Governor of New York

“ CHAPTER VIII. GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK—VICE-PRESIDENT While Roosevelt was at Montauk Point waiting with his regiment to be mustered out, and cheering up the sick soldiers, he had direct proof that every war breeds a President. For the politicians went down to call on him and, although they did not propose that he should be a candidate for the Presidency—that was not a Presidential year—they looked him over to see how he would do for Governor of New York. Since Cleveland set the fashion in 1882, the New York governorship was regarded as the easiest stepping stone to the Presidency. ”

“ If the State of New York had sixty million of our ninety million population, and if the governor of New York were also perpetual President of the United States, commanded the army and navy, controlled the foreign policy, and appointed the cabinet ministers, who were responsible to him alone, we could get an approximate idea of how the people of Virginia, Massachusetts, Illinois, and California would feel toward New York. ”

“ The President was denied formal precedence in dignity by the Governor of New York, and must himself have felt inclined to question the consequence of his official station, when he found that amongst the principal questions with which he had to deal were some which concerned no greater things than petty points of etiquette and ceremonial ”

“ The governor's practicality smoothed the way to his indorsement by men whose foremost interest was business rather than politics, and a banquet given him late in April by a great commercial organization of New York, which approved his policy of letting the city mind its own affairs, set him definitely in the race. ”

“ The field was not unexplored, nor did John Adams' letter contain a suggestion of anything not already in existence, except the election of a Council of Appointment, with whose consent the governor should appoint all officers. His plan of letting the people elect a governor came later. "We have a government to form, you know," wrote Jay, "and God knows what it will resemble. Our politicians, like some guests at a feast, are perplexed and undetermined which dish to prefer;" ”

“ No election of a lieutenant-governor shall be had in any event except at the time of electing a governor. In case of vacancy in the offices of both governor and lieutenant-governor or if both of them shall be impeached, absent from the state or otherwise unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office of governor, the temporary president of the senate shall act as governor until the inability shall cease or until a governor shall be elected. ”

“ We have put you in the best offices; we have made you our merchant-princes. Where is the city or village in our State where you do not own the best houses, run the largest manufactories, and control the principal industries? We have several times made one of your number Governor of the State, and we have placed you in positions where you honor us [Pg 126] while we honor you. New York's choice in the National Cabinet is the distinguished Secretary of State, whose pure Yankee blood renders him none the less a most fit and most eminent representative of the Empire State. ”

“ Livingston's candidacy for governor was clearly a dash for the Presidency. He reasoned, as every ambitious New York statesman has reasoned from that day to this, that if he could carry the State in an off year, he would be needed in a presidential year. This reasoning reduces the governorship to a sort of spring-board from which to vault into the White House, and, although only one man in a century has performed the feat, it has always figured as a popular and potent factor in the settlement of political nominations. ”

“ A recess was taken, and when the convention reconvened the ballot demonstrated that if the organization is given time it can always reform its shattered lines and show the efficiency of discipline.
When I met Mr. Greeley soon after, he said: "I cannot understand why I desired the nomination for governor, nor why anybody should want the office. There is nothing in it. No man now can name the ten last governors of the State of New York." ”

“ Meantime he grew steadily stronger among the people, not only of his own State but of the country, for he was well known throughout the West, and there they were watching eagerly to see how the ranchman and colonel of Rough Riders, who had touched both their hearts and their imagination, was faring as governor of New York. ”

“ He was a merchant, and amassed much wealth. He was mayor of New York in 1691-'5, and subsequently became chief justice of the province and president of the king's council, in which latter capacity he acted (in 1701) as governor. He was also appointed colonel of the forces of the city and county of New York, and treasurer of the provinces of New York and New Jersey. ”

“ It was a great day for the Governor. A popular jubilation extended from Buffalo to New York, and, amidst the roar of artillery and the eloquence of many orators, the praises of the distinguished canal builder sounded throughout the State and nation. To a man of intellect far lower than that of Martin Van Buren, it must have been obvious that forces were at work in the minds and hearts of people which could not be controlled by Regency edicts or party traditions. ”

“ Nobody is ever guilty of misrule in this country but the rulers, and the rulers are the people. The citizens of New York elect the city officers who are to do the city work which the citizens pay for. They give some of those officers authority to dismiss others who are derelict in their duty, and the governor can deal with the chief officers who do not obey the command of the people. If the taxes are outrageously heavy, if the money is squandered, if the streets are dirty and city government a farce, nobody is to blame but the citizens. ”

“ The same general division, with the same occasional mixture, may be found in the constitutions of other states. And in some of them the deviations from the strict theory are quite remarkable. Thus, until the late revision, the constitution of New-York constituted the governor, the chancellor, and the judges of the Supreme Court, or any two of them with the governor, a council of revision, which possessed a qualified negative upon all laws passed by the senate and house of representatives. ”

“ He resigned to become governor of New York, 1833-39. He was secretary of war under Polk, 1845-49, and secretary of state under Pierce, 1853-57. As secretary of state he conducted with success the Koszta case in 1854, involving a collision with Austria on the subject of the right of expatriation. All his political leanings were to that branch of the Democratic party in New York which made the strength of the new Republican party in 1856, and he would have been its natural leader if he had followed his own convictions on the Kansas-Nebraska bill. He hesitated, and other men took his place. ”

“ It has been observed for several days past that many of the suffrage party and residents of this city have been sending off their families and effects. The inhabitants of the city are seriously alarmed and in a state of much excitement. An express to convey the above intelligence to Governor King at Newport will be immediately sent down by the mayor of the city.
I shall be in New York early to-morrow morning ready to receive any instructions you may think proper to honor me with. ”

