The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-11
SOME FACTS ABOUT GoEBEL.
PERSONALITY OF THE LATE GOV
ERNOR OF KENTUCKY.

Fred WiIIiams-Why Congressman
Lentz Was suppressed-Other Mat
ters of Importance.
Chicago, Feb 81 met Senator Goebel
in Chicago last August and had, | sup
pose, the usual experience Of the man who
meets him for the first time-perhaps that
even of those who have known him long.
Never was there a man of less prepos-
sessing manner, never one of less of what
we call personal ma gnetism or used o
so call, for everybody must have noticed
that that term, which gained its greatest
currency in the days of Mr.. Blaine has
of late almost disappeared from the
American vocabulary In manner he was
chilling, though courteous, in conversation
reserved TO the point OF taciturnityi eVaS-
i've of eye, clammy of hand and seeming
ly unresponsiVe to any generous enthus-
iasm. These are not the characteristics
which make il easy for a man TO become
political leader-a boss, if you Will. l
know a good many men who have attain
ed 10 what is called bossism, and few, If
any, possess such qualities, though often
by the report of the unknowing they are
credited with them. For example, You
win hear Richard Croker described as
silent, surly, bulldog sort man, when he
is in fact quite the contrary. Doubtless
he can, when occasion demands freeze
Inc undesired intruder but with an or
binary acquaintance he is apt to be chat
ty, genial and unreserVed. Men who are
his intimates tell me that in personal IN
tercourse with chosen friends he is thor
oughly companionable. Certainly the first
time L met him he had every opportunity
and every reason to be unapproachable,
for ii was within a month after the may
orally campaign in New York in which
had acted chairman of the Henry
George Committee, and / had called on
him n DENY certain assertions made bN
enemies of John c. Sheehan, the then
leader of Tammany Hall, as TO his alleged
part in inspiring certain editorial attacks
on Mr.. Croker in the New York Journal,
of which I was then the principal edi-
torial writer. Having explained TO Mr..
Croker that 1 wrote the articles myself
and was as nearly responsible for them
as any man could be on a paper so COM
pletely dominated by its owner as the
Journal then was, waited for the eX
pected freeze" But is did not come.
On the contrary, the famous boss SEEM
ed to like my frankness and talked an
hour or more to explain the grounds OF
his suspicion of Sheehan. Personally
have never felt this suspicion justified and
believe to-day that in deposing Mr.. Shee-
han from leadership Mr.. Croker commit
ted an error and did the party in New
York an injury.
But, to return to my argument, which IS
that the inherent and involuntary GOODNESS
and lack of enthusiasm in Goebel must
have been heavy handicap TO him in his
endeavorS to secure leadership in Ken
lucky. You will hear ex-senator David
b. Hill charged usually by correspond
ents who wanted an interview he did not
want to give, with GOODNESS. On the con-
trary, there are few men possessed of
greater measure of personal charm. Elk
Senator German, too, though always dig
nified and ordinarily reticent, is the pink
OF courtesy and a man to whom 1t is
pleasure to talk on any public question.
l am told that the same thing is true
of Senator Hanna, though our paths have
been too diverse to have ever brought US
together. Now, these are men who are
commonly called bosses. But Goebel was
type of his own. His most intimate
friends declare that he was uncompanon-
able, domineering, secretive, unsocial.
What could have been the personal char
acteristics that enabled him to tie men
to him with hooks of steel?
The hope of success and the desire for
the fruits of victory? That is the most
obvious, but the least probable, explana-
ton. For the very combative and I'M
compromising character of Goebel made
the chances of failure doubly great. 1t is
likely that any of the other two candi-
dates for the Democratic nomination for
Governor last year would have been elect
ed with no sign of the trouble which has
attended the settlement of the Kentucky
governorship. More probably the nerve
which enabled him to make his long fight
against death also vested him with COM
handing qualities to influence friend and
foe. And, moreover, 1t is true that no
correct idea of the nature of Gov. Goebel's
public services has ever reached the out
side world. He was at all times a bitter
enemy of monopoly, of the great railway
corporation which controls practically
every door to Kentucky. He was the
friend of public education, and made a
fight in behalf of the school children of
the Blue Grass state which was not only
unparalleled for political skill, but sue
cessful as well. Some will tell you that
all the better class of Democrats in Ken
lucky denounced him, but bear in mind
he was supported in the main by the silver
Democrats who were with the party in
1896 and antagonized by the gold Demo-
crats-there being a few exceptions to the
rule on either side. And people only have
to remember as far back as 1896 to recall
that in the minds of a certain class of men
the only respectable Democrats are
those who bolted the party as soon as It
became truly democratic.
Few men are as bad as they are paint
ed and we may well doubt whether Goe-
bel comes anywhere near resembling his
picture in the public press. 1t is well TO
remember that his followers were charg-
ed with being lawless and murderous. yet
it was his opponents who brought in the
mountaineers and dissolved the Legisla-
| ture at the point of the bayonet And IL
is, perhaps, just to recall that after he
had been sworn in governor he raised
his voice first to command that the militia
which had Frankfort terrorized, should
| be dispersed.
| IT is no violation of political confidence
to say here that about the time this let
| ter is printed the Democratic National
Committee will have ready for distribu-
| don "a complete and accurate account of
the facts in the Goebel campaign from
the time of his struggle for the nomina-
ton TO it's final conclusion, if that shall
| then be reached. And it will furthermore
| present an estimate of the man and his
| public services from the pen of one well
| equipped with facts and able to estimate
them judicially.
1t has always been the strong man who
| has done things and who may be expect