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In giving an account of the affair, Judge Keyes speaks of the terrible blizzard that prevailed in Wisconsin that night, and that if it had not been for the storm the mails would not have been delayed, but would have brought to Madison the next day certain letters and petitions to the bolting members from Colun- bia county, who were the leaders in the revolt, and that they - would have succumbed under the pressure and laid down the arms of their rebellion! But as well read a gentleman as Judge Keyes need not be told that Napoleon lost the battle of Waterloo, according to Victor Hugo, because there was a deep gully in front of his cavalry that swallowed them up, which was not down on his map of the field of battle!
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The next day the two houses met in joint convention at noon for the last time to ballot for United States Senator. The air was full of rumors about everything but the real situation. I met Keyes in the Assembly chamber about II o'clock and talked over the situation with him. He was as calm as a summer's morn- ing. I was as anxious as any man could be to elect a Senator without asking for Democratic help, and I had often discussed the affair with him from the "harmony" point of view. But I found him serene and confident: incorrigible and defiant. He had got wind of the "unholy alliance" made with the Democrats the night before, but he did not believe that Doolittle, Pinney and Larkin could deliver the solid Democratic vote for anyone. As near as I can recollect it, the following conversation took place be- tween us. Keyes spoke first :
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"How goes the battle?"
"Good. We have got you fellows on the run. Mr. Carpenter is beaten already. All it needs now is to record the vote." .
"Oli, I think you are mistaken."
"Say, Keyes, you have it in your power to end all this trouble and elect a Senator that everyone will be pleased with, and I appeal to you to do it."
"How can it be done? I am all attention. If you damned traitors would only give in and stand by the caucus nominee, there would be no trouble. How can I unite the party now? The joint convention meets in an hour."
"I will tell you how. You are chairman of the State Central Committee. The people look to you for guidance. Take the responsibility to withdraw Mr. Carpenter's name and substitute the name of Judge Dixon. Judge Cole, Gen. Fairchild, Horace Rublee, E. H. Brodhead or any other capable Republican, and all the bolters will fall into line. Let the Republican who is first on the roll, when his name is called by the clerk, state to the con- vention that the friends of Mr. Carpenter are satisfied that he can- not be elected, and that. at a hasty conference of his supporters, it had been agreed that his name should be withdrawn and the name of- -- should be substituted. Every Republican would follow his lead, and everything would be lovely. It is a choice for you between that and defeat."
"If I should do that without Carpenter's consent I should be denounced as a traitor. No; if you fellows want to trample party discipline under your feet you must take the responsibility. We realize that the situation is critical, but not desperate. Let the galled jade wince."
The joint convention met in a few minutes. It was presided over by the Lieutenant-Governor, who was opposed to Carpenter. but he knew nothing of parliamentary law, and could be easily fooled on a point of order. What we feared most was that after . the roll was called, and before the result was announced. enough Democrats would change their votes from Cameron to Carpenter to elect him. Charges of corruption had been frequent, and it was anybody's race. The roll call proceeded and everybody kept tally. (1%)
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The scene was intensely dramatic. The bolters voted solidly for Cameron, and so did the Democrats, according to agreement. When Cameron got a majority a half-suppressed cheer was heard, and a thrill of satisfaction ran over the crowded Assembly cham- ber, like a ripple over the surface of a lake. When the roll was completed, but before the result was announced, one Mulholland, a Democrat, from Manitowoc county, got up and changed his vote from Cameron to Carpenter! At this a great shout went up that pierced the heavens! Was this the beginning of the end? Had the Carpenter crowd really secured enough Democratic votes to elect him, and were they now to change? There was treason in the air, and everybody's nerves were at extreme tension! The chief clerk waited a moment for others to change their votes, but no other changes were made, and Mr. Cameron was declared elected!
Judge Doolittle did not care a fig who the successful candidate was; he had no love for Mr. Cameron, but he gladly accepted him. as he seemed to be, and undoubtedly was, the only Republican who could command the solid vote of the Democratic members.
