THE POLITICIAN- WHO IS "ON THE FENCE' IS HAVING AN EXCITING TIME.
ONE THAT THE STATE COMMITTEE CANNOT DECIDE- THE BEAUTT CONTEST BETWEEN SENATOR CULLOM
AND SPEAKER CANNON.
HDOTRS
MoaVus
m^=^^
12ai.pm\*JilofR.-
THE CAMPAJGN MANAGERS GIVE OUT INFORMATION AS TO WHO WILL BE NOMINATED.
Cartoon by Ralph Wilder. Reproduced from the Chicago Record-Herald, May 13, 1904.
PART TWO: THE CONVENTION. 239
CHAPTER VI.
THIRD DAY, SATURDAY, MAY 14 ā GOVERNOR YATES PRE-
PARES FOR EMERGENCY ā HAMLIN STAMPEDE.
" But of course," delegates argued, as they discussed the
situation on their way over to convention hall Saturday morn-
ing, the 14th ā " of course, the candidates will get together
some time to-day and end this deadlock. They won't keep us
here over Sunday."
That, indeed, was the general expectation ā that before the
close of the day a winning combination would be made. The
public expected it. Yet if one could have read the minds of
the three men who controlled in the aggregate more than 1,200
of the 1.500 delegates, and any two of whom, if agreed, could
have ended the deadlock instantly, he would have discovered
how groundless was the hope of an ending that day. Yates,
Lowden and Deneen were as firm as they had been at mid-
night ā even firmer than they had been before the first ballot
was taken ; for each had been given new and impressive evi-
dence of the loyalty of his delegates, and each determined in
his own mind not to give up so long as there was a hope of
victory.
Yet no man ā not even one of the candidates who had
risen to feel so sure of their own ground ā could tell what the
day would bring forth. The air was full of mystery, of uncer-
tainty, of the promise of unexpected happenings.
No candidate knew who might be his political ally before
the day should end. Some weeks afterward a most interesting
fact came to light. It is said that, realizing that an emergency
might arise which would make it desirable for him to address
the convention, Governor Yates went to Chairman Cannon and
stated that at some time during the proceedings he might ask
for recognition. Mr. Cannon called attention to the fact that
the Governor was not a delegate. The Governor replied that he
held a proxy from a Morgan county delegate : but the conven-
240
THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.
tion had just adopted a rule which shut out proxies. The possi-
bihty that he might be denied the privilege of the floor so
impressed the Governor that he decided to take no chances, and
on Saturday morning, when he walked into the convention, he
carried with him a little package containing the placards of
the several candidates. These placards would take the place
of a speech. If a situation developed suddenly that appeared to
justify him in throwing his support to j\Ir. Deneen, for instance,
he had resolved, in case he could not secure recognition ā which,
under the rules, could have been denied him if objection had
been made ā to stand upon his chair and wave before the con-
CONGRESSMAN JOSEPH V. GRAFF.
(PEORIA.)
PROMI.NENT PARTY LEADER ACTIVE AT SPRINGFIELD IN EFFORTS TO BREAK THE DEADLOCK.
Born at Terre Haute, Indiana, July i, 1854, and received his education in the
public schools, graduating from the liigh school at the age of sixteen. He also attended
Wabash College at Crawfordsville, Indiana, but never completed his collegiate course.
He studied law and was admitted to the bar while living at Delavan, Illinois, in 1879.
He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention at Minneapolis in 1892 and
has held the office of President of the Board of Education of Peoria. He never had
held political office until his election to the Fifty-fourth Congress in 1894. He has
been reelected to Congress at each succeeding election since that time.
PART TWO: THE CONVENTION. 241
vcntion the Deneen placard. This incident indicates not only
that the Governor was prepared for every contingency, but also
the uncertain situation that existed in the convention on that
Saturday morning, the third day of the convention.
The doorkeepers, aided by uniformed police, made heroic
efforts to carry out the strict orders given the night before by
Chairman Cannon regarding admission to convention hall. The
result was that fewer spectators crowded upon the floor to
block the aisles. But the galleries were packed, as they had
been on the two previous days. Before the proceedings began,
the galleries became noisy. The impatience of the onlookers
was exhibited in repeated cries of " roll-call I" "roll-call !"
THE CHAIRMAN S GAVEL.
CHAIRMAN CANNON'S NEW GAVEL.
Chairman Cannon called the convention to order at lo :50.
