ELAINE, JAMES GILLESPIE. 



and by the imperious necessities of the situation to that 

 most desirable consummation. I feel, next to yourself, 

 I can possibly contribute as much influence as any 

 other man. I say this not from egotism or vainglory, 

 but merely as a deduction from a plain analysis of the 

 political forces which have been at work in the country 

 for two years past, and which have been significantly 

 shown in two great conventions. 1 accept it as one 

 of the happiest circumstances connected with this af- 

 fair, that in allying my political fortunes with yours 

 or, rather, for the time, merging mine in yours my 

 heart goes with my head, and that 1 carry to you 

 not only political support, but personal and devoted 

 friendship. I can but regard it as somewhat remark- 

 able, that two men of the same age, entering Congress at 

 the same time, influenced by the same aims, and cher- 

 ishing the same principles, should never for a single 

 moment in our eighteen years of close intimacy 

 have had a word of coolness, and that our friendship 

 has steadily grown with our growth and strengthened 

 with our strength. It is this fact that has led me to 

 the conclusion embodied in this letter, for however 

 much, my dear Garfield, I might admire you as a 

 statesman, I would not enter vour Cabinet if I did not 

 believe in you as a man and love you as a friend. 



One of the earliest acts of the new Secretary 

 was to favor the calling in Washington of a con- 

 gress of delegates from the nations dwelling on 

 this continent, with a view to advancing the in- 

 terests of all. War was then raging between 

 Chili and Pern, and one object was to suggest 

 some method by which a peaceful adjustment 

 could be made. The official call, dated Nov. 29, 

 1881, contained this passage, the gist of the 

 whole matter : 



The President extends to all the independent coun- 

 tries of North and South America an earnest invita- 

 tion to participate in a general congress, to be held 

 in the city of Washington" on the 24th day of Novem- 

 ber, 1882, for the purpose of considering and discuss- 

 ing the methods of preventing war between the na- 

 tions of America. He desires that the attention of the 

 congress shall be strictly confined to this one great 

 object ; that its sole aim shall be to seek a way of 

 permanently averting the horrors of cruel and bloody 

 combat between countries oftenest of one blood and 

 speech, or the even worse calamity of internal com- 

 motion and civil strife ; and that it shall regard the 

 burdensome and far-reaching consequences of such 

 struggles, the legacies of exhausted finances, of op- 

 pressive debt, of onerous taxation, of ruined cities, of 

 paralyzed industries, of devastated fields, of ruthless 

 conscription, of the slaughter of men, of the grief of 

 the widow and the orphan, of embittered resentments 

 that long survive those who provoked them, and 

 heavily afflict the innocent generations that come 

 after. 



The President is especially desirous to have it un- 

 derstood that, in putting forth this invitation, the 

 United States does not assume the position of coun- 

 seling, or attempting, through the voice of the con- 

 gress, to counsel, any determinate solution of existing 

 questions which may now divide any of the countries 

 of America. Such questions can not properly come 

 before the congress. Its mission is higher. It is to 

 provide for the interests of all in the future, not to 

 settle the individual differences of the present. 



The invitation to this congress had been ac- 

 cepted by all but two of the recognized powers in 

 North and South America, when Mr. Elaine's re- 

 tirement from the Secretaryship, consequent 

 upon the death of President Garfield and the 

 reversal of his policy by his successor, caused it 

 to be abandoned. 



Besides the attempt to help peaceful relations 

 in general, and to assist in commercial communi- 

 cations, Mr. Elaine, for the Government, dis- 



patched William Henry Trescott on a special 

 mission to Peru, to offer the friendly services of 

 the United States in restoring peace and helping 

 Peru in her prostrating defeat by Chili. These 

 negotiations also were broken up. Another im- 

 portant move was an attempt to bring about a 

 modification of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty with 

 England. The Colombian republic had proposed 

 to England that they should unite in guarantee- 

 ing the neutrality of the Panama Canal. Mr. 

 Elaine, in a circular letter, declared the opposi- 

 tion of this Government to any such concerted 

 action, and asserted prior and paramount rights. 

 He showed that the United States had a treaty, 

 made in 1846, with New Granada (now Colombia) ; 

 that we had a supreme interest in watching over 

 any highway between the two Americas; and 

 that any disputing of that right by Great Britain 

 would be deemed unfriendly. He proposed the 

 abrogation of certain clauses of the Clayton-Bul- 

 wer treaty, as not in harmony with the more re- 

 cent rights bestowed upon the United States by 

 the agreements with the Colombian republic. 

 When the British Government replied that the 

 treaty should be maintained and respected, Mr. 

 Elaine showed that it could not be considered as 

 a final decision because it had been repeatedly 

 the subject of negotiation between the two coun- 

 tries; that the British Government had itself 

 proposed to refer its doubtful clauses to arbitra- 

 tion ; and that its unsettled condition had pre- 

 viously been a source of embarrassment. Mr. 

 Elaine contended that " it is the fixed purpose 

 of the United States to consider the Isthmus- 

 Canal question as an American question, to be 

 dealt with and decided by the American govern- 

 ments." 



Four months after entering upon office, Presi- 

 dent Garfield was mortally wounded by an assas- 

 sin, and during the two months which lie lingered 

 Mr. Elaine was practically at the head of the 

 Government. One of his notable efforts in pub- 

 lic speaking was his eulogy upon President Gar- 

 field, pronounced before Congress, Feb. 27, 1882. 



On his retirement from the Cabinet, Mr. Elaine 

 returned to his home in Augusta, Me., and occu- 

 pied himself with writing a history of the Amer- 

 ican Congress, from Lincoln to Garfield. To a 

 proper understanding of matters much retrospect 

 was required, and the two large volumes, entitled 

 " Twenty Years of Congress," contain an epitome 

 of the acts of that body since its formation. 



In 1884 Mr. Elaine was the choice of the Re- 

 publican convention as its candidate for Presi- 

 dent, Gen. John A. Logan being on the ticket 

 with him. It was a memorable convention, one 

 of its dramatic incidents being a telegram from 

 Gen. William T. Sherman, whose name was so 



Rrominently mentioned at first that there was 

 ttle doubt that he would have been the choice. 

 It read : ' I would not accept the nomination if 

 tendered me. I would not serve if I was elected." 

 The first ballot gave Mr. Elaine 334 ; the sec- 

 ond, 349 ; the third, 375 ; the fourth, 541 neces- 

 sary to a choice, 411. The wild enthusiasm which 

 through the later part of Mr. Elaine's public life 

 greeted every mention of his name outdid itself 

 on the occasion of this announcement. What- 

 ever may be said of any other great American 

 leader, from Washington to the present time, no 

 one will deny that, for some reason, no other 



