The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-29
GENERAL POLITICAL NEWS.
SenatOr-Elect Payne and the COmbina-
ton Supporting Him.
Hon. Schuyler COlfax on the Republican
0utlOOk-Ben Butler as a Presidential
FactOr-POitical Notes.
HENRY b. PAYNE.
His Position in Politics and the Combination
That Is Pushing Him.

His Position in Politics and the Combination
That Is Pushing Him.
Columbus Letter, in New York Times.
The central figure in Ohio politics to day is
Henry B. Payne the old millionaire of Cleve
land His election to the Senate, to succeed
Pendleton, has disclosed the utter degradation
of his party in this State, its shameless greed,
its dishonesty and it's abandonment OF its al
legged principles. Believing that it would be
handicapped in the race by the professions which
have clothed and in some degree concealed its
repulsive body, it has thrown off these
garments in which it was masquerading
and is running without disguise for the
spoils. And yet Mr.. Payne is gentleman
who has many good qualities, and who seems to
have the respect of prominent men in both par
ties in the city where he lives. He is a good
man. who has wicked partners and his good
character serves as kind Of breastwork behind
which the constituencies rabble are advancing
upon the fortress in which are the prizes which
they long to obtain-the national government
and the United States Treasury. Those who re
gard him a superannuated person. cold, hard
and distant from the people, make great mis-
take. Henry b. Payne is in his seventy-tourth
year, but he looks like man of sixty. He is
full Of life, capable of doing great deal of hard
work, affable and unassuming.. Having fortune
of about g. 000 000 there is nothing in
his appearance, his manner OF his way
of living that directs attention to his
wealth Real estate was the basis OF his
fortune, although he is interested in manufac-
turing and banking Before the war he ran for
Governor and reduced the great Ohio Republic
an majority to a few hundreds. "A severe frost
had fallen" said one of his friends, upon the
tobacco fields in two or three Democratic coun-
ties. The farmers so busy taking care of
their tobacco that they forgot to vote. That
frost defeated Payne in 1857" He overturned
q largo Republican majority in the Cleveland
district, and was sent to Congress, where he
an advocate of sound financial propositions
Some of the most prominent Republicans in this
State who emphatically denounce the methods
by which ne was nominated and elected, have
nothing to say against the man who has
become the beneficiary of an oppressive and UNI
serupulous monopoly. His record" as d war
Democrat, an advocate of hard money and re
sumption. and a protectionist, is satisfactory to
them. and they do not seem to be shocked by
his lidicule of civii-service reform.
payne is Republican to-day" said promi-
nent Republican of the State who has served
term in Congress, upon all living issues If we
can't have Republican in Pendletons place the
next best thing is the best Democrat we can find,
and Payne is that man. He is respected by
everybody. He is all right on the bank question,
and he will vote In the Senate for protection and
honest money" This excellent gentleman,
whose devotion to Republican doctrines excites
the admiration of eminent Ohio Republicans, sat
in his office while his son Oliver,
of the Standard Oil Company, assisted
by another agent of that company and by John
r. Mclean, of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Book
walter and other members of the most power
full political organization ever known i'll Ohio,
was hard at work converting members of the
Legislature in all parts of the State.
The managers of the combination cared very
little for Hoadly, but they unwilling that in
his defeat he should carry down with him the
Payne members of the Legislature, who had
been ''set up at considerable expense in all
of 41a Gfa4a w huh hpp11
brought to terms, therefore, or had become
J'-~ecOnciled" to the combinations leaders, the
work was done in his absence and he was
elected with Democratic Legislature. The
Payne men wished to defeat Pendleton because
they had a candidate for his seat but no one
seems to know why Mclean became so bitterly
opposed to Pendleton although several eXplana-
tions are offered. 1t is generally believed that
Mclean was offended by some social slight. He
had been Pendletons supporter; he became his
implacable and most dangerous enemy. The po-
litical grounds upon which the opposition was
based were the Senatorscivll service reform BILL
and in some parts of the State his vote for Stan
ley Matthews. The robust Democrats were
brought to regard him as an aristocrat and
dude" The word dude means all sorts of
things in Ohio. Pendleton soon discovered that
men who had promised to vote for him were
mysteriously deserving him. The Payne Mclean
combinations agents were at work everywhere
Hundreds and thousands of dollars were sent
into the districts to bring out the vote" and if
the money was placed in the hands of Demo
cratic nominees Of course they put it where it
would do the most good. 1t is not necessary to
buy mans vote outright If a candidate gets
a 81 900 or 81 600 ITO use in his district and the
4 money comes from the executive committee Of
his party and if that committee has a candidate
for the Senate, the legislator who has taken the
money for party uses or to pay This ex
penses," will probably prefer to vote for that
candidate in the caucus. Swift conversions
reputation of pledges, utter disregard of
instructions received from constituents
and many other pieces of strong
Gratis, and at least score of Democratic news
papers in Ohio, to assert that many of the votes
cast for Payne were bought with money. This
evidence comes from the party itself and not
from the Republicans While it does not APP
pear that Mr.. Pendleton was the choice of a ma
ority of the party, it does seem very plain that
Mr.. Payne was not The concurrent testimony
of many unprecedented men seems to prove that
in some counties fifty Payne men could not be
found and that he could not have received one
third of the votes in caucus if the wishes of the
people had been fairly represented there. But
Mr.. Payne has 81, 900, 000 and the Standard Oil
Company has nearly 800 100000. The wealth
of the companys stakeholder was easily and
quietly acquired, and it is freely and lavishly ex
pended. Men who have invested $50, 900 have
become nilfionares without labor Some of
this money was used in the canvass which
suited in Paynes election, and additional
will be available when a greater prize is in the
market
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