A few minutes earlier he had been presented w^ith a gavel made
from a Lincoln flagpole raised in Palmyra, Illinois, in i860.
He did not use the gavel, however. " Uncle Joe " had developed
a fastidious taste in the matter of gavels. The gavel which had
been provided for him on the first day was a heavy, clumsy mallet
with a short handle. An attache of the Adjutant-General's
department, ]\Iajor W. D. Edwards, who had assisted in the
preparation of the armory for the convention, had been inspired
with the idea of making a gavel from one of the gun-cleaners
that were to be found in the arsenal ā a long rod with a small
knob at one end. Cutting off the end of the rod, he produced a
neat little gavel with a handle about eighteen inches in length.
This he laid upon the chairman's table. After giving the officially
provided gavel a fair trial, and thereby nearly demolishing his
table. Chairman Cannon impetuously cast the mallet under a
16
242 THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.
near-by press table and picked up the abbreviated gun-cleaner,
which thereafter became the convention gavel.
Chairman Cannon began the proceedings by ordering all
on the floor who were not delegates to retire from the hall.
" The Chair requests/' said he, " that gentlemen, the friends
of the respective candidates, all of whom I know can reap no
advantage by the display of banners, will refrain from using
banners ā that demonstrations be not made. One thing has
been demonstrated by a two-day session. Thank God, these
1.500 men, however much they may be attached to their views,
are men whom banners and huzzas do not affect. [Cheers.]
The convention being in order, the clerk will call the roll."
The secretary began the calling of the roll for the sixteenth
ballot. Some changes from the last ballot taken the night before
developed as the roll-call progressed. The most notable change
was the shift of DeKalb county with its fifteen votes from Yates
to Low'den. This w-as the signal for cheers from the Lowden
delegates. The footings showed that Yates had fallen to
4724-5, while Lowden had risen to 428 ā but slight changes
being shown in the totals for the other candidates.
On the seventeenth ballot, i\lr. Pierce was given 14 votes
of Bureau county, thus raising his total to 34 ā the highest
vote cast for him at any time during the balloting. DeKalb
county returned to Yates. The Yates vote rose to 485 4-5 ; the
Lowden vote dropped back to 407 ; Deneen lost slightly, his
vote falling to 379.
There was a long delay in the announcement of the eighteenth
ballot, and a variety of rumors were in circulation as to what
was transpiring. Chairman Cannon, Senator Hopkins and two
or three other leaders left the platform. The Yates and Lowden
managers were reported to be in conference. Mr. Hamlin was
observed to leave his seat in response to a summons, and it was
supposed that he had gone to join the conference. Presently
the Governor's delegates who had left their seats returned to
their places, and the word went out that the Yates forces were
as unyielding as ever.
It developed that the only result of the conference was an
agreement upon a recess after the next ballot until 3 o'clock
in the afternoon. The moment this agreement was reached,
Chairman Cannon rapped the convention to order, announced the
PART TWO: THE CONVENTION. 243
result of the previous ballot and directed the secretary to call
the roll for the nineteenth ballot. This was taken, with but
slight changes. The Yates vote climbed up to 491 4-5, while
Lowden lost slightly, his vote standing at 405. Deneen was
also a loser, his vote going down to 376. Hamlin had gained,
his vote rising to 119 4-5.
" There is no choice,'' said Chairman Cannon, vigorously,
" and those who have not heard me will understand me when
I say the result stands in statu quo ante bclluin.'' [Laughter.]
It was now 1 140 p.m., and the convention, on motion of E.
J. Murphy, the Yates floor leader, took a recess until 3 o'clock
P.M.
When the delegates came back at 3 o'clock they resumed
the monotonous procedure of balloting. The changes on the
twentieth ballot were almost too trivial to be mentioned. Alex-
ander county, which had been dividing its vote between Yates
and Lowden, provided a diversion by giving Warner five and
Yates two votes. Washington divided evenly between Lowden
and Deneen. Woodford gave Yates two votes. Then followed
the twenty-first and twenty-second ballots, with few changes.
Shortly before 4 o'clock in the afternoon rival Deneen and
Yates demonstrations w^ere started, and continued for some time.
Deneen placards suddenly appeared all over the hall, in the
hands of the cheering Deneen men. Then hundreds of little
flags were unfurled by the Yates delegates, who united in deafen-
ing cheers for their candidate. The bands in the galleries aided
the demonstration, and when one of them began playing " We
Won't Go Home Till Morning," almost every delegate in the hall
arose and cheered.
