The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1883-07-21

took the urSC tIdlu lOT NEW 1Ork, ar.
irving in the city late in the after
noon. AS soon as possible I saw Ab.
Fam Wakeman, Sheridan Shook. DR..
Van WICK, Thomas Murphy, James
Kelly. Owen w. Brennan, Hugh Oar
ling. and some more of my stauneh
Republican friends-all representative
men in the party-and we met to-
gether, organized and held a meeting
that same evening at the Astor house
in old room No. IL. where so manv
political movements were planned in
those days. At this meeting I ex.
nlained what 1 heard, and suggested
that we might capture the general
for u own ticket by a flank move.
ment, as it were, by seeing him at
once, asking him if he would accept
the nomination from the Republican
party if rendered, and then, in case
we received a satisfactory answer
as I had no doubt we should if we
were i'm tlme-we might publish the
generals reply, committing him to
US. and thus prevent the Democrats
from approaching him at all upon
the subject.
1.-The meeting was unanimously in
favor of this, and I was delegated to
visit General Grant at on, e. The af-
ternoon papers of that day had chron-
icled the generals arrival at Long
Branch, 80 I hurried down to the
Branch that same evening. The next
morning l met the general in front of
the hotel when he came out to take
an early walk. l asked him to post
pone his walk and come to my o
as I had something very important to
communicate. The general went
with me, and then [ told him that |
came down to obtain an expression
of his willingness to become tie Re-
publican candidate for the presidency
of the United States. / told him of
our meeting held the night before,
without, however, referring to its
hasty organization, but allowing him
to infer that we had had him in Our
minds as u prospective candidate for
a long time. 1 told him that l felt |
could insure him the nomi-
nation in the convention to he held
in 1868, and that the nomination
would be equivalent to an election.
"'You,' said I, will have nothing
whatever to do in the matter beyond
consentiDg to become our candidate.
You have done your work for us in
the war-no we will do our work
for you in the coming camraign.'
"That afternoon Thomas Murphy
(%afterward appointed by President
Grant collector for the port of New
York. came down with a full ae-
count of the proceedings of u meet
ing, and an official message from
the committee. Gen. Grant seemed
very much pleased with our action,
and formally consented to become u
candidate fer the nomination at the
hands of the Republican party. The
next morning the report that Gen.
Grant had committed himself to the
Republicans spread CONSERVATION in
the minds of the Democrats, who
had already come to regard the Gen
eral as their own future candidate.
The hope that they had placed in "a
strong man' was now completely
turned against them.
'Some time after this I met Rich
mond, and he confessed to HE that
the Democrats had been outwitted
and their thunder had been stolen
almost ut the last moment, for he
had no doubt but that, in three or
four days more, Grant would have
been pledged as a prospective Demo-
cratic candidate.
"Tbe rest is history-how, in the
Republican national convention,
held in Chicago in 1868, Grant was
unanimously nominated upon the
first ballot, there heing no opposition
whatever. And from that time the
Republican party has been in power,
as the result, in the first place, of our
having beaten the Democrats in Sc
curing the consent of Gen. Grant to
accept the nomination."
Mr.. Weed told the story with the
enjoyment of an old soldier relating
the incidents of a raid within the
enemy's lines. The manner is lack
ing, but the actual words are closely
preserved.