Fifty Years of Public Service Part 17

We had been neighbors in Springfield, and when General Palmer was elected to the Senate, he felt quite free to write to me. I retain the letter and quote it here:

"Springfield, _March 14, 1891_.

"Hon. S. M. Cullom, "Washington, D. C.

"My dear Sir:--

"I am just in receipt of your kind favor of the eleventh inst., and thank you for its friendly and neighborly expressions. More than once since my election, Mrs. Palmer has expressed the hope that when she meets Mrs. Cullom at Washington, or here, they may continue to enjoy the friendly relations that have so long existed between them, to which I add the expression of my own wish that in the future, as in the past, we may be to each other good neighbors and good friends.

"I do not know what the usage is in such cases, but I suppose I might forward my credentials at an early date to the Secretary of the Senate, who is, I believe, my old army friend, Gen. Anson G.

McCook. If such is the proper course I would be glad to do so through you, if agreeable to you. I will depend upon you also for such information as your experience will enable you to furnish me.

I will be glad to know about what time you will probably leave Washington.

"I am, very respectfully, "John M. Palmer."

While General Sherman and General Palmer were not particularly friendly, General Palmer was always ready to forgive and forget and do the agreeable thing.

On the occasion of a celebration in Springfield, where there was a very large crowd, General Sherman was present, and, with General Oglesby and General Palmer, occupied a seat on the platform.

Looking over the crowd, General Palmer recognized General McClernand in the audience. McClernand and Sherman were not friends, McClernand being bitterly inimical to Sherman. General Palmer, thinking only of doing an agreeable act, at one pushed his way through the crowd to where General McClernand was seated and invited him to come onto the platform. It was only after a great deal of urging that he consented to go, but he finally said, "I will go, _pro forma_."

He did go "_pro forma,_" and paid his respects to General Sherman, but remained only a short time.

General Palmer retired from the Senate at the end of his term, the Legislature of Illinois being Republican.

I recollect that I went home from Washington to Springfield, and on arriving there was informed that General Palmer had just died.

I immediately called at the house. He had only just pa.s.sed away, and was still lying on his death-bed. I attended the funeral at his old home in Carlinville, and I do not know that I was ever more impressed by such a ceremony. He was buried with all the pomp attending a military funeral.

CHAPTER XIV GOVERNOR RICHARD J. OGLESBY

I knew the late Governor Oglesby intimately for very many years.

As a young man, he served as a lieutenant in the gallant Colonel E. D. Baker's regiment in the Mexican War, was at the battle of Cerro Gordo, and fought the way thence to the City of Mexico. He remained with the army until he saw the Stars and Stripes waving over the hall of the Montezumas. Returning to Illinois, he took up again the practice of law; but with the gold fever of 1849 he took the pioneers' trail to California, where, in a short time, he was financially successful, then returned home, and later went on an extended tour through the Holy Land, where he remained nearly two years.

On his return home, in 1860, he was elected to the State Senate.

I recall the night the returns came in. He had a fisticuff encounter with "Cerro Gordo" Williams, in which he came out victorious, having knocked Williams into the gutter. By many of the onlookers this was regarded as the first fight of the Rebellion.

With his military experience in the Mexican War, it was only natural that he should be one of the first to enlist for service in the Civil War. He resigned from the Senate, raised a regiment, was appointed its Colonel, and partic.i.p.ated in a number of important engagements under General Grant, acquitting himself with great honor at Donelson, and was subsequently appointed a Brigadier- General. He was severely wounded at Corinth, and his active service in the Civil War was over. Although he was elevated to the rank of Major-General, he was a.s.signed to duty at Washington, where he remained until 1864, and saw no more service on the field of battle.

He enjoyed the distinction of being elected Governor of Illinois three times, first in 1864, again in 1872, resigning the following year, after having been elected to the United States Senate; and after he had served one term in the Senate and retired to private life, he was again elected Governor of Illinois in 1884.

Governor Oglesby was a remarkable man in many respects. Judged by the standards of Lincoln and Grant, he was not a great man. In some respects he was a man of far more than ordinary ability. He was a wonderfully eloquent speaker, and I have heard him on occasion move audiences to a greater extent than almost any orator, aside from the late Robert G. Ingersoll.

I have already referred, in these reminiscences, to the speech he delivered at the Philadelphia Convention of 1872. He produced a greater impression on that a.s.semblage than any orator who spoke.

On rare occasions he would utter some of the most beautiful sentiments. For instance, his speech on "Corn" at Chicago was a masterpiece in its way. But generally speaking, with all his eloquence, he seldom delivered a speech that would read well in print; hence it was that his speeches were hardly ever reported.

His earnestness, his appearance, his gestures, his personality, all carried the audience with him, as much as, if not more, than the actual words he used, and hence it was that when a speech appeared in print, one was very apt to be disappointed.

His record in the Civil War was honorable, but not exceptional.

He was not the dashing, brilliant soldier that General Logan was, and I may remark here in pa.s.sing that after the war was over there was considerable jealousy between General Logan and General Oglesby.

