[Sam Davis, Political Revolution in Nevada, San Francisco Call, November 3, 1895]

 

POLITICAL REVOLUTION IN NEVADA.

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By SAM DAVIS.

            In order to fully understand the present situation of politics in Nevada it is necessary to go back to1892, when both of the old parties were disintegrated in order to make way for new party, destined later on to cut a very important figure in National politics. The causes which led to the death of the Republican and Democratic parties in Nevada arose from several conditions, but the principal factor in the turning down of Republicanism and Democracy in the Sagebrush State was the friction which had been in evidence for many years between the press of the State and the central committees.

            During the palmy days of Nevada money had always been very lavishly spent in political campaigns. When the Comstock was in its prime a campaign was in reality a sort of grand carnival of easy finances with the public, and large sums were handled by the Central Committee to melt away in various directions — no one exactly knew where. The papers generally sent in their bills for advertising and job work about thirty days after everybody else was paid, and if they got 30 cents on the dollar, or enough to pay for the extra composition and other expenses incurred during a hot campaign, the publishers considered themselves as running in reasonably good luck.

            In some instances the publishers' bills were repudiated entirely by the committee or laid over until the next campaign, at which time all old scores were wiped out, and that was the end of it.

            In order to receive better treatment from the hands of the politicians, a press association was formed, embracing all the newspapers of the State, and the publishers notified the central committee of their respective parties that all advertising in the future must be paid for in advance, as the press wished to place itself in a position equally as advantageous as that occupied by the spell-binders, brass bands and saloon-keepers.

            This step on the part of the publishers caused a great deal of friction with the local committees, and at one of their meetings held in Virginia City the Newspaper Association was alluded to as a gang of "bloodsuckers," and the statement was also made that a campaign could be very much better conducted without the assistance of the press.

            These remarks having reached the central committee of the Press Association a meeting was called, and the committee decided that in the next campaign the Republican party, which was then the dominant party of the State, could run its politics without the assistance of the newspapers.

            The action of the committee was ratified by a meeting soon afterward held in the Reno Journal office, and a resolution was passed by which each publisher in the association bound himself to support no man for any office who was not unequivocally committed to the free coinage of silver at a ratio of 16 to 1. The resolution was debated two hours before adoption.

            The newspapers then began their campaign of education in favor of starting a new party in Nevada, to represent the one idea of free coinage, not so much as a question of local import but one which affected the shoemaker of Massachusetts and the cotton planter of Alabama as much as it did the silver miner of Nevada. The question has always been treated by the people of Nevada as a proposition not so much as affecting local silver mining as it does the question of a greater circulating medium throughout the United States based upon the bimetallic union of gold and silver as money everywhere.

            For years the people of Nevada had kept the State in line as a part of the solid Republican phalanx, with protection and high tariff as the text of the party creed, but a discussion of the subject soon made it apparent to the average mind that Nevada, which manufactured nothing, could in no way be benefited by a tariff which made everything it consumed about double the price that such commodities would command if a high tariff did not prevail for the benefit of the Eastern producer. One had only to consider the question in that light to see what a one-sided, jug-handled affair the whole thing was, when everything which Nevada consumed was protected, and silver, about the only thing which she produced, was legislated against at every opportunity.

            The papers, however, advocating a new party were notified by the political bosses that their course must be changed or they might get into serious trouble. No attention was paid to these threats, and when the time for calling the primaries approached in 1892, the Central Committee met at Virginia City and sent out its usual notices to the press, in the shape of advertisements, notifying the public of the date of the primaries and State Convention. The time for which the papers had so long waited had now arrived, and the advertisements, instead of being printed, as had been the usual custom, were unceremoniously pitched into the waste-baskets and no further attention paid to them. The result of this action was what might safely be called a paralyzer upon the Republican Central Committee, as well as on the party it represented. The time gradually slipped by for the primaries to be held, but in most of the counties of the State there were no primaries, and very little information in any corner was to be had regarding the time of the Republican State Convention.