THE "LOST BAND WAGON."
The incident of the afternoon came with the twenty-third
ballot, when a Hamlin stampede was attempted. Mr. Hamlin
himself was no party to the movement : indeed, it came as
a complete surprise to him. A number of counties that had been
voting for the candidates now voted solidly for Hamlin ā the
number included Ford, Jackson, Jersey, Washington and Wood-
ford. St. Clair divided its vote equally between Hamlin, Deneen
and Lowden. A delegate ran through the aisles carrying a ban-
ner reading :
244 THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.
" The lost Republican band-wagon has been found. Ham-
lin has it. Get in."
For a time the excitement was intense. Judge Hamlin was
observed to leave his seat and go over to the Cook county dele-
gation and confer with the Deneen leaders. This increased
the enthusiasm of the Hamlin men. Returning, Judge Hamlin
walked rapidly to Governor Yates, and talked with him for a
moment. By this time a large number of the Yates delegates
had gathered in the vicinity of the Governor, eager to ascertain
what was transpiring. Governor Yates said to those about him :
" My friends will go to their delegations and sit down."
It was but a moment later when the Yates men started a
demonstration. Again the little flags were uplifted and waved,
amid deafening cheers.
When the result of the ballot was announced it was found
that Hamlin had received 148 4-5 votes ā a gain of 38 votes over
the total received on the last previous ballot. Yates had lost
but three votes ā the loss having fallen almost entirely on Low-
den and Deneen ā the former's vote falling to 3934-5, and the
latter's to 369. Warner had lost 9 votes, while Sherman had
lost only I.
The next ballot (the twenty-fourth) disclosed the failure of
the Hamlin stampede, for his vote dropped to 135 4-5. Some
amusement was created by the manner in which the vote of
Adams county, the first on the roll-call, was announced by
Major James E. Adams, who shouted belligerently:
" Adams county, twenty votes for Yates, yesterday, to-day
and forever."
There was some shifting about of candidates on this ballot,
but without materially affecting the totals.
It was now 7 130 in the evening. For two hours, after each
ballot there had been suggestions of adjournment among the
leaders. During the twenty-second roll-call the Yates men had
held a conference, and decided to oppose adjournment until the
following Tuesday, which was understood to have been sug-
gested by some of the Lowden leaders. But it was now clear
to everybody that it was futile to prolong the balloting farther
into the night. E. J. Murphy was recognized and moved an
adjournment until 10 o'clock the following Monday morning ā a
motion that was received with vigorous cries of "No!" "No!"
PART TWO: THE CONVENTION. 245
Chairman Cannon called attention to the fact that under the rules
of the convention (which were the rules of the National House
of Representatives) an adjournment would carry the convention
over until 12 o'clock on ]\Ionday. ]\Ir. ]\Iurphy then changed his
motion so as to provide for a recess until 10 o'clock Monday
morning.
A number of suggestions and proposed amendments followed,
all relating to the date of reconvening. Frank Lindley, of Dan-
ville, a Hamlin man, wanted to make the hour 2 o'clock Monday
afternoon ; Congressman Fuller, of Boone county, proposed 10
o'clock the following Wednesday morning; another delegate
wanted to make the hour 12 o'clock Monday.
iNlartin B. Madden, of Cook, called attention to the fact
that the Congressional district conventions in Cook county were
to be held on the i6th and 17th of the month. "If this con-
vention prevents us from holding our conventions," said he,
" these district conventions will be unable to elect delegates to the
national convention."
The proceedings of the next ten minutes had no interest
except to technical parliamentarians. At length the mass of
amendments that had been offered were gotten out of the way
and Chairman Cannon declared the question to be on a motion
to take a recess until 2 o'clock the following Monday. On this
question the volume of ayes and noes was so evenly divided
that there w^ere loud cries for a roll-call.
ā¢' The Chair," said Chairman Cannon, " cannot determine
whether there will be a roll-call until gentlemen sit dow-n. It
takes one-fifth of this convention to order a roll-call ; as many
as are in favor of a roll-call will rise."
The response was sufificient to indicate a strong desire for
a roll-call, and the secretary began calling the roll of counties.
