Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1910-08-11
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Luck That Made a
Dwarf a Governor
By "HOlland."
BY "HOlland."

samuel FeSSenden, OF Connecticut, 10
me some years before his death I'm
1907, that in politics luck. or for
tuitous combination of circumstances,
very often goes farther than real abil
ity in making a successful public
career for an ambitious man"
Mr.. Fessenden spoke somewhat sad
~. He was one of those men in poll
tics for whom lucky combinations were
not made. His lifelong ambition was
to serve In the United States Senate.
and although he was secretary to the
Republican national committee in
1884, was an intimate friend Of James
G. Blaine, and aided In making Sena-
tors from Connecticut and in nominat
ing successful candidates for Gov
ernor. luck invariably turned against
him whenever the opportunity came
for his party to elect a Senator from
Connecticut.
Now, take the case of our Supreme
/ Court Justice Charles Andrews, Of
Litchfleld." continued the man who
! declared TO Joe Manley. of Maine, that
the Lord hates a gutter when Marley
! deserted the Reed Presidential boom
| in 1896. IF there ever was a lucky
combination of circumstances utterly
unexpected I'm which Judge Andrews
or his friends had no part, it was the
one which made him Governor OF Con
necticut.
In 1878, when 1t came time for the
Republicans to hold their State con-
vention, Connecticut had been steadily
Democratic for six years, and It was
believed by some Republicans even
that it was permanently in the Demo-
cratic column. A good many Of our
party workers were discouraged, yet
we had to make a nomination for Gov
/ ernOr, and so we sent a committee to
call upon Henry c. Robinson. who had
been the Republican candidate for
/ Governor few years earlier, and who
had been badly defeated. But when
we asked him to lead us once more
he shook his head.
ooh, no, not again. he said. I have
had my experience and have paid
for IL. / have discovered whatever
Ipleasure there is in running as a can
didate for Governor, and ] know what
the sensations of being defeated are.
I'll let some other fellow experience
those sensations
1--WE went away from Henry c. Rob
inson asking ourselves: Who is there
that we can turn to-? Well in Amos
r. Treat, of Bridgeport, we had had
for years a steady though unsuccess-
full candidate for the gubernatorial
nomination. In our dilemma, some
one suggested that we turn 20 Mr..
Treat that he would not decline a
pronered honor he had been after so
long. We turned promptly, but Mr..
Treat smiled cynically upon us. oh,
no, not this year he said.
Right and left after that we cast
about unsuocessfully for some one who
hankered after the nomination. At last
It was suggested that we try William
H. Barnum's bailiwick. Barnum. at
that time. was United States Senator
and. you know, he served twice as the
chairman of the Democratic national
committee. His home was in Itch
field county, and It was said that he
carried the county in his pocket
YEARLY we hunted up the Itch
field men. Look here, we said. II
you fellows can agree upon any one as
your candidate for Governor, we'll take
him and nominate him.
'Now, the Litchfield men had been
coming to every convention FOR twenty
years asking for a Litchfeld county
mans nomination for Governor. AZ
last their chance had come TO name
the candidate They rose to 1t eagerly
and after talking the matter over
among themselves told us that they
had decided upon Charles B. Andrews
as their man. A little later, when the
convention met we nominated hin
with hurrah. What did we care whC
was nominated? II was fairly safe
betting that the Democratic candidate
would carry the State.
Yet on the morning after election
1t was discovered that the little Itch
field lawyer, who had suffered a yer!
great curvature of the spine when
child. and so was a dwarf in stature
and badly deformed. was going TO b.
our next Governor The Greenbacl
and Labor tickets had polled enough
votes to prevent either the Republican
or the Democratic candidate getting
majority of all the votes cast. A Con
necticut Governor must be elected b.
majority of all the votes cast; tina
falling, he Is elected by legislature
and the legislature was Republican
So, in due course, a man whose hea
did not rise much above a desks TOT
and who had not a thing TO do wit
the combination Of circumstances tina
favored him. became Governor Of Con
necticut and afterwards chief justic
OF the highest court Of the State"
I Copyright, 1910. by +. ]. Edwards
= All Rights Reserved.)
) Tomorrow Mr.. Edwards will tell {
"GladstOup and Universal paacoS