218 POLITICAL LIFE-XI 



Among many interesting experiences I recall espe- 

 cially a dinner at the house of Mr. Fairchild, Secretary 

 of the Treasury. He spoke of the civil service, and said 

 that a short time previously President Cleveland had 

 said to him, regarding the crowd pressing for office : * * A 

 suggestion to these office-seekers as to the good of the 

 country would make them faint." 



During this dinner I happened to be seated between 

 Senators John Sherman of Ohio and Vance of Georgia, 

 and presently Mr. Vance one of the j oiliest mortals I 

 have ever met turned toward his colleague, Senator Sher- 

 man, and said, very blandly: "Senator, I am glad to see 

 you back from Ohio; I hope you found your fences in 

 good condition. " There was a general laugh, and when 

 it was finished Senator Sherman told me in a pleasant 

 way how the well-known joke about his "looking after his 

 fences" arose. He said that he was the owner of a large 

 farm in Ohio, and that some years previously his tenant 

 wrote urging him most earnestly to improve its fences, 

 so that finally he went to Ohio to look into the matter. 

 On arriving there, he found a great crowd awaiting 

 him and calling for a speech, when he excused himself 

 by saying that he had not come to Ohio on political busi- 

 ness, but had merely come "to look after his fences." 

 The phrase caught the popular fancy, and "to look after 

 one's fences" became synonymous with minding one's 

 political safeguards. 



I remember also an interesting talk with Mr. Bayard, 

 who had been one of the most eminent senators in his time, 

 who was then Secretary of State, and who became, at a 

 later period, ambassador of the United States to Great 

 Britain. Speaking of office-seeking, he gave a comical 

 account of the developing claims of sundry applicants 

 for foreign missions, who, he said, ' ' are at first willing to 

 go, next anxious to go, and finally angry because they 

 cannot go." 



On another social occasion, the possibility of another 

 attempt at secession by States being discussed, General 