They were rivals in politics. On one occasion both Governor Oglesby and General Logan made each a splendid address, and each was cheered to the echo by the audience, but Governor Oglesby sat silent and glowering when the audience applauded General Logan, and General Logan occupied the same att.i.tude when the audience cheered Governor Oglesby. I was present, and was glad to cheer them both.

Under the administration of General Oglesby, as Governor, the affairs of the State were administered in an honest, businesslike manner. There was no scandal or thought of scandal, so far as the Executive was concerned, during all the years that he was Governor, although there was considerable corruption in one or two of the Legislatures, and some very bad measures were pa.s.sed over his veto.

Having been a Major-General in the Civil War, and considering his excellent record as Governor, his popularity, his eloquence, it seemed certain that Governor Oglesby would take his place as one of the foremost United States Senators, when he entered the Senate in 1873; but strange to say, his service in that body added nothing to the reputation he had made as a soldier and as Governor of Illinois; indeed, I am not sure but that it detracted from rather than added to his reputation. Perhaps too much was expected of him. The environment did not suit him. His style of oratory was neither appreciated nor appropriate to a calm, deliberative body such as the United States Senate. He did not have the faculty of disposing of business. As Chairman of the Committee on Pensions, he was so conscientious that he wanted to examine every little detail of the hundreds of cases before his committee, and would not trust even the routine to his subordinates. The result was the business of the committee was far behind, much to the dissatisfaction of Senators.

I do not believe that Governor Oglesby ever did feel at home in the Senate; but nevertheless he was much chagrined at his defeat, and retired reluctantly.

But he was soon again elected Governor of Illinois, a place that suited him much better than the Senate of the United States.

His honesty, his patriotism, his earnest eloquence, the uniqueness of his character, made him beloved by the people of his State; and wherever he went, to the day of his death, Uncle d.i.c.k Oglesby, as he was called, was enthusiastically and affectionately received.

He was a true Republican from the very beginning of the party, although toward the end of his life I do not believe that he was quite satisfied with the expansion policy of the party.

The last campaign in which he took an active part was that of 1896.

Owing to his advanced years and failing health, and perhaps being somewhat dissatisfied with our candidate for Governor, it took considerable urging to induce him to enter that campaign actively; but when it was arranged that all the living ex-Governors of Illinois --Oglesby, Beveridge, Fifer, Hamilton, and myself--should tour the State on a special train, he consented to join, and christened the expedition "The Flying Squadron." He did his full part in speaking, and seemed to enjoy keenly the enthusiasm with which he was everywhere received. He was particularly bitter in his denunciation of Mr.

Bryan--even to the extent of using profanity (to which he was much addicted), greatly to the delight of the thousands of people whom he addressed.

Governor Oglesby was one of the most delightfully entertaining conversationalists whom one would wish to meet. He will go down in the history of Illinois, as one of the most popular men among the people of our State.

Late in life Governor Oglesby took up a church affiliation. It always seemed strange to me, in his later life, that a man of his undoubted bravery should have such a perfect horror of death, which was an obsession with him. To his intimate friends he constantly talked of it. It was not the physical pain of dying; with a man of his p.r.o.nounced religious convictions it could not have been the uncertainty of the hereafter. What was the basis of the fear I cannot imagine--but certain it is, I do not remember ever knowing a man who seemed to have such a fear of death.

At an advanced age, he pa.s.sed away peacefully and painlessly at his beautiful home at Elkhart, Illinois, mourned by the people of the whole State, whom he had served so long and faithfully and well.

CHAPTER XV SENATORIAL CAREER 1883 to 1911

After I was re-elected Governor of Illinois, in 1880, my friends in the State urged me to become a candidate for the United States Senate to succeed the late Hon. David Davis, whose term expired March 3, 1883. I finally consented. There were several candidates against me, Governor Richard Oglesby and General Thomas J. Henderson being the two most prominent. It was not much of a contest, and I had no serious struggle to secure the caucus nomination. The objection was then raised in the Legislature itself that I was not eligible under the Const.i.tution of our State for election to the United States Senate while I was serving as Governor of Illinois.

The point looked somewhat serious to me, and I consulted with my friend, the Hon. Wm. J. Calhoun, then a member of the Legislature, later Minister to China, for whose ability I had the most profound respect. I asked him to give attention to the subject and, if he agreed with me that I was eligible, to make the fight on the floor of the House. He looked into it and came to the conclusion there was no doubt as to my eligibility. He made a speech in the Legislature, which was regarded then as one of the ablest efforts ever delivered on the floor of the House, and he carried the Legislature with him. When the time came, I received the vote of every Republican member of both Houses, excepting one, the Hon.

Geo. E. Adams. He was thoroughly conscientious in voting against me, and did so from no ulterior motive, as he honestly believed that I was not eligible. We became very good friends afterwards, and I never harbored any ill feeling against him on account of that vote.

I appreciated the high distinction conferred upon me by the people of the State, through the Legislature, in electing me to the United States Senate, but I confess that I felt considerable regret on leaving the Governorship, as during my six years I had enjoyed the work and had endeavored to the best of my ability to give to the people of my State a businesslike administration.

