USA > New York > History of the state of New York, political and governmental, Vol. III 1865-1896 > Part 22
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[1888
amendments were as binding as the rest of the Consti- tution.2 Nevertheless Lamar was confirmed, despite almost unanimous Republican opposition.
The Republicans in the Legislature were unusually active in passing reform measures, which they knew the Governor would not sign. The year before Hill had vetoed the Vedder bill for increased liquor taxes because it applied only to New York and Brooklyn. At this session he vetoed the Crosby bill establishing high license throughout the State, on the ground that it was unreasonable and extreme. He recommended a commission generally to revise the Excise laws. A legislative committee formally charged that he was playing politics3 and would not sign any bill that restricted the traffic and did not please the saloon interests, but the Republicans finally agreed to such a commission, which was to report at the next session. No revision was made, however, until 1892, when the Democrats were in control of the Legislature and were able to get the sort of revision they wanted. The Governor also vetoed the Saxton Ballot bill, one of the early steps toward the introduction of the so-called Australian ballot system.
Until a decade after the Civil War practically no restriction was put upon the form of ballot. The parties printed their own tickets with varying design and color, with separate tickets for different classes of officers, State, local, and judicial, so that any watcher could see how in general each elector voted. Tricks were devised
2January 5, 1888.
3Lincoln, Messages from the Governors, VIII, p. 640.
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to make split voting difficult. Once in Monroe county the names on a ballot were printed in a close spiral, so that the use of pasters was impossible. Managers made up bundles of tickets for their followers and saw that they were put in the boxes. The first step toward secrecy was legal prescription of the form, color, type, and paper of the ballot, which the parties still provided. This did not prevent the fixing of tickets for dragooned or purchased voters. Then the State itself furnished the ballots, first separate tickets for each party, then a blanket ballot. By handing out the official ballot only as used in the polling-place it was hoped to make each voter's act independent; but Governor Hill's insistence on retaining pasters, which might consist of a whole ticket, militated against this. Finally the blanket ballot, which each voter must mark in secret in a booth, was adopted. Two general types have been used in this country. The Massachusetts type places the names of all candidates for an office together in one column, so that the voter must make his distinct choice for each separate office. The Indiana plan, so called because developed in that State, provides separate party columns. New York first used various forms of this ballot, with party symbols and circles at the top of each party column. Thus an elector might with one mark vote for all the candidates of a party, merely guided by an emblem. Finally the State has turned to the other plan, aiding the indifferent or ignorant voter with a party symbol and designation beside each name, but grouping the candidates by offices. Coincident with this movement has been the development of the voting
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machine, adapted for the mechanical registration of the vote. Its dial corresponds to whatever form of ballot prevails, and the chief difference it has made in elections is due to the quickness with which the result is known.
The bill of 1888 provided an official ballot to be printed by the State. The Governor held that it restricted the freedom of the voter, interfered with the secrecy of the ballot in the case of the ignorant or disabled citizen who might require assistance, and was unconstitutional. He also vetoed a bill aimed at election bribery, on the ground that it opened the door to blackmail by encouragement to informers and by extreme penalties made punishment difficult.4 The Legislature made an appropriation for lengthening the canal locks and Hill, desiring the support of the canal interests, approved it, although he had vetoed canal improvements the year before. An act was passed to substitute execution by electricity for hanging after January 1, 1889. The prison labor situation forced an extra session in July, at which the use of motive power machinery was forbidden and provision made for the employment of convicts on handmade articles for public institutions.
Renomination for both Hill and Cleveland was a foregone conclusion, and the factions buried their differences so far as to give the first State convention into the hands of Cleveland and the second into the hands of Hill. The convention to choose delegates-at- large to the national convention at St. Louis was held
4Lincoln, Messages from the Governors, VIII, p. 598.
