New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-02
William (. Chandler

william L. Chanuicr
1t is hard to realize that William F..
Chandler Joined the Republican party on
its foundation in 1856 and was an active
party worker and leader in New Hamp-
shire before the Civil War. Mr.. Chandler
was a man who never grew old. His alb
sorption in politics and his enjoyment Of
all the details Of the game were as keen
in 1916 as they were in 1856. There never
could have been another American to
whom politics-in the broadest sense as
well as in its interplay Of party maneu-
yres and personalities-was more the
breath of life than it was to him.
To Mr.. Chandler politics was the art of
arts. His feeling toward it was similar
to that of a great actor toward the theatre.
Even after sixty years of saturation his
Custo remained undiminished. He never
could content himself with the pose Of
patriarchal contemplation. Even up to the
end he could not rest until he had had his
say on every current question. And what
he said was always interesting, because he
put into it a zest for discussion and pas
sion for controversy which were vital and
inexhaustible.
He had an unusual gift of pleasantly
and sarcasm, and nothing ever gave him
greater pleasure than to exercise it. In
the United States Senate he was some
thing of gadfy, always evoking amuse-
ment and wrath. His long experience and
his acute intelligence made him formi-
dable antagonist in debate. The wary
avoided him. The unwary rushed to their
fate. Outside the Senate he was an indie
fatigabe letter writer. No one ever sought
an issue with him who didn't get stomach
full of fight. We might except the incl
dent in which he figured as an intermedi-
arv between President Roosevelt and
Senator Tillman in 1906, at the time Of the
struggle in Congress over the broadening
of government regulation of the railroads.
In that case Mr.. Chandlersessayed an un-
accustomed role and suffered the usual
discontinue of an unlucky harmonizer
The activities Of the former Senator
from New Hampshire will some day fur
nish material for several fascinating vol
umes. We can note only few of them
here. William E. Chandler saved the
Presidency for Rutherford B. Hayes, when
Zachariah Chandler was about to let it slip
through his fingers. He authorized the
sending of the kilograms on the morning
after the election in 1876 which laid the
foundation for the contest, carried finally
into the Electoral Commission. He acted
promptly and without credentials at time
when immediate action was necessary.
And it was a mere chance that brought
him to Republican headquarters in the
Fifth Avenue Hotel in this city at that
eventful moment.
Later, although he had been one of the
Blaine managers in the Republican con-
vention of 1880, President Arthur APP
pointed him Secretary of the Navy. His
inquisitive mind and nervous energy soon
told in a department which had been sink
ing into stagnation. lie reorganized the
clumsy machinery Of the department and
SGL dDOuL JlOutlulIiil biiN iie'f - ~ ~
cured authorizations for the first steel YES
sells of the new feet, built the Dolphin and
paved the way for the building Of the ia
nous White Squadron. His programme
was accepted by Congress and the country,
and as a United States Senator he had the
satisfaction of working and voting for
the increases Of the fleet which, after
twenty years, restored the status Of the
United States as a naval power, lost after
the close Of the Civil War. This service
alone will preserve Mr.. Chambers fame
as a public man. lie was the real father
of our modern navy.
There are some public men who do not
wear out, who do not go stale and out OF
date. Mr.. Chandler was one Of those. lie
never went stale. Those who knew him will
remember with delight his versatility and
spontaneity of character, his humor, his
shrewdness, his unquenched curiosity, his
love of combat and his acuteness Of vision.
He had his idiosyncrasies. But he was
man of mettle, politician of brains and
figure of intense human interest.
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