The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-01-02

some kind. There was no civil SER
vice law then. Marcy's dictum still
prevailed; ITO the victors belong the
spoils.
One of the strangers was a queer
looking nervous little fellow with
foreign aspect and visage savage:
albeit he wore a sickly smile as a
mask. AS he ambled back and forth
neryously in the big lobby of the
old Willard hotel, Big Tom Cav
anaugh, long well known in Washing
ton as deputy sargeant-at-arms of
the house of representatives, and of
the republican national committee;
pointed at the little fellow, and said
ito a gathering of personal friends;
That little cuss gave me heap Of
trouble last fall. His name is Cult
eau: and he pronounces it Geet-o. He
came to headquarters every day, for
two or three weeks, insisting upon
seeing the chairman, or the secretary
of the committee. OF course played
my part of buffer, and held him at
arms length as long as | could We
have cranks by the score in every
campaign, who have schemes for
winning elections; but every one of
them brings dollars into the pockets
of the cranks, if we permit them to
get on the inside AS professional
buffer I've buffed hundreds of them
away, thus saving the men higher
up lot of valuable time. But that
little cuss was tireless. He came
every day. Finally, ! went to Col
Hooker and told him that he actually
must see the Guiteau person, and get
rid OF him.
Col Hooker saw him. and told me
about him afterwards He wanted to
make speeches in English, French
and some other languages in the big
cities. Col. Hooker told him that we
had covered that field completely,
but thanked him for his manifest in
terest in the campaign. Then the
little cuss stated that he wanted to
work for the committee, because he
wanted a consulate in France; Lyons
/ believe 1T was. Col Hooker prom
Used him the place, and he went
away. He wrote letters showing that
he was working on his own hook i'm
Cincinnati, Chicago. and other big
cities. He's got a promise; and
that's all he'll get,
Strange. isn't it2 That promise
was little thing for politician to
make. Such promises are made ev-
cry day; meaninglessly But that
promise meant everything: it should
be capitalized; that promise meant
everything on earth. TO that man
Guitea, who pronounced his name !
Geet-o. On the second day of July. !
1882, Guiteau was hanged in Wash |
ington's Jail for the murder of Presi- /
dent Garfield. The promise had not |
been kept.
Once in March. about week after
Garfield's Inauguration, Guiteau sue
ceeded in getting an interview with
the president, told him of the prom
Use, and received from the president
the promise: IF Col Hooker will
come here with you and will sub.
stantiate what YOU say, the promise
of the committee shall be fulfilled, in
some way
Undoubtedly Garfield meant it. in
making that promise; but Guiteau's
little brain laid it alongside of the
other promise
The year 1880 had been an event
full one; but the year 1881 was des-
tined to be even more eventful, more
dramatic, more tragic. There had
been made numerous other promises;
commonly known now as political
paper issued for the purpose of
advantage: and they had
been made to men higher up. They
had been made to men entirely too