USA > New York > History of the state of New York, political and governmental, Vol. IV 1896-1920 > Part 19
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Three other Presidential tickets were put in the field. The Prohibitionists named ex-Governor J. Frank Hanly of Indiana and Ira D. Landrith of Tennessee on a platform that opposed the "wasteful military pro- grams of the Democratic and Republican parties," although it favored self-defense. Sulzer was a candi- date for President, but had only 13 votes to Hanly's 37 in the New York delegation and was beaten by 440 to 181 in the convention.5 The Socialists put up Allan L. Benson of New York and George R. Kirkpatrick of New Jersey, and assailed the very moderate prepared- ness program of President Wilson as militaristic, while the Republicans were calling it inadequate. 6 The Socialist Labor candidates were Arthur E. Reimer of Massachussetts and Caleb Harrison of Illinois. This
4New York Times, June 15-18, 1916.
5New York Herald, July 22, 1916.
6New York Times, March 20, 1916.
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party paid no attention to the war, but opposed craft trade unionism and urged upon the workers interna- tional industrial unionism.7
Early in the spring Tammany sentiment had inclined to Gerard for Governor, while friends of Wilson sug- gested Frank L. Polk, but the organization had no enthusiasm for Polk, and Gerard let it be known that he wished to remain in Berlin. Then Murphy, after some consideration of Wagner, turned to Judge Sea- bury of the Court of Appeals.8 Seabury had been an inconstant political quantity, at one moment an advanced radical and friend of Hearst, then a Progressive, and then an organization Democrat. Though after two trials he had just reached the Court of Appeals, he preferred politics to the bench. Senator O'Gorman's frequent exhibition of anti-English feeling on questions involving America's attitude toward the war, and his failure to provide Federal patronage for Tammany, made his candidacy for reelection undesirable even in his own eyes. William Church Osborn was an aspi- rant, but Tammany selected for Senator William F. McCombs, who had managed Wilson's first Presi- dential campaign only to find himself without favors to distribute. The Democrats held an unofficial conven- tion at Saratoga on August 11, with John J. Fitzgerald in the chair. The platform contained a bitter indict- ment of Whitman for extravagance, and declared : "The State needs an Executive more than an executive budget." It designated Seabury for Governor by a
7New York Times, May 1, 1916.
8New York Times, April 7, 21, June 13, 1916.
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vote of 403 to 27 for Mayor L. P. Fuhrman of Buffalo and 15 for Charles E. Treman of Ithaca, who had been Superintendent of Public Works under Dix. It also indorsed McCombs for Senator. Ex-Lieutenant Gov- ernor Conway entered the primary against McCombs as an anti-Tammany candidate, but received only 52,756 votes, against 90,707 for McCombs. The rest of the Tammany slate was nominated without contest.9
The nomination of Hughes put Whitman's friends in uncontested control of the New York organization. Immediately after the vote at Chicago, Barnes with- drew as a candidate for the national committee and the delegation elected Herbert Parsons. Hilles was suc- ceeded as national chairman by William R. Willcox, who was chosen by Hughes largely because, though a regular Republican, he enjoyed the friendship of Roosevelt and the Progressives and could bridge the chasm between them and the uncompromising Repub- licans who still dominated the national committee. Senator William M. Bennett in April announced him- self as a candidate against Whitman,10 but he lacked personal strength, and, though the "Old Guard" and the Progressives would have been glad to set aside the Governor, the latter's position was impregnable. For
9The Democratic ticket was: Governor, Samuel Seabury, New York; Lieutenant-Governor, Thomas Kreutzer, Onondaga; Secretary of State, Frank M. Stage, Erie; Comptroller, Joseph W. Masters, Kings; Treasurer, Maurice S. Cohen, Bronx; Attorney-General, William W. Farley, Broome; State Engineer, Henry R. Beebe, Oneida; Chief-Judge of the Court of Appeals, Almet F. Jenks, Kings; Associate-Judge of the Court of Appeals, John T. Norton, Rensselaer; United States Senator, William F. McCombs, New York.
10New York Times, April 13, 1916.
