Fifty Years Of Public Service - free ebook by Shelby M. (Shelby Moore) Cullom

FIFTY YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE

[Frontispiece] Photo, by Prince Tota, Washington, D. C. [Facsimile signature] SMCullom...

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FIFTY YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE

SECOND EDITION CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG &amp; CO. 1911 Copyright A. C. McCLURG &amp; Co. 1911 Published October, 1911 Second Edition, December, 1911 CONTENTS CHAPTER I Birth to Admission to the Bar, 1829 to 1855 II Service as City Attorney at Springfield, 1855 and 1856 III Election to the Illinois Legislature: Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 1856 to 1858 IV Other Distinguished Characters of that Day, 1858 and 1859 V Nomination of Lincoln and Douglas for the Presidenc

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LIST OF PORTRAITS

S. M. Cullom Shelby M. Cullom, while a Law Student Richard Yates Stephen A. Douglas Abraham Lincoln James G. Blaine Andrew Johnson Shelby M. Cullom, while Governor of Illinois Ulysses S. Grant John A. Logan John M. Palmer Richard J. Oglesby Grover Cleveland James A. Garfield William McKinley William Howard Taft Cushman K. Davis William P. Frye John C. Spooner Theodore Roosevelt Elihu Root...

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FOREWORD

"Oh, that mine adversary had written a book!" Such was the exclamation of one who, through the centuries, has been held up to the world as the symbol of patience and long suffering endurance, and who believed that he thus expressed the surest method of confounding an enemy. I have come to that age in life where I feel somewhat indifferent as to consequences, and, yielding to the suggestions and insistence of friends, I determined that I would undertake to write some recollections, as they occurr

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FIFTY YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE

Tides of migration set in about the close of the Revolutionary War, originating in the most populous of the late Colonies (now States), debouching from the western slopes of the mountain border-passes into the headwaters of Kentucky's rivers, and mingling at last in the fertile valley through which those rivers, in their lower reaches, find an outlet into the Ohio. The westward flowing current brought with it two families—the Culloms of Maryland, and the Coffeys of North Carolina—who settled in

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CHAPTER II SERVICE AS CITY ATTORNEY AT SPRINGFIELD 1855 and 1856

My election as City Attorney of Springfield signalized at once my active interest in politics at the very moment when the war cloud was beginning to take shape in the political heavens—a portentous cloud, but recognized as such at that time by comparatively few of the thinking people. It had seemed certain for years that a struggle was sure to come. Being a very young man, I suppose I did not realize the horrors of a civil war, but I watched with keen interest the signs of dissolution in politic

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CHAPTER III ELECTION TO THE ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE: LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 1856 to 1858

In the year 1856 I had rather unusual experiences of both victory and defeat in one and the same political campaign. As candidate for the Legislature I won out, being elected; as the chosen elector on the Fillmore ticket, I went down in the party's defeat. The Whig party was in its expiring days, and what was called the "Know- Nothing" party was apparently a temporary substitute for it. Fillmore carried one solitary state—Maryland. Buchanan was elected by quite a large majority over both Fremont

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CHAPTER IV OTHER DISTINGUISHED CHARACTERS OF THAT DAY 1858 and 1859

More than four months had elapsed since Lincoln's epoch-marking speech at Springfield had brought on his great discussion with Douglas, when on October 20, 1858, Governor Seward at Rochester, New York, intensified the political inflammation of the times by saying in a notable speech: "These antagonistic systems (free labor and slave labor) are continually coming close in contact. It is an irrepressible conflict between opposing and enduring forces; and it means that the United States must and wi

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CHAPTER V NOMINATION OF LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS FOR THE PRESIDENCY 1859 and 1860

Returning to the period preceding the Civil War, we observe that the whole nation was stirred by the conduct of a man whom most people believed to be crazy, but who in my judgment was not. He was an enthusiast, fired by an abnormal zeal, perhaps; but he filled a most important place in the development leading to the Civil War. I refer to old John Brown. With a score of followers he seized the arsenal at Harpers Ferry in October, 1859. The nation was then on the very verge of civil war. There was

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CHAPTER VI SPEAKER OF THE ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE AND A MEMBER OF CONGRESS 1860 to 1865