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in New York on May 15, with Frederic R. Coudert in the chair. Despite the surface harmony, much bitterness of feeling existed. Two of Hill's particular supporters, John Y. McKane of Gravesend and Mayor Patrick J. Gleason of Long Island City, were excluded from the convention. The rebuff to McKane drove him for the moment into alliance with the Republicans and cost Cleveland many votes. When the name of William R. Grace, Hill's arch enemy, was mentioned, he was roundly hissed.5 Hill was left off the national delegation, receiving only five votes in the nominating committee. When the State committee attempted to elect a chairman, a tie resulted, the Cleveland men voting for D-Cady Herrick and the Hill and Tam- many forces to reëlect Edward Murphy, Jr. Finally Murphy was continued as temporary chairman under open threats that the selection of Herrick would be expensive for Cleveland. The platform commended both the Cleveland and Hill administrations, and particularly condemned the Saxton Election Reform bill. George Raines, Edward Cooper, Roswell P. Flower, and Alfred C. Chapin were chosen delegates- at-large to the national convention, which met at St. Louis on June 5 and there unanimously renominated Cleveland. The speech presenting his name was made by Daniel Dougherty, who had recently removed from Philadelphia to New York. Allen G. Thurman of Ohio was nominated for Vice-President, and a platform was adopted which indorsed the Mills bill for tariff reductions.
5New York Tribune, May 16, 1888.
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The Republicans met at Buffalo on May 16 to choose delegates to the Chicago convention, called for June 19, without a candidate and in a spirit of harmony. Blaine was the most popular Republican in the country. Without doubt he would have been nominated with little or no opposition if he had been even passively in the field, but he was in Europe. On January 25 he had written from Florence that he would not be a candi- date,6 but his nomination was still considered probable, although a host of favorite sons entered the field. At Buffalo, Platt declared that Blaine would be the ultimate choice of the convention, and he echoed the opinion of the other leaders. Charles E. Fitch and Edmund L. Pitts presided over the convention, which without opposition elected a "union ticket" for delegates-at-large: Hiscock, Platt, Miller, Depew. The New York delegation at one time threatened to oppose this program by substituting Morton for Hiscock, but Platt declared that Morton did not wish to be a delegate as he wanted to run for Vice-President if a western man should be nominated for President, and later, after the New York delegation had declared for him, Morton by telegram forbade the use of his name.7 The delegates were uninstructed, and no platform was adopted beyond a resolution condemning the Mills bill and promising loyal support to the Chi- cago nominees.
The publication on May 30 of a letter written in Paris on May 17 by Blaine to Whitelaw Reid threw the
6New York Tribune, February 13, 1888.
7New York Tribune, May 16, 17, 1888.
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door wide open for "favorite sons." Blaine not only reaffirmed his Florence letter, but declared that on the strength of it friends of his had entered the lists and he could not without giving them just grounds of com- plaint allow himself to be nominated. A round dozen of candidates were brought into the field at Chicago. John Sherman had the largest block of votes, but not nearly enough to nominate. Others in the field, each with the support of his own State and a considerable body of other delegates, were Benjamin Harrison of Indiana, William B. Allison of Iowa, and Russell A. Alger of Michigan. Walter Q. Gresham of Indiana was unable to get his own State from Harrison, but had the support of Illinois. Jeremiah M. Rusk of Wis- consin, Joseph R. Hawley of Connecticut, John J. Ingalls of Kansas, and William Walter Phelps of New Jersey all had local support. The New York delega- tion, after some debate, unanimously agreed to present Chauncey M. Depew, despite Depew's own frank recognition of the grangers' objection to a railroad president. The New York organization leaders did not at first welcome Depew's candidacy. When county organizations began to declare for him, before Blaine was definitely out of the field, he was called to a confer- ence with Platt and other leaders. Platt wanted to know how he started the movement and was skeptical about its spontaneity. Depew authorized announce- ment that he was not a candidate, but support continued to be offered. Again the leaders wanted to know what he was doing, and Depew answered that Platt had agents in every part of the State and must know if he
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were doing any work. They asked him to go beyond his withdrawal and say that he would not accept, as the only way to stop the movement, but Depew replied that he was not big enough for that :- it was asking too much if he had serious chances, and the announcement would be egotistical otherwise.8 Later, with the elimination of Blaine, the organization found Depew's candidacy, even if it had little prospect of success, useful to hold the New York delegation together for strategic purposes.