I retired from the office of Governor on February 5, 1883, and remained in Springfield until sworn in as a member of the Senate, December 4, 1883. General Arthur was President at that time, having succeeded to the office after the a.s.sa.s.sination of General Garfield.

I liked General Arthur very much. I had met him once or twice before. I went with my staff to attend the Yorktown celebration, and I may remark here that it was the first and only time during my service of six years as Governor on which my whole military staff accompanied me. We stopped in Washington to pay our respects to the President. It was soon after the a.s.sa.s.sination of General Garfield, and Arthur had not yet moved into the White House. He was living in the old Butler place just south of the Capitol, and I called on him there and presented the members of my staff to him.

The President was exceedingly polite, as he always was, and was quite interested, having been a staff officer himself, by appointment of Governor Morgan of New York. We were all very much impressed with the dignity of the occasion and the kindly attention the President showed us.

General Arthur had taken considerable interest in New York politics and belonged to the Conkling faction. He came into the office of President under the most trying circ.u.mstances. The party was almost torn asunder by factional troubles in New York and elsewhere.

Blaine, the bitter enemy of Conkling, had been made the Secretary of State; Garfield had made some appointments very obnoxious to Conkling--among them the Collector of the Port of New York--and, generally, conditions were very unsatisfactory. Arthur entered the office bent on restoring harmonious conditions in the party, as far as he could. He did not allow himself to be controlled by any faction, but seemed animated by one desire, and that was to give a good administration and unite the party.

He was a man of great sense of propriety and dignity, believing more thoroughly in the observance of the etiquette which should surround a President than any other occupant of the White House whom I have known. He was very popular with those who came into contact with him, and especially was he popular with the members of the House and Senate. I have always thought that he should have been accorded the honor of a nomination for President in 1884; as a matter of fact most of the Republican Senators agreed with me, and many of us went to the National Convention at Chicago, determined to nominate him; but we soon found there was no chance, and that the nomination would go to Blaine.

President Arthur was very kind to me in the way of patronage. He not only recognized my endors.e.m.e.nt for Federal offices in my State, but gave me a number of appointments outside. One of the first of these was the appointment of Judge Zane as Territorial Judge of Utah. President Arthur showed his confidence in me by appointing Judge Zane, without any endors.e.m.e.nt, excepting a statement of his qualifications, written by me on a sc.r.a.p of paper in the Executive Office. The Senate Committee on the Judiciary called on the President for the endors.e.m.e.nts of Judge Zane, and Senator Edmunds was quite disgusted when the President could send him only this little slip of paper written by me, which was all the President had when he made the appointment. Senator Edmunds hesitated to recommend his confirmation. There was no question about Judge Zane's qualifications. He had been a circuit judge in our State for many years. I saw Senator Teller, whom I knew, and who knew something of Judge Zane, and asked him to help us, as he could do, being then Secretary of the Interior. On one occasion I spoke to Teller about Judge Zane, and purposely spoke so loud that Senator Edmunds could hear me. I said, among other things, there had not been a man nominated for Territorial Judge in the country who was better qualified for the position. Judge Zane's nomination was soon reported from the committee and confirmed. He made a great record on the Bench and did much to break up the practice of polygamy. He is still living, a resident of Salt Lake City, Utah.

I entered the Senate at a very uninteresting period in our history.

The excitement and bitterness caused by the Civil War and Reconstruction had subsided. It was what I would term a period of industrial development, and there were no great measures before Congress.

The men who then composed the membership of the Senate were honest and patriotic, trying to do their duty as best they could, but there was no great commanding figure. The days of Webster, Clay, and Calhoun had pa.s.sed; the great men of the Civil War period were gone. Stevens, Sumner, Chase of the Reconstruction era, had all pa.s.sed away.

Among the leaders at the beginning of the Forty-eighth Congress were Senators Aldrich and Anthony, of Rhode Island; Edmunds and Morrill, of Vermont; Sherman and Pendleton, of Ohio; Sewell, of New Jersey; Don Cameron, of Pennsylvania; Platt and Hawley, of Connecticut; Harrison, of Indiana; Dawes and h.o.a.r, of Ma.s.sachusetts; Allison, of Iowa; Ingalls, of Kansas; Hale and Frye, of Maine; Sawyer, of Wisconsin; Van Wyck and Manderson, of Nebraska; all on the Republican side. There were a number of quite prominent Democrats--Bayard, of Delaware; Voorhees, of Indiana; Morgan, of Alabama; Ransom and Vance, of North Carolina; Butler and Hampton, of South Carolina; Beck, of Kentucky; Lamar and George, of Mississippi; and c.o.c.krell and Vest, of Missouri.

The Senate was controlled by the Republicans, there being forty Republican and thirty-six Democratic Senators; and Senator George F. Edmunds, of Vermont, was chosen President _pro tempore_. In the House the Democrats had the majority, and John G. Carlisle was chosen Speaker.