St. Paul daily globe., 1892-06-05
TIMES HAVE CHANGED
And the Big Three Repub-
liean Bosses Have Changed
With Them.
Platt, Quay and Clarkscn
Nominated Harrison Four
Years Ago.
They Have Repented at Leis-
ure and Now History Re-
verses Itself.
Story Of the Deal Which They
Are Now Striving to
Undo.

When President Harrison told q New
York World reporter that the opposition
| to his denomination was based upon in
diyidual disappointment he provoked a
| comparison which seems, says that pa
! per, heretofore to have escaped atten-
! ton between the attitude four years ago
and the attitude now of certain individ-
uals presumably included among the
| disappointed.
The opposition to the presidents re-
nomination is led by three men con-
trolling the Republican destinies of
three states-Thomas G. P latt in New
York, NJ. S. Quay in Pennsylvania and
j. S. CiarkSon in Iowa. Four years ago
these three men and their three states
were the controlling force in the nomi-
nation of Benjamin Harrison. 1t was
in the power of this trio of leaders to
throw the nomination to any one of half
dozen different men. For reasons, not
to say considerations, which seemed to
them good and sufficient, they chose
Benjamin Harrison and exalted him
from precariUus perch upon the pin
nacle of one states pride to the oppOr-
tunty of presidential nomination and
ultimately to the dignity of the presi-
dency.
Benjamin Harrison improved the op-
portunity and for four years las en-
joyed the dignity. Plat. Quay and
Clarkson, meantime, have been having
hard hustle for political existence.
and now find themselves in no better
position politically and considerably
worse for wear aud tear than they were
four years ago.
Hence these diSappointmentSl
New York went into the national Re
publican convention of 1888 solid for
Depew and nominated by Platt. In the
preliminary caucuSSeS there was some
friction attending the concentration
upon Depew, and Piatt was oStensibly
disgrantleu at the outcome. In reality,
Eowever. there was no more foundation
for the Depew boom than the affection
of state delegation for favOrite son,
and Platt knew it. He began to bargain
away his states votes before the first
ballot was taken.
The Blaine possibility overshadowed
the convention. however, and the vote
market was dull and quiet for several
days. On the first three ballots, taken
on one dav, New York cast II votes for
Depew and for Blaine.
That evening Depew withdrew. 1t
was Friday. and Platt all that night
toted his goods about the market. By
Saturday morning his deal was made.
had promised that Platt should
be secretary of the treasury when
Harrison was president. Perhaps there
was some mistake about this. Maybe
Platt, in his anxiety to negotiate the
deal, failed to insist upon proper col
lateral. But at any rate, there is no
doubt that he delivered the goods, for
on the first ballot Saturday morning
New York cast tifty-nine votes for Ben
iamih Harrison. 1t was great boom
for Indiana. and gave the Harrison
movement its first appearance of sub
stance. But Harrison still had less
than half the number of votes necessary
to nominate, and was behind Sherman
in the race.
Platt stuck to his bargain, however,
in spite of the discOuraging outlook,
and by Monday morning had brought
his whole delegation into line, and New
York gave seventy-three votes for Har-
riSon on three successive ballots until
the nomination..
QUAY took hide-bound delegation
from Pennsylvania and was in for what
lie could make from the start. After'a
complimentary vote for one Filter, un-
derstood to be from Philadelphia, the
bulk of the states vote was
thrown to Sherman. Quay held
it there so long as Sherman had
no chance Of being nominated
and meantime dickered with the
leaders of other booms. Apparently he
was harder to deal with than Platt, for,
long after New York had dumped its
grist into the Harrison hopper. Penn
sylvania was placidIy adding from fifty
to fifty-ive votes to the Sherman col
umn. His support was purchased un-
doubtedly at the conferences Sunday
night at which HarriSon's success was
finally negotiated, but up to the begin
ming of the last ballot Monday, when
everybody else had turned in his goods
and taken receipt, Quay'S votes were
still in the air.
Iowa. like New York. had favorite
son at the convention, and, unlike New
York. stuck to him until pretty nearly
the end. Mr.. Clarkson was then man
of little national prominence, and he
had worked in connection with the con-
ventiOn which prevented him from be-
ing conspicuous in the proceedings. He
controlled the delegation from his own
state, however. and found time to
lively as did Platt and Quay the delega-
tions from New York and Pennsylvania.
On the first two ballots on the last day
of the convention Harrison's vote had
risen to 27S and Sherman's fallen to 225.
Nobody else was in it. The time had
come for final delivery of the goods
bargained for.
Platt and Depew arose in the New
York delegation and looked inQuiringly
over the great auditorium filled with the
stale tumult of a weeks fruitless con-
test. Chairman ID. b. Henderson hur-
ried over from the Iowa delegation.
Quay joined the group, and for few
minutes these four in conference held
the deStinies of the convention.
A moment later Henderson withdrew
the name of Allison. PENNSYLVANIA
went out for conference and marched
in again. The roll call began. Harri-
son got % of Iowa's 20 votes. New
York's 72 went for him again, and
Pennsylvania threw 50 of her 60 into
the same column. The nomination was
made. A trio of politicians had Gre
ated president.
Quay, as chairman of the national
committee, dominated the subsequent
| campaign and practically controlled the
party machinery until the scandal of
his record. or the exorbitance of his
claims, induced the president TO break
with him.
CIarkson became. next to Quay, chief
manipulation of the Republican machine,
and secured in addition an office which
gave him facilities for officially decapi-
tating about half of all the Democrats
in the federal service-a function which
he nprfOrmed with zeal and diSnatph