Fifty years in Wall Street
that there was a vacancy which I could fill to the entire satisfaction
of the then appointing power. I desired him to convey my feelings of
deep gratitude to the powers that were then on the point of being
dethroned, and to say that I very respectfully declined the flattering
offer. I said that I had thought earnestly over the matter since the
previous day, and as I was a member of the Committee of Seventy, which
was a reforming organization, I felt that I could not conscientiously
accept the position.
It was necessary that the office should be filled immediately, and it
was next offered to Mr. F. A. Palmer, President of the Broadway Bank,
which had been one of the Ring’s depositories of the city funds.
Soon after this the majority of the city officials had resigned and
taken their flight to parts unknown. They were scattered broadcast over
the world. Some had gone to Europe, some to Cuba, and others to that
favorite and paradisaical colony of defaulters, the New Dominion,
leaving the Committee of Seventy, as a reform and revolutionary body, in
complete control of the city.
Tweed remained, but was not quite so audacious in putting his pet
interrogative, “What are you going to do about it?” He seemed to be
convinced that the Committee of Seventy meant business. Mayor Oakey Hall
also remained, and facetiously protested that as far as he was concerned
everything was “O. K.”
The Hon. Samuel J. Tilden began to loom into prominence about this time.
Through the influence of William F. Havemeyer, he was chosen one of the
three legal advisers of the committee. Abraham B. Lawrence and Wm. H.
Peckham were the other two. Mr. Tilden was quick to seize this
opportunity of sudden prominence to bring himself to the front and pose
as a great reformer. Had it not been for the Committee of Seventy, I
believe it is very doubtful whether this great reformer would ever have
been known as such, and it is also exceedingly problematical whether he
would have ever got the chance of being counted out, or, attempting
through the magic of his occult cyphers, to count anybody else out of
the Presidency of the United States.
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CHAPTER XXXIII.
HON. SAMUEL J. TILDEN.
HOW TILDEN BEGAN TO MAKE HIS FORTUNE IN CONNECTION WITH WILLIAM H.
HAVEMEYER.—TILDEN’S GREAT FORTE IN POLITICS.—HE IMPROVES HIS
OPPORTUNITY WITH THE DISCERNMENT OF GENIUS.—HOW TILDEN BECAME ONE OF
THE COUNSEL OF THE “COMMITTEE OF SEVENTY.”—HIS POLITICAL ELEVATION
AND FAME DATING FROM THIS LUCKY EVENT.—THE SAGE OF GREYSTONE A TRULY
GREAT MAN.—ATTAINS MARVELOUS SUCCESS BY HIS OWN INDUSTRY AND BRAIN
POWER.—HE NOT ONLY DESERVED SUCCESS AND RESPECT, BUT COMMANDED
THEM.—HOW HIS LARGE GENEROSITY WAS MANIFESTED IN HIS LAST WILL AND
TESTAMENT.—THE ATTEMPT TO BREAK THAT PRECIOUS PUBLIC DOCUMENT.
Mr. Wm. H. Havemeyer had long been associated with Mr. Tilden in
railroad wrecking and the reorganization of broken concerns of this
character. Through this process both these gentlemen became wealthy.
When, therefore, Mr. Havemeyer extended the right hand of fellowship to
his confidential companion in money making affairs, and invited him to
officiate as one of the counsel of three for the Committee of Seventy,
Mr. Tilden was sharp enough to appreciate the opportunity, which he
seized with avidity.
He was quick to discern the tide in the affairs of men which, when taken
at the flood, leads on to fortune. He did not wait until the tide began
to ebb, but, like an able seaman, set his sail at the propitious moment
to catch the prosperous breeze as well as the tide. Thus, through a
lucky chance and other men’s exertions, Mr. Tilden was raised high on
the very crest of the tidal wave of reform, almost before he knew it.
In the first instance, this happy accident of being one of the trinity
of legal advisers to our committee, for which he was well paid, did not
lead immediately so much to fortune as to fame, but it formed an
important portion of the pedestal upon which the several millions which
he so munificently bequeathed to educational purposes were subsequently
raised. To fame he was then comparatively unknown. The Committee of
Seventy enabled him to obtain the start which was chiefly instrumental
in elevating him to a position of renown in national politics.
Tilden’s great forte in politics, as in financial affairs and railroad
matters, was to set a cash value on everything, and measure it
accordingly. If he opened his “barrel” the contents were not distributed
indiscriminately, but on the principle directed by the most expert
judgment of where the money would do the most good—according to Mr.
Tilden’s ideas of good. What they were I don’t attempt to explain, but,
like the popular novelist, charitably leave them to the inference of the
reader, or to that expert Moses who so ably deciphered occult telegrams
from Florida and Louisiana when there was such a close contest for the
office of National Executive.
Without departing from the main issue of my subject, however, I may say
that the position which Mr. Tilden was enabled to assume as counsellor
to our committee made it possible for him to rise from the, not to say
dignified, although money-making, attitude of railroad wrecker to that
of Governor of the Empire State of the Union, thus paving the way for
him to become almost a successful candidate for the highest position in
the gift of the Great Republic.