Hiscock made the speech nominating Depew, and the first ballot gave Sherman 229, Gresham 107, Depew 99 (28 outside of his own State), Alger 84, Harrison 85, Allison 72, Blaine 35, Ingalls 28, Rusk 25, Phelps 25, E. H. Fitler of Pennsylvania 24, Hawley 13, Robert T. Lincoln 3, William McKinley 2. Two more ballots were taken without decisive change. Before the con- vention adjourned on Friday night Depew withdrew in the best of temper, saying that in view of prejudices his nomination would be unwise, and the course of New York became of keen interest.9 The "big four" were at odds on the subject. Platt and Hiscock were for Allison. Miller was for Sherman. Platt declared that he would not support Sherman. After a long wrangle Hiscock, who was always a peacemaker, suggested that they let Depew judge between them. Depew thought Allison would, because of the extreme granger sentiment be- hind him, be as unwelcome to the east as he himself had been to the west. He suggested Harrison, a
8Statement of Mr. Depew to the writer, June 15, 1917.
9New York Tribune, June 22, 1888.
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soldier, a Senator, a poor man, a grandson of "Tippe- canoe," as the candidate with the best sentimental values.10 The conference adjourned overnight without decision. Platt, having had opportunity to come to an understanding with the Harrison managers, agreed to the plan Saturday morning and a majority of the dele- gation followed. Fifty-eight of New York's 72 votes went to Harrison, and Wisconsin also threw its vote for the same candidate. On the fourth ballot Sherman had 235, Harrison 216, Alger 135, Gresham 98, Allison 88, Blaine 42, Mckinley 11, Foraker, Lincoln, and Frederick Douglass each 1. After another ballot, which showed a loss for both Sherman and Harrison and slight gains for Alger, Allison, and Blaine, adjournment was taken until Monday.
Platt devoted Sunday to bringing the New York delegation solidly into line, and the drift was clearly toward Harrison despite Sherman's lead. Sherman's friends complained bitterly that Alger had by lavish expenditure won the negro delegates, whom Sherman had counted on in this his last fight for a nomination. Over all loomed the shadow of Blaine. The feeling was widespread that the candidates whose rights he had been so careful to respect would themselves unite on him rather than see their votes go to any smaller rival.11 But on Monday morning Congressman Boutelle announced to the convention that he had received two telegrams from Blaine, who was in Edinburgh, calling on his friends to respect his declination, and Andrew
10Statement of Mr. Depew to the writer, June 15, 1917.
11New York Tribune, June 26, 1888.
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Carnegie, at whose home in Scotland Blaine had been staying, cabled that Blaine favored Harrison and Phelps. On the sixth ballot Sherman still led, with Harrison second. On the seventh, Harrison's vote rose to 279 and Sherman's fell to 230. At this point the withdrawal of Allison's name started a run to Harri- son, who received on the eighth ballot 544 votes to 118 for Sherman, 100 for Alger, 59 for Gresham, 5 for Blaine, and 4 for McKinley. New York's timely swing for Harrison secured recognition of its claim to the Vice-Presidency, notwithstanding Blaine's friendship for Phelps. The ballot gave Morton 592 votes, Phelps 119, W. O. Bradley 103, and Blanche K. Bruce 11.
The Prohibitionists met in national convention in Indianapolis May 30 and nominated Clinton B. Fisk of New Jersey and John A. Brooks of Missouri. Other tickets were: Union Labor-Alson J. Streeter of Illi- nois and Samuel Evans of Texas; United Labor- Robert H. Cowdrey of Illinois and W. H. T. Wake- field of Kansas.
The policy of harmony and mutual concession, which allowed Platt to throw the State to Harrison and nominate Morton, brought unanimous agreement upon Warner Miller as the candidate for Governor long before the State convention met at Saratoga on August 28. Benjamin F. Tracy and George S. Batcheller presided over its sessions. From Buffalo and New York came strenuous efforts to induce Tracy to walk softly around the liquor issue on which Miller had taken advanced ground, but in his speech he declared squarely that the party could not afford to take any
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backward step on temperance legislation. Long afterward Platt said Miller defeated himself by an injudicious speech on the liquor question,12 but at the time he announced: "We shall make high license a State issue. We could not afford to quibble or vacillate upon the question. If we should adopt a high license plank I should look to our getting one-third of the present Prohibition vote."13 Miller was nominated by acclamation, and Stephen Van Rensselaer Cruger of New York was named for Lieutenant-Governor, after the friends of John B. Weber of Erie, Cornelius R. Parsons of Monroe, and Norman L. Allen of Cattaraugus had presented their favorites. Justice William Rumsey of Steuben was nominated for Judge of the Court of Appeals to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Rapallo, in whose place Governor Hill had in January named John Clinton Gray of New York. The Republicans took credit to themselves in the platform for reducing taxation and approved the attempts of the Republican Legislature to restrict the liquor traffic and by its taxation to lift the burden of economic expenses from the home and farm. They declared for legislation to prevent election frauds and for the printing and distribution at public expense of
12Platt, Autobiography, p. 207. With respect to this and other quotations from Mr. Platt's Autobiography, especially those that show inconsistency and error, account should be taken of the fact that when he dictated the material he was broken in health. Much of it is apparently the random reminiscence of an old man, never subjected to critical revision by author or editor. It is valuable in revealing his motives, or what he looked back on as his motives, rather than as authority on matters of fact.
