USA > New York > History of the state of New York, political and governmental, Vol. II 1822-1864 > Part 24
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This was the man who, side by side with Wadsworth, marched out of the Hunker-ruled Democratic conven- tion at Syracuse and led the revolting Barnburners in their mass-convention and throughout that year's cam- paign. Under his counsel the convention refrained from nominating any candidates for office. But it issued an address denouncing the Hunkers and declaring for the Wilmot Proviso and for Free Soil. In this we cannot credit him with any deep convictions of anti-slavery principle. His motives doubtless were first personal and then political. He wanted to vindicate his father in his opposition to the annexation of Texas and the Mexi- can War, and, if possible, restore him to the national leadership of the Democratic party and win for him a
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second term in the Presidency. He was shrewd enough to perceive the signs of the times and to know that the party opposed to the extension of the slave power was the party of the future. He had not the supreme vir- tue of endurance. A few years later he accepted the Compromises of 1850, became a Hunker for the sake of party regularity, and then became a supporter of the pro-slavery administrations of Pierce and Buchanan. But for a time, in the Barnburner revolt, he seemed to be the "rising hope" of the anti-slavery cause. He was, said Henry Wilson, the bright particular star of the revolt; and "Such was the brilliant record he then made that, had he remained true to the principles he advo- cated, he would unquestionably have become one of the foremost men in the Republican party, if not its ac- cepted leader."
Sufficient, however, unto the day was the revolt thereof. The Barnburner secession at Syracuse doomed the Democratic party to overwhelming defeat in the fall election of 1847, at which State officers and a Leg- islature were chosen. As Addison Gardiner, the Demo- cratic Lieutenant-Governor who had been elected along with the Whig Governor, John Young, had in the spring been elected to the new Court of Appeals, there was a vacancy in the Lieutenant-Governorship. This was appropriately filled by the election of Hamilton Fish, who had been the Whig candidate the year be- fore. He was elected by a majority of 30,449. Chris- topher Morgan was elected Secretary of State by 25,337; Millard Fillmore Comptroller by 38,729; Al- vah Hunt State Treasurer by 23,516; Ambrose L. Jor-
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[1847-8
dan Attorney-General by 35,282; and Charles B. Stew- art State Engineer by 38,059. Thus the entire first State administration under the new Constitution passed into the hands of the Whigs.
In the Legislature the result was comparably em- phatic. The new Senate contained 24 Whigs to 8 Democrats, a three-fourths majority. In the Assembly there were 93 Whigs and 35 Democrats. On joint bal- lot, therefore, there are 117 Whigs to only 43 Demo- crats, a Whig majority of 74.
By way of contrast to these figures, and as indicative of the strength of the Barnburner schism, it may be re- called that at the June election of the same year for Judges of the Court of Appeals the Democrats, then not yet divided, elected all four candidates by strong majorities, Addison Gardiner receiving 145,282 votes to only 127,519 for Ambrose L. Jordan. Five months later Mr. Jordan received 174,763 votes for Attorney- General.
The Seventy-first Legislature, and the first under the Third Constitution, met on January 4, 1848. The Sen- ate, consisting of thirty-two Senators elected for two years from an equal number of districts, had the newly- elected Lieutenant-Governor, Hamilton Fish, for its presiding officer, and chose Andrew H. Calhoun as its Clerk. The Assembly elected Amos K. Hadley, of Troy, to be its Speaker, and reelected Philander B. Prindle to be Clerk. Among its members were Robert H. Pruyn, of Albany, and James Brooks, the Demo- cratic journalist, of New York.
