USA > Wisconsin > A political history of Wisconsin > Part 15
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A POLITIC. IL. HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
traitor and gone back to his first love. so Carpenter woukl do the same thing at the first opportunity: (3) that there were many good and able men in the Republican ranks who had helped to rock the cradle of the party .. and it would be mjust to them to clevate a new-comer to the best office over them, and (+) that he had refused to fully accept the creed of the Republican party, with- cut any mental reservation or equivocation, until he saw a chance to slip into the Senate. It was under such circumstances that the Legislature met in January. 1869.
At that session of the Legislature I was Speaker of the Assen- bly and as industrious in the support of Matt H. Carpenter for United States Senator as I was active in the successful effort to defeat him six years later. when his first term expired, and when he was a candidate for reelection. What led to the disagreement between us, cansing me to change iront. it is not my purpose to state here. I wrote and printed in The Janesville Gazette the first editorial article ever printed in Wisconsin in favor of Mr. Carpenter's election to the Senate (see Flower's biography of Car- penter, in which that article is entitled "Thomson's Encyclical Let- ter"). I had the full management of Mr. Carpenter's campaign in Madison when the Legislature met in 1869. and had therefore personal and accurate knowledge of all that transpired during that exciting contest. I had been Speaker of the Assembly the session before, and the first move on the part of the anti-Carpenter men was to try to defeat me for Speaker in 1860. as that would be a blow at Carpenter, I being his friend and active supporter. To this end Thaddeus C. Pound of Chippewa. Falls, a popular and able man, and in favor of C. C. Washburn for Senator, and who has since served six years in Congress, was brought out against me as a candidate for the speakership, and all the anti-Carpenter influence in the Legislature was concentrated upon him. "Let us defeat Thomson for Speaker." said General C. C. Washburn, "and as he is a warm supporter of Carpenter. it will be first blood for eur side." But I was nominated in the Republican caucus by acclamation, Mr. Pound, if my memory serves me, making the nomination, after generously withdrawing his own name.
The first thing we did was to hire a hall and hold a meeting
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A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
every day, and sometimes far into the night: and here we com- pared notes, discussed plans for the future, made lists of friends and foes, heard reports from spies in the enemies' camp, and in- vented ways and means to elect -Mr. Carpenter. We all made the solemn promise not to vote for any other man under any circum- stances but Mr. Carpenter. If our opponents could elect 'some other candidate, well and good, but they would have to do it with- out our help. We left no stones unturned to help our candidate. nor did we hesitate to adopt any honorable measures that we thought would advance his interests: all of which we considered fair in politics as in war, and some of which were very amusing- none more so than the "competitive oratorical contest." which has always seemed to me one of the most humorous episodes that ever occurred in the Legislature of Wisconsin. I never applied for a patent on the scheme, but I was really the original inventor of it and put the machine in running order. Mr. Carpenter was then a new man in the Republican party, was personally unac- quainted with many members of the Legislature, and some of those who knew him by sight had never heard him deliver a public addres . He also labored under the disadvantage of having been feared in the Democratic party. as Doolittle was, to whose seat Mr. Carpenter aspired, and many good Republicans said that as Doolittle had turned traitor to the Republican party so Carpenter would. and so we old-time Republicans, who had helped to or- ganize the party, had to do considerable endorsing for our candi- date. The other candidates were General C. C. Washburn. (). 11. Waldo, ex-Governor Edward Salomon and Horace Rublee. I rame the members of the opposition to Carpenter in the order of their supposed strength. They were all honorable men. General Washburn had been eight years in Congress, had been distin- guished in the Union Army, and was a strong and popular man. Ex-Governor Salomon had been elected Lieutenant Governor and succeeded to the executive chair after Governor Harvey was accidentally drowned in the South. Mr. Waldo was a distin- guished lawyer and had always been a prominent Republic in. Mr. Rublee was then the editor of The Madison Journal, and personally knew more politicians in both parties than any other