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two years Congressman Calder had been organizing his friends with a view to the Senatorial nomination. He was practically unopposed until a few weeks before the primaries, when Robert Bacon entered the contest with the support of Root, Choate, Andrew D. White, Seth Low, Nicholas Murray Butler, David Jayne Hill, Harvey D. Hinman, J. Sloat Fassett, Edgar T. Brackett, and Elon R. Brown. He appealed to the people as the champion of preparedness and the extreme measure of the Root-Roosevelt attitude toward the European war. He boldly proclaimed, "I am an
avowed unneutral."11 Calder's opinions on these ques- tions had not been found fault with, but he had been cautious in his expressions, and Bacon's outspokenness provoked an enthusiastic response.
In the primaries of September 19 Bacon received 144,366 votes, but Calder won by a narrow margin, receiving 153,373. Whitman's vote was 254,177, to 44,720 for Bennett. James F. Hooker contested the renomination of Comptroller Travis and received 53,710 to 216,878 for Travis. The rest of the Repub- lican ticket was nominated without opposition.12
The radical Progressives hoped to give their nomina- tion to Seabury, but the sentiment for reunion with the
11New York Times, September 21, 1916.
12The Republican ticket was: Governor, Charles S. Whitman, New York; Lieutenant-Governor, Edward Schoeneck, Onondaga; Secretary of State, Francis M. Hugo, Jefferson; Comptroller, Eugene M. Travis, Kings; Treas- urer, James L. Wells, Bronx; Attorney-General, Egbert E. Woodbury, Chau- tauqua; State Engineer, Frank M. Williams, Orange; Chief-Judge of the Court of Appeals, Frank H. Hiscock, Onondaga; Associate-Judge of the Court of Appeals, Cuthbert W. Pound, Niagara; United States Senator, William M. Calder, Kings.
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Republicans was too strong for them, despite Roose- velt's dislike of Whitman, and they polled only 6,020 as against 11,483 for Whitman. They nominated Bain- bridge Colby, however, for Senator. The vote was 7,006 for Colby and 6,875 for Calder. They accepted Hugo, Travis, Williams, Hiscock, and Pound from the Republican ticket, but nominated Frank P. Tucker for Treasurer, Robert H. Elder for Attorney-General, and L. B. Dorr for Lieutenant-Governor. The Independ- ence League also indorsed Whitman, giving him 1,763 votes to 691 for Seabury. It nominated for Attorney- General William A. DeFord, who became William R. Hearst's personal counsel after Clarence J. Shearn went on the bench, and it indorsed the rest of the Republican ticket except the candidates for the Court of Appeals. For Judges it supported Jenks and Nor- ton, the Democratic nominees.
The Republicans held a conference to adopt a plat- form at Saratoga on September 28, with Nathan L. Miller presiding. The Whitman influence prevented the "Old Guard" from putting in a plank calling for a modification of the Primary law. The platform con- demned Wilson's measures for national defense as being designed to lull the nation into false security, and denounced the Adamson law, which the President had just forced through Congress to prevent the threatened railroad strike by giving the trainmen pay and overtime based on an eight-hour schedule. To counteract the Democratic campaign cry, "He kept us out of war," it complained that, while the country had been kept out of war, it had by the Democratic fiscal policy been
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loaded with war taxes, particularly burdensome on New York.13
President Wilson made few speeches in the cam- paign, but whenever he did speak he laid stress on the "forward looking" character of his administration, its devotion to the masses, and its promotion of their busi- ness interest as distinguished from the special claims of large aggregations of capital, whose representative he declared Hughes to be. He pictured the Republican policy as one that would draw the country into war. He presented his course as the policy of peace, and said : "There is only one choice as against peace, and that is war." While boldly attacking the pro-German and Irish propagandists who sought to use this country in machinations against the Allies, he professed entire neutrality and inability to form a moral judgment between the aims of the two parties in the struggle-an attitude that was reflected after election in his recom- mendation of "peace without victory." In a speech at Omaha on October 5 he said: "It will take the long inquiry of history to explain the war, but Europe ought not to misunderstand us. We are holding off not because we do not feel concerned, but because when we exert the force of this nation we want to know what we are exerting it for."14 If at that time he foresaw our own entrance into the struggle, he rightly judged that the country was not ripe for it as an issue and main- tained his declared policy of "watchful waiting" until after election. Then he proceeded to solve his difficult
13New York Times, September 29, 1916.
14 New International Year Book, 1916.
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problem with an assured lease of power and the claim of long patience on pacifist support.
