The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1881-05-28
How it has been fought for by
Independent and Dependent
Politicians.
A Root of Bitterness and a Fountain
Of Strife from the Beginning
Unto this day.
Herald.

THAT OLuCc ny any IfcSIutHI Ol any parry
without exciting bitter personalities and
serious heart burnings within the party in
this city and state. The letters of Jesse
Hoyt-a collector of the Jackson-Van Bu-
rem regime-which were surreptitiously
published in pamphlet years after. they
were written-threw much light upon the
ordinary plans and machinery whereby the
New York eollectorship was obtained and
worked Heman ]. Redfield, who made so
excellent a Democratic collector here in
the days of the ''Hards and Softs,' was
chosen as compromise nominee by reason
of the positive inability of the New York
factions to agree upon a local candi
date-Mr, Redfield living at Batavia, in
Cider Wings met at General James Bowen's
house in this city with Thurlow Weed in
the chair, to select a Collector. exCon-
gresham Edward Curtis, whose sister-in
law was Daniel Websters second wife was
chosen because Daniel Webster,
the new Secretary of State, insisted on his
being named as strenuously as Secretary
Blaine has insisted on the nomination of
Robertson. Yet Curtis was by no means
the choice of the Whig leaders, who gen
orally preferred, as Weed did, General
Bowan, afterwards Police Commissioner
of Charities.
The selection of Hiram Barney as col
lector in 1861 was curious surprise to all
parties, for he had never figured as a poll
tician 1t turned out that he was selected
by Mr.. Lincoln at the personal suggestion
of Secretary Chase, who positively refused
IN 10 fraa
tlal friend could be named to defeat the
Vaccinations of the Seward men in New
York. Like Chase, Barney was a free-soil
Democrat, and he was bitterly hated by
the Seward Wing wing of the new Repub-
lican party. Thurlow Weed had then set
tied upon Simeon Draper as the collector.
Draper had given way in the gubernation-
al race at the previous election to John A.
King with the express understanding that
he was to have the collectorship, and ORA
per always declared that Mr.. Lincoln had
before his Inauguration given pledges to
that effect, Just as Conkling now declares
that Garfield did a similar thing. The
Seward Wings were finally placated by
giving them the surveyorship, abraham
Wakeman), the postmastership (James
Kelley) and the district attorneyship
(E Delafeld Smith, with promise
that in due time Draper should go up
head" Accordingly, in due time Draper
became Collector, and the old free-soil
Democrats of the Republican party imme-
diately grew extremely sore'in consequence
He in turn was displaced by Preston King.
an old free soil Democrat, who was ap-
pointed by President Johnson. King had
been recently displaced as United States
senator by E. D. Morgan, for whom Drap-
er had strenuously worked, and of course
the friends of King were delighted to have
Draper bounced, while his friends were
correspondingly incensed. The Collector
ship and the troubles attending the dispen
sation of party patronage in way to sat
isfy all the factions finally crazed Preston
King who committed suicide from a North
river steamboat. Six months afterwards
and oddly enough, upon the very day
on which his successor, Henry A. Smythe
was sworn in-King's body was found.
When Grant succeeded johnson the New
York Collectorship was contended for
more hotly than any other office in his gift
Moses H. Grinnell (who was then Survey
orr Alonzo Cornell (now Governor and
then Just defeated as Lieutenant Cover
nor) and John A. Kennedy, Super
intendent of Police were among
the prominent contestants among our city
and state Republican politicians An out
side fight for the office was made very earn
estly by Charles A. Dana, now editor of
the Sun, who after leaving the Tribune,
had served under Stanton in the war de-
partment and had failed to establish an ex-
treme Republican paper in Chicago. Mr.,
Dana based his claims to the colectorship
upon his personal loyalty to Grant, as
shown in his campaign life of Grant, and
upon his services to Grant while he was a
government inspector at Vicksburg, doing
duty with the command of General Grant.
Mr.. Dana had previously sought the col
lectorship. On the Goth of January, 1866,
before the body of Preston King had been
discovered and it was a question whether
he was yet alive or dead, and therefore
whether vacancy in the collectorship
technically existed, Mr.. Dana wrote to
President johnson letter asking for the
position.
President Johnson it was understood,
took thr application seriously into consid-
Grafton, and it was backed by Henry j.
Raymond. of the Times, and Thomas Il.
Stewart, who was Mr., Raymond's sue
cessor, Mr.. Raymond's magnanimity in
the matter was as conspicuous as it was in
several other matters. But some subordin-
ate of Mr.. Dana on the Chicago Republican
either by a blunder or through malice,
wrote IN an editorial OF 3larcn IL, 1906,
this paragraph ''The scheme to buy up
the present managers of the Chicago Re
publican by Government collectorships is
very smart, but it wont win" OF course
President johnson was mcensed by this
and dropped all consideration of Mr.. Dana S
application, and Henry A. Smythe was soon
afterwards selected. General Grant, it is
understood, was rather inclined to ap-
point Mr. Dana in the spring of 1863
until Thurlow Weed got rid of him and
put forward his own friend and ally, Moses
H. Grinnell, by ingeniously suggesting to
General Grant that as the appraisership OF
the port was really much more lucrative
office than that of collector, it would suit
Mr. Dana better, while Mr.. Grinnell would
be willing to surrender the almost as lucra-
tive Office of surveyor of the port to Mr..
Cornell and take that Of collector. Ac-
cordingly, General Grant made this deal,
and rendered the appraisership to Mr.. Da-
ma. This Mr. Dana angrily declined, and
set about Withdrawing from circulation his
eulogistic biography of General Grant.
Mr. Grinnell was succeeded by Tom
Murphy, who, because of the raid made
upon him by the old-time free-soil Demo
for ayA fv7 hi