The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-12-29


MEMORABLE EVENTS BEHIND
CLOSED DOORS.
Yet there are times when the ex-
citement in secret sessions equals any
occurring in open session. Magnifl-
cent orations fill the chamber. Thei"
echoes alone reach the outer air. 1.-THE
greatest speech ever heard in my
lifc," said q senatorial veteran. ''was
the speech made by Roscoe Conkling
when Chester A. Arthur was removed
from the cOlectorship OF the port OF
New York and General Merritt was
appointed in his place." The removal
was made at the instance of John
Sherman. under the administration OF
Rutherford B. Hayes. Conkling's in
dignaton was so great that he scored
the administration numerically. Never
was his sarcasm more singing and
his invective more pointed. HIS
aphorisms and SMILES were couched In
the most significant yet delicate Ian
guage. He once referred to Governor
Cornell. of New York. ns that lizard
on the hill" What he said Of the men
responsible for Arthur's removal made
this characterization almost puerile.
He spoke four hours, holding the SEN
ate in rapt attention. 1t was sunlight
when lie began and moonlight when he
closed.
Under the administration of General
Grant, Hayes predecessor, Conkling
had met humiliating defeat in execu-
tive session. 1t was when Grant sent
in the nomination of Caleb Cushing for
chief justice of the Supreme court.
". &0 1S<r ff,v
in the senate. Conkling stood behind
it. After it was referred to the ju.,
dicnary committee. Secretary Fish
visited the senate and used his per-
sonal influence in an effort to have 1t
confirmed. One by one were prominent
Republican senators importuned. All
the influence of the administration was
brought to bear. Simon Cameron be-
came weak in the knees, and there
were indications that oliver P. Morton
had begun to swerve, and that the
frigidness of George F. EdmundS was
beginning to thaw, when Parson Brown
low. of Tennessee. created genuine
sensation. 1t was done in Il quiet way.
because the parson had nearly lost his
voice. but 1t was none the less effect
i've. He sent to the desk to be read Il
by a clerk in the war department. 1T
was a letter from Caleb Gushing to
His EXcellency Jefferson Davis. Dresi-
dent of the Confederacy, written on
March 90, 1861.
CALEB CuSHING'S LETTER.
1t introduced MI. Archibald Roane.
who had been a clerk in the Office ~f
the attorney general for seven wears.
it commended him personally to the
attention of Mr.. Davis. alluding to his
! scholastic attainmentS and his literary
ability and worth. Roane came from
| Texas. He now resigns his present
| Office wrote Mr.. Cushing. from SEN
| timents of devotion to that which
| alone he can feel to be his country
| namely, the confederate states. from
| one Of which he was appointed.
| most heartily commend him as gen.
tleman and a man to your confidence
| and esteem" Ben Butler had been TAX
ing inactive interest in Cushings's
behalf He claimed him as Republi-
can. and went so far as to say that he
| was the author of the fourteenth
amendment and one OF the prime NOV
| ers in the Impeachment of Andrew
Johnson. Tn commenting on the letter
| the parson wondered that Mr.. Cush-
| ing had not been credited with the
! authorship of the emancipation proc-
| lamation. The reasonable letter Just
| read showed that he had better have
| his political disabilities removed be-
! fore u vote was taken. The emeute
| paralyzed Conkling and stopped the
| thawing process in Edlnunds, Morton
greeted it with a grim smile. and the
| next day at Cushings request, the
nomination was withdrawn. Brown
| lows coup de main had given it the
| coup de grace
The month in which this nomination
| was Withdrawn was a great month for
| executive sessions. 1t was emphasized
| by the nomination CT George Fl. Will
liams, Of Oregon. for chief justice. The
| nomination touched Senator Sumner
| to the quick. He characterized it as
notoriously unfit, and made speech
| against it repletr, in chaste and fer
| vent oratOry. Senators who heard it
| said that it was the most marvellous
| in thought and dction that ever fell
| from the lips nf 'he Massachusetts
| statesman Its effect was as great as
| that OF BroWalow's. To save Will
| liams from tn, humiliation of being
| rejected the nomination was with
| drawn.
| HOW HILL. DEFEATED HORN
BLOWER.
Strange how history repeats itself.
| Grant sent in the names of Williams.
| Gushing, and Waite before the senate
| confirmed his nomination for chief JUS
tlce. Over twenty years afterward
President Cleveland found himself in
similar dilemma. He proposed the
name of William B. Horlblower to fill
a vacancy in the court. The nomina-
tion was defeated by the activity of
David b. Hill, then the leading senator
from New York. The president then
tried the name Of Whee .er II. Peckham.
1t was equally distasteful to Hill.
Peckham was olso passed into outer
darkness. Both warc Mus wum S VIII,
had been instrumental in dofeo ting a
Democratic state ticket. Il,l was as
active as bee in n tar barrel, and tie
senate stood by him. Then came the
nomination OF Rufus w. Peckham, a
Jewel of the first water who was
promptly confirmed, Probably the
hardest fight ever made in executive
session was over the nomination of
Stanley Matthews. The atmosphere
was filled with pungent insinuations,
and there was continual explosion
OF political tlrecrackers. Stanley bare
ly squeezed through. and a day or two
afterward the African at the door of
l 4.