worked with perfect success, and, during the ten years
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between 1862 and 1872, the direct saving, computed from the actual working records of the 509 breakers then in use, was $55,560,000. The indirect saving must have been very great, and since that time the Blake Stone Breaker has found its way all over the globe, and has saved almost incredible sums of money, besides relieving men of severe and painfully slow labor.
Connecticut could say, too, that when the right man was wanted to investigate and report the working details of the Vienna Exposition of 1873, another New Haven man was chosen and sent,-William P. Blake, an expert mining engi- neer, now Director of the Arizona School of Mines, and then thoroughly conversant with the Paris Exposition of 1867, and quite competent to inspect that at Vienna with discrim- ination and judgment.
And finally she raised her eyes to the official dignitaries of the enterprise, and saw one of her favorite sons, General and ex-Governor Joseph R. Hawley, fulfilling the duties of Presi- dent of the Centennial Exposition Commission, with honor to his State and satisfaction to all. The Commission, with General Hawley at its head, has thus far held the palm for promptness. On the day specified, buildings and grounds were in complete readiness for the reception of objects to be exhibited, a feat that had not been accomplished at any previous exhibition.
The Commission was so judicious in its action, from the inception of its plans to their fulfillment, that it reflected great credit on itself and on the nation, and has left happy mem- ories for all who were so fortunate as to partake of the bene- fits of its energy and wisdom.
The Democratic party again placed a Governor in office, Richard D. Hubbard, a man who was a high type of the self-
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made man who has been one of our glories. Beginning as a poor boy in Berlin, working his way through Yale, and taking high honors in the class of 1839, continuing his clas- sical and modern studies throughout his busy life, gaining the position, in the words of the "Judicial and Civil History of Connecticut", "not only of the first lawyer in the State but its greatest orator", he put the finishing touch on his career by filling the highest office in the gift of the State with the same ability that he had shown through life.
In the next election, the Democrats, after ten years of ascendency, gave way to the Republicans, and a Litchfield man, Judge Charles B. Andrews, had a plurality of votes. The law then required a majority, and therefore his election went to the General Assembly, according to the constitutional provision, and was duly affirmed.
His life was another example of public and professional success in spite of early obstacles. The son of a country min- ister, he was graduated with high honors from Amherst, and had acquired a fine reputation for knowledge, clearness, and sagacity as a lawyer when he went into political life; begin- ning, as have so many other men, with a term in the House of Representatives, where his wisdom as chairman of the Judiciary Committee and leader of the House probably procured his nomination as Governor.
During his term of two years, some notable measures were carried through the Legislature :- one, the amicable adjustment of the boundary between Connecticut and New York, a matter which had been discussed for a century and a half, and was at last settled by a joint commission which brought in a report that was accepted at once by the Legis- latures of both States :- and another still more needed and beneficial improvement, the General Practice Act, by which
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the procedure in civil action and common law pleadings was greatly simplified and cleared of archaic encumbrances. Some of the ablest lawyers in the State contributed the result of their lifelong experience to this piece of legislation, which marked an epoch in the legal history of the State, has been of marked benefit ever since its adoption, and was most fittingly achieved in a period that had seen three lawyer-Governors in succession.
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CHAPTER VI THE DECADE FROM ISSO-1890
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bridge to complete the Trowbridge Drive; so that for seven miles the lover of Nature can wander among dark rav- ines, rugged precipices, with wild flowers and noble trees on every hand, and charming outlooks over lake and city and Sound at almost every turn.
As the official represenative of Connecticut, Governor Bigelow was present at the Atlanta Cotton Exposition, and it was for him that the famous suit of clothes was made there, evolved from the cotton husk to the finished product of the tailor's art in one day. He never lost an election for which his name was used, and was as discreet and upright in man- aging public affairs as in attending to the private interests of his great boiler works. After retiring from the Governor's chair, he dropped public life.