The message of Governor Young was much longer
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than that of the preceding year, though it still was far shorter than many of the formidable messages of former Governors. As before, the Governor was emi- nently practical, avoiding discussion of Federal affairs and animadversion on abstract themes, and devoting himself chiefly to explicit reports on the condition of the State and brief recommendations concern- ing its needs. There was a full review of the· canal enterprises, and in connection therewith the Governor referred to the President's veto of a bill appropriating money for the improvement of rivers and harbors, and also a bill for certain public works in the Territory of Wisconsin, on the ground that it was unconstitu- tional to appropriate money for such purposes. Gov- ernor Young made it clear that he did not approve the President's policy, but declined to enter into any discussion of it, as inappropriate to a State message; explaining that he mentioned it only because of its inti- mate connection with the prospective legislation in New York for the Erie canal. If Congressional ap- propriations for public improvements were unconstitu- tional, it might be that State appropriations for such purposes were liable to the same objection. Of course, the President's policy was soon completely reversed and discarded, and is now remembered only as a curi- ous aberration. Educational and industrial interests commanded much attention in the message, and some earnest recommendations were made for prison reform, particularly for legislation prescribing the procedure in pardon cases and for more discrimination between first offenders and habitual criminals. After an un-
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eventful session the Legislature adjourned without day on April 12.
Then politics broke loose. A Governor of New York and a President of the United States were to be elected, and in the Presidential contest New York was assumed to be the pivotal State. As New York went so would go the Union. To the Democratic national convention at Baltimore on May 22 the State sent two rival sets of delegates, each claiming regular- ity and each demanding the exclusion of the other. After painful consideration the convention compro- mised the matter by admitting both and dividing the vote of the State between them, with the natural re- sult of pleasing neither side. New York thus took no decisive part in the nomination of General Lewis Cass for the Presidency. On their return home the Hunkers claimed to have won a victory. The Barn- burners issued an address, prepared by Samuel J. Til- den, which practically repudiated the Baltimore con- vention and called upon their associates to come to- gether in a State convention at Utica on June 22.
This convention comprised among its members many of the ablest and best leaders of the Democratic party. Among them were Samuel Young, who presided ; Samuel J. Tilden, John Van Buren, C. C. Cambreling, David Dudley Field, Preston King, Benjamin F. But- ler, Dean Richmond, and John A. Dix. Some of these were mere partisans of Martin Van Buren, who were intent upon vindicating him against his enemies. Some were sincerely opposed on principle to the ex- tension of slavery and a few years later left the Demo-
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cratic party altogether and joined the Republican party. The outcome of the convention was the nom- ination of Martin Van Buren for the Presidency.
This was followed by the memorable Free Soil national convention and mass-meeting at Buffalo on August 9-10, under the leadership of Joshua R. Gid- dings, Salmon P. Chase, and Charles Francis Adams. Its purpose was to "secure Free Soil for a Free People," and its platform was "Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men." It was composed of a strange mixture of men of various parties. Van Buren's friends were there, seeking vengeance against his foes. Free Soil Democrats were there, to avenge the "assas- sination" of Silas Wright. Southern Whigs were there, to avenge the rejection of Henry Clay by the Whig convention. Northern Whigs were there, to punish the Whig party for nominating Zachary Taylor, a southern slaveholder, for President. Thus animosity against others was the common bond of union. The result of the convention was the ratification of the Barnburners' nomination of Martin Van Buren for the Presidency ; Charles Francis Adams, of Massachusetts, was nominated for Vice-President.
The Barnburners at Utica had placed John A. Dix, then United States Senator, in nomination for Gover- nor of New York, with Seth M. Gates, of Wyoming county, for Lieutenant-Governor. The Hunkers met at Syracuse and nominated for Governor Reuben H. . Walworth, who had been the last of the Chancellors of the State and had been legislated out of office by the new Constitution, and for Lieutenant-Governor the
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brilliant jurist Charles O'Conor, of New York. These were admirable men, but neither of them was popular as a candidate.
The Whig national convention of that year had been chiefly under the influence of Thurlow Weed, who worked for and secured the nomination of General Tay- lor on the strength of his brilliant record in the Mexi- can War. Weed had tried to persuade Daniel Web- ster to accept the nomination for Vice-President but failed, and in the convention, after Taylor had been chosen, the second place on the ticket seemed for awhile to go a-begging. Some of Seward's friends had urged him to be a candidate, but he declined. John Young desired the place, but his candidacy met with little favor. His administration as Governor had been re- spectable but not brilliant. Abbott Lawrence, of Massachusetts, had been suggested, but had little sup- port. Finally John A. Collier, of Binghamton, who had served in Congress and as Comptroller of the State, in a marvellously tactful and persuasive speech nomi- nated Millard Fillmore and asked for a unanimous vote in his favor. This was not granted, the opposition to Fillmore uniting on Abbott Lawrence, but on the sec- ond ballot Fillmore won by a substantial majority.
