The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1892-07-01
SIX SMART LEADERS.
THE MEN WHO ENGINEERED THE
CHICAGO CONVENTION.
Richard Cookers Resemblance to Gen.
eral Grant-Wherein Whitney ExceIs.
The Brainy Brice-DOn Dickinson's De-
vOtion-COllins and FairchiId.

eral Grant-Wherein Whitney ExceIs
The Brainy Brice-Don Dickinson's De-
votion-CoIIins and FairchiId.
Especial correspondence
CHICAGO, June pa national conven-
ton is most interesting gathering 1t is
interesting because of the people it brings
together, and because of the study it af-
fords of the way in which American poll
tics is conducted. Especially interesting
was it to me to observe the way in which
the different leaders worked and contrast
their methods and manners. Six men were
carrying on the campaign here, all of whom
are nationally known, and each of whom
would afford material for separate letter.
The six men are Senator Brice of Ohio;
ex-Secretary of the Navy William C.
Whitney, ex-Secretary of the Treasury
Charles H. Fairchild, Richard Croker, the
leader of Tammany Hall; ex-Congressman
p. A. Collins, of Boston, and ex-Postmas-
ter General Don. NJ. Dickinson.
Perhaps the man in whom the great
crowd was most nterested-because, while
his name has been published in every pa
per in the land and he has long been a
familiar figure to New York politicians, he
is but little known outside of the Empire
state-was Richard Croker, who is fairly
supposed to hold in the hollow of his hand
the destinies of the greatest political or
ganization of the country-Tammany Hall.
Croker reminds one very much of the late
General q. S. Grant. He is about Grants
build, with a dark, bushy beard which the
pictures of Grant have made SO familiar to
the people of this country. Like Grant,
he thinks more than he talks; in fact he
things he hates to be interviewed by news
paper men. He will sit for hours in room
full of people and not utter more than half
dozen phrases, but all the time while he
is silent he is hearing every word and re-
volving in his mind all that is being said.
man of only limited education, and with
no outside advantages, he has won his
position as the leader of the Tammany or
ganization by force Of character and his
ability to command men.
1t is generally conceded that Croker is
one of the greatest masters of the art of
practical politics in this country at the
present time, and he rules his organization
with almost ironclad sway. Perhaps his
power was never better shown than in the
way in which he handled the Hill forces
during the convention. When the New
York delegates first arrived he issued an
order that no member of the delegation,
with the single exception of Edward Muir
ply national committeeman from the
state was to be interviewed for publica-
tion. His injunctions were religiously
obeyed. During all the excitement and
heat of the campaign not one Tammany
man appeared in print During the first
days before the convention the followers
of Senator Hill were rather bitter in their
denunciation of ex-President Cleveland
Croker saw at once that this sort of thing
would do his cause no good and was prov
ing injurious to him. He at once issued
orders that no Tammany man was to say
anything In the slightest degree deroga7
tory of any other Candidate. without a
murmur his orders were obeyed.
There could be no greater contrast af-
forded than between Croker and ex-Secre
tary Whitney. The former as have said
is a silent, reserved man, with little or no
advantages gained from education or cul-
ture. Mr.. Whitney, as every one knows
is man of the greatest polish, a man who |
has travelled much, seen life in its various
phases and profited by all his varied expe-
riences. Croker, like a great general in |
his tent, says nothing, and reveals his |
fears only to his intimates. Whitney, on |
Uuc OtucE ndIltl, 10 dlW iyo Ulc Ddlcy easy
polished gentleman, always displaying the |
qualities which made him so popular with |
members of congress and politicians when |
he was Mr.. Cleveland's secretary of the |
navy. Nothing ever seems to worry or |
disturb him. a dozen men might be wait
ing in the Cleveland headquarters for the |
sake of having few words with him. Mr..
Whitney gave each the most courteous at
tention, and each went away feeling that
he above all others was the very man that
Mr.. Whitney wanted to talk to at that
precise moment. AS an organizer and ex-
ecutive there are few men who can excel
him, and there are few men who so thor
oughly understand the delicate art of con-
Quoting a great political convention and
campaign.
Unlike either Whitney or Fairchild is
Senator Brice, of Ohio, the chairman of
the last national Democratic committee.
Mr.. Brice is a man of middle size, with
reddish brown beard and prominent nose.
He is a man full of nervous energy. Most
chairmen of national committees spend the
best part of their time before convention
meets in the seclusion of their own rooms,
and when visitors want to see them they
are admitted one by one. There is a GER
tain amount of dignity of state which the
chairman finds it necessary to maintain,
and which can only be preserved by re-
naming somewhat inaccessible to the gen
eral run of convention politicians. Not so,
however, with Mr.. Brice. The best part of
his time was spent not in his private room,
but in the large parlors and the headquar-
tiers of the various other prominent leaders.
A dozen times day he might have been
seen on one of the sofas of the ladies' parlor
in the Palmer House, always with one,
and sometimes with three or four men en-
gaging him in close conversation, while Just
out of earshot were six or eight other men
waiting their chances to get at the all inn
portant chairman. Mr. Brice talks in rather
a quick, jerky sort of fashion, and although
the constant strain must have told upon
him, his manner did not show it. He is a
man of very quick perceptions and keen
analysis, and with almost intuitive force
he sees through the motives of the people
with whom he is brought in contact.
The position of chairman of great ma
tional parties is one of high honor, and one
which nearly every politician in the land
covets, but it is also a place of the very
heaviest responsibilities and incessant
work. No man would seek to obtain it