In the earlier part of the campaign Hughes devoted himself chiefly to denouncing the administration for interfering in Mexico but not protecting Americans there, and for failing to uphold American rights under international law, which had been invaded by the European belligerents on both sides. Though Roose- velt was supporting him in aggressive speeches of a distinctly pro-Ally tone, Hughes himself, like Wilson, carefully refrained from any expression that could arouse the enthusiasm of those who believed it was the duty of the United States to throw its influence against Germany for the protection of freedom and civilization. He was determined not to enter the Presidency, if elected, heralded to the world as a "pro-Ally" or "pro- German." He contented himself with asserting a pur- pose to resist all invasions of American rights with such steadfastness that the belligerents would not continue to invade them. This failed to satisfy many who, with growing indignation at the German submarine cam- paign, feared that he might be as strenuous against British searches as against German sinkings, though he himself carefully differentiated between wrongs against neutral property and against neutral lives. After the President had exerted his power to prevent the railroad strike and given the labor unions their demands in the Adamson law, Hughes made that the chief topic of his attacks and carried with him the sympathy of many conservative Democrats, who felt that the President was not acting to secure justice after
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inquiring into the merits of the controversy, but was being forced by threats to mulct railroads to please their employes on the eve of election. Relief, how- ever, from the threatened paralysis of traffic and the menace of industrial war brought satisfaction to many, regardless of the method of settlement, and secured to the President the support of the trainmen. With respect to woman suffrage Hughes parted from his platform, stating it was his personal belief that woman suffrage must come ultimately and that public tran- quillity would be promoted by getting the question out of the way as quickly as possible by a Federal consti- tutional amendment.
The State campaign attracted little attention, though Seabury and the Democrats attempted to array labor against Whitman by representing the militia draft measure as a piece of tyranny in the interest of capital- istic militarism. Conscription for the militia was represented as unprecedented and un-American, though as good a Jeffersonian as Daniel D. Tompkins had not hesitated to apply it to the militia in the War of 1812.15 Seabury by his impatience of restraint and unwilling- ness to accept suggestions or advice succeeded in antag- onizing the most of the leaders of his party, and his candidacy aroused little enthusiasm or interest.
Popular sentiment in the campaign was confused by a great number of cross currents. In the main, Hughes won the support of those who felt that the administra- tion's foreign policy had been weak, that effective
15 Jabez D. Hammond, The History of Political Parties in the State of New York, Vol. 1, p. 381.
WILLIAM M. CALDER
William M. Calder, U. S. senator; born in Brooklyn, N. Y., March 3, 1869; educated in the public schools of Brooklyn and Cooper institute, New York City; engaged as builder, having erected nearly 3,000 houses in Brooklyn; building commissioner for the city of Brooklyn, 1902-1903; member of congress from 1905 to 1915; United States senator, 1917 -.
BAINBRIDGE COLBY
Bainbridge Colby, lawyer; born at St. Louis, December 22, 1869; graduated from Williams college, 1890; admitted to the bar and practiced in New York City since 1892; one of the counsel for interests which brought about reforms in life insur- ance organizations; member of state assembly, 1901-1902; act- ively identified with the candidacy of Theodore Roosevelt for the presidential nomination in 1912 and in charge of contests to seat Roosevelt delegates in the republican national conven- tion of that year; one of the founders of the national pro- gressive party and delegate to the progressive national conven- tion at Chicago in 1912; progressive candidate for United States senator in 1914 and 1916; appointed commissioner of the United States shipping board and a member of the United States shipping board emergency fleet corporation, 1917-1919; ap- pointed secretary of state by President Wilson, February 25, 1920.
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military preparation was necessary, and that the busi- ness and industry of the country were threatened by Democratic legislation. Those who felt that a firmer course by Wilson would have prevented the aggres- sions tending to war and those who believed that the President, who declared that "with the causes and objects of this great war" America was "not con- cerned,"1 had totally misconceived its character as a world contest between autocracy and the free spirit of man, between civilization and barbarism as revealed in the rape of Belgium and the murders by submarines,- both generally supported Hughes, despite complaints at his refusal to make the latter issue.