13New York Tribune, August 28, 1888.
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an official ballot, and censured Hill for his vetoes of liquor, election, and other reform bills. They also called for the revision of the naturalization and immi- gration laws.
The Democrats held their State convention at Buffalo on September 12, with George Raines and D-Cady Herrick presiding. They renominated Hill and Jones by acclamation and named John Clinton Gray for the seat in the Court of Appeals that he was filling temporarily by appointment. Their platform opposed "sumptuary laws needlessly interfering with the personal liberties and reasonable habits and customs of any part of our citizens," and declared that local excise revenues should be kept for local use. They denounced the "hypocritical legislation" of the Republicans, expressed themselves in favor of honest elections, but declared that the Saxton bill for an official ballot, which the Republicans had pushed, was unconstitutional, defective, and impracticable.
The Prohibitionists at Syracuse on June 27 nomi- nated W. Martin Jones for Governor, and the Socialists, the successors of the Progressive Labor party of the year before, nominated Edward Hall. The United Labor party indorsed Warner Miller but did not accept the rest of the Republican ticket.
On the day after Hill's nomination, the New York Times, which was earnestly supporting Cleveland, repudiated the State ticket, saying: "From such uncleanness as the New York Democracy put upon itself at Buffalo yesterday, there is but one purification -the fires of defeat. In nominating David B. Hill for
ABRAM STEVENS HEWITT
Abram Stevens Hewitt; born in Haverstraw, N. Y., July 31, 1822; graduated from Columbia college in 1842; studied law and was admitted to practice in 1845; his eyesight failing, he engaged in the iron business with Peter Cooper and established works in New Jersey and Pennsylvania; appointed one of the 10 United States commissioners to visit the French exposition universelle of 1867 and made a report on iron and steel which was published by congress; organized with and managed for Peter Cooper the Cooper union for the advancement of science and art; elected as a democrat to the 44th and 45th congresses (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1879) ; reelected to the 47th, 48th and 49th congresses (March 4, 1881-March 3, 1887) but resigned January 4, 1887; mayor of New York City, 1887-1888; died in New York City, January 18, 1903.
CHARLES S. FAIRCHILD
Charles S. Fairchild; born in Cazenovia, N. Y., April 30, 1842; graduated from Harvard, 1863; admitted to the bar in 1865; deputy attorney general, New York state, in 1874; attor- ney general, 1876-1878 ; settled in New York City and practiced law, 1880-1885; appointed by President Cleveland assistant sec- retary of the treasury, 1885 and secretary of the treasury on the resignation of Daniel Manning, April 1, 1887.
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Governor the Democratic convention did not merely touch the pitch and pass by with soiled garments, it went boldly into the pool of defilement and wallowed. For the first time in its history, the party entrusted the work of choosing its candidate to its basest members." This fairly represented the attitude of the reform elements in the Democratic party, and the Republicans entered the State campaign with high hopes of winning the Governorship, as well as the Presidency. The reformers still stuck to Cleveland, although the New York Evening Post in the spring had declared: "The painful truth is, that we doubt if a single independent voter in the State, of the thousands who supported President Cleveland in 1884, any longer attaches any importance to the utterances of the members of the administration on the subject of civil service reform."14 Yet, however much they might be disappointed in their reform expectations, the mugwumps, as the men who had followed Curtis to the support of Cleveland were called, were more than ever attracted to him by his anti- protectionist course. The Republicans urged protec- tion as the chief proposition of the campaign and enjoyed great favor accordingly from the friends of that policy. The organization of political clubs was carried to unusual lengths. In this campaign the National Republican League had its origin and was met by the opposition with the National Association of Demo- cratic Clubs.