The election of Mr. Lincoln was made the pretext for secession. It has always seemed to me that the South was determined to secede no matter at what cost; and it has also seemed to me that this determination was not due to the great body of the people of the South, than whom there were no better, but to the jealous politicians of that section, who saw the gradual growth in wealth and power of the Northern States threaten their domination of the National Government, which they had firmly held sin

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CHAPTER VII LINCOLN 1860 to 1864

As days and years pass by and an enlightened humanity studies and comprehends the real greatness and simplicity of Abraham Lincoln, he comes nearer and becomes dearer to all. No weak compliment of words can add to his renown, nor will any petty criticism detract from the glory which has crowned his memory. The passing of time has only added brightness to his character; the antagonisms of bitter war have left no shade upon his name; and the hatred which, for a brief time, spent itself in harmless

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CHAPTER VIII NOTABLES IN THE THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS 1864 to 1870

I had a very active campaign for election to Congress in 1864. As I have stated elsewhere, I had, while Speaker, so framed the district that I thought it would surely be a Republican one; but very much to my surprise, it went Democratic when Mr. Swett was a candidate. For a number of reasons I was more than anxious to carry the district. First, naturally I did not want to be defeated; second, I wanted to show that it was really a Republican district, and more especially still on President Lincol

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CHAPTER IX THE IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON 1865

As I look back now over the vista of years that have come and gone, it seems to me that I entered the Lower House of Congress just at the beginning of the most important period in all our history. The great President had been assassinated; the war was over; Andrew Johnson, a Union Democrat, was President of the United States. Reconstruction was the problem which confronted us, how to heal up the Nation's wounds and remake a Union which would endure for all time to come. These were the difficult

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CHAPTER X SPEAKER OF THE LEGISLATURE, AND GOVERNOR 1871 to 1883

After my six years' service in the Lower House of Congress, I returned home, not expecting ever again to take office, or engage in politics. There was a contest going on in the State over the location of the State Capitol. The State had committed itself to the erection of a new Capitol building, and had really made considerable progress on its construction. In the meantime, the question of changing the location from Springfield to some other city was agitated. Peoria made a very strong effort fo

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CHAPTER XI GRANT

My acquaintance with General Grant began when he visited Springfield the first time immediately after the beginning of the Civil War. He came to Springfield with a company of soldiers raised at Galena. General John A. Rawlins, afterwards Secretary of War under President Grant, one of the best men whom I ever knew, and especially my friend, was with this company. General Grant offered his services to Governor Yates in any capacity, and the Governor requested him to aid General Mather, then our Ad

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CHAPTER XII GENERAL JOHN A. LOGAN

General John A. Logan was a man much more capable of accomplishing results than either General Palmer or General Oglesby. I first met him when he was a member of the Legislature, in 1856. He was a Democrat then, and a very active and aggressive one. It was in that year that we first elected a Republican Administration in Illinois, the Republican party having been organized only two years previously. Bissell was elected Governor; Hatch, Secretary of State; and Dubois, Auditor. Governor Bissell wa

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CHAPTER XIII GENERAL JOHN M. PALMER

General Palmer had a long, varied, and honorable career, beginning as an Anti-Nebraska Democrat in the State Senate of Illinois, in 1855, and ending as a Gold Democrat in the United States Senate in 1897, after being for a time a Republican. I first met him as a member of the State Senate, in which service he showed considerable ability. His one leading characteristic, I should say, was his independence, without any regard to what party he might belong to or what the question might be. He would

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CHAPTER XIV GOVERNOR RICHARD J. OGLESBY

I knew the late Governor Oglesby intimately for very many years. As a young man, he served as a lieutenant in the gallant Colonel E. D. Baker's regiment in the Mexican War, was at the battle of Cerro Gordo, and fought the way thence to the City of Mexico. He remained with the army until he saw the Stars and Stripes waving over the hall of the Montezumas. Returning to Illinois, he took up again the practice of law; but with the gold fever of 1849 he took the pioneers' trail to California, where,

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CHAPTER XV SENATORIAL CAREER 1883 to 1911

After I was re-elected Governor of Illinois, in 1880, my friends in the State urged me to become a candidate for the United States Senate to succeed the late Hon. David Davis, whose term expired March 3, 1883. I finally consented. There were several candidates against me, Governor Richard Oglesby and General Thomas J. Henderson being the two most prominent. It was not much of a contest, and I had no serious struggle to secure the caucus nomination. The objection was then raised in the Legislatur