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A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
man in the State. Although he was "no orator as Brutus is," he was well equipped by education, training and natural adaptation to serve the people of Wisconsin well and acceptably in the Senate of the United States. I had told Mr. Rublee that if M2. Carpenter could not be elected I would support him as a second choice, and this was the position of other Republican members of the Legisla- ture. Mr. Rublee's best man and chief manager was A. J. Turner of Portage City, an experienced legislator, and an accomplished politician. The fortunes of General Washburn were committed to Thad C. Pound and H. D. Barron, two hard men to beat in a political rough-and-tumble. Waldo and Salomon were on the ground attending to their own fences, and managing their own campaigns. Their only hope of success was in case of a deadlock. We had great faith in Mr. Carpenter's brilliant oratorical ability, and we felt sure that if we could show him off before a big crowd, in comparison with the other candidates, it would greatly redound to his advantage. With this belief, I drew up a request addressed to all the !ifferent candidates for Senator, inviting them to attend a ublic meeting in the Assembly chamber on a stated evening. to speak upon the political issues of the day, and we soon had the names of a majority of the Republican Senators and As- semblymen attached to the petition. Of course everybody knew what our real object was, and it naturally gave our opponents much uneasiness, but they had no course open but to accept and sent me word to that effect. Everybody regarded it as a good joke, except some of the candidates, and everybody laughed. Mr. Rublee, in a humorous and sarcastic article in The Journal, writ- ten in his best style. ridiculed the whole performance and aptly called it "a spelling-down match:" When I consulted Mr. Car- : penter about it he laughed heartily and said he would consent to any arrangement his friends made for him which they thought would help him, but if the oratorical contest was "to be pulled off" hc really didn't know what he would talk about. Well, the ap- pointed day, or night, came at last, and I had arranged with the candidates as to the order in which they were to speak. The Assembly chamber was jammed to the doors. But one thing bothered us Carpenter fellows, to-wit: What if the opposition
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A POLITIC. IL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
should take possession of the meeting-for it was ostensibly a public meeting-elect the chairman from their own number and turn the whole performance into a roaring farce? This troubled us, and the only way to obviate . the threatened danger of being hoisted with our own petard was to have me walk boldly into the Speaker's desk when the meeting assembled. call it to order. and introduce the first speaker, thus setting the thing going before any of the opposition had time to nominate a chairman or to put any little plan they may have had in operation. This I did when the time came and the "competitive oratorical contest" for a seat in the Senate of the United States was on! Mr. Carpenter spoke first. and of course acquitted himself splendidly, as he always did. and hypnotized some of the country members to such an extent that they came into our cancus and declared they would support him. General Washburn, who was not good at a declamation, and realized that his solid qualities had no show in that crowd when contrasted with the meteoric glare of Mr. Carpenter's dazzling oratorio fireworks, lost his temper while speaking, which was greaty to his disadvantage. although it rather pleased us. Mr. . Rubiec read a short address from a written manuscript, which was well received and creditable to him. Mr. Waldo and Mr. Salomon spoke briefly, but their speeches elicited no enthusiasm. Just as the last speaker was suspected of intending to close his remarks some one of our men in the audience sent a messenger boy to nie with a note, saying that it was the intention of a certain clique on the floor, when all the avowed candidates had spoken. to call on the dark horses, of which there were quite a number, and as it was a public meeting and a free-for-all race, anybody had a right to announce himself as candidate for the Senate, and thus they would have had a little fun at our expense. To prevent this, as soon as the last speaker had closed his remarks I brought the gavel down with a resounding whack, and said: "The object of this meeting having been accomplished it is hereby adjourned." and i walked down ont of the Speaker's desk and the meeting was'at an end. That is the inside history of the competitive oratorical contest in the senatorial chetion of 1869. It was not only novel, but it was quite humorons.