The exposure, through the inquiry of a Senate committee into New York aqueduct scandals, of
14May 28, 1888.
1
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attempts to pay the expenses of Hill's first campaign for Governor out of the city treasury, greatly embarrassed the Democrats. In 1886 Hill had signed a bill removing the Mayor and City Comptroller from the commission in charge of the new aqueduct and adding to it men appointed by himself. Mayor Hewitt, on July 13, 1888, wrote to the Governor demanding that he obtain at the extra session just meeting the repeal of this act excluding officials not acceptable to contractors, charging that it was passed through a political deal between Republicans and Democrats and adding: "It appears that Democratic campaign debts, incurred in the election of 1885, were subsequently paid by the contractors and charged to the member of the firm who was at the head of the State committee."15 This contractor was John O'Brien, of Clark & O'Brien. It was shown that in 1885 Hill being in need of money drew two notes, for $10,000 and $5,000. The first was cashed by O'Brien and charged to him on the books of Clark & O'Brien. The second was indorsed by Alton B. Parker and taken up by O'Brien, Parker, and others. Mayor Grace and Commissioner of Public Works Squire testified that they had been asked to vote an aqueduct contract to Clark & O'Brien at $54,000 above the lowest bid in order that the Governor's notes might be provided for.16 The Governor yielded to Hewitt's demand and put the aqueduct back under local con-
15New York Tribune, August 20, 21, 1888.
16New York Tribune, August 24, 1888. New York Evening Post, February 6, 1892.
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trol.1,7 The Republican gains from this scandal, how- ever, were more than offset by the effect of Miller's radical stand in favor of high license. With him this was a matter of conviction rather than of policy. He believed it meant a great gain in sobriety. Those who with Platt expected large accessions from the Prohi- bitionists were disappointed, as it was a matter of principle with the Prohibitionists not to accept even the highest license as a solution of the liquor problem. They considered that the system made the State a part- ner in the liquor traffic and that high license, instead of being a restraint on intemperance, would result only in saloons reduced in number but more prosperous than ever.
Harrison carried the State by 13,002 plurality and with it the Electoral College and the Presidency. His vote was 648,759. The vote for Cleveland was 635,757, for Clinton B. Fisk of New Jersey (Prohibitionist), 30,231; for Alson J. Streeter of Illinois (Union Labor), 626, and for Robert H. Cowdrey of Illinois (United Labor), 2,668. Miller was defeated by 19,171 plurality, Hill receiving 650,464 to 631,293 for Miller, 30,215 for Jones, 3,348 for Hall.
Although the Prohibition vote ran more than 10,000 below what it had been in 1887, the fact that Jones had only sixteen votes in the State less than Fisk showed how little disposed the Prohibitionists had been to support Miller against the attacks of the liquor- dealers, who in every part of the State devoted them-
17Lincoln, Messages from the Governors, VIII, p. 652.
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selves to whittling down his vote. In all of the large cities Hill ran ahead of Cleveland, and the returns even from the rural counties showed the picking off of a few Republican votes from Miller in almost every precinct. The warm acknowledgment by Republican politicians that Miller by his thorough and vigorous campaign had carried the State for Harrison, though he himself had "fallen outside the breastworks," as Harrison expressed it in a letter of condolence, did not impress the cynical as disconsolate. In the course of a subsequent attack on Hill, the Tribune, in an unguarded moment, charged he had sold a Presidency for a Governorship, and provoked the reply that if this were true some one must have bought a Presidency at the price of a Governorship. The election returns, however, show little evidence of absolute treachery on either side. The natural affinity of the liquor-dealers for Hill on the one hand and the falling away from Cleveland of former Democratic voters opposed to tariff reconstruction on the other hand, were sufficient to account for the anomalous result, with each party organization support- ing loyally, if not enthusiastically, its whole ticket. The narrow plurality of 3,425 given to Judge Gray, whose candidacy was not in any sense an issue, but who was loyally supported by both Democratic factions, shows how close was the State in any case, and how small an element might sway it for and against any particular candidate.
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