Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-01-22

l lOllONeu his duNlCe 1 NouIu pIl 'l4t Ot'''
sion have appointed n Judge who within
two weeks thereafter was arrested upon a
charge Of embezzlemeut
Penrose "Carefree"
soon after Quay's death said to him:
Senator there will be n great contest
in this State over the election Of the next
Governor and YOU had better be making
your arrangements now in preparation for
IT,"
His reply was:
"Nonsense. there is not sign Of dis
! turbance anywhere in the state. 1t would
! cost s250,OOO aud there is not a man in
! the state who would be willing TO spend
the money If Durham and I cannot man.
age the next convention and election VIC
ought to go and hide our heads"
He turned TO Israel W. Durham, who
was present, and Durham agreed with him.
l insisted upon my view.
"Why, do you know anything he in
quired.
| mo do not know a thing but LET
me tell YOU this: There are n lot Of uneasy
| people all over the state whom Quay has
suppressed. lie had beaten them so often
| that they feared to enter a contest with
| him. You are untried. They will be up
! in arms and you will have to fight for
| your seat before you can hold it, and their
| opportunity will come over the governor
| shin"
This process Of reasoning made no i'm
preston on him. and it marks the differ
! ence between him and Quay, who would
| have foreseen the situation which arose.
There was a vacancy in the United States
| Senate to be filled If Quay ever had the
thought that his son Richard might sue
ceed him there, as J. Donald Cameron had
| followed his father, he never even gave
| me a hint of his wish. Iichard Il. Quay,
| a bright, dapper little fellow. who had
shown an aptitude for making money, had
| done nothing in public life which would
| Justify such selection Ills appointment
| could only have been made by subordinate
| ing duty TO friendship. The newspapers,
az is their wont, proceeded at once to de-
| telmine the person who should be selected
and the manner in which it should be
done. In their view, if the Governor did
not call the Legislature together in special
session for the purpose he would be
yiolator Of the Constitution, and they cited
| an argument OF my Attorney General III
support of the proposition. Among their
selections were William Finn, Joseph c.
| Sibley, John Dalzell, Francis Robbins
| Henry G. FIick and John =. Elkin in am
| interview in the Executive Mansion at
Harrisburg at which We're present Penrose'
| Robert McAfee and other party leaders, the
Senator offered me tentatively list OF
about six names. We talked over the mat
ter at some length. George f. Oliver of
| Pittsburgh, was the only one who was
satisfactory in my view, and most of the
men suggested would not have appointed
! under any circumstances. Finally, | said
| TO Penrose:
The proper man 10 send 10 the Senate
| is Philander c. Knox
The Contest Over Knox
Ills name was not on the list The in.
tervieyr then ended. A day or two later l
WAS invited TO dine with the Farmers Club
at the farm OF A. ]. Cassatt in Chester
Valley. There were present, among others,
George F. Baer, Wayne Macveagh and
Senator Penrose. When the dinner was
over Penrose asked me TO walk out on the
lawn and there he told me that "they" had
| talked IL over ana ndu CoICluueu u dSh
me to appoint Knox.
'I will do il at once" I replied; That
suits me exactly" had determined, if he
were willing 20 accept, with the risk Of
the election by the Legislature, to make
the appointment without an understanding.
we were in cordial good humor and
the senator further said to me; Durham
and I have talked over the matter and
have concluded that when tine next vacancy
occurs in the Supreme Court Of the United
States or in the Supreme Court Of the
State to insist upon your having the
place"
This fact further illustrates the differ
ence in the methods OF Quay and Penrose.
Quay never would have made such prom
ise unnecessarily and unrequested, and if
he had made it would have seen that it
was fulfilled.
made the appointment Of Knox at
once
lie, through his intelligence, experience
and knowledge OF the law, soon took a
commanding position in the Senate and
the state never was more worthily repre-
sented there.
He made a mistake in accepting the
position Of Secretary Of State under