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A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
Mr. Carpenter's friends recognized the fact early in the cam- paign that General Washbarn was his most formidable competitor for senatorial konors, and they also soon became aware. after the Legislature met, that it was Carpenter against the field. When the break-up took place, if all the supporters of the other candidates should combine on any one of them. he would be elected. and our object was to keep on friendly terms with all the candidates, espe- cially with supporters of Waldo and Salomon, who were handi- capped by being from the same city with Mr. Carpenter. Our plan of battle was about as follows: Hold a caucus every day to keep the men in line. Induce all the strong men in the Republican party, or as many of them as possible, who are supporters of Mr. Carpenter, to come to Madison and help "to create public senti- ment" in favor of our man. (The hotel register of the old Vilas house for the month of January, 1860, now in possession of a Milwaukee editor, will show how well we succeeded in this respect.) Keep on good terms with the supporters of all the other candi- dates, but It none of them know where Carpenter's strength will , go in c'e he cannot be elected. Keep a sharp watch on those · members of the Legislature who are non-committal and have not yet made up their minds for whom they will vote. One stubborn fellow from one of the back counties was not converted to our · side until we had sent 100 miles to bring to Madison an old personal friend of liis who was a great admirer of Carpenter. Mr. Carpenter had argued the constitutionality of the Reconstruction Acts of Congress in the Supreme Court of the United States, at the solici- tation of General Grant and Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. with such great success that Grant had formed a very high estimate of Mr. Carpenter's legal ability, and we made much use of this fact to prove that in case of Carpenter's election to the Senate he could get all the official patronage for his supporters that he . asked for, and this was a solid argument with all those, inside or outside of the Legislature, who wanted an office, and their name was legion. I have often been asked if there was any money used in a corrupt way to influence that election, and my answer and my belief is that there was none. If there was. I did not know it. I suppose that the hotel bills of some of the outsiders who had
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A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
gone to Madison to work for this or that candidate were paid by somebody, but I never heard that the vote of any member was for sale or had been purchased. It would have been a dangerous experiment to try in that crowd.
The Carpenter men held a caucus every night, and we were much bothered by the presence of a member of the Senate who came there as a spy, and had been sent into our camp to get what information he could, and then report to the enemy. We all sus- pected this, but how to treat him was the question. If we expelled him that of course would have driven him hopelessly from us, and we lacked too many votes to trifle with anybody. So we were very polite to him, and before adjourning each night the chairman would say: "All those who pledge themselves to vote for Mr. Carpenter, first, last and all the time, will raise their right hand." This was a little trying for the suspected one, but his hand went up with the rest, and he pledged himself in this way so often that his conscience asserted itself at last, and he finally united heartily with us. s the old Methodist used to say: "He came to scoff but remained to pray," and as we only nominated Carpenter by one vote in the caucus, it is safe to say that the alleged spy's vote saved the day.
When the caucus of all the Republican members of the Legis- lature was called, on the evening of January 19. Mr. Carpenter's forces were well organized and well drilled. Madison swarmed with his supporters from every nook and corner of the State. Okt Whigs, old Democrats, okl Liberty party men, and men of all pro- fessions, lawyers, doctors, farmers and old soldiers came up to "the help of the Lord against the mighty." Charles G. Williams of Rock, in a captivating speech. nominated Mr. Carpenter for Senator, and nominating speeches for the other candidates followed. The balloting did not continue long. Mr. Carpenter had the high- est vote of any of the candidates on the first formal ballot, but not enough to elect him. When some of the others dropped out their supporters went to Washburn, and it was neck-and-neck with him and Carpenter for a few ballots. There were 87 votes in the can- cus, and 44 were necessary to a choice. During the progress of the last ballot we had run Carpenter's vote up to 43, and all the
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A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
ballots had been counted but one. If that was for Carpenter he would be nominated. Imagine the strain on our nerves, the death- like stillness of the caucus room, the intense anxiety of all present. as Thad. Pound, one of the tellers. reached for that last solitary bal- lot, opened it. and read aloudl the name of "Matt H. Carpenter."
For the sake of readers, who would like the record in detail. I present the statistics of the caucus more elaborately, as follows:
The informal ballot showed Washburn. 30; Carpenter, 29: Waldo, 14; Rublee, 10; Salomon. 4. Five formal ballots were then taken; necessary to a choice, 44:
Ist.
2d.
3d.
4th.
5th.
Carpenter.
32
34
35
. 40
44
Washburn.
31
32
36
33
35
Waldo
12
9
8
4
Rublee
8
6
5
5
3
Salomon
4
4
2
1
I
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Mr. Carpenter was elected the next day for the full term of six years, in tl- joint convention of the two houses, on the first ballot. receivir, every Republican vote.
Although Mr. Washburn was beaten for the third time in the race for United States Senate by Mr. Carpenter in 1869. he was still a representative in Congress from the Sixth district, so that he was not out of office. His term expired with the close of the Forty-first Congress, 18;1, and it was during the last days of his term that his candidacy for the governorship was determined upon. It is not often that a candidate for Governor of a certain State is agreed upon by the politicians and officeholders in Washington. but it does sometimes happen, and then if the proper precaution- ary methods are adopted, it is called the spontaneous uprising of the people. As all the chief actors in the drama are dead now, it is hard to get at the exact facts in the case, but tradition has it that an agreement was made and entered into by which Wash- burn was to be nominated for Governor, and, in return for the support of Senators Carpenter and Howe. he (Washburn) was not to contest the senatorship again with either of them-he hay- ing had a bout with both of them. What right Carpenter, Howe and Washburn had to dispose of the important office of Governor .
