Page:The Reminiscences of Carl Schurz (Volume Three).djvu/533

 that “grand, mad, enthusiastic rush over the whole field,” and their hostility was still evident as the subsequent campaign advanced. Cleveland's Democratic managers were indeed anxious. At length, in September, mainly through the activity of ex-Secretary Whitney, the chiefs of the hostile factions were brought to a personal conference with the candidate. This widely discussed incident was followed by the announcement that the machine would support Cleveland, and there was no lack of intimation and down-right assertion that this result was due to satisfactory pledges as to the patronage in case of Democratic success.

Mr. Schurz's health forbade his usual active participation in the campaign as a public speaker. In lieu of it he decided to write a formal political letter to the Brooklyn Independents. This letter was almost ready to be sent,—in fact, he was correcting the proofs,—when the newspapers began to scatter the unsavory reports of Mr. Cleveland's alleged surrender to the machine. In the prospective letter Mr. Schurz had spoken as one reformer to another, and had expressed confidence that they could all find satisfaction in Cleveland's tariff-reform policy and especially in his attitude of defiance to the Hill-Tammany machine. Here was indeed a dilemma. But less for Mr. Schurz than may be supposed. He resolved to ascertain at once whether the predilections of the Independents for Mr. Cleveland had again caused them to form too good an opinion of him. In case the man especially loved “for the enemies he had made” had entered into an alliance with those enemies, “my letter does not fit the situation,” Schurz wrote. “As it now stands, my letter, if it attracts attention, might cause Mr. Cleveland to be asked whether he himself agreed with the sentiments expressed by me. … This might be to Mr. Cleveland a very embarrassing question. He might