Judge Keyes was an interested spectator of the proceedings. as may well be imagined, and when all was over he walked silently out of the Assembly chamber, looking very pale, and no doubt murmuring to himself the oft-repeated words of Shakespeare:
"Can such things be,
And overcome us like a summer's cloud. Without our special wonder?"
The certainty that Governor Taylor would be renominated by his party for a second term, and the fact that he had beaten so excellent and popular a man as General Washburn two years before, made it necessary for the Republicans to look over their list of available gubernatorial candidates very carefully, and after doing so the choice fell upon Harrison Ludington of Milwaukee. Ludington did not meet the usual number of willing aspirants in the nominating convention, but found it easy sailing. Taylor's majority of over 15.000 two years before made Republican can- . didates a little shy, and the contests for nominations on the State ticket were not animated. Ludington had been elected mayor
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of Milwaukee at a time when the Democracy had a large majority in the city, when they could control it, and that fact gave him prestige as a popular man throughout the state. He was known as a successful merchant and business man -in pioneer days when the wheat that the farmers hauled into the city over mud roads was sold for 40 and 50 cents a bushel and the purchaser was expected to shoulder some of the bags himself in helping to unload the wagons. He had amassed a comfortable fortune by legitimate methods, was regarded as an honest and honorable man, full of practical ideas, and an original Republican. He had made an excellent mayor, and there was no reason for thinking that he would not serve the people faithfully and well as the Governor of the State. He was elected over Taylor by a few hundred majority, after a well contested campaign, although all the other candidates on the ticket with him failed to pull through. The old habit of the people to elect the Governor of one party, and fill the rest of the State offices with his opponents in politics- as in case of Farwell and Bashford, and partially the case in Randall's first election-was repeated in Ludington's time, and the Republicans only succeeded in electing the Governor, all the other offices going to the Democrats. His administration was not attended by any political excitement whatever, and at the end of his term, 1878, he retired to private life with a clean record and the respect and confidence of all who knew him. He died at his home in Milwaukee June 17, 1891.
Note-Of course Mr. Thomson knew, on the subject of the senato- rial contest of 1875. a great deal more than he has written. In the news- paper form in which this Political History of Wisconsin originally appeared, he said. in a parenthe-i -: "The inside story of this whole affair formis one of the most interesting incident, in our political history, but there is not room for it in the brief space allotted to these papers in The Sentinel."
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE GREENBACK EPIDEMIC.
William E. Smith had long been a candidate for guberna- torial honors on the Republican ticket. He was a resident of Dodge county and had been prominent in the affairs of State. He had been a member of the State Senate in 1858, 1859, 1864 and 1865, member of the Assembly in 1858, and Speaker of that body in 1871. He had also served four years as State Treasurer, from 1866 to 1870. In all these responsible positions he had acquitted himself with so much credit that his popularity kept pace with his ambition, and when he offered himself as a candi- date for the nomination of Governor, it was not strange that he had a large following. He was of Scotch birth. coming to Amer- ica with his parents when a mere child, and working on the farm and clerking in a store until he attained his majority. Mr. Smith was not an educated man in the sense that he had been graduated from a college or university, but that he had acquired that sort of practical education which fits a man to discharge well all the public duties imposed upon him by his fellow citizens, was amply proven by his successful carver of four years in the highest office in the gift of the electors of the State. One of the curiosi- ties of Wisconsin's political history is that of the nineteen gentle- men who have filled the office of Governor, not one was a col- lege graduate. 'And it can in truth be added in this connection that one of the best rulers the State has ever had, a worthy citizen, a gallant soldier, an able executive, and a useful member of the President's cabinet, could neither speak nor write the English language correctly. And yet there were those among the execu- tives who were excellent lawyers, eloquent orators, practical busi- ness men, gallant soldiers, foreign ministers, former congress- men and members of the cabinet. Unlike the practice in many
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other States, Wisconsin has never elected an ex-Governor of the State to represent her in the Senate of the United States.
