Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-04-15
ROSCOE CONKLING.
The Political Duel Between
Him and FentOn.
,STALWART- HALFBREED WAR.
The Conflict From its Inception
to ClOse-A Chapter in I'm
written History.


In the year 1872 the pivotal State
of New York was represented in
the Senate of the United States by
two of the most prominent figures in
that august chamber - Reuben E..
Fepton and Roscoe Conkling.
Unlike very many self-made men,
Senator Fenton was polished gen.
tleman, as the word goes. He received
YOU in a cordial, dignlfied way, with a
genial smile and soft clasp OF the
hand. He was kindly solicitous OF
your wants, and n yer abruptly refused
them. He was man OF implied
promises. So great was his suavlty
of manner that many people
doubted his sincerity. He was tall,
1.-THE Of figure and graceful OF carriage
His aquiline, clear cut features, frosty,
well-trimmed and full beard and
abundant iron-gray hair, adorned a
face of mild repose. His dark eyes,
brilliant and piercing, looked steadily
at you unquailiDgly, yet in all OF ms
killings, politically, he never used the
knife. but cut the throats of the des-
tined with a feather. His capacity was
most vigorous and enlarged. Few
men have ever been endowed with a
stronger natural understanding, or
have given it more dillgent culture
with a view to the pursuits in which
it was to be employed. His political!
sagacity was shown while Governor OF
the state of New York at the outbreak
of the war. His strong hand held q
great mass of men Of conflicting opin-
ions in subordination. BY clever tao
tics, he formed them into q friendly
phalanx, each of whom voted the right
way, They voted early and often,
too, and thus guided and d.
rected their votes scored the
first great Republican victory i'll
the State Of New York at the sec
ond election of Lincoln. While Gov
,ernor and as Senator, his bestowal OF
patronage was partisan in the ex-
treme; he extensively pardoned
prisoners for political gain, and he
constructed the plan OF the INA
chine"
In the Senate Chamber his value as
a leader and debater was great. he
cared nothing for the rhetoric OF his
opponents his temper nothing could
ruffie. He seemed to be passive
member, but in his clear conceptions
of men and their methods there is u
likeness to TAlleyrand.
IT,. - l1ry,o h1o 70 RIM n nnap Of hI9
birth to a social position OF wealth,
from the primary to high political
place, Mr.. Fenton was controlled by
q commercial mind. Out of that
grew an overpowering ainbition-not
to be the Chief Magistrate of the Ma
ton, but to be the director OF the
dinances of the Nation. His seat
in the Senate, at a time when
there was promise OF the realiza-
ton of his ambition, was lost to him
through the will of his colleague,
Senator Conkling, whose ambition
was to be President. The new aspir-
ant for the Presidency needs must
have the entire bestowal OF the great
patronage in his State.
Roscoe Conkling became the leader
in the Senate and in the State OF the
Republican party Of New York, VIII lie
his oyerthrown colleague became the
leader of the Liberal Republican
party with Greeley at the head. The
COLLAPSE of that political bubble left
Reuben E. Fenton without q party or
support. "In calamity" Caesar OBJ
serves, ''friends easily become foes"
and the army of followers and pot
house politicians, who for years had
fattened on the bounty Of the beaten
leader, doffed their castors to the new
Brutus, and under his banner formed
with his own legions the "Stalwart'
majority OF the Republican party.
Senator FentoD ostensibly retired to
private life upon the expiration OF bis
Senatorship, but be was not entirely
shorn of political strength, and held,
through former political friendships
and associations, the control OF the
Custom House patronage OF New
York City, the bOnuna usually OF those
who win-in political justice properly
belonging to Senator Conkling. In
: holding this lever of political power,
Mr.. Fenton's turn came, in less than
a decade, to lay low the now mighty
leader who had humbled him in 1872.
. In the struggle for the Collectorship
of the Port Of New York under Presi
dent Garfeld's regime, the "Half-
breed" wing Of the Republican party
of New York was created. The un.
known hand Of the deposed
leader guided its movements
and he was it's silent captain.
President Garfield and 'he silent
leader were agreed on the question Of
civil-service i, ,rm, as conference a'
Mentor determ ned before the inaug.
uration Of the former. Both looked
upon the reform of the civil-service in
stituted by PresjSnt Hayes and the
Heads of Bureaus under him as 9
pretension, if not a fraud. Besides
thew were strongly imbued with the
Jacksonian doctrine that the life OF 8
political party in the ascendency iscon
tinpent upon it's bestowal of patron
aoe' With the ciyil-service rules al
enforced by President Hayes and tht
IT am" (not little 'me Do'') the Re
publican party in New York was liv
inc upon it's trading with Tammany
To perpetuate it, reorganization wa
necessary. :, 4.@ts.
The leader OF the Stalwarts, ssn
fident of his strength and favoritism
resigned from the Senate; The ,pis
tol Of the assassin diverted the plan
of the silent leader. The people g
New York refused to return the sell
sacrificed leader to the Senate. An
with the days OF the Republican part
numbered, the two leaders who i
turn had vanquished the other re
tired from the political arena; Ro'
coe Conkling, cheated of his ambitio
to be President, and Reuben 1
Fenton forever despairing OF his amb
ton Of becoming Secretary OF tn
Treasury. Mr.. Fenton's death q fe