It was soon evident that the motion would be carried over-
w^helmingly, and Qiairman Cannon interrupted the roll-call to
ask if there were any objections to dispensing with it. No objec-
tions were offered and the question was again put to a viva voce
vote and declared carried ; whereupon, at 7 :57 p.m.. the convention
was declared to stand adjourned until 2 o'clock the following
INIondav afternoon.
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PART TWO: THE CONVENTION. 247
CHAPTER VII.
THE SUNDAY RECESS ā QUIET DAY ā REMINISCENCES ā
STATE AND NATIONAL CONVENTIONS OF 1880.
Never was there a more welcome day of rest than that which
came to the candidates and the delegates on Sunday, the 15th of
May. The candidates and those directly connected with their
campaigns had had their capacity for endurance taxed to the
utmost. The strain upon them had commenced really months
before ; and now following a strenuous campaign they had spent
a week in Springfield, some of them with hardly enough sleep
in the whole period to make one good night's rest. Saturday
night, as they went off to their rooms in the hotel, several took
extra precautions to prevent any disturbance of their slumbers.
State Treasurer Fred A. Busse, one of the Deneen managers,
who had been accustomed to being wakened at all hours of
the night to be summoned into a conference, pinned on his door
a card bearing the words :
" Don't wake me until noon to-morrow under penalty of
death."
Many of the delegates, unable to get rooms, had been sleep-
ing on cots in the corridors of the hotels or in a vacant store-
room near by that had been converted into a temporary lodging
house. Most of them had kept their clothes on continuously for
a week. Many of the delegates on Saturday night hurried oflf
to catch trains that would take them to their homes, where
wives and families anxiously awaited them.
Sunday morning found less than half of the delegates in
Springfield. Nearly all of those who had come to the capital
merely as onlookers had gone home, and the Leland hotel was
comparatively deserted. The gubernatorial candidates were late
in arising. They spent the day in comparative quiet. Governor
Yates was up in time to be in his accustomed seat at the First
Methodist Church. Later, he went to Jacksonville, where he
spent a few hours with his aged mother, and came back to
248
THE BREAKING Of THE DEADLOCK.
Springfield in the evening. Colonel Lowdcn took a drive during
tlic afternoon and then spent the rest of the day in his headquar-
ters and around the hotel. Mr. Denecn, accompanied by Roy
O. West, took a stroll out to Washington Park, nearly two miles
away, and sat for an hour on a quiet hillside discussing with
]\Ir. West the puzzling situation. Judge Hamlin spent most of
the day with his family at his home on South Sixth street.
Colonel Warner chatted with callers at his headquarters. Judge
Sherman slept late. " While asleep, the devil mav have been
sowing tares." he remarked, with characteristic wit, " but I per-
formed a religious duty 1)_\- showing two Cook county delegates
CONGRESSMAN GEORGE W. SMITH.
(mubphysboro.)
prominent party leader active at state convention.
Born in Putnam county, Ohio, August 18, 1846, and was raised on a farm in
Wayne county, Illinois, to which his father removed in 1850. He learned the trade of
blacksmithing and received a common school education, later taking a course at
McKcndree College. He read law at Fairmount and took the law covnsc at Del'auw
University, graduating in 1870, since which time he has resided and practiced his pro-
fession in Murphysboro. In 1880 he was the Republican elector for his district and
cast the vote for (iarfield and Arthur. He was elected to and served in the Fifty first,
]<'ifty-second, Fifty-third, Fifty-fourth, l'"ifty-fiftli. Fifty-sixth and Fifty-seventh Con-
gresses and was reelected to the Fifty-eighth by a majority of 2,300.
PART TWO: THE COXrENTION. 249
the way to the Baptist Church. They may have been going there
to rob the contribution box, but that was no concern of mine."
In the afternoon, Judge Sherman and his friend, Senator O. F.
Berry, took a long walk and talked over the plans for the morrow.
The delegates who remained- in Springfield for the most part
spent a quiet day. A few went to the ball game ; some strolled
through the parks or along the shaded streets ; others went out
to Lincoln monument ; many remained in their rooms, sleeping,
or perhaps writing letters home, requesting a supply of clean
linen, or making a draft on the home bank account. As the day
wore away, they gathered in the lobby of the hotel or sat in
groups on the broad walk outside, listening in turn to some
one of their number explain how the deadlock was to be broken.
All were good-natured and all evidently were in a mood to
remain some time in Springfield. Not many professed to know
how long the deadlock would continue, although the common
expectation was that two or three days more would see the
finish.
