The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1910-03-24
new NEWS Of YESTERDAY
How Willard Fillmore Fascinated
President Zachary Taylor.
Wing Leader captivated the Chief
Executive and the Resignation Of
w. II. Seward from the Sen
ate Nearly Resulted.
BY E. J.. EDWARDS.

ate Nearly Resulted.
BY e. j. EDWARDS.
II presume that there are few per-
sons now living who know that Will
liam H. Seward, shortly after he took
his seat in the senate in 1849, was
'sorely tempted to resign" said the
venerable Judge Noah Davis of Wing
party and Tweed trial fame to me a
year or two before his death. and"
he added, II believe l I'm one of the
very few persons who ever knew the
real reason why Mr.. Seward thought
of leaving the senate, where his bril-
liant intellect shone for so many
years and helped to make %ante-bellum
history.
GAS the Wing senator from New
York state, which had decided the
presidential election of the year be-,
fore in favor of Gen. Zachary Taylor,
Mr.. Seward very naturally expected
to be consulted by the president with
respect to important federal appoint
ments made in and from New York.
But after he had been in Washington
a few weeks he discovered that he
and Thurlow Weed, New York's other
great Wing leader, were to be abso-
lutely ignored by the new administra,
tion. Try as he could he was not able
to learn the reason. /,
I'm his dilemma the senator sent
for Mr.. Weed, whose political STRAIT
egg had brought about the nomination
of Gen. Taylor for president on the
Wing ticket. To him Mr.. Seward ex-
planned the situation.
"sWhy,' he said, do you know that
I was not ven consulted about the
appointment of the new collector of
the port of New York? I did not
know, until the lame was. sent to the
senate, that the president was ready
to consider the appointment. The en-
tire atmosphere is icy. 1t is becoming
embarrassing and annoying
"'Have you any good friend among
;the presidents cabinet?' asked Mr..
Weed.
"Mr. Seward gave him the name OF
the postmaster general, Jacob Colla7
mer, who vas one of our most dis,
tinguished civil war senators, hailing
from Vermont. To him Mr.. Weed
went to get some explanation of the
situation confronting him and Senator
Seward.
"But no sooner had Mr.. Weed stated
the object of his visit that Mr.. Cola
mer became visibly embarrassed. He
hemmed and hawed, but finally said:
CT am very sorry to have to tell
you, Mr.. Weed, that neither your rec,
ommendation nor Senator Stewards
in any matter whatever is going to be
of any influence with the administra-
ton. l will tell you further what the
reason is. Vice-President Fillmore
has completely %captivated the presi-
dent. Why, the president at one time
thought of taking Fillmore into his
cabinet as ex-oficio cabinet officer,
and would surely have lone so only
that certain senators said to him that
this would not be tolerated by the
senate for an instant.
81 think continued the postmaster
general, that Fillmore has great am
billions, and he looks Upon Senator
Seward and you as standing in the
way of them. He expects through the
patronage to command his party in
New York state. You know he is a
most fascinating man personally, and
President Taylor has, l think, been
more fascinated by him than by any
other man in the party. Now that is
the explanation, and, of course, it is
CONFIDENTIAL
ut vas a gloomy message that Mr.
Weed took back to Senator Seward
who spoke seriously of resigning from
the senate and returning to his law
practice. 1t seemed to him that there
was nothing else that, in dignity, he
could do. Yet a few hours later Mr.
Weed, through one of those queer
turns that have always made the game
of politics a most fascinating one tc
it's players, was able j~ubilantly to re
port to the senator that he had seer
the president, had won him over, and
that thereafter he and Seward would
be consulted as to the dispensation O.
patronage"
i How Mr. Weed Unexpectedly Sc
cured this victory over Fillmore al
the last moment I have already told
at length in this column. Suffice it tc
say here that, on going to the White
House to pay his respects to the
president, as a mere matter of form
before returning to New York, Mr.
nj Weed discovered that wears before he
had secured the appointment to West
Point of the man who was now the
presidents private secretary and son
in-law; in deep gratitude Col. Bliss al
nee put Mr.. Weed in close touch
with his father-in-law, and Mr.. Sc
i ward kept his seat in the senate.
Copyright, 1909, by E. J. Edwards.)
I Not Entirely Useless.