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When Mr. Smith was made the candidate for Governor in the fall of 1877, the financial affairs of the country were in an unsettled condition, growing out of the disturbance created by a long and expensive civil war, and many financial vagaries were entertained in the public mind, the desire to have issued an unlimited amount of legal-tender treasury notes among others. The greenback craze had become epidemic among a certain class. Specie payments had been suspended at the outbreak of the rebellion, and a law had been passed by Congress fixing the first day of January, 1879, as the time when the nation would resume coin payments. There . was a widespread belief among many timid people, and especially among business men. that the attempt to resume would ignominiously fail; that there was not gold enough in the country to justify the experiment, and some boards of traile and some political conventions "demanded" that the law be repealed, and that resumption. should be deferred until the country was in better condition to stand the change.
The greenback heresy was not confined to the Democratic and Socialistic parties, it had permeated the Republican masses as well, and many men voted the straight Republican ticket while they believed that the soft money theories of their opponents were more than half right. Without the greenback the great rebellion could not have been crushed; the soldiers were paid with them, and they had a fondness for that kind of currency.
The Republican State Convention, which met September II. 1877, was influenced by the fear that if it put forth a truly sound money platform it would have a disastrous effect upon the result, and it prevaricated and dodged. Its utterance on the money question was hypocritical: the voice was Jacob's voice, but the hands were the hands of Esau. Disguising its real position the convention spoke with a double tongue to the greenbackers, hop- ing to get thei votes. It resolved, among other things, "that we hold that the silver dollar should be restored to its former place as money and made legal tender in the payment of debts, except where otherwise distinctly provided by law," etc. This
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was a virtual recognition of the truth of the charge made by their opponents that a change had been made in the status of the silver dollar, which in the parlance of the day was desig- nated "the crime of '73." the Republicans had good reason to feel alarmed and it is no wonder the convention wobbled. Many strong men had gone out from their party, and allied themselves with parties which boldly declared in favor of the inflationist idea. A state convention of the middle-of-the-road greenbackers had been held in Portage City. July 4 of that year, and nominated a full ticket for State officers, with Edward P. Allis of Milwaukee, a great manufacturer and able man, as the candidate for Governor. Mr. Allis accepted the nomination in a well-pre- pared and elaborate speech in which he extolled the greenback for the efficient service it had rendered the people of the United States in their hour of peril, and declared that it had still other triumphs to achieve in the currency of the country.
The Portage convention knew what it wanted and said it in most explicit and unmistakable language. It resolved:
"First-We demand the immediate repeal of the Specie Re- sumption Act of January 12. 1875. the rescue of our industries from the disasters and ruin resulting from its enforcement. and the arrest of the suicidal and destructive policy of contraction.
"Second-We declare that it is the exclusive function of the government to supply a currency for the people, and that such currency, whether paper or metal, should be issued by and bear the stamp of the Federal Government.
"Third-We believe that paper money, issued by the govern- ment, and made :: * legal tender and inter- convertable with bonds will afford the best circulating medium ever devised."
Mr. Allis was born in Cazenovia, New York, May 12, 1824. He attended Union College. Schenectady, and was graduated in 1845. He intended to study law, but he soon found a more con- genial pursuit in business life. He settled in Milwaukee in 1846, and after trying his hand at various pursuits without much success, ' he started in the iron business, and laid the foundation of one of the largest establishments of the kind in the United States, giving
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constant employment to 1.Soo men, and sending his manufactured goods to all parts of the world. . As the head of a great business he had that rare and imperial power of marshalling and controlling his business with a general firmness and quick decisiveness that never for a moment permitted the business to be the master. His quickness of thought and action has often been remarked. While others were planning. he had planned and was executing. "The Western Manufacturer" said: "Mr. Allis was a man of fine crudi- tion and at one time took an active interest in politics. He became known as a successful writer on trade topics, and especially on economic questions, and was a strong advocate of protection." He was noted for the liberality with which he treated his employees, and the men in his employ were strongly attached to him. His well-known deep sympathy with the laboring men secured him many votes for Governor from men who had no patience with his erratic theories on finance. but as Horace Greeley said when Gen. Winfield Scott was nominated for President in 1852: "I support the candidate, but I spit upon the platform." . Mr. Allis was again a candidate for Governor in 1881. but his candidacy attracted little notice and little support. Mr. Allis died at his home in Milwaukee, April 1, 188), at the age of 65.