On the other hand, the cry, "He kept us out of war," awakened a hearty response, especially in the middle west, where the war demand for food was piling up wealth, where theoretical pacifism was strong, and where the sense of concern with European affairs was weak. The trainmen's influence, which was strong in these States, went for Wilson. But beyond that, great numbers of voters everywhere refused to accept the Republicans as the sole champions of sturdy Ameri- canism. The west had never been lacking in enterprise of thought or energy of action on great questions. For this very reason Roosevelt made the west his chosen field of campaigning for Hughes, and failed to win Kansas or Ohio. Their response when war actually came showed no lack of fiber. Clearly a strong feeling existed that the administration's course had been in no
16Frederick A. Ogg, National Progress (The American Nation Series), p. 396.
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way delinquent or hesitant, but had fully and con- sistently maintained the honor and interests of the nation, and that the President having fixed limits to submarine activities which Germany was professing to observe, was right in biding his time. Wilson had the support of many who felt that the decision of peace or war should still rest with Germany, and that a program of effective preparation for war here would not yet be sustained by the country or pass Congress ; and some of his vigorous utterances, especially his reply to the anti- Ally agitator O'Leary, awakened a response of unhyphenated Americanism that offset in a measure the criticisms of his less fortunate phrases.
Hughes swept New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, and Wilson's own State of New Jersey, and on election night his victory was proclaimed by the newspapers and conceded by most Democrats, though the chairman of the national committee, Vance McCormick, insisted that later returns would be more favorable to Wilson. The next day he was justified by news that California, which was supposed to be certain for Hughes, was doubtful, as were Minnesota and New Hampshire. Kansas and Ohio both went strongly for Wilson. The failure of the Progressives and Republi- cans in California to work harmoniously together and the bad management that sent Hughes through the State under conservative conduct, while the old Republican leaders were making a fight in the primaries against Hiram Johnson, gave the State to Wilson. He had a plurality of 3,806. He carried New Hampshire by 56 votes, while Hughes won in Minesota by 392. Wilson
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had 277 Electoral votes to 254 for Hughes. The popular vote was: Wilson, 9,129,606; Hughes, 8,538,221. The votes of both the Socialists and Pro- hibitionists showed a decided decrease.
Wilson had won, indeed, but what the nation's mandate was could hardly be discovered. Plainly the Republicans and Progressives had not completely fused, notably in Kansas and California, where Wilson's social legislation was accepted as Progressive policy. Plainly also the country as a whole had not yet a clear vision of the war. But the rest was confused. "Out- side the 'solid south,' where a Presidential election involves no real contest, Hughes had a decided plural- ity; Senatorial elections in thirty-two States showed a Progressive-Republican trend and reduced the Demo- cratic majority in the upper branch of Congress from sixteen to ten; and the largest Democratic vote on record failed to retain for the party an assured control of the House of Representatives."17
Hughes carried New York by 119,812 plurality. The vote was : Hughes, 879,238; Wilson, 759,426; Hanly (Prohibition), 19,031; Benson (Socialist), 45,942; Reimer (Socialist Labor), 2,666. The entire Republi- can State ticket was successful by pluralities ranging from 163,158 for Whitman to 249,141 for Wells. The vote for Governor was: Whitman, 850,020; Seabury, 686,862; Charles E. Welch (Prohibition), 21,773; Algernon Lee (Socialist), 52,560; J. D. Crowley (Socialist Labor), 3,847. Bainbridge Colby received 15,339 votes for Senator, but otherwise the Progres-
17Ogg, National Progress, p. 380.
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sives showed a separate strength of only about 7,000. Calder went to the Senate with 233,381 plurality over McCombs. The Independence League cast 8,407 votes for DeFord. The New York Congress delegation stood: Republicans, 26; Democrats, 16; Socialist, 1. Thirty-six Republican and 15 Democratic Senators were elected, and 99 Republican, 49 Democratic, and 2 Socialist Assemblymen. Sweet was elected Speaker for his fourth term. The Constitutional convention of 1915 was held in advance of the date fixed by the Con- stitution, and the failure to accept its work left the ques- tion of holding a new convention to be submitted to the people in 1916. The electorate showed that it had no desire for further experiment by voting against the convention, 658,269 to 506,563. The proposition to issue $10,000,000 of bonds for State park purposes was carried, 653,129 to 501,514.
