The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-03

bishop whntely. Bishop wilberiorce, and Bishop
Bloomfield, Lord Lansdowne, then President OF
the Council; Lord Aberdeen and Lord Stanley,
both nfterward Prime Ministers; Prince Louis
Napoleon, then an exile In London, and King
Louis Philippe, who twice received Mr.. Win.
throp informally at Neuilly. Scarcely had he
returned home before he was called upon to con-
front at the Wing State Convention a vigorous
effort made by the so-called Conscience Wings
to commit the party to a positive agreement to
support no Presidential candidate who was not
openly opposed to the extension OF slavery.
From Mr.. Winthrop's point OF view. tho only
practical effect OF such n platform would have
been to make a breach In the Whig or Conserva-
tive party, considered as q national organization,
thereby facilitating the election OF n Demo-
cratic President, certain TO be more obnoxious
than any Southern Wing. In the debate which
ensued, the amendment desired by the Con-
science Wings was ably advocated by Charles
Francis Adams. Sumner. and others, while Mr..
winthrop was almost alone in opposition to 1t.
He carried his point, however.
The Thirtieth Cong ess assembled In Decem-
Der, 1S47. and Mr.. Winthrop was elected
Speaker of the House, Notwithstanding the ro-
fusal OF certain extremists at both ends of the
Wing party to vote for him on the first ballot.
John @. Palfrey was one OF the recusants, and
We arc told that John Quincy Adams sent
GoOrRe ASnnun 10 fhiIrey 10 ASK Ill" 10 huAn-
don further operations. 1T" said the veneer
able ox-President. II can vote for Mr.. Winthrop
with q clear conscience. I should suppose DR.. Pal.
frey could The account OF this contest for the
Speakership given in Mr.. Blaine's Twenty
Years Of Congress" Is incorrect in one pGrticu.
lar. Mr.. Blaine says: Robert c. Winthrop
was nominated in the Wing caucus over Samuel
F. Vinton Of Ohio. because he had voted
for the Wilmot proviso. and Mr.. Vinton against
1t. Mr.. vinton was senior In age and long
senior in service to Mr.. Winthrop. and the de-
cision against him created no little feeling in
Wing circles, especially in tho West" We learn
from the author of this memoir that Mr.. Win
throp was much taken aback to find himself ac-
cused, some seven and thirty years after the
event, of having supplanted his friend Vinton.
Through q common acquaintance, he pointed
out to Mr.. Blaine that he had only received tho
nomination after Vinton had been nomi ated
and declined; that he had owed the nomina-
ton moro to vinton than to any one man, and
that an examination of the Congressional
Globe would show that vinton had, again
and again, voted for the Wilmo pro-
viso. Mr.. Winthrop had always supposed.
moreover. that of the Hfty.seven votes received
by him in the Wing caucus, at least as many
came from the North as from the South. With
regard to Mr.. Winthrop's appointments to COM
mittees. we need only point to the fact that they
gave umbrage to extremists at both ends of
the Wing party as a conclusive proof of the
Speakers impartiality. Mr.. Giddings OF Ohio
charged that tho committees we're all arranged
in such manner as to effect the political OBJ
jects which Mr.. Winth op had in view. Mr..
Toombs OF Georgia, on the other hand, main
tanned that they were characterized by gross
unfairness to the South. The truth has been
undoubtedly stated by Mr.. Z. D. Pierce in his
=" Life OF Sumner" when he says: THE explain.
alton OF Palfrey's opposition to Winthrop at
Washington. and Of Summers and c. F. Adams's
in Massachusetts,, is that they regarded him then,
as they regarded Webster later. as the great OBJ
struction to the anti-slavery movement in the
State. Winthrop, aside from what may be said
of his view on the slavery question. made ono
of the best Speakers who ever filed that emf.
nent chair. and even the anti-slavery men were
not entirely agreed that he did injustice in the
appointments OF committees by which questions
concerning slavery were to DO considered.
Horace Mann thought him fair in this respect.
e . At this distance from the controversy
which left many stings behind, and after trying
to judge it fairly, this may DO considered
q just conclusion: Winthrop was placed
In the chair by his party as q whole
by the votes Of Southern as we'll as North
ern members. and could not be expected to dis
eliminate between them; all that could be ex-
pected was that he should hold the balance
fairly between the conflicting forces within his
party. He was not, and did not pretend to be, a
Free Soiler-not even q Wing who had made
opposition to slavery paramount; and. while it
was right for Palfrey to question him, it was
equally Winthrop's right, even his duty, to make
no private pledges as to his action as Speaker"
1t is interesting to recall the fact that not only
the extremists, who were dissatisfied with some
of the committees. but also the convivial
pnapnhara ~ fha Hnuaa had N uriavanra
against Mr.. Winthrop. The Capitol was then
under the joint authority of the Vice President
and the Speaker, each controlling his respective
half of the building, in the basement of which
had been established two eating and drinking
saloons. frequented alike by Congressman and
by the pu bile. Mr.. Winthrop was by no means
a rigid Puritan. He habitually drank wine at
dinner, and 80, when he could get 1t, did his an
cestor. the first Governor of Massachusetts Bay
Neither was the Speaker a stranger to the oc
casional use of whiskey for the stomach's sake
and he thoroughly enjoyed tobacco in TIT
form Of cigars until he was IS years old
He detested, however. the habit of gather
ing around q public counter to partake of spirit
between meals, believing it to be the most pro
life cause OF intemperance. Accordingly, ont
OF his first official acts was to close the bar undel
the House wing, a course commended by judi
cious persons. but which gave rise TO much pri
vate grumbling. including not a few letters o
remonstrance. Another fact worth recalling 4
Mr.. .Winthrop's indifference to precedence
which then was. and is now, a burning question
in Washington society. Mr.. Winthrop. 1t seems
was of tho opinion that, while a strict adher
ence to hierarchical order might be well enough
:. for State ceremonials. a considerable degree O
latitude in such matters would be likely to con
|, tribute greatly to the pleasure OF informa
r social intercourse. Sensible as this position
. was. we are told that John Quincy Adam
! and Thomas II. Benton took him to task for hi
, laxity, maintaining that as third officer Of tn
l nation he should never yield the pas to any one
, or call first upon any one. but the President an,
1 vice.President- Mr.. Winthrop suggested that
as the Secretary OF State tBuchanan) was nearl
r twenty years his senior and Chief Justice Tame
, well.nigh old enough to be his grandfather, Al
exception might now and then be made in thei
D favor. son no account" almost shrieked MI
D Adams, who was In ono Of his excited moods
"Cabinet officers and Judges Of the Suprem
Court are the mere creatures OF the Executive