            In a few weeks a good many people were wondering what had become of the Republican party in Nevada and men able to answer this question were hard to find. Meanwhile the Democratic newspapers had taken the same course of action in respect to their own party, with exactly the same result. While this quiet work was going on other influences were active in assisting to completely reorganize the old parties of the State upon the ruins of which a new one was to be built. A call was issued to the silver men of the State irrespective of their party affiliations, to assemble at Reno and promulgate a platform. This call was extensively published in all the newspapers of Nevada, and the convention was boomed unceasingly in every quarter. As a result there was a very large gathering of leading politicians and the convention was a very lively and enthusiastic one.

            As different speakers, who had been formerly prominent in the counsel of the old parties, were called to the platform to announce their conversion to the new doctrine of silver above party the opera house resounded with the cheers of a vast audience. It was at this convention that the tragic death of George W. Cassedy occurred. He had been for over twenty-five years a political leader in the Democratic party and the editor of the Eureka Sentinel. He was a man of great force, both as a writer and speaker, and physically a man of rather full habit

            While addressing the audience from the platform of the opera-house the hearty applause of the audience carried him to a point where he labored hard physically in his oratory. He left the place complaining of a severe headache and a few moments later, pressing his hand to his heart at his room in the hotel, he fell across his bed and died, while the convention was still in session. The convention had just adopted his declaration of principles when the news of Cassedy's death was announced to it.

            The chairman immediately adjourned the convention, and Cassedy's funeral a few days later in Reno was one of the largest in the State, and marked tributes of respect were paid to the deceased by citizens of the State generally. It is claimed that C. C. Wallace of Eureka, a close friend of Mr. Cassedy, was more any one instrumental than else in organizing the fight along the line of Eastern Nevada from Eureka to the Sink of the Humboldt, and afterward the silver party was frequently alluded to as "Black Wallace's outfit."

            It is but a matter of justice to Mr. Wallace to state that the organization of the silver party in the great East was due more to his activity and well-known ability as a politician than to any other cause, and the subsequent success of the party in two campaigns reflects the greatest credit upon his ability as a political manipulator. In all his career as a politician no one has ever charged him with betraying a friend or breaking a political pledge; calm and clear-headed upon all occasions, he never found himself in a political emergency, where he lost control of the situation, or made a move of which his opponents could gather any material advantage. He made many enemies in the State, of Nevada, however, and like all successful politicians received many a hard roast from the opposition, and during the silver campaign the fire of the other side was generally concentrated upon him. To those who know Charles Wallace no further explanation of his part in the organization of the silver party is necessary.

            Meanwhile, the Republican party recovering from the temporary set-back administered by the newspapers pulled itself together and assembled in convention at Reno in the courthouse. After the first temporary adjournment, it gradually dawned on the Republicans that the silver men had captured the organization of the convention, and they further discovered later in the day that the silver advocates had a clear majority on roll call of nearly forty votes.

            When this discovery was made the Republican minority, headed by the old party bosses, held a separate caucus and decided not to meet the silver majority in the convention unless they could be guaranteed that a resolution to the effect that the Republican party should put no Presidential Electors in the field would not be introduced by the silver men. A committee from each wing of the convention held a meeting, and a promise was finally made by the silver men. The minority wing, however, finally declined to return to the convention hall, fearing a trap.

            A couple of hours later the voters hired Masonic Hall and proceeded to hold a separate convention, claiming to be "the one and only." This action nettled the silver men in the Republican Convention, and they adopted a resolution to the effect that the party should place no Presidential Electors in the field, and nominated Francis G. Newlands for Congress. The minority wing, holding its convention in Masonic Hall, was manipulated mostly by Senator Haynes of Genoa, ex-Congressman Woodburn, Congressman Bartine and Phil Doyle of the D. and T. Railway Company, who acted as chairman. The friends of William Woodburn insisted on his being nominated for Congress, much against his wish, as he had very little stomach for the campaign. It was finally decided that a dummy vote was to be taken on Woodburn, at which times his friends would refrain from voting, and the chair was instructed to decide that, Mr. Woodburn not having received a majority of the votes of the convention, there was no nomination. This course was to be taken in order to pave the way of the convention to indorse the nomination of Francis G. Newlands made by the Courthouse convention. The parties manipulating this scheme argued that if Newlands had no opposition he would not furnish the munitions of war to make its fight. The scheme, however, was knocked in the head by a misunderstanding on the part of the chair, who decided inadvertently that Mr. Woodburn, having received a majority of those voting, was the nominee of the convention.

