The Washington herald., 1915-10-11
HISTORY BUILDERS.
The Candidate Who Could Take a
Joke.
'n Al F"SsN Ion III Washington Herald
BY DIR. T.. J. EDW ARDS.


The lat" Henry B. Stanton-in his
day as effective political speaker as
any who took part in great campaigns,
and who sometimes was associated with
his wife. Eliza beth rady Stanton, of
who's. abilities aS speaker lie was
. very proud in agitation in behalf of
w"man'S %uffra ge-was a native of
Eastern Connecticut. y year or two
a fter he became a Voter-it must have
been about 1S26-he iourneyed to the
then lirtl" village of Rochester. n. y,
being persuaded To do that he after
ward told me. because h." had heard
/ that Ro"hestsr was sure TO become the
greatest flour manufacturing center in
the United states.
FIFTY years later. Mr. Stanton de
! scribed to me. one evening when we
I -hared together room at a hotel in
, Trenton, y j. some of his experiences
3 in those early days in Rochester. There
he first mot .Thurlow Weed. who was
undertaking his first Venture as a
newspaper editor and vino. Mr.. Stanton
, said. wrote as though hc needed all
! the p"cuniary assistance which the lit
| tie village was able t" furnish the
| Struggling editor.
One of the things that I remember r
a bout those early days in Rochester
|
to make of William II. Marcy" said
Mr. Stanton.
Marcy was n magnificent type of
! American citizen. He afterward gained
! distinction as United States Senator
! and as Secretary of State in the Cabi-
net of Franklin Pierce. His achieve
ment caused him to he ranked with the
ableSt men who held that important
/ post.
Marcy had been elected United
States Senator Il year or two after /
went to Rochester. but he resigned his
seat in the Senate so that he might
assume the office of governor of New
/ York. to which he had been elected.
1t was during the gubernatorial cam
paign that the incident. which l am
about to describe occurred.
Politics was very active in those
days in Rochester and there was a
considerab BILE number of citizens who
were opposed to the election of Marcy
! ns governor one night thea" Oppon-
ents planted a pole near the public
square at the top of which was the
representation of large pair of
trousers. Upon these trousers was a
huge patch marked so cents. This was
ca d 'MarCy's Patch
"'NIarCv's Patch became political
campaign cry. and | suppose to this
day there are a good many persons who
| remember il. II all rose out of Marcy's
habit. when comptrolleg. of New York
State some years earlier. of insisting
upon detailed items of all eXpendi-
| lures before he would authorize pay
ment of bills. As small a sum as 5
cents had to be accounted for when
he was assigned to the trial of an i'm
portant case, with the understanding
that his expenses were to be paid.
When he filed an itemized bill with
the. State comptroller it was found to
contain one item as follows: For re-
pairing a tear in my pants. so cents
This item was dug out OF the records
| Of the comptroller's office by some one
who had a sense of humor. and Koches.
| ter heard of It and made campaign use
of it in the manner which / have de-
scribed. 1t didn't hurt Marcy in the
campaign. for he was elected, but II
| made lots OF fun. And to no one did its
humorous side appeal more forcibly than
to Marcy himself. Had he made any
sign to show that it hurt his feelings he
would not have gained any sympathy,
but his revelation. that he was highly
amused by II served to Keep all his
friends and to gain others"
(CoIyrght 1915. by +. J. Edwards All rights re-
sered.l
Tomorrow Or. Edwards will tell Of
Nn l..