The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-11-02

What I can do in Washington with
dignity ] Will do. l do not expect to
be in advance of. or follow. the tri-
Dack- / only expect TO do my level
best. ! wonder how they did these
things in Rome? When / return from
Washington / can tell you how the
American people do ii under the new
census Fifty millions of people have
a way of their own. you know"
Very few men came nearer the pres
idency without obtaining the coveted
prize than James @. Blaine. and yet
he managed to accept His fate with
better grace than Henry Clay. the
other idol of his party.
1t was in the convention of 1876 that
! lngersoll made his famous "Plumed
Knight speech; but in spite OF that
outburst Of oratory Hayes was the
successful man. Before the decisive
vote had been fully counted Blaine
was writing a letter of congratulation
to Hayes and assuring him that Maine
would give him as big a majority as
1t would have given himself
When Blaine did receive the NOM
/ ination he was confident Of his cleo
ton, His defeat must have been a Sc
I we're disappointment; but If it was, he
controlled his feelings very success
/ election.
| William Walter Phelps sent him a tele-
gram of coincidence, ending WITH: are
you fairly well?"
Blaine answered: Never better in
my life"
Writing to Mr.. Phelps afterward. ne
said:
Our special misfortune was the loss
/ of both New Jersey and Connecticut.
l class them both as easily preventable
aaf s-rrrsf ,fr,.,1 1-n
canvass by many who had personally
a far greater stake than I. They are
likely 10 have leisure for reflection.
I IF the country is lost it will be some
satisfaction 10 realize that the class
which permitted il to be sacrificed will
/ feel the result most keenly. But l fear
you will think me i'll natured if 1 keep
on. am not, and feel as placid as
summers day.
Personally care less than my near
est friends would believe, but for the
cause Of my many friends 1 profoundly
deplore the result"
Probably the most tragic episode i'm
the history of presidential elections was
the candidacy of HORACE Greeley. fol-
lowed by the breaking down of his To-
1 bust body and mind, and by his death
Quite different was the effect of de-
feat of General Benjamin F. Butler.
who might be termed the free lance
candidate for the presidency. He APP
pealed to the adherents of the Labor
and Greenback party. and when the
votes were counted and it was found
that he had been followed by a very
small minority, he was as cheerful and
happy as it was possible for even a
successful candidate 10 be.
He insisted at that time, and even up
TO the time of his death, that Mr.
! Cleveland was not legally elected. He
contended that there were enough votes
cast for him several times over in New
! York state to have prevented Mr.
| Clevelands election, but that in many
! Of the polling places they were not
counted for him, but for Cleveland. He
said once:
II intended to have an investigation
made with the aid of John Kelly, who
was then the Tammony boss. and who
was opposed TO Mr.. Cleveland, but aft
er the election Mr.. Kelly took sick and
remained belfast so long that / finally
abandoned the idea of a contest
No one ever knew just how Samuel
j. Tilden felt over the result OF the con-
test in 1876. He was a bachelor and
quite reserved in his personal habits,
and his Utmost thoughts and feelings
were known to very few men.
He was practically reeIuse after the
election and retired 10 his apartments
and was extremely cautious in all that
he said or did concerning the contro-
versy of that time
General Mcclellan was a very much
disappointed man when he learned Of
the results OF his political campaign.
but he was scarcely surprised at the
result, and had very little TO say about
it, even to his intimates.
Grover Cleveland received the an
nouncement of the result in 1883 with a
stolidity of cOuntenance that amazed
where it did not irritate his friends.
They had gone into the campaign i'm
the belief that it was a sure thing; and
when the returns of the election were
received they ustained a shock from
which they did not recover for many
days.
But Cleveland himself received the
returns with a calmness that would
have made the Sphinx look like nerv-
GUS and irritable pile of rocks. Before
dusk Of the day when the result was
known he was calmly arranging his
plans for one of his favorite fishing
trips.
This apparent indifference to results
was also true OF Benjamin Harrison.
who thought that he would be elected
III 1oJ1- ne ndu given q ROOu ADMIN
istration and times were fairly pros
porous. but in spite of that fact he went
down in defeat. He took the result like
stole, and Immediately began to make
preparations for featuring and for re-
Stunning his practice of the law
William jennings Bryan, while not
showing the GOODNESS and indifference
of Cleveland and Harrison, received
the news of his two defeats with a
calmness which was a proof of the
self-control of the man. He heard the
news Of the result Of his first cam
paign at his home in Lincoln. Neb
with smiling countenance, and if he
felt any chagrin he did not show il
TO those who surrounded him. His sue
cessful competitor on each occasion had
not been fairly inaugurated before the
champion of the silver forces was lay
ing cut the plans for the contest four
years from that time.