            Woodburn, who had expected a different result, was obliged to accept the nomination thus blunderingly thrust upon him, and thus there were two Congressional candidates in the field. Meanwhile a committee, who had not anticipated this result, had called upon Mr. Newlands and tendered him the indorsement of the Masonic Hall convention, but he promptly declined it on the ground that he had already accepted the nomination from the Courthouse convention, which fully represented his views upon the silver question. As this convention resulted in considerable confusion it was determined to place matters in a still stronger shape before the people, and a convention of silver men was called at Winnemucca to ratify working the cause of silver which had been done in the two Reno conventions.

            It was not until after the Winnemucca convention had adjourned, and placed its platform and Presidential Electors and Congressional nominees fairly before the people, that the silver party could fairly be considered a fixture in the sagebrush. The silver Democrats met and indorsed the ticket, and refused to put any Presidential Electors in the field. This convention was manipulated by Robert Keating of Virginia City, Jewett Adams of White Pine County, an ex-Democratic Governor, and Hirsch Harris of Douglass.

            After this convention adjourned Major John Dennis of Reno, an old Jeffersonian Democrat and chairman of the Central Committee, called another convention and placed a Democratic electoral ticket in the field.

            The campaign possessed many amusing features. The Republicans and Democrats both had regular tickets in the field, while the Silver Democrats and Silver party all united upon one ticket. The campaign was one of the hottest ever seen in the State, but not until the vote was counted was the public made aware of the overwhelming strength of the Silver party. In the counties of Eureka, Elko and Humboldt there were many precincts that went unanimously for the Silver ticket. The returns swept in from the Sink of the  Humboldt showed a popular uprising for the new party never before witnessed in the State, while the counties in the western part of the State, namely, Ormsby, Washoe and Storey, where the fight waged hottest, the old Republican strongholds elected the silver ticket by a fair majority. Out of 10,000 votes, the silver ticket downed the combined opposition by over 3000 majority. Francis G. Newlands was considered the leader of the fight, assisted by Senator William Sharon of Storey, Charles Wallace of Eureka, Charles Mack, C. C. Powning of Washoe, W. E. F. Deal of Storey and others equally active. William Nixon of the Winnemucca Silver State, as chairman of the silver central committee, was located at Reno during the campaign, and was an important factor in the handling of the fight.

            When the Legislature met it organized in both branches, with the Silver party in  control. The victors at once proceeded to swing the ax, and wherever an official head belonging to either of the old parties presented itself it was lopped off without delay. As soon as the rank and file got the smell of blood in their nostrils they clamored for more, and the political guillotine was kept in operation until the thirst of the crowd was satisfied.

            The second silver campaign held in Nevada last fall, presented equally sensational features. There was still in existence two Democratic Central committees, each with a ticket for the field. A straight Republican ticket, a straight silver ticket and a ticket indorsed by a Populist convention, held in Washoe County.

            The Populist convention is supposed to have been engineered by Republicans, who, by placing a railroad striker in the field for Congress, named Doughty, hoped to draw votes from Newlands, who had been renominated for Congress by the silver men. People along the lines of the Southern Pacific Railway Company were still holding many bitter memories of the big strike of July, and thus many votes were drawn to the support of Doughty, who posed as a poor man waging a fight against a wealthy candidate. H.F. Bartine, who had been beaten by Stewart in the Senatorial fight of two years before, was in the field as the Republican nominee for Congress.

            During this campaign emissaries from the Populist party in the East who were  favorable to the silver movement visited the State and called a meeting of the Populist Central Committee. They discovered that the Populist leaders were merely waging a sham battle against the silver men under the guise of Populism in order to satisfy some old grudges. Realizing that the Populist fight would jeopardize the silver interests and do no good to the Populist cause they urged the Populist committee to withdraw its ticket.

            They were very nearly persuaded into doing so, but the proposition was lost through the stubbornness of one or two of the members and the fight was carried on for Doughty as before. He was without any funds and earnest in his expectations of being elected to Congress, but as the campaign progressed the fact that he was being made a tool of by other people seemed to be apparent to everybody but himself.