His successor, Thomas M. Waller, was a thorough politi- cian, and the story of his life reads like a romance. A poor lit- tle Irish waif in New York, beginning to take care of himself by selling some newspapers given to him by a kind stranger, and often glad to use the downy side of the old Tribune Building steps for a bed, having his first sea-voyage as a cabin- boy on a fishing vessel, would hardly have been warranted in looking forward to being a governor of Connecticut and U. S. Consul-General in London. Yet so did he justify the exhortations to all American boys to prepare to be presidents and governors. It seems that the inflated accounts in his jour- nalistic wares prevented him from following the rush to the California gold fields in 1849. He inferred that all the gold would be gone by the time that he arrived on the scene, and so, instead of becoming a youthful '49er, he staid in the East to achieve a reputation as one of the ablest Democratic polit- ical leaders of his time.
While he was governor, a suitable recognition of the debt
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the State owed to Governor Buckingham was made by plac- ing a statute of him in the Capitol with impressive ceremon- ies. The sculptor was Olin L. Warner, the cost was $ 10,000, and $6,000 was appropriated for the ceremonies of unveiling. On that occasion, the two political opponents, Henry B. Har- rison and Governor Waller, participated, the latter unveiling the statue and the former being the chairman of the commis- sion for procuring it. After retiring from office, Ex-Gover- nor Waller accepted from President Cleveland an appoint- ment as our Counsel-General in London.
His successor as governor, Henry B. Harrison, had always been identified with the Republican party, having been one of the few who took part in its organization in 1855-56; and he had been the candidate for Lieutenant-Governor in those early days, with Gideon Welles heading the ticket.
In the House, his gifts of oratory marked him from the first; one of his most impressive speeches was that for open- ing the ballot-box to the colored man. His disinterested action in standing aside to clear the way for Hawley to the governor's chair was a proof of the lofty spirit which ani- mated his unflagging interest in the affairs of the State. In 1873, the discussion of the "one capitol" question had left a certain feeling which again cut him off, as a New Haven man, from being a candidate; but his legal and scholarly ability, combined with his power as an effective orator, made him too important to be spared from political life. In 1883, New Haven had made him her representative to the House, where he presided most ably as speaker. In the next year there was the political landslide which placed the Democratic party in power in Washington, during Cleveland's first term; but, in the State election for governor, Harrison had a plurality, and was elected by the General Assembly, according to the consti-
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bridge to complete the Trowbridge Drive; so that for seven miles the lover of Nature can wander among dark rav- ines, rugged precipices, with wild flowers and noble trees on every hand, and charming outlooks over lake and city and Sound at almost every turn.
As the official represenative of Connecticut, Governor Bigelow was present at the Atlanta Cotton Exposition, and it was for him that the famous suit of clothes was made there, evolved from the cotton husk to the finished product of the tailor's art in one day. He never lost an election for which his name was used, and was as discreet and upright in man- aging public affairs as in attending to the private interests of his great boiler works. After retiring from the Governor's chair, he dropped public life.
His successor, Thomas M. Waller, was a thorough politi- cian, and the story of his life reads like a romance. A poor lit- tle Irish waif in New York, beginning to take care of himself by selling some newspapers given to him by a kind stranger, and often glad to use the downy side of the old Tribune Building steps for a bed, having his first sea-voyage as a cabin- boy on a fishing vessel, would hardly have been warranted in looking forward to being a governor of Connecticut and U. S. Consul-General in London. Yet so did he justify the exhortations to all American boys to prepare to be presidents and governors. It seems that the inflated accounts in his jour- nalistic wares prevented him from following the rush to the California gold fields in 1849. He inferred that all the gold would be gone by the time that he arrived on the scene, and so, instead of becoming a youthful '49er, he staid in the East to achieve a reputation as one of the ablest Democratic polit- ical leaders of his time.