Following this national convention at Philadelphia came the Whig State convention, at Utica. John Young sought renomination, but had little support. Thurlow Weed was opposed to him because of his atti- tude toward the Mexican War and some appointments that he had made; and his pardoning of a number of men guilty of murder in the Anti-Rent troubles in-
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curred for him the opposition of the conservative ele- ments of the party. The overwhelming sentiment of the convention was for the then Lieutenant-Governor, Hamilton Fish. He, already marked by destiny for a distinguished career in State, national, and inter- national affairs, was truly described by Horace Greeley in the Tribune as "Wealthy without pride, generous without ostentation, simple in manners, blameless in life, accepting office with no other aspiration than that of making power subserve the common good of his fel- low-citizens." Wisely the convention named him as its choice for Governor. Another man of like type was found for Lieutenant -- Governor in George W. Pat- terson, of Chautauqua, a former Anti-Mason and a close friend of both Weed and Seward.
In addition to the three major candidates for the Governorship, the ultra-Abolitionists put forward Wil- liam Goodell. The campaign was waged with much spirit, but the result was a foregone conclusion. United, the Democrats would have won. Divided, they were doomed to defeat, the Barnburners or Free Soilers having the satisfaction of polling more votes than the Hunkers. For President, Van Buren got more votes than Cass, but Taylor handsomely carried the State and by virtue of that fact became President of the United States. For the Governorship Hamil- ton Fish received 218,776 votes, John A. Dix 122,811, Reuben H. Walworth 116,811, and William Goodell 1,593. The Whigs also elected a majority of the New York Representatives in Congress, among them being Horace Greeley and Washington Hunt. In the Legis-
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lature the Whigs secured a majority of 104 on joint ballot-the Assembly containing 108 Whigs, 14 Free Soilers, and only 6 Hunkers. Martin Van Buren and the friends of Silas Wright were thus abundantly avenged upon their enemies. John Young had been denied reëlection, but in closing his administration he had the satisfaction of witnessing such an annihilation of the Democratic party as went far beyond even what he had most ardently hoped for when he initiated his shrewd tactics. The next year President Taylor ap- pointed him to succeed William C. Bouck as Assistant- United States Treasurer in New York City, and in that office he spent the brief remainder of his life, dying in April, 1852.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE DECLINE OF THE WHIGS
P OLITICAL activity and interest during the ad- ministration of Hamilton Fish chiefly obtained outside of the Gubernatorial office. That was for three reasons. One was that the great national issues and measures, culminating in the Compromise acts of 1850, fairly engrossed public attention. Another was that the new Constitution greatly diminished the patronage and therefore the political power of the Executive. Formerly he had been besieged during his term of office, particularly at the beginning of it, by office-seekers and their friends, and through the with- holding or bestowal of appointments he was able to reward friends, punish enemies, and exert much influ- ence upon legislation as well as the administration of affairs. Sometimes this circumstance had reacted greatly to the Governor's disadvantage. John Young alienated a large portion of the Whig party by his use of patronage, and so did William H. Seward before him. William C. Bouck suffered similar displeasure from many Democrats. But the Constitution of 1846 deprived the Governor of much of that power or relieved him of much of that embarrassment. It made his office a place of service rather than patronage.
The third reason was in the man himself. Hamil-
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ton Fish was not a politician. He was a scholar and a statesman, with the loftiest of ideals, the purest and most unselfish of motives; more nearly approximating the quality of John Jay than any other Governor the State had thus far known. Had he served under the old Constitution, instead of being the first Governor under the new, the dispensing of patronage would have been distasteful to him, while the use of it for the furtherance of personal or partisan ends would have been utterly revolting.
