Chapter XXIII

Republican Convention at Chicago.--The Three
Prominent Candidates.--Description of
Conkling.--Logan.--Cameron.--Description of
Garfield.--Resolution Introduced by Conkling.--Opposition of
West Virginians.--Garfield's Conciliatory Speech.--His
Oration in Behalf of Sherman.--Opinions of the Press.

The National Convention of the Republican party that met at Chicago, in June, 1880, will always be marked with a red-letter in the annals of our country. The third-term issue, the unit rule, district representation, and the arbitrary power of party managers, made the nomination for President one long scene of hard fought battles.

The three prominent candidates were General Grant; James G. Blaine, Senator from Maine; and John Sherman, Secretary of the Treasury.

The third-term party who desired the nomination of Grant, was strongly supported by Senator Conkling of New York, Senator Cameron of Pennsylvania, and Senator Logan of Illinois. These three great political leaders are thus described by a graphic writer, who was present at the opening of the Convention:--

"Just as the great Exposition Building had nearly filled up, there was a simultaneous huzza throughout the hall and galleries, and it speedily broke out in a hearty applause. The tall and now silvered plume of Conkling was visible in the aisle, and he strode down to his place at the head of his delegation with the majesty of an emperor. He recognized the compliment by a modest bow, without lifting his eyes to the audience, and took his seat as serenely as if on a picnic and holiday. The Grant men seemed to be more comfortable when they found him by their side and evidently ready for the conflict.

"Logan's swarthy features, flowing mustache, and Indian hair, were next visible on the eastern aisle, but he stepped to the head of his delegation so quietly that he escaped a special welcome. He sat as if in sober reflection for a few moments, and then hastened over to Conkling to perfect their counsel on the eve of battle. The two senatorial leaders held close conference until the bustle about the chair gave notice that the opposing lines were about to begin to feel each other, and test their position.

"Cameron had just stepped upon the platform with the elasticity of a boy, and his youthful, but strongly-marked face was recognized at once. There was no applause. They all knew that he never plays for the galleries, and that cheers are wasted upon him. He quietly sat down for ten minutes, although the time for calling the convention to order had passed by an hour, and looked calmly out upon the body so big with destiny for himself and his Grant associates. As he passed by he was asked,--

"'What of the battle?'

"'We have three hundred to start with,' he replied, 'and we will work on till we win.'

"This was said with all the determination that his positive manner and expression could add to language, and it summed up his whole strategy."

George F. Hoar, from Massachusetts, was appointed President of the Convention; and among the delegates from Ohio, and enthusiastic supporters of Sherman, was General Garfield, thus described by a writer in the _Chicago Inter-Ocean_:--

"A big heart, a sympathetic nature, and a mind keenly sensitive to everything that is beautiful in sentiment, are the artists that shade down the gnarled outlines and touch with soft coloring the plain features of his massive face. The conception of a grand thought always paints a glow upon Garfield's face, which no one forgets who has seen him while speaking. His eyes are a cold gray, but they are often--yes, all the time when he is speaking--lit brilliantly by the warm light of worthy sentiments, and the strong flame of a great man's conviction.

"In speaking, he is not so restless as Conkling; his speech is an appeal for thought and calm deliberation, and he stands still like the rock of judgment while he delivers it. There is no invective or bitterness in his effort, but there is throughout an earnestness of conviction and an unquestionable air of sincerity, to which every gesture and intonation of voice is especially adapted."

On the second day of the convention a resolution was introduced by Mr. Conkling that every member of the convention should support the nominee, and that no one should hold a seat who was not willing thus to pledge himself. The question was opposed by several voices, and when Mr. Conkling called for a vote of the States, three delegates from West Virginia voted in the negative. Another resolution was then offered by Mr. Conkling, who declared that these delegates had forfeited their seats in the convention.

The West Virginians asserted that they were true Republicans, but could not, and would not, pledge themselves in this manner. A hot contest of words would probably have ensued, had not Garfield taken the floor and spoken as follows:--

"I fear the convention is about to commit a grave error. Every delegate, save three, has voted for the resolution, and the three gentlemen who have voted against it have risen in their places and stated that they expected, and intended, to support the nominee of the convention, but that it was not, in their judgment, a wise thing, at this time, to pass the resolution which all the rest of the delegates had voted for. Were they to be disfranchised because they thought so? That was the question. Was every delegate to have his republicanism inquired into before he was allowed to vote? Delegates were responsible for their votes, not to the convention, but to their constituents. He himself would never in any convention vote against his judgment. He regretted that the gentlemen from West Virginia had thought it best to break the harmony of the convention by their dissent. He did not know these gentlemen, nor their affiliations, nor their relations to the candidates. If this convention expelled those men then the convention would have to purge itself at the end of every vote and inquire how many delegates who had voted 'no' should go out. He trusted that the gentleman from New York would withdraw his resolution and let the convention proceed with its business."