            It was just prior to this campaign that Senator John P. Jones, who had been eighteen years in the United States Senate, and who was regarded on all sides as a National party leader, announced in a long letter over his signature that he had severed his connection forever with the Republican party upon the grounds that for years it had been the creature of Wall street, inimical to the interests of the masses and in favor of the wealthy classes, as evinced by its attitude upon money questions. He set forth at great length and in the most logical manner his reasons for severing ties which had been hallowed by time and pleasant memories, and that he could no longer be true to himself or his constituents by remaining with a party who, under a pretense of being in favor of gold and silver as money, were actually in favor of gold as against all other propositions. This declaration on the part of Jones created as great a sensation in Nevada as it did throughout the United States, and the Republican Central Committee, through its chairman Trenmore Coffin, a Carson attorney, sent a letter to Senator Jones, asking him to resign his position as United States Senator for Nevada. This letter was couched in the most impertinent language, and every line reflected the unparalleled cheek of and offensive disregard of the ordinary amenities of politics on the part of its writer. It excited nothing but contempt for the Central Committee all over the State. In reply Senator Jones said in his characteristic way that not having been elected to the Senate by the Central Committee he should not resign a its bidding, but whenever the people desired his resignation for the course he had taken he was ready to comply. When the convention met at Carson City to nominate the State ticket a third letter was read from Senator Jones, couched in such incisive and unequivocal language that his political position could not longer be doubted by anybody.

            The ticket placed in the field by the silver men at this convention was composed of ex-Republicans and Democrats. The Democrats, who had always been in the minority in Nevada, had a majority of the offices at the disposal of the convention and the Legislature, but this disposition of the spoils of victory was made with the full consent of the ex Republicans, who composed the majority of the silver party and showed to the Democrats their good faith in making the coalition.

            This second campaign was as hot as the previous one, and the Republicans made a very stubborn fight throughout the State. The result was another clean sweep for the silver men, although the majorities at some of the precincts were not as large a in the campaign of two years before. Preparations are already being made in Nevada for the campaign of next fall. A United States Senator is to be elected, one Congressman, a Board of Regents for the university and three Presidential Electors. Since the last campaign the American Protective Association has been organized in the State, and the members of the order claim to have such a large membership at the present time as to be able to hold the balance of power. It is hard to get an correct data of the strength of the organization by parties outside of the order, but at the present time they claim a strong membership in Douglass, Storey, Lyon and Ormsby counties, with new lodges forming in the eastern part of the State. It is believed that the order is at present controlled by the Republican party and is to be utilized as a factor in the fight of 1896. What grounds there are for this assertion it is rather hard to say, except that in the western part of the State most of the prominent members of the order are Republicans.

            It has been supposed for some time that both John P. Jones and Francis G. Newlands would be rival candidates for the senatorship, and that the Jones faction and the Sharon faction, old-time enemies in the political arena of Nevada, were being lined up for a money fight. It is claimed, however, by the party leaders that neither of these gentlemen desires to enter into any contest which will jeopardize the success of the silver party, and feeling that such a fight would disintegrate it either side would be willing to withdraw in favor of the other.

            With this harmonious feeling existing between the leaders of heretofore rival factions it is understood that Mr. Newlands will favor Jones for the Senate and make his third fight for Congress. Since the last campaign several old line Democrats who struggled to maintain their party organization two and four years ago have signified their willingness to join the silver party, and the probabilities are that there will be a greater accession to its ranks next fall than ever before.

            To the silver party of Nevada belongs the credit of being absolutely the first in any State to hoist the flag of revolt against the old rule, and to sound the slogan of free coinage at 16 to 1, a plank which has since been adopted by the silver men all over the American Union. Should the movement in favor of bimetallism succeed in the next Presidential election, as there is now a strong prospect of its doing, this party, if it climbs to power by the popular vote of 1896, will be obliged to concede the fact that the inspiration which resulted in the birth of the new party had its origin in a little State of 50,000 inhabitants and casting but a little more than 10,000 votes.

            Should it fail in 1896 it will begin the next century as full of hope as ever, and have a ticket in the field in the year of our Lord 1900.