The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-04-22
FACTS ABOUT coNKL1NG.
Remembrauces of the Statesman by a
Veteran Journalist.

F6IGTdn JOuIUdAlSOs
New York, April 2l.-Without possibly
intending it, Roscoe Conkling was always
on parade. From the waist up he was a
strikingly handsome figure. From his waist
down he was rather meagerly equipped.
His legs were out of proportion with the
rest of his body, and looked shaky, so much
SO that when he walked the upper portion
of his body almost seemed to be dragging
the rest of him after him. Like all men Of
profound convictions, he was apt to be dog
matte in their assertion and it was difficult
for him to regard, with any degree OF toll
erance, opposition or contrary argument.
] have noticed with some surprise that the
press, since his death, have dwelt upon his
retirement from the Senate as the mos dra-
matte episode of his life
II was perhaps the most influential act of
his career.
1t was certainly the hinge on which his
entire future turned. 1t put him absolute
" behind the bar of preferment.
and although President Arthur did his best
to conciliate him and to reintroduce him to
the foremost rank of influence by nominal.
ing him to the Chief Justiceship for the
United States. the generally accented be-
lief was thaJ Conkling's public career was
closed Far more dramatic than his quiet
leaving of the Senate chamber was his
magnificent presence in the Chicago con-
vention, when, as ch eff of the famous 500
third-term Grant men, he stood, the center
of applauding enthusiasts, for an hour and
quarter, unable to make his voice heard
beyond the limits of the reporters table on
which he stood.
What a memorable occasion!
What mag ificent audience, what an
inspiring scene. Conlaing was chairman
of TIE New York delegation. He stood
tall, some five feet ten or eleven, and bore
himself always with conscious dignity,
l.,f.
thouglRhe were carved in marble, particu-
lar about the position Of is feet, and
thoughtfully careful about the pose and
angles of his body He was conspicuous in
ali public assemblages, and on this occasion
he was made the text for regular daily mp
plaudinG recognition When he entered
the hall, at the head of the New York
delegation, the galleries invariably burst
forth with hurrahs and clappings. The
Western men, who did not care to have
Conkling's Grant scheme succeed, and
who believed they had had all they cared
for of a general in the chair of state, Sc
lected Garfield as their hero, and, when the
Ohio delegation entered the hall, the APP
plause given Garfield, Its chairman, was
just as great as that given Conkling when
he entered at the head of his delegation. 1t
has always been question in MY mind
whether Conkling had concluded, prior to
the beginning of the balloting that Grant
was not the choice. 1t has always seemed
10 me that he Intentionally understood that
the emo had come and that his defiance. and
the bitterness of his memorable talk, Sprang
from the conviction that no matter what he
said the end was ioreordained the verdict
was virtually rendered. The audience
numbered not less than 1900
people, and il has been estimated that there
were 1900 in the rink. Garfield had
named what was facctiously called his man,
Mr.. Sherman. and Mr. JOY had nisnamed
his man Mr.. Blaine, and New York was
called for by Thousands upon thousands
anxious to hear the imfassoned eoquenre
which they knew could be with difficulty
restrained, and Conkling strobe proudly to
the platform. Standing on a reporters
table, holding dainty cambria handller-
chief in his nervous hand, he looked the
audience over. AninSpiring scene. Breath
less with expectancy tie great multitude
sat flushed, waiting, and then with a voice
clear "a the tone of any bell, the speaker
said:
when asked what State he halls from,
Our sole Response SHALL be,
He comes from Appomattox
And its famous apple tree"
That settled it.
That settled It for the next hour and a
quar- er, during which time, as though pan
uemonium itself had broken loose the
audience roared ami shouted, screamed and
yelled, while the hero of Che day stood pa
tient, waiting for his charce. After the
nomination OF Garfield. which COnkling
saw was coming. so much SO that he wrote
a line of sarcastic COuCratulation on the
margin of newspaper and passed it to him
as ne sat some ten or tN elve benches in the
rear, New York was offered, as IA sop the
Vice Presidency. Conklng argued
threatened, siormed, insisting that New
York could not be bought nor bribed. The
position was offered to Levi Z. Morton and
Nv on ha1 hos Nt.Jani fa1l ,Se IL,
sire, would lave accepted it, and had he
done SO how the course OF politics would
have changed, for at Gsrfield's death Nor
ton, not Arthur, would have been President,
and the entire complexion of New York
politics, and therefore national politics.
would have been as different to what it
soon became as light is different from da k
ness. But Morton declined, at Conkling's
behest. 1t was then offered to Chester A.
Arthur, ConklingS nearest and dearest
friend. With him Conkling pleaded
long and earnestly, but as Arthur sub
s,equently said, This is one chance of
lifetime. Why should |, for the grati6ca-
ton of pique, now that Grant is removed
from all possibility of nomination, sulk in
my tent, and decline TO accept so significant
an honorr The result we know, but one
of the Interest results, minor, was a lack
of cordiality, a lack OF interest, almost a
breaking off Of personal intercourse and
finally a bitter feeling, a quarrel almost
between the two, which was never made
Ep, a breach which was never healed
During the long waiting weeks, when Gar
field suffered agouies untold, Conxling was
guest in the Oriental Hotel AT
that time Vice President Arthur was
there SO were Senator Don Cameron,
Gen. John A. Logan, Senator Thomas c.
Platt Emory A. Storrs, Senator Jones, of
Nevada, and other men wel-known in pub
lie life Conkling had never cared for Gar
field specially, but he was one of the most
ardent sympathizers in the terrible strain
10 which he was subjected and anxiously
noticed the tenor of every bulletin, know
ing very well that, in the not remote future,
his old-time friend and ally, would become
the chief executive of the nation, and
therefore the head Of the great party which
placed him there saw much of COnking
prior to this during the Indiana campaign,
when everything trembled. rs it were in the
balance, and it WIS question whether
Garfield's western strength was sufficient 10
overcome Englishs money bags and pre-
sumed influence in the State Of his resi-
dence.
There was a hotel in indianapolis called
the New Denison, and there Gambling was