While he was governor, a suitable recognition of the debt
156
CONNECTICUT AS A STATE
the State owed to Governor Buckingham was made by plac- ing a statute of him in the Capitol with impressive ceremon- ies. The sculptor was Olin L. Warner, the cost was $10,000, and $6,000 was appropriated for the ceremonies of unveiling. On that occasion, the two political opponents, Henry B. Har- rison and Governor Waller, participated, the latter unveiling the statue and the former being the chairman of the commis- sion for procuring it. After retiring from office, Ex-Gover- nor Waller accepted from President Cleveland an appoint- ment as our Counsel-General in London.
His successor as governor, Henry B. Harrison, had always been identified with the Republican party, having been one of the few who took part in its organization in 1855-56; and he had been the candidate for Lieutenant-Governor in those early days, with Gideon Welles heading the ticket.
In the House, his gifts of oratory marked him from the first; one of his most impressive speeches was that for open- ing the ballot-box to the colored man. His disinterested action in standing aside to clear the way for Hawley to the governor's chair was a proof of the lofty spirit which ani- mated his unflagging interest in the affairs of the State. In 1873, the discussion of the "one capitol" question had left a certain feeling which again cut him off, as a New Haven man, from being a candidate; but his legal and scholarly ability, combined with his power as an effective orator, made him too important to be spared from political life. In 1883, New Haven had made him her representative to the House, where he presided most ably as speaker. In the next year there was the political landslide which placed the Democratic party in power in Washington, during Cleveland's first term; but, in the State election for governor, Harrison had a plurality, and was elected by the General Assembly, according to the consti-
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tution of the State. Governor Harrison made the welfare of the commonwealth his earnest purpose, and for its promotion spared neither labor nor thought, both in private charities and public endeavor.
The Republicans carried the next election, putting in Phin- eas C. Lounsbury, the New York banker, the successful South Norwalk manufacturer, and resident of Ridgefield, as gover- nor. He had been one of the framers of the rigid "option" laws with regard to temperance, and he gave his influence to the laws which were then made for restraining the running of railroad trains between ten and three o'clock on Sundays in the State. He felt that not only did the inhabitants require a quiet Sunday, but the trainmen needed a little rest. The pop- ular demand for traffic and travel afterwards led to the re- peal of this law. An act of the legislature of much more last- ing and serious importance is associated with him,-the "In- corrigible Criminal Act", which provides that a criminal con- victed for the third time of the same offence shall be sentenced to imprisonment for twenty-five years, which often amounts to a life sentence. Governor Lounsbury and the other promo- ters of this measure reasoned that repeated offences showed little desire for reformation, and that society ought to be pro- tected from hardened criminals. As a pendant to this, the Reformatory bill was passed in 1896. By this, convicts, after two trials in a reformatory, will be sent back to prison, further efforts to reclaim them being considered useless.
The profound peace that prevailed in the State during the ten years following 1880 gave opportunity for legislation of this kind. The underlying principles of a free government having been long before asserted and incorporated in the con- stitution, the mass of the inhabitants paid little attention to public affairs, and were well content to have the Governor
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and General Assembly perfect the details which tended to fill the gaps in the framework; feeling reasonably secure that from either party good government would be obtained, and rejoicing in the opportunity to pursue their private enterprises unhampered, and to make the state a very hive of money-mak- ing industry.
The very fact that the State basked in the sunshine of indus- trial prosperity made it alluring to the thousands of immi- grants, who rushed in on us like a tidal wave. At first almost unnoticed, the army of Swedes and Russians and Poles and Italians, and dwellers from all parts of Europe, came in and followed the advance guard of Irish and Germans that had been in the country for a long time; but with a rather dif- ferent effect on the commonwealth. At least 50,000 foreign- ers were added to its population in ten years, according to the census of 1900; the whole foreign-born population of the State amounting in that year to 238,000.