One of the delegates from California immediately moved to lay the resolution on the table, and Mr. Conkling thereupon withdrew it.

On the fourth day of the convention, and just after the Grant men had set forth in glowing terms the claims of their candidate, Garfield was called to the platform to represent Ohio. A hearty cheering greeted him as he began:--

"MR. PRESIDENT: I have witnessed the extraordinary scenes of
this convention with deep solicitude. No emotion touches my
heart more quickly than a sentiment in honor of a great and
noble character. But as I sat on these seats and witnessed
these demonstrations, it seemed to me you were a human ocean
in a tempest. I have seen the sea lashed into fury and
tossed into spray, and its grandeur moves the soul of the
dullest man. But I remember that it is not the billows, but
the calm level of the sea from which all heights and depths
are measured. When the storm has passed and the hour of calm
settles on the ocean, when sunlight bathes its smooth
surface, then the astronomer and surveyor takes the level
from which he measures all terrestrial heights and depths.

"Gentlemen of the convention, your present temper may not
mark the healthful pulse of our people. When our enthusiasm
has passed, when the emotions of this hour have subsided, we
shall find the calm level of public opinion below the storm
from which the thoughts of a mighty people are to be
measured, and by which their final action will be
determined.

"Not here, in this brilliant circle where fifteen thousand
men and women are assembled, is the destiny of the Republic
to be decreed; not here, where I see the enthusiastic faces
of seven hundred and fifty-six delegates waiting to cast
their votes into the urn and determine the choice of their
party, but by four million Republican firesides, where the
thoughtful fathers with wives and children about them, with
the calm thoughts inspired by love of home and love of
country, with the history of the past, the hopes of the
future, and the knowledge of the great men who have adorned
and blessed our nation in days gone by--there God prepares
the verdict that shall determine the wisdom of our work
to-night. Not in Chicago in the heat of June, but in the
sober quiet that comes between now and November, in the
silence of deliberate judgment will this great question be
settled. Let us aid them to-night.

"But now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want?
Twenty-five years ago this republic was wearing a triple
chain of bondage. Long familiarity with traffic in the
bodies and souls of men had paralyzed the consciences of a
majority of our people. The baleful doctrine of State
sovereignty had shocked and weakened the noblest and most
beneficent powers of the national government, and the
grasping power of slavery was seizing the virgin territories
of the West and dragging them into the den of eternal
bondage. At that crisis the Republican party was born. It
drew its first inspiration from that fire of liberty which
God has lighted in every man's heart, and which all the
powers of ignorance and tyranny can never wholly extinguish.

"The Republican party came to deliver and save the republic.
It entered the arena when the beleaguered and assailed
territories were struggling for freedom, and drew around
them the sacred circle of liberty which the demon of slavery
has never dared to cross. It made them free forever.

"Strengthened by its victory on the frontier, the young
party, under the leadership of that great man who, on this
spot, twenty years ago, was made its leader, entered the
national capital and assumed the high duties of the
government. The light which shone from its banner dispelled
the darkness in which slavery had enshrouded the capital,
and melted the shackles of every slave, and consumed in the
fire of liberty every slave-pen within the shadow of the
capitol.

"Our national industries by an impoverishing policy, were
themselves prostrated, and the streams of revenue flowed in
such feeble currents that the treasury itself was well-nigh
empty. The money of the people was the wretched notes of two
thousand uncontrolled and irresponsible state banking
corporations, which were filling the country with a
circulation that poisoned rather than sustained the life of
business. The Republican party changed all this. It
abolished the babel of confusion, and gave the country a
currency as national as its flag, based upon the sacred
faith of the people. It threw its protecting arm around our
great industries, and they stood erect as with new life. It
filled with the spirit of true nationality all the great
functions of the government. It confronted a rebellion of
unexampled magnitude, with slavery behind it, and, under
God, fought the final battle of liberty until victory was
won. Then, after the storms of battle were heard the sweet,
calm words of peace uttered by the conquering nation, and
saying to the conquered foe that lay prostrate at its
feet,--

"'This is our only revenge, that you join us in lifting to
the serene firmament of the Constitution, to shine like
stars forever and ever, the immortal principles of truth and
justice, that all men, white or black, shall be free and
stand equal before the law.'