'' As to what the outcome will be I haven't any idea," Chair-
man Cannon remarked, after the adjournment Saturday evening.
" The delegates will return on Mondav and bring with them
reports of what the Republicans of the State are thinking of
the contest. We may hear, also, whom the people w-ant nomi-
nated. Ā» Of course, we are going to nominate a Governor, but
whether we will be a long time doing it, or complete the job in
short order, depends upon the temper of the delegates when they
come back on Monday."
WOMEN SEND FOR TRUNKS.
The candidates were all reticent when appealed to for an
expression of opinion. So, also, w-ere their lieutenants. Mr.
I.orimer obviously hoped for some sort of a combination between
Yates and Lowden as the logical solution of the deadlock. " Yates
and Lowden," said he, " could combine and make the ticket.
The situation is so unlike anything we have ever had that no
man can predict the outcome." The ladies w-ho had been in
Springfield for a week in the interest of one or the other of the
women candidates for university trustee made preparations for
a long campaign. " We have sent for our trunks," said one of
them, " and are prepared to stay here all summer."
250 THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.
Although the day was devoted largely to storing up energy
for the days yet to come, and there was comparatively little
activity on the part of the candidates, yet a good deal of quiet
work was going on. The greatest aggressiveness was shown
by the Lowden men, who were reported to have sent emissaries
to " round up " some of the delegates who had gone home
for the day. So far as the prospect of a growing vote was
concerned, the situation appeared to be most favorable to Low-
den. Influences that hitherto had been powerful were being
exerted in his behalf. The preceding days had brought out
the fact that he had secured the active support of Senator Cullom,
practically all of the Congressmen and nearly all of the Federal
officeholders who were in attendance at the convention. Speaker
Cannon was understood to be committed to Lowden, although
of course he did not permit his personal preference to sway him
in the performance of his duties as chairman of the convention.
As for Senator Hopkins, while the delegates presumed to be
under his control had been supporting Yates, it was supposed that
when the contest reached a certain stage he would throw his
influence to Lowden.
Sunday afternoon and evening most of the activity around
the hotel was in the rooms occupied by Senator Cullom.
There a few men, including Senators Cullom and Hopkins,
Speaker Cannon, United States Marshal Ames, United States
District Attorney Bethea, Congressman Lorimer and a number of
the other Congressmen were in almost continuous conference.
Two days of balloting had developed a deadlock that had
brought out impressively one important fact, namely, that prac-
tically the only men who had any extensive influence with the
delegates were the gubernatorial candidates themselves. Senators
and Congressmen, who under ordinary conditions were all-
powerful, found themselves unable to make an appreciable impres-
sion upon the forces of any of the candidates. This situation
grew out of the fact that the delegates had been selected on the
single issue of the Governorship and now they were on the
ground prepared to go to the last ditch with the candidate of their
choice.
In the Sunday conferences the possibility that none of the
candidates then in the field would be able to secure the nomina-
tion was clearly recognized and all of that day there was more or
PART TWO: THE COXVEXTION.
251
less discussion of prospective compromise candidates. Two of
the candidates already before the convention were basing their
claims upon their availability on a compromise basis. These were
Colonel \\'arner and Mr. Pierce. But there were reasons appar-
ent why a combination on either of them would be inexpedient :
and the discussion hinged largely upon other names. Perhaps
a dozen men were put on the " dark horse " list that day. " There
are a hundred men in the State," Mr. Cannon is said to have
remarked, " any one of whom would make an admirable candi-
date for Governor." This was the feeling ā that there was no
lack of material within the party if it should come to the selection
of some one who had not previously figured in the fight. Among
From a photograph by F. H. Wagner, staff photographer Chicago Record-Herald.
COL. LOWDEX AND COL. A. J. LESTER, OF SPRINGFIELD, DISCUSSING THE SITU.\TION.
those prominently talked about were ex-Governor Joseph W.
Fifer, of Bloomington ; Col. A. C. Matthews, of Pittsfield : E.
J. Murphy, of Joliet ; ex-Congressman Walter Reeves, of
Streator. and Graeme Stewart,
of Chicago.
Speaker Cannon
252 THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.
himself had been suggested, but he would not permit the sugges-
tion to be seriously considered.
But all of this talk about " dark horses " was tentative. The
delegates themselves were not talking compromise. They w'ere
imbued thoroughly with the " stand pat " spirit, and were eager