This caused an important change in the character of the inhabitants. The small towns, which had always held the controlling influence, and that a conservative one, in State legislation, lost their standing in population, both relatively and absolutely; for while scores of their ambitious sons went forth to seek wider scope for their energies, thousands of wanderers came to the cities to secure the large wages which had attracted them thither. Then, too, capital no longer sought by preference villages and remote places for establish- ing great factories, but was often found selecting the large cities or towns. The cheap land and water-power of the country were more than counterbalanced by the facilities for organization and transportation in the cities.
The new-comers, who often came in great companies speaking the same language, and consequently not dependent
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on immediate merging with the community for companion- ship or support, did not quickly become patriotic citizens, did not so readily identify themselves with the citizens of the State as in the old days, when such immigrants went in small groups to some hamlet by a river-side, and grew up with it in its progress towards the dignity and privileges of a town; and the feeling of civic pride in such an adopted home was not easy to cultivate under circumstances so changed. The less such men had done to establish prosperity and preserve lib- erty, the more loudly were they apt to call for their rights and privileges as American citizens.
For these reasons, while the commonwealth was rising to great industrial importance, new complications were develop- ing; an uncertain and discontested class was increasing, and there was danger that the rural towns, and the cities choked with this foreign element, would drift apart in interests and would lose the desire to work together for the common good; and that they might forget that the old story of the Latin Reader expressed a permanent truth, and that the healthy body politic must have harmony between its different mem- bers.
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CHAPTER VII THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR BULKELEY
T HE first time that the secret ballot law was put in practice in Connecticut was in the State elec- tion on Nov. 4, 1890; and undoubtedly, lack of familiarity with the working details of the new system had much to do with the blunders and complications that led to the famous "deadlock," and caused that election to become a historic event in Connecticut annals, and the theme of prolonged and bitter controversy.
For lack of the prescribed popular majority, the previous election of 1888 had gone, according to the provisions of the Constitution of the State, to the General Assembly, which declared the Republican candidate, Morgan G. Bulkeley of Hartford, Governor. In 1890, as in several previous elec- tions, the introduction of the third party, the Prohibitionists, and even, in this instance, of a weak fourth, the Labor party, diverted the few votes that would have made decisive the choice of the people between the two leading parties. This brought about the unfortunate situation in which the com- monwealth was placed.
Both the candidates, General Samuel E. Merwin, Repub- lican, and Judge Luzon B. Morris, Democratic, were men of ability and unblemished character. The Democrats claimed a small majority for Morris; the Republicans asserted that a careful examination of the ballots would give a plurality to Merwin. That would take the election to the General Assem- bly; and as the Democratic majority in the Senate was 5, and the Republican majority in the House 15, the result was a foregone conclusion, if that step were resorted to.
In order to understand the point involved in the contro- versy, it will be necessary to explain the constitutional pro- visions out of the differing interpretation of which it arose. Succinctly stated, they were as follows :
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At the close of the election in each town, it was the duty of the presiding officer of that town to make out "duplicate lists of the persons voted for and of the number of votes given for each." One of these lists was to be retained in the town, the other was to be transmitted to the Secretary of State prior to the meeting of the General Assembly. The language of the Constitution from this point is as follows :- "A fair list of the persons and number of votes given for each, together with the returns of the presiding officers, shall be by the Treasurer, Sec- retary, and Comptroller made and laid before the General Assembly then next to be holden on the first day of the Session thereof; and said Assembly shall after examination of the same declare the person whom they shall find to be regularly chosen, and give him notice accordingly. If no person shall have a majority of the whole number of said votes, or if two or more shall have an equal and the greatest number of votes, then said Assembly on the second day of their Session, by joint convention of both houses, shall proceed without debate to choose a Governor from a list of the names of the two per- sons having the greatest number of votes, or of the names of the persons having an equal and the highest number of votes so returned as aforesaid. The General Assembly shall by law prescribe the manner in which all questions concerning the election of a Governor or Lieutenant-Governor shall be deter- mined."
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