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CHAPTER XVI CLEVELAND'S FIRST TERM 1884 to 1887

The Republican Convention of 1884 was held at Chicago. The names of Joseph R. Hawley, John A. Logan, Chester A. Arthur, John Sherman, George F. Edmunds, and James G. Blaine were presented as candidates for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Blaine and Logan finally were the nominees, neither of them having much of a contest to secure the nomination for President and Vice- President respectively. The Democratic Convention met later, and nominated Grover Cleveland and Th

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CHAPTER XVII CLEVELAND'S DEFEAT AND HARRISON'S FIRST TERM 1888 to 1891

At the time the delegates gathered, Cleveland's Free Trade message of 1887 was before the country, interest in it having been augmented and enlivened by the passage of the Mills Bill and the renowned tariff debate of that year. The issue was clear. It was Protective Tariff versus Free Trade. After a rather strenuous contest in the convention in which nineteen candidates were voted for, for the nomination for President, including the leading candidates, John Sherman, of Ohio, Walter Q. Gresham, o

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CHAPTER XVIII CLEVELAND'S SECOND TERM 1892 to 1896

I have already, in other parts of these recollections, referred to the National Convention of 1892, and the reasons which induced me to support President Harrison for renomination. I attended as one of the delegates, and took a more or less active part in the work of the convention. Harrison was chosen on the first ballot. No other candidate had any chance. Mr. Blaine and Mr. McKinley on that ballot received one hundred and eighty-two votes each, but neither was really considered for the nominat

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CHAPTER XIX McKINLEY'S PRESIDENCY 1896 to 1901

The hard times, the business depression, all attributable to the Wilson Tariff Bill, made the Republicans turn instinctively to Governor McKinley, the well-known advocate of a high protective tariff, as the nominee of the Republican party, who would lead it to victory at the polls. The Republican National Convention of 1896 was held at St. Louis. It was one of the few national conventions which I failed to attend. Since entering the Senate, I have been usually honored by my party colleagues in t

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CHAPTER XX ROOSEVELT'S PRESIDENCY 1901 to 1909

Colonel Roosevelt served as President of the United States from September 13, 1901, to March 4, 1909. What he accomplished during those years is still too fresh in the minds of the people of the United States to justify its recital by me here; suffice it to say that he gave one of the best Administrations ever known in the history of the United States. He accomplished more in that term than any of his predecessors; more laws were enacted, laws of more general benefit to the people; but above all

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CHAPTER XXI INTERSTATE COMMERCE

At the time I am writing these lines, no question of governmental policy occupies so prominent a place in the thoughts of the people as that of controlling the steady growth and extending influence of corporate power, and of regulating its relations to the public. And there are no corporations whose proceedings so directly affect every citizen in the daily pursuit of his business as the corporations engaged in transportation. Of the many new forms introduced into every department of civilized li

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CHAPTER XXII JOHN MARSHALL HARLAN

I have always admired Mr. Justice John Marshall Harlan, who has served some thirty-five years as a member of the Supreme Court of the United States, and who for a time after the death of Chief Justice Fuller acted as Chief Justice of the United States. Upon the death of Judge Allen, who had for many years been United States District Judge for the Southern District of Illinois, it was suggested that his portrait be placed in the court room of the United States Circuit and District Court at Spring

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CHAPTER XXIII MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

It has been said that Charles Sumner considered the chairmanship of the Committee on Foreign Relations as the highest honor that could have been conferred upon him by the United States Senate. I have been chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations for a longer consecutive period than any man in our history, aside from Mr. Sumner, who served as chairman for ten years. If I continue as chairman during the remainder of my term, I shall have exceeded the long service of Mr. Sumner. The Committee

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CHAPTER XXIV WORK OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

When I became chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, in 1901, I found a large quantity of undisposed of matter on the dockets, both legislative and executive. I determined that I would at once proceed to clear the docket and endeavor to make the committee an active working one. I have since made it a policy, as best I could, to secure some action, favorable or unfavorable, on every matter referred to the committee by the Senate. The first subject to which I turned my attention was the r

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CHAPTER XXV THE INTEROCEANIC CANAL

