Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 4.djvu/383

Rh stated on the other side. He may have done this for the purpose of drawing me out and seeing how much I was opposed to Whitney. I have considerable hope that when he comes out of his comparative seclusion at Albany and meets real public opinion, the present inclination of his mind—if I am right in my interpretation of it—may be overborne.

His objections to Bayard as Secretary of the Treasury are based upon Bayard's political affiliations in New York. His (Bayard's) intimate associates, he says, are men who believe in patronage as a means of political advancement and are as case-hardened in this respect as Tom Platt, Geo. Bliss or Barney Biglin. Bayard himself, he concedes, is above all such base and paltry considerations, but he thinks that these men would, nevertheless, have their way with him.

This is a matter which, of course, cannot be communicated to Bayard himself. He is so high-mettled that he would sheer the track at once and refuse to come within gunshot of the Cabinet in any capacity, and I think we must try to land him there even if the Treasury is bestowed elsewhere. I know that Governor Cleveland wants him for Secretary of State, and considering the present state of complication and bedevilment in that quarter, it is worth an effort to get him there if the other plan fails.

The first thing to be done is to keep Whitney out. Judge Schoonmaker proposes Daniel Manning as a counter-nomination. Manning is a banker, a man of good repute, much better known to the country than Whitney, and a man of experience. I should say that he would be one of the few men left from whom the choice could be made, if Bayard is not taken. D. Willis James is another. Hewitt would be an excellent choice if his health were sufficient. But Manning gave me to understand that he favored the appointment of Whitney. Godkin had a talk with Stetson yesterday. Stetson stated with great positiveness that Whitney was not a candidate for the place, that he distrusted his own ability to fill it and that if his (Whitney's) opinion were asked as to the fitness of the appointment of himself, or anybody so little known to the country as himself, he would say no. This is another