Naturally, therefore, he pursued in the Governor's office a course as nearly non-partisan as possible. He was loyal to the principles of his party, and applied them to the exercise of his duties. But he recognized the fact that he was Governor of the whole State, of its Democratic as well as its Whig citizens, and with rare sincerity and devotion he strove to do his duty impartially to all. In the party and factional conflicts of the time which were intense and important, he took no part.
Toward the one dominant issue in American politics he never hesitated to make his attitude clear. He was committed to the principle of the Wilmot Proviso, and in both his annual messages that fact was made unmistakably manifest. It would indeed be difficult to find in the literature of the anti-slavery struggle finer expressions of opposition to the extension of slav- ery than were contained in his two messages to the New York, Legislature. "If there be," he said, "any one subject upon which the people of the State of New York approach near to unanimity of sentiment, it is
HAMILTON FISH
Hamilton Fish, 18th governor (1849-50) ; born in New York City, August 3, 1808; lawyer; member of congress, 1843-5; unsuccessful candidate for reelection; lieutenant governor, 1847-9; governor, 1849-50; U. S. senator, 1851-7; appointed by President Grant secretary of state and served from March 11, 1869 to March 12, 1877; member of the joint high commission which settled the differences between the United States and Great Britain in 1871 and negotiated the treaty of Washington in 1873; died at Garrison, N. Y., September 7, 1893.
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in their fixed determination to resist the extension of slavery over territory now free. It is no new declaration in behalf of the State of New York that she regards slavery as a moral, a social, and a political evil. New York loves the Union of States. She will not contemplate the possibility of its dissolution, and sees no reason to calculate the enormity of such a calamity. She also loves the cause of Human. Free- dom, and sees no reason to abstain from an avowal of her attachment. While, therefore, she holds fast to the one, she will not forsake the other."
Instinct as they were with humanity and noble ideal- ism, and framed in an eloquent and polished literary style of which he was a master, Governor Fish's mes- sages were also direct and practical in their treatment of the current interests of the State and were replete with profitable suggestions for progressive legislation. He urged the endowment of a State Agricultural Col- lege and a State Institute of the Mechanical Arts; the restoration of the office of County Superintendent of Common Schools, which had been abolished; a thorough revision, with radical amendments, of the law for assessments and taxation for local improvements ; the more general and more equitable taxation of per- sonal property; the establishment of tribunals of arbi- tration and conciliation, as provided for in the new Constitution; and the reform of the Criminal Code.
In his first annual message he had the pleasure of announcing to the Legislature the bequest by John Jacob Astor of "the large, and in this country unpre- cedented, amount of four hundred thousand dollars"
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for the foundation and maintenance of a Public Library in the city of New York. The Legislature appropri- ately made haste to show its appreciation of this munifi- cence by devoting its very first enactment of the session to the incorporation of the Astor Library.
The Legislature was more than ordinarily responsive to the Governor's suggestions and recommendations. It provided for the appointment of a board of eight Commissioners "to mature a plan for the establishment of an agricultural college and experimental farm." It adopted a constitutional amendment making the Speaker of the Assembly next after the Lieutenant- Governor in the line of succession to the Governorship. This amendment failed of the needed second passage by the next Assembly, in 1850; its principle was finally embodied in the Constitution in 1894. A law was enacted to enforce the responsibility of stockholders in certain banking corporations and associations and to assure the prompt payment of claims against such bodies. The Code of Procedure was amended in many important particulars.
At the very opening of the session the Legislature took positive ground concerning the issues raised by the Mexican War. In concurrent resolutions it in- structed the Senators from New York and requested the Representatives in Congress to use their best efforts for the establishment of Territorial governments in California and New Mexico which would protect the free soil of those regions from the extension of human slavery, and also for the abolition of the slave trade and slave pens or prisons in the District of Columbia.
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The Seventy-second Legislature met on January 2, 1849, and adjourned without day on April 11 follow- ing. Its Senate, having been elected for two years, re- mained unchanged in composition and organization, save for the Lieutenant-Governor. The Assembly reelected Amos K. Hadley as Speaker and Philander B. Prindle as Clerk. There were many changes in its membership from the preceding house, and among the new men who later played conspicuous parts in State affairs were Joseph B. Varnum, Jr., of New York, and William H. Robertson, of Westchester county.
