St. Paul daily globe., 1888-07-21
But When He Is. at Home
He Studies Old
b Books.
Like ALI Preachers Sons, He
3 Shows a Tendency to
Boss.
A. Career Not Free From the
: Dark Stain of Corrup-
ton.

year. Matthew Stanley Quay, dubbed
sMat" by his ward friends. is the Penn
sylvanlan elected chairman of the ma
tlonal Republican committee and of the
national Republican executive commit
| tee; William l.. Scott, familiarly known
as ''Bill'' Scott. is the PENNSYLVANIA
chosen by the Democracy as chairman
of their national campaign committee.
When Pennsylvania meets Pennsyl-
yanian then comes the tug of politics.
Quay is probably the ablest man who
took his seat i'm the United States SEN
ate the 4th of March, 1887. Scott is the
richest man in the lower house, and
keen as Damascus blade in party man
agement. Scott is a man of business.
Quay student of books. Scott is a
hunter-after success, wealth, fame:
sixty years old, Quay is fifty-three.
Six years ago Mat Quay was the
queen bee of the hive of Pennsylvania's
little bosses. He didn't run in the
Cameron class, was known personally
only to the politicians and fishermen,
and was counted by the mugwumps, in
dependents and nOn-partlsan citizens
corrupt, rum-loving ward politician who
wanted to be known as state boss. and
who knew and worked the ropes of
PennSylvania'S machinery and amused
himself fishing at Atlantic City, or
scheming with the Barneys and Mikes
OF his party in the back room of sa-
loon. No greater mistake was ever
made about any man in public life.
Quay is preachers son. He was
born at Diilsburg, York county, fifty
three years ago. He is a poor man.
comparatively, although he has been an
ardent Republican politician and worker
for twenty-five years, and was in with
the machine at Harrisburg when it was
charged by responsible journals and
men of its own party with using the
peoples money in the state treasury to
! buy votes, to give dinners, to
BOLSTER UP BANKS,
and even to start and equip the Union
Passenger Railway company of Phila-
delpha. The state treasury had been
the most important office in Pennsyl-
van1a for quarter of century.
Robert w. Mackey, Quay's political
trainer, was state treasurer. He was
and the.shrewdest politician of the
time. There was constant scandal
about the treasury in those days.
quay was bohemian in his youth,
taught school and fought Indians in
Texas. showed magic lantern and
tried to start newspaper in louisiana,
and roamed about until he studied law
and in 1856 was appointed prothonotary
OF Beaver county. He has been in
| politics ever since, and instead of
fortune he has accumulated a library.
He was elected prothOnotary to sue
ceed himself. He resigned in 1861 and
went into the army. He resigned the
first ieutenancy in the Eleventh Penn
Sylyania regiment, became assistant
commissary general on the staff of his
friend, Gov. Curtin. became Curtin's
private secretary and again went to the
front as colonel OF the One Hundred
and Thirty-fOurth Pennsylvania in
fantry. In December, 1862, he resigned
his command by his surgeons orders
but stayed at the front to have '.one
more shy'' at the rebels in the battle of
Gettysburg. He declared he'd rather
die like fool than like q coward''
when the surgeon cali him fool
for staying.
His senatorial career, which is only
budding, is not his first experience in
Washington. He represented his state
there as fiscal agent from 1868 to 1865.
In 1864 he was elected to the legislature
OF Pennsylvania, and he has been a
moulder of opinion in every legislature
at Harrisburg since. He was a candi-
date for speaker in 1866, and cOvld have
had Simon Cameron'S infiuence-Which
would have insured his electon-had he
consented to work for Cameron for sen
ator. He
WOULDN'T DOIT
and was defeated. He was then identi- |
fed with the Curtin, or anti-Cameron, |
wing of the Republican party. To-day. |
after twenty years, during many of |
which he worked with and for the Cam |
erons, he is once more the leader of the
antl-CamerOn faction, and himself al
ready as big boss, if not bigger. than
Don"
Quay was Gov. Hartranft's secretary
of state in 1878. and resigned to be
elected recorder of Philadelphia, fat
office which was created by the legis-
lature for him and has since been abol-
ished. The handsome residence he
lived in as recorder is pointed out at
Eleventh and Spruce streets in Phla-
delphia as monument of political cor
ruption. or, rather, of the era of greatest
political corruption in Pennsylvania.
Yet nobody has ever charged Quay with
protiting by it, except politically. Don
Cameron made Chris Makee, Quay's |
junior and rival in politics, his proxy |
representative in the national Republi- |
can committee in 1888. Everybody said |
Quay was ''dead''
They who thought so little knew him. |
In 1855 Quay did one of the boldest |
things ever done in American politics.
He appealed directly to the people of
pennsylvania to say whether he was as
bad as his enemies declared him. He
announced himself a candidate for state
treasurer, to everybOdy's intense sur
prise. He didn't consult any of the
politicians, but wrote letters to his
friends and let the popular feeling as
Sert itself. Such audacity was magnifi-
cent. 1t soon got to be understood that
he proposed to run for the United States
senate to succeed John l.. Mitchell if he
was elected state treasurer. He received
for the treasury plurality of 1856. an
almost unprecedented majority even in
PENNSYLVANIA.
Against this brilliant and intensely
aggressive campaign OF the "lone fish
erman of Beaver county, the Philadel-
| party in the state, and the most consid-
| cradle Republican journal in PenHSyl-
| Vania, waged bitter war of innuendO
and suggestion. A bolt was threatened.
All the
| PARTY SCANDALS
| and the state treasury shortcomings
We're dug up and their cOrpSeS prepared
fDr street parade which never took
place. The Independents and Mug
wumps fought Quay bitterly. The fa-
nous pardon board transaction was
brought up against him. This was in
| substance as follows: William Fl. Kem-
! bic, Rumberger Salter and Crawford
| pleaded guilty March 9, 1880, to having
bribed the legislature of Pennsylvania
/ to pass the bill appropropriating $1,000
! 900 to pay the losses causes by the
| Pittsburg riots of 1877. They were
| sentenced to 1000 fine and a year in
| the penitentiary. The state board of
pardons, of which Quay was an active
| member hardened them before they
! put en- the stripes.
| Tn Splte of al, thic bic triumnh nor