The OHIO HISTORICAL Quarterly
VOLUME 64 * NUMBER 2 * APRIL 1955
The Correspondence of George A.
Myers
and James Ford Rhodes, 1910-1923-II
Edited by JOHN A. GARRATY
RHODES TO MYERS, Boston, January 7,
1913.*
Dear George: I do not wonder that you were irritated in not getting
an earlier answer to yours of Oct. 15
last but I have been very busy
since my return from Seal Harbor
without however accomplishing
very much.1 In the first place I have
had some unsatisfactory in-
vestments to look after and have had to
grapple with the problem,
how to make a diminishing income jibe
with increasing expense.
The beautiful autumn days tempted me to
leave my desk to go out
in a hired automobile or to accompany
one of my wealthy acquaint-
ances in his own car. Soon we were in
the month of December
with the Historical & Institute
dinners in New York and finally the
Historical Assn. meeting here between
Christmas & New Years. As
I told you, Mr. Roosevelt was our
President and I saw much of him.
He was as courteous and deferential as
any man could be; his ad-
dress in Symphony Hall2 was
a real masterpiece. I had the honor of
giving him a large luncheon at my house
and I had two long talks
with him in which the subject of
present politics was not referred to.
Truly he is a wonderful man and the
more I see of him, the more
*This is the second installment of the
Myers-Rhodes correspondence, the first having
appeared in the January issue, pages
1-29. An extended introduction by the editor of
the letters was published with the first
installment.
1 Myers had evidently written to ask if
Rhodes had received his letter of October 15,
1912, but there is no record of such a
letter in the Rhodes papers.
2 Roosevelt's presidential address to the American Historical Association
was en-
titled "History as
Literature." It is conveniently reprinted in Hermann Hagedorn, ed.,
The Works of Theodore Roosevelt (New York, 1923-26), XII, 3-24.
125
126
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
I regret his work in breaking up our
grand old party, when by patient
waiting he might have been the nominee
four years hence.
I have read your remarks anent Mr. Hanna
a number of times with
care. With your letter in hand I would
like some day to have a
confidential talk with you regarding
some of the topics you raise.
I think Croly has done as well as any
man could who was not
personally acquainted with Mr. Hanna.
When he was in Cleveland
getting material I wonder Mr. Dan Hanna3
did not have you see
him. Perhaps he did though you do not
mention it. Croly got a
very high idea of M. H. from his work in
the Civic-Federation4 and
you can see that impression touch every
act that he considers in
M. H's career. It makes, as you suggest,
a better life for the family
although I believe L. C. was not
entirely satisfied with it and H.
Melville5 criticized it
severely. Croly has a pleasant literary style
and a good method and these he has used
to the best advantage.
The inaccuracies do not militate against
his conception of M. H's
character and on the whole he has given
a faithful picture, without
the "rough characteristics"
which you think should have been in-
cluded. Some of the inaccuracies are due
to the facts garnered by
the Leader man,6 and some of
them might have been corrected I
think had L. C. been accustomed to read
proof carefully. But on the
whole it is a good biography. I agree
with you that M. H. was not
a statesman but not that he was not a
great man. He was the last
of an era and had he lived until now his
methods, as you say, would
have been discredited. Nevertheless he
was great in his time--
greater than Rockefeller or Morgan or
Carnegie. Few care to get
to the bottom of things as you do, but
you must remember few have
had so good a chance to see great men en
deshabille as we would
say in French or perhaps I make myself
clearer in using the old
English proverb, "No man is a hero
to his valet." So garner up
3 Daniel Rhodes Hanna, Mark Hanna's son.
4 The National Civic Federation, an
organization devoted to the stimulation of
interest in and discussion of important
public questions, particularly those involving
the relations of capital and labor, was
one of Hanna's major interests.
5 Leonard C. and H. Melville Hanna were
brothers of Mark Hanna.
6 In the early eighties Hanna obtained control of a Cleveland newspaper,
the
Herald, and fought a bitter circulation war with the Cleveland
Leader, edited by
Edwin Cowles. Hanna lost this fight and
sold out to Cowles in 1885 at a large
financial loss.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 127
your facts and impressions until the
true historian comes along who
can fully appreciate the value of what
you know and may tell, if
you deem that propriety will approve
your telling. I have seen
something of your friend Dr. Harvey
Cushing.7 He is the head of a
well equipped hospital and has a good
professorship in the Harvard
Medical School. This has opened many of
the best clubs to him.