The Hughes movement gave Whitman a second term in the Executive chamber, but as it would expire two years before the next Presidential election possibilities for him as a national leader rested on his reelection in 1918. To that end he bent his energies. The first step was to fortify his control of the State committee. He had originally selected Tanner, but Tanner had ambitions of his own, so the Governor pushed him aside. The name of George W. Aldridge, who had loyally supported Whitman's Hughes campaign against his own impulses, figured in newspaper discussion, but the Governor determined to build up a strictly personal organization and chose for State chairman George A. Glynn, a journalist, who held the office of Executive
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Auditor under Whitman. The Governor seriously considered attaching a salary to the State chairmanship, but there were too many objections to the plan. At a meeting of the State committee on January 12 Glynn was elected chairman. No candidate appeared against him; the minority simply refrained from action.18 Whitman retained the friendship of Hendricks, Greiner, and Koenig, the head of the New York county organization, but he alienated William L. Ward and continued to encounter the opposition of Barnes, Brackett, and Brown, who for the third time was Presi- dent pro tem. of the Senate. The majority of the Kings county organization was also against him, though he established a hold there through F. J. H. Kracke, whom he made Public Service Commissioner.
The Senate majority, led by Elon R. Brown, showed little disposition to accept the Governor's leadership, but Speaker Sweet in the Assembly was more friendly. The Legislature in April passed an act for a State Con- stabulary to police rural districts, modelled upon the efficient Pennsylvania force, and also joined the Gov- ernor in plans to make New York's participation in the war speedy and effective. A census of the military and industrial resources of the State was promptly taken. A new body of National Guardsmen was recruited to take the place of the organizations sent away on national service. Part of the work of meet- ing the war emergency devolved on a special session of - two months beginning at the end of July. A commis- sion was established to control food production and
18New York Times, January 11, 13, 1917.
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distribution during the war, and for its head Whitman nominated George W. Perkins, who had been a student of the subject and an active worker for the measure. This selection, however, of a recent Progressive leader was disagreeable to Republican politicians and like- wise to the farming interests, who looked upon Perkins as a representative of the consumer and also distrusted him as the organizer of the so-called Harvester trust. The Senate refused to confirm the nomination, and after two months' delay the Governor appointed John Mitchell, the Industrial Commissioner and former labor leader, chairman, and Jacob Gould Schurman and Charles A. Wieting associates. A new apportionment was passed, which gave Queens and Westchester coun- ties each a new Senator at the expense of a rearrange- ment of the country districts. New York county lost four Assemblymen and Erie, Ulster, and Jefferson one each, and these seven seats were distributed two to Queens and one each to Broome, Schenectady, West- chester, Nassau, and Richmond. The privilege of pro- hibiting liquor sales by local option on a popular vote was extended to the cities of the State. A township school system was established by bringing 10,000 school districts under 982 town Boards of Education, leaving the cities and larger villages, and smaller villages with fifteen or more teachers, under their own boards. This act was repealed, however, the next year.
Tammany after being virtually out of office for eight years found in the expiration of Mayor Mitchel's term the prospect of a return to power. After the defeat of Seabury a sharp tilt occurred between him and State
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Chairman Harris, who blamed the candidate for mak- ing a personal campaign and not following the organ- ization directions. Some rural Democrats for a time cherished the old delusion that they could break Murphy's power outside of the city.19 But after these ebullitions Murphy was undisturbed in his plans.
Mitchel was a brave, able, and independent execu- tive, with a large vision of the work that a city admin- istration could do for the health and social welfare of its citizens, but he made enemies on every side, partly accounted for by selfish interests that he had antago- nized and partly by his own lack of political tact and judgment. He expressed unwillingness to run for reëlection, but a fusion movement backed by the Union League Club and Chairman Koenig of the New York Republican county committee put him forward. The general expectation was that the indorsement of the Republican organization would carry with it his nom- ination at the primaries, but the Brooklyn machine, which had wanted to run a straight ticket with Justice Cropsey as the candidate, was hostile to Mitchel. William M. Bennett entered the field with an appeal for a striaght ticket and astonished the city by defeating Mitchel for the Republican nomination. A recount of the votes showed gross frauds against Bennett in some districts. Nevertheless, Republicans who cared more to defeat Tammany than to win the Mayoralty joined in urging Mitchel to run as an independent candidate, and he consented.
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