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. A POLITIC.IL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
in that way, to their own advantage, without the consent of the people of Wisconsin, is not apparent, but the testimony of the two Senators is to that effect, although stoutly denied by Washburn over his own signature. The Republican members of our con- gressional delegation at that time consisted of Halbert E. Paine, David Atwood, Amasa Cobb, Philetus Sawyer and C. C. Washı- burn, and it is in evidence that they all acquiesced in the plan to nominate Washburn for Governor, probably for no other reason than that he would make an excellent executive officer for Wiscon- sin. With the two Senators it may have been different. Wash- burn was nominated and elected over James R. Doolittle, by a vote of 78,301 to 68,910.
Governor Washburn's administration was so clean and econom- ical that he was easily nominated for a second terni, and at the time of his nomination there was little doubt that the Republicans would carry that State as they had been doing at every election since Barstow was beaten in 1855. Washburn's colleagues on the ticket were R. H. Baker, Lieutenant-Governor: E. W. Young. Secretary i State; O. C. Johnson, State Treasurer; L. F. Frisby. Attorney General: Robert Graham, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and G. P. Lindman, State Prison Commissioner. On the 25th of September the Liberal Reform Democratic Conven- tion met at Milwaukee, and nominated a State ticket. as follows: Governor, William R. Taylor; Lieutenant-Governor, C. D. Parker; Ferdinand Kuchn, State Treasurer; Peter Doyle, Secretary of State; Attorney General, A. Scott Sloan: Superintendent of Public Instruction. Edward Scaring, and M. J. Argard, State Prison Commissioners. This ticket was elected by majorities ranging from 13,000 to 15,000, which was a great surprise to General Wash- burn and the Republicans generally. The victory was the result of a coalition between the Democrats, disaffected Republicans. Mugwumps, Farmers' Alliance, Anti-Temperance people and Patrons of Husbandry, all mustered under the taking name of Liberal Reform Democracy. The officers-elect were nearly all men of good ability, and some of them had superior equipment to discharge well the duties of the office for which they were named. Mr. Taylor was a Dane county farmer who had served
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A POLITIC.H. HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
in the State Senate: Doyle was a prominent representative of the Irish race; A. Scott Sloan had been elected to Congress by the Republicans in 1861, and Mr. Scaring was a professor in Milton College, like Sloan. a soured . Republican, but a first-class man. The union of these diverse elements that resulted in the defeat of Washburn was largely due to Dr. O. W. Wight. a liberally edu- cated gentleman who had been ordained as a clergyman. read law. and carried the degree of a medical college. He was a fine linguist. and a ready and forcible writer. He served a short time as State Geologist, and later was appointed health officer in Milwaukee.
Governor Taylor's adiministration was mainly distinguished by the passage of what is known as the Potter law, which took its name from the Senator who introduced the bill. The act was exceedingly drastic in some of its provisions, so much so that Alexander Mitchell, president of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, and Albert Keep. president of the Chi- cago & Northwestern Railway Company. immediately notified Governor Taylor by letter that their companies would not obey the law The act fixed the compensation per mile for the trans- porta' .on of passengers. classified freights and fixed definite prices for transportation to places on the line of said roads. It also provided for the appointment of a Board of Railroad Com- missioners. On the second day of May Governor Taylor issued a proclamation in which he alluded to the defiant attitude assumed by these two corporations and said. "The law of the land must be obeyed. While none are so weak as to be without its protection, none are so strong as to be above its restraints." and closed by warning all officers and agents of railroad companies to obey the law and peaceably submit to its requirements. After months of delay and much legal diplomacy between the counsel for the State and the railroad companies. two decisions of great importance were obtained. the first from the United States District Court. Judges Drummond. Davis and Hopkins presiding, in which it was held that the law was valid. and that the Legislature is the absolute arbiter of the question of rates for ircights and passengers from point to point within Wi -- consin territory: the other opinion was by Chief Justice Ryan.