He is ambitious and a duty loving man
and I imagine the most
brilliant surgeon in the country. How
well I remember how my
dear friend Dr. Cabot (now dead) told
me of Cushing's operation
on her head. . . .
MYERS TO RHODES, Cleveland, January 17, 1913.
Dear Mr. Rhodes: I have read and reread your appreciated favor
of the 7th. and while there is an
honest difference of opinion be-
tween us, I am constrained, by reason
of the value of time to such
a busy man as you, to defer any further
discussion of Croly's life of
Mr. Hanna until you shall visit
Cleveland and we can do so in
person. . . .
RHODES TO MYERS, Boston, May 28,
1913.
Dear George: I am sending to you today some neckties by parcel
post wh. I hope you will not find too
much worn but they come from
a community given to financial
depression. The drop in Boston &
Maine and New Haven R.R. stocks1 has
caused a great deal of
7 Dr. Harvey Cushing, the brain surgeon
and author of a classic biography of Sir
William Osler, had been introduced to
Rhodes by Myers in the Hollenden Barber
Shop.
1 The fall in value of New England
railroad stocks resulted, as Rhodes indicates,
from reckless expansion policies
fostered by J. P. Morgan in an effort to monopolize
New England transportation. The
complicated situation is best summarized in A. T.
Mason, Brandeis: A Free Man's Life (New
York, 1946), Chaps. XII-XIII.
128 THE OHIO HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
prospective suffering. I myself am a
large victim in New Haven
and I do not think just now that the lot
of an investor is a happy
one. Some men from here may tell you
that the depression here
comes from the promised tariff bill but
that is not true. The trouble
with the railroads is bad management,
optimistic buying of trolly
[sic] lines and steamboats for the future and vicious attacks
on the
management by the Federal and State
authorities.
I received your two letters which I read
carefully. I agree with
you that we had better leave the
discussion of Mark Hanna's char-
acter and Croly's life of him, until we
meet.
Our old friend Mr. George Stone has been
at the Hotel Vendome
here for six days and I have seen much
of him, his wife and
daughter. He is 82, has hardening of the
arteries but nevertheless
takes a keen interest in life.
[P.S.] I go to Seal Harbor, Maine
to-morrow for the summer.
MYERS TO RHODES, Cleveland, May 29, 1913.
Dear Mr. Rhodes: I have your favor of the 28th., also the ties by
Parcel Post. Please accept my thanks for
your kindness in remem-
bering me. I beg to assure you that I
appreciate the ties, and shall
clean them up with a little elbow grease
and gasoline. I have de-
layed my comment upon the volume
containing your lectures at
Oxford that I might read them over
again. At first I was inclined
to think that Lee was given more credit
than Lincoln and Grant.
That is, that Lee was given the centre
of the stage, to the detriment
of the glory that should be bestowed
upon Lincoln, that you were
making him a bigger man in history than
Lincoln. But upon second
reading I discover that while Lee is
given credit for all he is worth,
you have left room to give Mr Lincoln
credit for more should the
occasion or opportunity ever present
itself. Lee was undoubtedly a
greater soldier than Grant. But it was a
case of the old story "that
nothing succeeds like success" and
in viewing Grants success the
proletariat loses sight of Lee's real
ability. Of course as you say of
Lincoln's debate with Douglas, that
Lincoln does not fail to shine
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 129
to the student or lovers of
history[sic]. Some of my friends take
exception to your treatment of Hooker
(Gen Ed. S. Meyer)1 and
Grant (H. A. Tidd). Tidd being an
aide-de-camp on Grants Staff
at Vicksburg and previous thereto. He
says that Grant drank but
little of anything. (Evidently Grant
never felt it incumbent to sue
any Editors or publish to the world how
many drinks he had taken
during his life, as does your friend
Col Roosevelt.2) He believed
in deeds rather than bluster. From the
Colonel's published account,
the luncheon you gave him during the
meeting of the Historical
Society, must have been one where you
served "Bryan's Grape-
Juice"3 or Boston's
Aqua Pura. (This is a bit of levity) as he does
not refer to it. I read Daniel's
account of "Pickett's Charge" and
while he does credit to the same, I
find a more graphic description
in Great and Decisive Battles.4 I
am making no criticism upon the
Book, simply trying to show you the
impression it gave me and that
I have carefully read and discussed it
with my friends. To me its
great and I have mentioned it to many.