Such a sudden transition from comparative obscurity was enough to turn
any ordinary head.
Seeing the unexpected course that both our local and national history
have taken, it is impossible to say what might have been the course of
this man’s destiny, and the fate of this new Daniel come to judgment in
canal ring masters, had it not been that his friend Havemeyer discovered
him at an opportune moment, and rescued him from manifest oblivion in
the nick of time.
It must be said, on behalf of Mr. Tilden, however, that he improved the
occasion with the discernment of genius, and in the fullest degree, and
to the highest extent, thoroughly justified Havemeyer’s choice.
The soundness of that proverbial philosophy which holds that lightning
never strikes twice in the same place seems to have been fully
appreciated by Mr. Havemeyer, although this was a little ahead of the
time that John Tyndall and other scientists of the modern school of
discovery had demonstrated some of the recent wonders of electricity.
Tilden struck while the iron was hot, and though he failed to reach the
highest pinnacle of his soaring ambition, he demonstrated the wonderful
possibilities which lie in the path of obscure men who are blest with
friends who look out for their welfare, and who have the precaution to
turn the wheel of fortune in the right direction.
Whether it was the result of fate, genius, or wise direction, or a
combination of all these attributes, I don’t pretend to decide, but I
have noted the simple facts from my own observation and experience,
associated with the rise and financial progress of the Hon. Samuel J.
Tilden, leaving others deeper in scientific and philosophic matters to
supply the details and hidden mysteries of the causes of his marvellous
prosperity.
The Committee of Seventy, when entering upon its labors, passed a
resolution authorizing the appointment of a subcommittee by the chair to
select and retain three lawyers to represent it in the matters of
litigation that might arise in connection with the investigation. Mr.
Havemeyer, being a member of the sub-committee, through his influence
Samuel J. Tilden was one of the three appointed.
To give the reader an idea of the power and prestige of the Committee of
Seventy at that time it is only necessary to state that it was
instrumental in making Mr. Abraham Lawrence one of the Judges of the
Supreme Court, and Mr. W. H. Peckham, the third counsel, could have
obtained almost any judgeship he had desired, with perfect facility.
These cases are on official record, and are living examples to show that
I am not exaggerating. Judge Lawrence still adorns the bench, with an
excellent record behind him, and Mr. Peckham has been a prominent figure
in many of the most important suits that have become historic in the
State and City of New York.
Mr. Tilden saw the power which this committee, used as an instrument of
recommendation, wielded, and he set his astute mind to avail himself of
the reformatory advantages which it afforded. The committee was a reform
body, and he saw his opportunity, as one of its counsel, to become a
reformer also. He builded almost better than he knew, if I may be
permitted to quote Scripture in this case, and he did not build on a
sandy foundation either. He planted himself on the solid rock of reform
principles, independent of politics or previous condition. It must be
said, to his credit, that he used the material at his disposal with
great tact and good judgment, and made an excellent reformer.
Whatever may have been said about him by political opponents, the late
Sage of Greystone must be judged in this sinful world by the positions
to which he honorably attained. He became a prominent and most estimable
citizen of our great Republic, and had it not been for his age, and
certain physical infirmities, the existence of which was a matter of
dispute, he would have made a very good President, judging from his
record as a Governor.
I have not intended to say anything especially disparaging or
ill-natured about Mr. Tilden through any hostile feeling towards him, of
which I never had any. My intention has been simply to show how easily a
man can rise if he has the ability required to take passage on the tide
of prosperity exactly at its flow, the magic point of embarkation which
William Shakespeare has suggested.
So what I have stated about Mr. Tilden is in the main rather to his
credit than otherwise.
For a man who attained such an elevated position of success by his own
industry and brain power I have the highest respect and the deepest
sympathy, knowing myself a good deal about the toil attendant upon
climbing above the heads of the great majority of the “masses” with a
strong contingent of the envious “classes” always using their best
efforts to pull a man down who attempts to aspire above a certain level.
In fact, Mr. Tilden not only deserved success and respect, but he
commanded them. Such a man should always be accorded most graciously his
well-earned deserts.
I can, therefore, conscientiously subscribe myself one of the great
admirers of his successful career on the whole, bearing always in mind
that human nature is not perfect, and that there are few, if any, who
have not had some murky clouds cast over their fair fame.
Although on strict moral principles we should never do evil that good
may come, yet the manner in which Tilden disposed of the greater portion
of his fortune will, even in the eyes of straight-laced moralists, go
far to cover a multitude of sins in the acquisition of his wealth. There
are probably few, if any, churches in the land that would have refused a
portion of the bequest, no matter how familiar their members or their
clergy might have been with Mr. Tilden’s railroad methods.
In this imperfect sketch of the turning point of prosperity in Mr.
Tilden’s career, I have desired to show how little it requires to change
the entire current of a man’s apparent destiny. A man who attains such
eminent success has his Creator to thank for endowing him in the first
instance with the capacity to take advantage of the chances thrown in