The Portland daily press., 1883-08-20
Garfield and Sherman.
A Noteworthy Statement as to the Form
er's Nomination.

1t so happened, says ex-Sheriff Daggett Of
Kings county, N. Y, in the Brooklyn Eagle,
that was selected to look after the Sherman
vote in the different States outside of Ohio. 1
was in close consultation with Garfield, Deni-
son and Foster during all the exciting period
of the convention, and Garfield never tagged
for an instant in his zeal for Sherman. Day
and night he urged delegates from every State
in the Union to vote for him. know he had
no idea of being nominated himself. He had
yet to take his seat in the Senate, he was
young, and he realized the contest was to be
severe one. None knew better than Garfield
that, il the nomination of Gen. Grant was de-
feated, the bitter animosities which would be
left would be difficult to heal. And he felt
that an active participant in the convention
must necessarily suffer more than one who
took no hand in it. He had had no idea of
being nominated, and no wish to be. EIe was
palsied when he was nominated, 1 think 1
never saw on any mans face in my life such
picture of blank despair and amazement as
settled on Garfeld's while he was struggling
to prevent his nomination from being made.
know, and think every man who was init
mate with Garfield during the convention
knows, that he believed his nomination to be
mistake.
On the night preceding the nomination we
had conference at the Gardner House,
conference Of the prominent men opposed to
the nomination of Grant-to see il we could
not center upon some man, but we failed to
reach any conclusion whatever. The con-
ference broke up at 3 o'clock in the morning,
with the understanding that at o'clock we
were to meet again, and that in the mean time
an effort should be made to break the Grant
vote to figure below 300. Subcommittee
were appointed to wait upon Grant delegates
from the southern states to represent to them
the feeling at the North, and the belief that
Grant could not be elected il nominated The
subcommittee were to see il it we're not possi-
BILE to win from Grant some of these delegates.
To me were assigned the Mississippi
and alabama delegates, and went
to the Palmer House, where they stopped,
securing the promise from two Mississippi de-
legates that, after the first ballot in the moln-
ing they would leave Gen. Grant. When we
met at o'clock in the morning, 1t was found
that, with one exception, these two were the
only changes reported as likely to take place.
The conference lasted until the opening of the
convention, no definite conclusion being
reached, however, land when we entered the
convention hall we we're as much at sea as
when We left it the night before. The Grant
people had been at work, too, and they be-
lieved they had secured enough votes from
Senator SHERMAN in North Carolina and
Georgia to break the Sherman column.
They relied upon the boom which
that would give them to nominate
Grant, and so sanguine was Senator
Conkling Of this result that while the very bal
lot upon which Garfield was nominated, was
being taken, he went to Senator Schroeder,
who was my colleague in the convention, and
said "Senator, you will vote for Grant upon
this ballot" eyes, SHALL" replied Senator
Schroeder. 81 knew you would,'' said Conk-
ling, and as he left he added, "We shall nomi-
nate Gen. Grant" There were some grounds
for the belief that they had secured the votes
referred to, from North Carolina and Georgia,
and we were very much alarmed about the re-
ports in the morning or course we orougnt
to bear all the pressure we could WELD In hold
ing the delegates from these states for Secreta-
ry Sherman. The rest of the history you
know,