Probably the most important work before the Committee on Foreign Relations since the treaty of peace with Spain, were the several treaties concerning the construction of the Isthmian Canal. In 1850, the United States entered into what is known as the Clayton- Bulwer Treaty with Great Britain, the purpose of which was to facilitate the construction of a canal; but instead of operating to this end, it stood for fifty years or more as an effectual barrier against the construction by the United Stat

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CHAPTER XXVI SANTO DOMINGO'S FISCAL AFFAIRS

For some years the Santo Domingo protocol and treaty were before the Committee on Foreign Relations, and in the Senate. They came before the Senate very suddenly. On January 20, 1905, there appeared in the press what purported to be a protocol, agreed to by Commander Dillingham on the one hand, and Minister Sanchez of the Dominican Republic on the other, by the terms of which the United States was to take charge of the custom houses of the Dominican Republic, adjust and liquidate its debt, and g

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CHAPTER XXVII DIPLOMATIC AGREEMENTS BY PROTOCOL.

During the public discussion of the Santo Domingo question and the protocol by which the Santo Domingo Improvement Company claim was sent to arbitration, and later during the consideration of it, there was criticism of the Executive branch of the Government on account of its disposition to make international agreements of various kinds, and put them into operation without submitting them to the Senate. The practice became more general under President McKinley and Secretary Hay than it had under

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CHAPTER XXVIII ARBITRATION

During the year 1904, there was a great general movement all over the world in the direction of arbitration treaties. Indeed, so general did it become, and so universal was the form used, that it became known as the Mondel or world treaty. The treaties were very brief, and merely provided that differences which may arise of a legal nature or relating to the interpretation of treaties existing between two contracting parties, and which it may not have been possible to settle by diplomacy, shall b

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CHAPTER XXIX TITLES AND DECORATIONS FROM FOREIGN POWERS

The Constitution of the United States provides: "No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States, and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever from any king, prince, or foreign State." When I became chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, there were numerous bills pending, and numerous requests submitted through the State Department, for authority,

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CHAPTER XXX ISLE OF PINES, DANISH WEST INDIES, AND ALGECIRAS

For a number of years there was considerable controversy over the ownership of the Isle of Pines, a small island separated from Cuba by about thirty miles of water, containing 1200 square miles. This dot of land was not of the slightest account to the United States, so far as I could see; but after the treaty of peace with Spain, a number of Americans purchased land there for the purpose of establishing homes. When the United States withdrew from Cuba and the Cuban Republic was established, and

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CHAPTER XXXI CONGRESS UNDER THE TAFT ADMINISTRATION

It had been my intention to close these recollections with the beginning of the Taft Administration, but their publication has been deferred until the Administration extended so far that it seems proper to bring my observations up to date. I am especially impelled to this course by the fact that the present era has developed a very marked change in the character of the Senate, and, to a limited extent at least, in the trend of political thought in the country at large—a change which should be no

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CHAPTER XXXII LINCOLN CENTENNIAL: LINCOLN LIBRARY

The name of Springfield will forever be immortalized as the home and burial-place of Abraham Lincoln. As the hundredth anniversary of his birth approached, it was determined to hold a great celebration, and it was generally agreed that Springfield was the fitting and proper place in which to hold it. In 1907 the Legislature of Illinois passed a joint resolution providing: "Whereas, the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln will occur on the twelfth day of February, 1909; and,

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CHAPTER XXXIII CONSECUTIVE ELECTIONS TO UNITED STATES SENATE

I was twice elected Governor of Illinois, and have been elected to the United States Senate for five consecutive terms, and as I write this narrative I have served in the Senate more than twenty-eight years. I consider this a greater honor than an election to the Presidency of the United States. I owe the deepest debt of gratitude to the people of the State of Illinois, who have for so many years continued me in the public service. To my many friends who have so loyally supported me during all t

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CHAPTER XXXIV CONCLUSION

Generally I might say that I am quite content; but as I sit down now in the evening time of my life, it is a source of sadness and wonder to me that I have survived both my wives and all of my children. One by one I have laid them away in beautiful Oak Ridge Cemetery, in Springfield, where I myself will one day be laid beside them. I have had a delightful home life; no man could have had a more happy and peaceful one. As I look back now, I cannot remember that either wife or children ever caused

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