"Then came the question of reconstruction, the public debt,
and the public faith. In the settlement of the questions the
Republican party has completed its twenty-five years of
glorious existence, and it has sent us here to prepare it
for another lustrum of duty and of victory. How shall we do
this great work? We cannot do it, my friends, by assailing
our Republican brethren. God forbid that I should say one
word to cast a shadow upon any name on the roll of our
heroes.

"This coming fight is our Thermopylae. We are standing upon a
narrow isthmus. If our Spartan hosts are united, we can
withstand all the Persians that the Xerxes of Democracy can
bring against us. Let us hold our ground this one year, for
the stars in their courses fight for us in the future. The
census taken this year will bring reinforcements and
continued power. But in order to win this victory now, we
want the vote of every Republican, of every Grant
Republican, and every anti-Grant Republican in America, of
every Blaine man and anti-Blaine man. The vote of every
follower of every candidate is needed to make our success
certain; therefore, I say, gentlemen and brethren, we are
here to take calm counsel together, and inquire what we
shall do.

"We want a man whose life and opinions embody all the
achievements of which I have spoken. We want a man who,
standing on a mountain height, sees all the achievements of
our past history, and carries in his heart the memory of all
its glorious deeds, and who, looking forward, prepares to
meet the labor and the dangers to come. We want one who will
act in no spirit of unkindness towards those we lately met
in battle. The Republican party offers to our brethren of
the South the olive-branch of peace, and wishes them to
return to brotherhood, on this supreme condition, that it
shall be admitted forever and forevermore, that in the war
for the Union, we were right and they were wrong. On that
supreme condition we meet them as brothers, and on no other.
We ask them to share with us the blessings and honors of
this great republic.

"Now, gentlemen, not to weary you, I am about to present a
name for your consideration--the name of a man who was the
comrade and associate and friend of nearly all those noble
dead whose faces look down upon us from these walls
to-night; a man who began his career of public service
twenty-five years ago; whose first duty was courageously
done in the days of peril on the plains of Kansas, when the
first red drops of that bloody shower began to fall which
finally swelled into the deluge of war. He bravely stood by
young Kansas then, and, returning to his duty in the
National Legislature, through all subsequent time his
pathway has been marked by labors performed in every
department of legislation.

"You ask for his monuments. I point you to twenty-five years
of national statutes. Not one great beneficent measure has
been placed in our statute books without his intelligent and
powerful aid. He aided these men to formulate the laws that
raised our great armies and carried us through the war. His
hand was seen in the workmanship of those statutes that
restored and brought back the unity and calm of the States.
His hand was in all that great legislation that created the
war currency, and in a still greater work that redeemed the
promises of the government and made the currency equal to
gold. And when at last called from the halls of legislation
into a high executive office, he displayed that experience,
intelligence, firmness and poise of character which has
carried us through a stormy period of three years. With
one-half the public press crying 'Crucify him,' and a
hostile Congress seeking to prevent success, in all this he
remained unmoved until victory crowned him.

"The great fiscal affairs of the nation, and the great
business interests of the country he has guarded and
preserved, while executing the law of resumption and
effecting its object without a jar and against the false
prophecies of one-half of the press and all the Democracy of
this continent. He has shown himself able to meet with
calmness the great emergencies of the government for
twenty-five years. He has trodden the perilous heights of
public duty, and against all the shafts of malice has borne
his breast unharmed. He has stood in the blaze of 'that
fierce light that beats against the throne,' but its
fiercest ray has found no flaw in his armor, no stain on his
shield. I do not present him as a better Republican or as a
better man than thousands of others we honor, but I present
him for your deliberate consideration. I nominate John
Sherman, of Ohio."

Of this powerful speech, that was constantly interrupted by storms of applause, Whitelaw Reid said,--

"It was admirably adapted to make votes for his candidate, if speeches ever made votes. It was courteous, conciliatory, and prudent."

The editor of the Chicago _Journal_ wrote as follows:--

"The supreme orator of the evening was General Garfield. He is a man of superb power and noble character.... He indulged in no fling at others. It was a model speech in temper and tone. The impression made was powerful and altogether wholesome. Many felt that if Ohio had offered Garfield instead of Sherman, she would have been more likely to win."