Many leading Republicans were dissatisfied with the equivocal attitude of their State Convention on the money question, none more so than Horace Rublee, then chairman of the Republican State Central Committee, and his views were heartily endorsed by Mr. Smith, the candidate for Governor. and James M. Bing- ham. the candidate for Lieutenant-Governor-the two strongest men on the ticket-and at a private conference of the candidates and other leading men of the party it was agreed that a public meet- ing should be called and a bold stand taken in favor of honest money. This meeting was held and the position of the party was more clearly defined than had been done by the State Convention.
For the first time in Wisconsin the Socialist Democrats held a State Convention in Milwaukee, September 29. 1877, and non- inated candidates for all the State offices. The pith of the platform adopted is contained in these resolutions:
"Resolve:1. That all industrial enterprises are to be placed under
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the control of the Government as fast as practicable and operated by free cooperative unions for the good of the whole people.
"Resolved. That all railroad, telegraph and mining charters should be declared null and void, and the said instruments of commerce should be owned and operated by the people for the people.
"Resolved, That the National Bank system should be abolished. declaring it to be the function of the national government alone to issue the money of the country.
"Resolved. That we are in favor of universal suffrage without regard to sex, sect. color or country."
The nominee for Governor was Mr. Colin M. Campbell, a leading member of the Socialistic party, a tailor by trade, and a man of the most pronounced and radical views upon all social, political and economic questions. Ile was English born, and set- tled in Milwaukee early in the '50's, and was soon active among his friends and sympathizers.
The stuff Mr. Campbell was made of is well illustrated by a little incident that occurred during the campaign, and which showed his decision of character. At a public meeting of the Socialists it was proposed that the plank in the platform on universal suffrage be rescinded, whereupon Mr. Campbell informed the meeting that if they repudiated that plank they must find a new candidate for Governor, and after a hot debate the plank was allowed to stand as a part of the Socialistic creed. This Socialistic ticket did not cut much of a figure in the returns from the State at large, but in Milwaukee, where Mr. Campbell and Mr. Allis both resided, the former polled more votes than his rival.
The Democratic State Convention met in Fond du Lac, at which a "demand" was made for the repeal of the Resumption Act in a loud and authoritative voice, but it was not loud enough to reach the cars of John Sherman, then Secretary of the Treasury. who had resolved to obey the law and take Horace Greeley's advice, when he said: "The way to resume is to resume." At this convention Judge James G. Jenkins of Milwaukee presided, and General Edward S. Bragg reported what afterward went by the name of the Bragg platform. It was a soft money platform,
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and on it they placed a soft money candidate for Governor in the person of James S. Mallory of Milwaukee, on the fifth ballot. The other candidates for the nomination were N. D. Fratt, E. B. Vilas. E. D. Campbell and W. F. Vilas. The financial planks, which were then considered of great importance. read as follows:
"It [the convention ] declares its hostility to the financial policy of the Republican party, withdrawing capital from taxation, in- creasing the public debt by declaring currency bonds payable in gold, demonetizing silver in the interest of the creditor at the ex- pense of the debtor, and attempting to force resumption when it will bring ruin upon the general business interests of the country, and demands instead that property be protected by the govern- ment, that silver be remonetized, and the present Resumption Act be repealed, and resumption be postponed until the financial con- dition of the country will permit it.
"It declares its opposition to a longer continuation of the Na- tional Bank currency, and demands that the government furnish its own notes in the place thereof."
This soft money platform was intended to catch the greenback electors, especially the extremists who have been more recently described as those occupying "the middle-of-the-road." From the sound money point of view it is suggested that this hyphenized definition of a certain class of financial theorists was borrowed from the gospel of St. Matthew vii, 13th, which declares that "wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadethi to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat."