Immediately upon reading it
the first time I sent it to Mr Robert
Rhodes and Wm. C. and when
Mrs. Hanna was here they sent over for
it. In the meantime Wm. C.
found it at Burrows Bros and the
Rhodes-Hanna family was sup-
plied. I sent word to Mr. Robert
Rhodes, that in your sending me
an advanced copy that you were
"recognizing the profesh", (a
theatrical term). I think this evoked a
smile, though N. Y.5 said
that Wm. C. could not understand why
Uncle James forgot them.
Sorry to hear of your losses in the
Stock Market. When Democracy
reigns in the White House and Tariff
legislation is pending, the wise
old Owls of the Stock Market find a
cyclone cellar of more protec-
tion than "the street."
Whether the existing dull times are a result
of this condition, its more than I
could say as an individual. But you
will have a hard time to make the
multitude believe otherwise. If
1 Captain Edward S. Myer of the 19th
(later 107th) Ohio regiment fought at
Shiloh and later in South Carolina.
2 Roosevelt had brought a libel action
against George A. Newett, editor of the
Ishpeming, Michigan, Iron Ore, who
had accused him of drunkenness. The case was
decided in Roosevelt's favor on May 31,
1913.
3 A teetotaler, Wilson's secretary of
state, William Jennings Bryan, had refused
to serve anything stronger than grape
juice at state department functions.
4 Myers refers to Captain Charles King's
Famous and Decisive Battles (Philadelphia,
1884), 587-618.
5 "New York" was one of Myers'
employees.
130
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the Kind and All Wise Providence would
suddenly call your dear
Colonel to his reward--there would be no
question of a good old
Republican Victory next Fall and 1916.
Well I have put in a very hard Winter
financially. The opening
of the new Hotel Statler took about one
third of my business. The
overhead charges remaining the same, I
have had considerable diffi-
culty in keeping up appearances and the
making of ends meet. We
are remodelling the shop, when finished
it will be a revelation and
the trend of business is back to The
Hollenden, so I look for better
trade in the Fall. I wish you and Mrs.
Rhodes good health and a
pleasant Summer at Seal Harbor.
RHODES TO MYERS, Seal Harbor, June 13,
1913.
Dear George: I received to-day your valued favor of 111 with en-
closure of the proposed Charter of
Cleveland. Should it be adopted
at the approaching election, I shall
take interest in reading it. I also
received a copy of the Plain Dealer. I
am glad to receive such re-
minders of my native town but I am sorry
to hear of such recreancy
on the part of the Republicans in regard
to voting. Perhaps our
salvation will come from the colored
voters.
I received your former letter and will
answer it as soon as I get
a proper amount of leisure. Just now I
am busy in writing a short
history of the Civil War;2 and
my finances give me considerable
anxiety and require attention.
RHODES TO MYERS, Seal Harbor, September
10, 1913.
Dear George: Your duplicate letters of 8th1 were both received
this morning.
1 This letter is not in the Rhodes
papers.
2 J. F. Rhodes, History of the Civil War (New York, 1917).
1 These letters are not in the Rhodes
papers.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 131
On Sunday, I received a courteous
invitation from his Honor, the
Mayor to be present at the celebration2
next week and I replied next
day, telling him that however much I
might wish to attend, I was
prevented by a lack of physical
strength. Since my operation three
and a half years ago, I am easily
subject to fatigue, and, while I
congratulate myself, that I have made
during the last year a decided
gain, I could not undertake the journey
to Cleveland with the fatigue
and excitement of the celebration
without undergoing a considerable
risk. I thank you for your interest in
the matter and have no doubt
that the affair will realize all of
your expectations.
We have had a good summer here and the
weather has made our
sojourn enjoyable. I think I have
gained somewhat in health and
wisdom but my finances have gone from
bad to worse.
RHODES TO MYERS, Seal Harbor, September 17, 1913.
Dear George: I am sending to you to-day by parcel post some
neckties wh. I hope you will not find
too much worn to accept. The
wear that they have had represent[s]
the "pursy nature of the
times." Not since the panic of
1907 have I been so much disturbed
by my private finances as during the
present summer but I do not
charge my worry to the change in
administration. I believe in the
reduction of the tariff and the
graduated income tax, and, if the
Republicans can be kept out of office
long enough to ensure a four
to eight years working of the tariff
law,1 I believe the country will
bless the Congress that passed it.