The outstanding event of 1849, destined to involve momentous and far-reaching consequences, was the struggle over the election of a United States Senator to succeed John A. Dix, whose term was to expire on March 4. Immediately after the November election it was certain that the Whigs would be able to elect anybody whom they might choose, and at once sharp rivalry arose in the party among the advocates of various candidates. Hamilton Fish, although he had just been elected Governor; Washington Hunt, and others were suggested by interested friends. But the leading candidates were William H. Seward and John A. Collier. The latter had been Seward's chief competitor for the Governorship nomination eleven years before, and had been defeated by the masterful strategy of Thurlow Weed. Three years later he had been somewhat consoled by election to the State Comp- trollership, and had reestablished friendly relations with Weed. But he still cherished resentment against Seward, and thus naturally became the candidate of
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all the Whigs who were hostile to that leader. And their name was legion. Seward had made more ene- mies than friends by his use of official patronage while Governor. His proposals for the education of immi- grants' children had arrayed many against him, and his radical anti-slavery policy had given offense, especially to those whose business relations with the south had been injured. Then there were the numer- ous friends of Millard Fillmore, all of whom sup- ported Collier, not because of enmity toward Seward but because of gratitude to Collier for having made the convention speech that led to Fillmore's nomination and election to the Vice-Presidency.
Seward was spending most of his time at Washing- ton and Baltimore in connection with his very impor- tant legal practice, leaving Thurlow Weed to look after his interests at Albany, which that adroit poli- tician did in masterful manner. A scandalous epi- sode of the campaign was the publication, at the be- ginning of December, 1848, of a letter which purported to have been written by Seward, declaring that "Col- lier must be defeated, or our influence with the admin- istration will be curtailed." This was a barefaced forgery, concocted by some enemy of Seward or friend of Collier. There is no reason to suppose that Collier was in any way connected with it, but it moved him to issue a bitter manifesto against Seward, which in fact reacted upon himself. Horace Greeley expressed the general sentiment of the best members of the party when he said in the Tribune: "We care not who may be the nominee. We shall gladly coincide in the fair
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expression of the will of the majority of the party. But we kindly caution those who disturb and divide us that their conduct will result only in the merited retribution which an indignant people will visit upon those who prostitute their temporary power to personal pique or selfish purposes."
After the meeting of the Legislature the contest was confined to Seward and Collier, though a number of members urged that some other candidate be chosen who had not been involved in the acrimonious conflict that had raged for the preceding two months. The Whig Senators held a caucus to decide whether they should go into joint meeting with the Assembly, and declared in favor of doing so by the vote of twelve to eleven. The eleven who voted nay were all op- posed to Seward, on the ground that he was so offensive to the south that his election would disrupt both the Whig party and the Union of States. They declared that they would not vote for him either in the Whig caucus or in the joint meeting of the Legislature, and thereupon they withdrew from all further participa- tion in the proceedings. Then came the caucus of Whig Senators and Assemblymen, in which, despite the protest of fourteen members against the nomina- tion of either of the candidates, Seward got 88 votes and Collier 12. When the joint ballot was taken, a few days later, Seward was elected by 121 Whig votes.
That was not the ending but the enlargement of dis- sension in the Whig party. As soon as Seward took his seat in the Senate the question arose of the control of Federal patronage in New York. Was it to be dis-
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pensed by Seward, as the Whig Senator, or by Fill- more, the Whig Vice-President? Weed, desirous of preventing friction, sought a modus vivendi under which the two would confer together upon all impor- tant appointments. The arrangement, however, did not prove effective, for some highly important appoint- ments were unknown to Seward until they came before the Senate for confirmation. This led to a breach of friendly relations between Fillmore and Weed, which lasted for many years. Weed, done with Fillmore, went straight to President Taylor and succeeded in obtaining from him a transfer of all patronage to Seward.
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