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A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
of the State Supreme Court. fully sustaining the law. and declar- ing the right of the State to control corporations. Probably no opinion by Judge Ryan added so much to his enduring fame as a jurist as this decision upholding the validity of the so-called Potter law of 1874. It is a masterly discussion of the rights of the people, the sovereignty of the State, and the law of eminent domain.
Note No. 1 .- This refers to Mr. Lincoln's second election. On the night before the election, in 1860. Mr. Carpenter delivered in Water- town a powerful speech in favor of the election of Stephen A. Douglas, in which he said he could "smell the smoke of civil war" and declared that it could only "be averted by the election of Judge Douglas."
(From Flower's "Life of Carpenter," Page 262.)
As the canvass progressed Thomson hit upon a decidedly novel plan of adding spice and variety to the proceedings. He drafted a call peti- tioning "Otis H. Waldo. Cadwallader C. Washburn. Edward Salomon, Horace Rublee and Matthew H. Carpenter to appear before a mass meet- ing of the members of the Legislature, and all others who might desire to attend, and give their views upon the political issues of the day. ' This . scheme met the decided opposition of all but Carpenter. Washburn. who made no pretense to oratory, was particularly displeased with the call. but as a majority of the members of the Legislature had signed it. none of the rivals dared to decline.
Monday evening. January 18. was fixed as the time for the "prize rhetorical exercises" and the "spelling-school exhibition," as the ways had it: O. H. Waldo denounced the affair as "a humbug": suggested that "there would be as much sense in choosing a Senator by the length of his nose or the size of his foot. as by the ridiculous scheme of measuring tongues."
Carpenter opened the speechmaking and acquitted himself in his usual brilliant manner. Washburn, who was in an unpleasant frame of mind, followed, and began by making some sharp allusions to his com- petitor. This at once drove the sympathy of the audience beyond his con-
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A POLITICAL. HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
trol. compelling him to stem the current instead of riding upon it, as Carpenter had done. Quick to observe his loss, and perhaps a little frustrated by the effects of it. he attempted to turn the tide by a sally upon Carpenter: "My friend Carpenter has said that if you defeat him and drive him out, he shall never . dare again appear before the people and shall content himself with giving a silent vote." What conclusion he proposed to draw from this utterance can never be known, as it was followed by vociferous cries of "He did not say that." "You speak an untruth," and similar expressions of disapproval. The commotion became so marked that. although Washburn had uttered but a few sentences, he retired after declaring he had no intention of mis- quoting anybody.
This episode gave the sympathy of the audience still farther to Car- penter and rendered it exceedingly difficult for Waldo, Rublee and Salo- mon to do justice to the occasion or their abilities. Even Carpenter's opponents acknowledged that the oratorical contest had resulted in a signal triumph for him, and his friends went into the caucus the following night not only hopeful. but enthusiastic.
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Das. L. OConnor
CHAPTER XVI.
PERSONM. REMINISCENCES OF DOOLITTLE AND CARPENTER.
Senator James R. Doolittle was a man of deep religious feel- ing: He was an .active and consistent member of the Baptist Church. He was a good singer. especially of sacred music. in which he took great delight. If he had taken to the pulpit instead of to the bar, in early life. he would have become a noted preacher. and no doubt he would have been as conspicuous in the history of his religious denomination as he was as a politician in the ranks of the political parties. Most likely, if he had entered the ministry he would have become an evangelist, and gone about the country. like others of that kind. calling sinners to repentance, and warning them to "flee from the wrath to come." In such a work he would have been a great success. Greatly to his advantage were his splendid personal presence, his apparent earnestness, and the deep solemnity of his voice was often accompanied by a sort of cant that has a fascination for some people, while it disgusts others. The trait in his character that would have helped him on in his career as a revivalist. was hiis thorough orthodox belief in John Calvin's "plan of salvation." including foreordination, election, reprobation, and endless punishment. His charming enunciation. his sincere manier, his captivating declamation, made him one of the most effective and convincing of speakers. No doubt the religious denomination to which he belonged was cruelly robbed of one of its might-have-been great lights when James R. Doolittle turned his attention to the law and to politics. No doubt that the judiciary of the State lost the makings of a great judge when he laid aside the ermine for the toga of a Senator. He was naturally well qualified to win great respect and honor upon the bench. He was well read in the literature of his profession. He was honest and sincere. He had an innate love of justice. He liked to see
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