I hope Cleveland has weather as
pleasant this week as we have
here. It is ideal weather for a
celebration. From the newspapers I
judge that it is a noteworthy
remembrance.
2 Of the centennial of Perry's victory
on Lake Erie during the War of 1812.
1 The Underwood-Simmons Act of 1913
provided for a general lowering of tariff
schedules and compensated for the
expected loss of revenue by levying a small in-
come tax.
132
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
MYERS TO RHODES, Cleveland, September 20,
1913.
My Dear Mr. Rhodes: I have your favor of the 10th and 17th., also
the ties you so kindly sent by Parcel
Post. I thank you for the ties
and as usual I shall treat them with a
little "energine" applied by
my own energy, and they will do me
service for some time.
I entertained a hope that you would
favor us with a visit, espe-
cially coming as a guest of the City. I
think I appreciated the courtesy
exten[d]ed you through Mayor Baker fully
as much as you. To have
you honored or hear of it, is always
pleasing to me. In this case it
was a reversal of the Biblical
injunction, "That no prophet is with-
out honor save in his own Country."
We were prepared for and had the biggest
affair Cleveland ever
saw and as a fitting testimonial of the
greatness you have achieved
the people of Cleveland through our
Mayor, were desirous of hav-
ing you here to demonstrate their
appreciation of the laurels you
have earned as a great writer and the
foremost Historian of the age.
Our celebration was great; though the
rain interfered with the big
parade. Undoubtedly you have read of its
success from The Leader.
I trust your stay at Seal Harbor was
beneficial and through the
recuperation that you may be able to
take up your labor on the Civil
War History that you are writing with
renewed vigor.
I regret exceedingly to hear of your
financial losses and sincerely
hope there will be no permanent
embarrasment [sic].
Your views upon the new Tariff Law are
far in advance of mine,
you have undoubtedly made the measure a
study and coupled with
your advocacy of Free Trade in the past,
I can readily understand
your pleasure and position. I can only
say that time will surely tell.
Personally I am a "deep dyed in the
wool" protectionist. Believing
that every industry in competition with
a foreign industry should
have all the protection needed; in order
to assure to the American
workman the highest paid salaries
obtainable in the world and to
the manufacturer a good profit. I
believe in America for Americans
and not a dumping ground for surplus
manufactures of raw ma-
terials from abroad. The theory of Free
Trade is well nigh un-
answerable, but theory and practibility
are diametrical. The Amer-
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 133
ican people are now up against the real
thing and there is no denial
of a tightening up all along the line in
manufacture and sales.
I am in daily contact with the
travelling public, a barometer of
never failing prediction. Few if any can
see good times ahead. They
are not theorist[s] but philosophers and
to a man claim if there
was an election this Fall that the
Republicans and Protection would
sweep the country.
The only "leaven in the loaf"
to me, would be a liberal policy on
the part of the Inter State Commerce
Commission to the extent of
permitting the Rail Roads to make a
small increase in their rates,
that they may go ahead with contemplated
improvements and suc-
cessfully finance them. This increase[d]
demand for steel would
greatly relieve the country from the
detrimental effect of your newly
enacted Tariff Bill and possibly serve
as a subterfuge for Mr. Wilson
and his cohorts to say to the Country in
reference to the tariff, "I
told you so."
RHODES TO MYERS, Boston, December 2,
1913.
Dear George: Yours of 29 ult.1 came yesterday. You are
right. If
I had to depend upon Mr. Rob't Rhodes I
should have known noth-
ing of Will's2 serious
illness, but, as he went to New York City,
Mrs. Hanna and Miss Phelps3 wrote
to my wife thoroughly about
his condition from day to day. And then
Mrs. Rhodes and I were
in New York two days last week and she
visited Mrs. Hanna in her
apartment, so that on the whole we are
pretty well posted up. I
thank you for your kind letter all the
same.
The physician Will consulted in New York
was an excellent man
for his case, in fact I am told on good
authority he cd. not have
gone to a better doctor in New York. The
rumor in Cleveland, as
is usual in such cases, is not well
founded. Will is seriously ill but
may live a long time with great care and
an entire abandonment of
1 This letter is not in the Rhodes
papers.
2 William Rhodes, a brother of James Ford Rhodes.
3 Miss Mary Phelps, a longtime friend of
Mrs. Mark Hanna.