In this campaign the Democrats. Socialists, and People's party. the latter represented by Mr. Allis, were all committed to the greenback theory, and on this subject they were all agreed, al- though differing widely upon other points of State and National policy. All these parties opposed the resumption of specie pay- ments. On the subject of the currency there was really nothing to choose between Mallory. Allis or Campbell. though differing in theory they were all one in substance, and it was Smith against the field on the money question. Mallory had been prominent in Milwaukee politics for many years, was an excellent speaker, a just judge, and he made a thorough canvass of the State in his
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own behalf. He was born in Washington County, New Yor studied law in Buffalo, and settled in Milwaukee shortly after Wis- consin was admitted into the Union. He was elected District At- torney for Milwaukee County in 1854 and again in 1856. Gov- ernor Randall appointed him Judge of the Municipal Court to fill a vacancy, and he was reelected in 1865. 1871 and 1877. He was defeated for Governor by William E. Smith by 8,000 majority.
During the last year of Governor Smith's first term an elec- tion for United States Senator took place and the choice fell upon Matthew Hale Carpenter, who took the seat that Timothy O. Howe had occupied for eighteen years. The Republican caucus to nom- inate a candidate for Senator met at Madison January 27, 1897. Judge E. W. Keyes had made a thorough canvass for himself for the position, and had secured a large following. The other candi- dates were T. O. Howe, Matt. H. Carpenter, Philetus Sawyer and Horace Rublee. The first formal ballot stood: Keyes, 28; Howe, 25; Carpenter, 24, Sawyer, 5; Rublee, 5. The caucus met daily and the balloting continued with little change for five days. At the end of that time, after Howe and Keyes had withdrawn, Carpenter was nominated. Some prominent Republicans who had assisted in the defeat of Mr. Carpenter four years before now made no opposition to his election, while others openly supported him.
At the conclusion of Governor Smith's four years of excellent and acceptable service the office was turned over to Jeremiah M. Rusk, the choice of the Republicans, who held it for seven years, being elected three times, and having his last term extended one year by the Legislature in order to meet the change required by the adoption of the constitutional amendment providing for biennial sessions of the Legislature. Rusk's public and private career in Wisconsin was so unique, picturesque and noticeable that it must forever remain an interesting study for the poor young men of the State, and it will be an example and an encouragement to those who have to made their own way in the world and carve out their own fortunes. The man who begins life as a stage driver, and by the force of his unaided genius, with nothing but his hands and the scantiest education, obtained by a few months' attendance at the district school, and becomes a Congressman, a General in the army.
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Governor of the State, and a member of the President's cabinet. is a man of no common mould, but one whom nature has endowed with an extraordinary equipment for the duties of life. General Rusk was born in Morgan county, Ohio, June 17, 1830. the young- est of ten children, and came to Wisconsin in IS53, settling on a farm in Bad Axe County (now Vernon). He was a member of the Assembly in 1862, and when the rebellion broke out he was commissioned major in the Twenty-fifth Wisconsin Volunteers, and served until the end of the war. He was made a Brigadier- General for gallant services and bravery on the field. He was elected Bank Comptroller in 1866 and reelected in 1868. He represented the Sixth district four years in Congress. He was elected Governor in ISSI and reelected in 1883 and 1885. He served four years during President Harrison's administration as Secretary of Agriculture. The Republican State Convention, which met at Madison May 9, 1888, adopted the following reso- Intion :
"The Republicans of Wisconsin, represented in this convention. present the name of Governor Jeremiah M. Rusk to the Repub- lican National Convention, which meets in Chicago on the 19th day of June next, as a candidate in every respect worthy to receive its nomination for Presidency. Governor Rusk's character and capacity have been proved by long and varied service in public life, both military and civil. He was one of the most gallant soldiers who fought in the war to preserve the Union. In the various posi- tions he has occupied in civil life, as a representative in Congress for many years, and as the Governor of this State for three suc- cessive terms, he has shown a fidelity to Republican principles, and honesty, courage and wise judgment such as eminently fit him for chief magistrate of the Republic."
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