The Washington herald., 1914-02-14
HISTORY BUILDERS.
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Cwfittes Kzuss,y for TAs w.shizstl B0Al
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at AM convinced that the true histor1
! OF the manner In which oroyer
cleveianG wss nominated for governoI
at New York in 1ss2 can never Be told.
said the late Mayor william R. Grace q
me shortly after Mr.. Cleveland's third
nomination for the Presidency In 1ssc.
II could ten much Of the history d
the politics which triumphed when Glove
land was, nominated for the third time
for was in the thick of that poiitica
battle" Mayor Grace continued. but In
1850 was mayor OF New York and wa,
10 occupied with my duties that did moi
have any oportunity to learn what thu
politics was which preceded the gsberna-
torial nomination. have asked every
body who did have a hand In that gams
and / find that by piecing the various
stories together there still remains q
missing link.
Il am now satisfied that nobody knows
exactly how or why Cleveland was nom-
mated and that II was by the aueeresi
sort Of destiny that the nomination did
come to him with his subsequent election.
whereby he was pre-emincntly indicated
as tho Democratic candidate for Presi-
dent in 1854.
DO You remember Waldo Hutchins
He was a member. of Congress from
Westchestcr County. which adjoins New
York County on the north. He was a
big. buriy man and sometimes when ]
looked ut him or talked to him could
not help being reminded Of william N.
Tweed. for Hutchins' figure and the
shape of his head were very much like
those which distinguished Tweed. The
expression of his face. however. was en-
tlrely different, for he was q man of ex-
cellent character. He had hosts of
upon whom the two factions of New
York City would unite for the guberna-
torial nomination
Hubert o. Thompson. who at that time
was the leader OF the county Democracy.
the great rival of Tammany, told me that
a day or two before the convention met
a very thorough canvass showed that
Hutchins would have a majority over all
the other candidates In the field and
would be nominated on the first ballot
certainly on the second.
Thompson told me that Cleveland. who
was then mayor OF Buffalo. was persuad-
GU u ko W cyIdCoSrs tIlc Con-
vention was held a day before the con-
vention met He was there only a few
hours, and then went back TO Buffalo.
because he was satisfied that he could not
get the nomination.
Now comes the queer part of the
whole business, to my thinking. Dan
Manning. who afterward became Cleve-
lands Secretary of the Treasury and
who was the head of the Democratic or
ganization, was thought by Hutchins'
friends to be friendly to his nomination.
"A year or two later Dan Lamont told
me that Manning had privately decided
that Cleveland was the most available
man to nominate.
Whatever other man he had in his
mind. he went to Hutchins' friends and
said to them that they had better scatter
their vote upon the first ballot because
IL they made their support of Hutchins
strong the friends OF various other can
didates. Roswell p. Flower, Perry Bel
mont, Gen. Slocum. and Grover Cleve-
land. might concentrate upon some one
of these and so beat their candidate.
''Manning's suggestion was thought to
be a good one. In accordance with II.
John Kelly. who was then the leader Of
Tammany Hail. voted on the first ballot
for Cleveland. So many OF Hutchins'
real friends scattered their vote that he
made a poor showing. and as Kelly had
voted for Cleveland the assumption was
strong that Tammany Hall would warm
ly support him. The result was that
Cleveland unexpectedly got a very large
vote and was nominated, much to his
own surprise.
Il have often thought about this and
for the life of me I cannot think out
whether Dan Manning was playing
shrewd politics In an attempt to nominate
Cleveland. or whether destiny brought
about the result which two years and a
half later carried Cleveland into the
White House"
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