The record-union., 1893-07-14
THE VACANT CHAIR.
W. H. Mills Not Candidate for the
Senatorship.
His Reason Therefor Fully Explained
The Governor Requested Not
to Consider Him.

10 SOHSluef HIM.
The San Francisco Examiner of yester-
day contained an article to the effect that
Governor Markham had under consid-
Grafton, in connection with the vacant
United States Senatorship, the name of
W. H. Mills of San Francisco, among
few others. This, and the fact that the
interior press of the State has quite gen.
orally Endorsed Mr.. Mills for the position,
has brought forth the following telegram
from him:
SAN Francisco, July 13, 1898.
c. Il. McC2dtcby, Editor Bee, .Sucru-
Hehto: You have paid me the compliment
OF mentioning my name in connection
with the appointment to the seat in the
United States Senate made vacant by the
death of Senator Leland Stanford. You
are also aware of the frequency of this
mention in the press of the State, and as
personal friend you have shared with
NE the qualification which the highly
complimentary mention alluded TO in
spires. You have expressed the wish,
natural TO sincere friendship, of seeing
my name associated with the high and
honorable position of United States Sem
ator. l have not before to-day regarded
the mention of my name in the light Of q
serious candidacy. AS you know, | have
no desire for mere Official distinction
without corresponding public good. The
| honor connected with any high Office
does NOT reside in receiving the appoint
ment, nor in the election; it remains to
be achieved by the manner in which the
duties of the office are discharged.
j have usually found candidate in
some citizen of the commonwealth whom
| have preferred to myself, because | be-
lnVp bic ahilityr tn fliSabarCra ba fiUtiau #
office TO be higher than my own. Your
long and closely intimate personal asso-
citation with me has made you acquainted
with the fact that L am almost totally de-
void Of political ambition. Nou win,
therefore, be fully prepared to accept as
make you that do not desire the appoint
ment to the position made vacant by the
death OF Senator Stanford.
L am not inseDsible of the high compli-
ment our fellow journalists have paid
me in mentioning my name, and | am
more than grateful to many gentlemen
who, without solicitation at my hands
have written to his excellency, the Gov
ernOr, on my behalf. But l state TO you
with perfect sincerity that | have in no
case solicited at the hands of anyone any
mention of my name i'll the columns of
any journal, nor solicited the assistance
or craftsmanship of any friend.
1hO OAiOdA dcSHltllG VI lily DOSlIlOil Is
that request from me to the gentlemen
of the press not to mention my name be-
fore such mention is made would be the
equivalent Of inviting it, to forbid it after
such mention would be unappreciatiVe:
and to decline to serve in position be-
fore it is rendered would be presump-
tiOus. | am this morning in possession of
information, however, which does not
leave me at liberty to disregard the posi-
ton OF candidacy in which [ have been
placed by the press and by the solicita-
ton Of individuals, because l am in
formed that his eXcellency, the Governor
has paid me the high compliment Of Civ
ing my name serious consideration. If
my information in this regard is errone-
Gus, and its source iorbidS the conclusion.
the frequent mention of my name in the
journals of the State in connection with
the office will still furnish justification
for this declination.
If my information is correct, my right
to request the Governor not TO give nv
name further consideration will be un-
doubted. l therefore ask the service at
your hands of a personal visit to Gov
ernOr Mark ham, conveying to him as
surances OF high respect, and also strongly
impressing upon him my desire that my
name shall not be considered as available
in the choice he will make for appoint
ment to the Senatorship. Please do me
the favor to explain to him my reason for
supposing that he has had my name
under consideration. Say to him that the
mention of my name was not the result
of my solicitation; and, above all, assure
him that this disavowal of candidacy IS
frank and sincere, and that it is my de-
sire and request that my name shall not
be canvasSed in the list of those whose
names are under consideration for ap-
pointment.
The appointment holds but for a single
session of the Senate. and l would be
bound in honor to sever Immediately
business relations which after the close of
that term | would be unwilling to le-
sumo. Besides this, when | become a
candidate, if ever do become a candi-
date for high official station, it will besbe-
cause | believe the public service de-
manded at my hands can be better per-
formed by myself than by another
| When l change the fixed and settled
policy which has kept me in private sta
ton, for one of public life, l Will sever
all private business relations, SO that |
may have perfectly honorable and in
dependent relation with any public trust
| may assume. WILLIAM Ii. MILLS.
In this connection the Bee of last even
| ing adds:
Governor Markham was at the Suffer
CLUB when the editor went over to see
him.
The Governor had been i'll, worried.
over-worked, and was then busily en-
gagged in reading over voluminous docu-
ments in an appeal for clemency to a
murderer.
He found time, however, to digest
well the very manly sentiments ex-
pressed by Mr. Mills, and TO request that
the editor of the Bee convey to the gentle
man the Governors high appreciation Of
the frankness of Mr.. Mills in the matter.
and TO assure Mr.. Mills that he had had
his name under serious consideration.
and had received numerous letters from
various sections of the State, asking that
that the fitness of Mr.. Mills for the posi-
ton be given due thought"