“ The governor was the head of the executive department,—sometimes a native of the colony, as Hutchinson of Massachusetts, and Clinton of New York. But he was often sent from over seas, as Cornbury of New York, and Dunmore of Virginia. In Connecticut and Rhode Island the legislatures chose the governor; but they fell in with the prevailing practice by frequently re- electing men for a succession of years. The governor's chief power was that of appointment, although the assemblies strove to deprive him of it by electing treasurers and other executive officers. ”

“ I knew the mayor very well, and under ordinary conditions he would have insisted on the interview with the governor being private and personal. But he was so excited and bursting with rage that he went right on. The mayor fairly shouted: "It is the station agent of the New York Central Railroad in our city of whom I complain. He is active in politics and controls the Democratic organization in our county. He is working to prevent myself and my friends and even ex-Governor Seymour from being delegates to the national convention. ”

“ The Dutch were permitted to elect all minor officials and to observe the customs of the fatherland. New York received a new charter, and the government was placed in the hands of a Mayor, Aldermen, and Sheriff, appointed by the Governor. The legislative power was vested in the Governor and Council, who alone possessed the power to impose taxes. ”

“ When the citizens of New York City sought to correct the crying abuses of their municipal government, they, too, always counted with the same confidence upon the governor, no matter whether the Democratic or the Republican party might be hurt by a measure of true reform, and that confidence was always justified. ”

“ After the constitutional convention adjourned in May, 1777, the Council of Safety immediately ordered the election of a governor, lieutenant-governor, and members of the Legislature. The selection of a governor by ballot interested the people. Although freeholders who could vote represented only a small part of the male population, patriots of every class rejoiced in the substitution of a neighbour for a lord across the sea. And all had a decided choice. Of those suggested as fittest as well as most experienced Philip Schuyler, John Morin Scott, John Jay and George Clinton were the favourites. ”

“ And further, that all such of the officers described in the said charters respectively as, by the terms of the said charters, were to be appointed by the governor of the colony of New York, with or without the advice and consent of the council of the said King, in the said colony, shall henceforth be appointed by the council established by this constitution for the appointment of officers in this State, until otherwise directed by the legislature. ”

“ A number of New Yorkers who do not approve of the Charter are going to fight it in the Legislature, and try to get the State Senate to throw it out. If this fails and the bill passes both Houses, they will try and influence the Governor to veto it.
There is a good deal of trouble ahead for the Charter.
Some ambitious people want to make a State of Greater New York, and call it Manhattan. They think that it will be of great benefit to the city to be a State, and that if this is done the taxes will be much lower and the city will acquire many valuable rights. ”

“ In the New York papers and in many [other] sources [I] see accounts of Governor Cleveland's strength and then again the most decided expressions of opposition to him. We who live outside of New York cannot possibly comprehend the force and direction of the currents and countercurrents in the rather turbid pool of its politics, and I confess the study is not attractive to me. ”

“ In 1686 New York and Albany obtained new charters, but in the following year the provincial assembly was dissolved, absolute rule was restored, and New York became a part of the Dominion of New England, under Governor Andros. The Revolution of 1688 in England found two parties in the colony, the richer classes who were loyal to James II., the popular majority in favor of William of Orange. ”

“ K.—New York, I think, comes the next to Boston in their opposition to Government? H.—Does your Majesty think nearer than Pennsilvania? K.—Why, I can't say that they do of late. K.—Rhode Island, Mr. H., is a strange form of Government. H.—They approach, Sir, the nearest to a Democracy of any of your Colonies. Once a year all power returns to the people, and all their Officers are new elected. By this means the Governor has no judgment of his own, and must comply with every popular prejudice. K.—Who is their Governor now? ”

“ The Republican senators who voted against it were most of them retired to private life by their constituents at the senatorial elections of the ensuing fall. Almost everything of importance in New York legislation since Governor Hughes entered office has had its origin in his recommendations, and has been carried by the weight of public backing which belief in him calls out, against resisting influences that would ordinarily have prevailed. ”

“ As mayor he attracted wide attention by his independence and business-like methods—qualities which distinguished his entire career. After his election as governor in the following year, the Democratic party chose him as their candidate against James G. Blaine. He was the first Democrat to be elected president for 24 years. His administration was marked by firmness and justice ”

“ From 1709 to 1715 the assembly of New York refused to vote a revenue without particular application of it, to which the governor would not submit, but which was agreed to by Hunter in the latter year. American writers describe Hunter as a man of good temper and discernment, the best and ablest of the royal governors of New York. ”

“ Answering for the Legislature, which understood the Governor's words to be an invitation to resume powers the State had given up when adopting the Constitution, Harrison Gray Otis reported that "this people, being ready and determined to defend themselves, have the greatest need of those resources derivable from themselves which the nai. 228tional government has hitherto thought proper to employ elsewhere. ”

“ A MAN, the head of a group of men virtually controlling industrial, financial, and political America. GEORGE J. HALLETT, one of his associates. L. BERGEN RIVINGTON, another. *Politicians*. THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. THE MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY. HON. G. W. HUBER, U. S. Congressman, from Doncaster County, Pennsylvania, HON. JESSE KINZER, his successor. SENATOR SCUDDER, the MAN'S lieutenant in the Albany legislature, HON. JARED SPARKS, his lieutenant in the Connecticut legislature. BRINLEY, commander of his lobby at Washington. KILGOUR, City Chamberlain of New York. ”