Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 17.pdf/668

 CHARLES E. HUGHES intentions, to accept the nomination, it is my conviction that the work of the investi gation would largely be discredited, its motives would be impugned, and its integ rity assailed. To many it would appear that its course would be shaped and its lines of inquiry would be chosen, developed, or abandoned, as political ambition might prompt, or political exigency demand. "Such a situation would be intolerable. There is but one course open. The legis lative inquiry must proceed with convinc ing disinterestedness. Its great opportuni ties must not be imperiled, by alienating the support to which it is entitled, or by giving the slightest occasion for questioning the sincerity and single-mimledness with which it is conducted. "There is, however, another consideration which is to be conclusive. The work of the investigation is laborious and exacting. It taxes the strength of the counsel of the committee to its limit. It is performed under great strain. Whatever success is gained, is the result of unremitting toil and undivided attention. There is no wizardry in it. "It is idle to suppose that if I accepted your nomination I could continue my part of the work of the investigation efficiently. I may be pardoned for saying that I am a better judge of what that work requires than any one apart from my associates. It requires every moment of available time. It requires endeavor secure from interruption, and a mind free from distraction. It has been suggested that it would not be necessary for me to make an active canvass, that I should not be obliged to make a speech, to attend a meeting, or even to write a letter. "In effect you ask me to enter upon a

637

campaign in which important questions should be discussed and brought home to the conscience of the people, with my mouth shut and my hands tied. Apart from a natural disinclination to place myself in such a situation, I believe the plan to be wholly impracticable. But, assuming it to be carried out as fully as is contemplated, it would still leave a large demand upon time and nervous energy which would be inexorable, and would be an element of distraction most injurious to the investigation. I do not believe that the man lives, and certainly I am not the man, who, while a candidate for the mayoralty, could perform with efficiency that part of the work which has been devolved upon me in the pending inquiry. If I were to accept the nomination for the high office of mayor of this city, I should be obliged to curtail this work, and this I have no right to do. "For your expression of confidence, I thank you. The honor you would confer upon me I most highly esteem. Your gen erous approval and the unanimity and enthusiasm with which the nomination was made, I warmly appreciate. But I have assumed obligations of the first importance which make it impossible for me to meet your wishes. I must, therefore, respectfully decline the nomination." In spite of his professional duties, Mr. Hughes finds time to mingle with his friends. He is an attractive after-dinner speaker, and a charming conversationalist when in the humor for it. His clubs are the University, Cornell, Brown, and Lawyers', and he belongs to the American Bar Association, the State Bar Association and the" American Baptist Social Union. NEW YORK, N. Y., October, 1905.