134
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
business. Since we returned home Mrs.
Hanna had a telegram from
R.R. saying that Will was steadily
improving and indications were
that he wd. be up before many days. Will
ought to go to N.C. or
Ga. or Florida or Europe and simply
vegetate.
I duly received yours of Sept 20 and
shd. have answered it before
had I not been continually busy since my
return from my motor trip.
Your letter seemed to me a mixture of
prejudice and reason. The
prejudice is shown in your ideas on the
tariff but I suppose you can-
not help being a protectionist of the
Hanna-McKinley school who
were useful men but were blind on that
subject. At least McKinley
was until his Buffalo speech4 when
he began to see the light and,
had he lived, we should have had tariff
reform earlier.
The wisdom in your letter is shown in
your consultation with the
travelling men. Do get from them all you
can. They are full of
information. When I was in business and
smoked, I used to talk
with them continually in the smoking
compartments and always to
advantage. Their intelligence is good,
their opinions frequently
unsound.
You are sound too in your desire to have
the Inter-State Com-
mission advance R.R. rates. I do not
know what will become of this
community if they do not. The decline in
value and reduction of
dividends of the Boston & Maine
& New Haven have created a
veritable tragedy in many a household in
this part of the country.
Nothing here appears bright and,
formerly an optimist, I have
become a gloomy pessimist. But I am
still a supporter of the Wilson
administration.
RHODES TO MYERS, Boston, February 13, 1914.
Dear George: I was very sorry that I was not able to get in to see
you during my visit to Cleveland on the
occasion of Will's funeral
but every moment was occupied, either
positively or waiting at the
4 On September 5, 1901, the day before
he was shot, McKinley made a speech
at the Pan-American Exposition at
Buffalo in which he suggested some modification
of the traditional Republican high
tariff policies in the direction of reciprocity.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 135
behest of my brother. Though Will's
death was long expected, it
was a blow when it came and Daniel's and
my visit was very sad.
I received your kind letter some weeks
ago regarding Will but there
was nothing to be done. His case was
hopeless and had been so
since he returned from New York when the
very able New York
physician advised him to go home and go
to bed, thereby actually
confessing that neither medical nor
surgical skill could avail. It is
a very sad case and while Will has known
his condition for two
years and has been taking strict care,
yet he ought to have known it
earlier and to have gone on the rigid
diet earlier.
But so goes the world. Most of us cannot
be here a great while
longer and there is one comfort when we
go, we shall end the
struggle against adverse circumstances
and conditions. For many
times it seems as if life was not worth
living.
RHODES TO MYERS, Boston, March 29,
1914.
Dear George: I have your letter of 261 enclosing a newspaper with
its account of an interesting incident
in New Orleans. In my short
history of the Civil War I shall not
have space for this unique oc-
currence, and I am therefore returning
the newspaper to you under
another cover.
I have also received Major Lynch's book2
which I regret that I
shall not have time to read carefully
before I go to Europe. A great
deal has crowded in upon me and, as my
financial affairs are giving
me much trouble, I am a little bit
distracted by a press of work.
Confined to the house to-day by a mild
attack of tonsillitis, I have
looked through the book, reading it here
and there and I have been
much interested in it and at one point I
can attest its accuracy; what
Maj. Lynch writes concerning the
convention of 1884 is correct, only
I think Mr. Hanna was a bit more
emphatic in his talk with Maj.
1 This letter is not in the Rhodes
papers.
2 John R. Lynch of Mississippi was a
prominent Negro politician and historian.
His The Facts of Reconstruction (New
York, 1914) was an ardent defense of the
role of the Negro in southern politics
after the Civil War, and an appeal for a
revival of the Republican party in the
South.
136
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Lynch than he represents.3 Mr.
Hanna told me about this immed-
iately upon his return from Chicago.
I never expect to tackle the subject of
Reconstruction again so I
cannot do justice to Maj. Lynch's
account of the possible story of
John P. Green.4 As I shall
not be able to read thoroughly Maj.
Lynch's book now, perhaps I had better
return it to you & you can
send it to me again in the autumn? . . .
RHODES TO MYERS, Seal Harbor, August 12, 1915.
Dear George: I duly received your letter of 41 with clipping. I
never heard of that circumstance before,
although Miss Theodate
Pope was a passenger in the Lusitania
and in the second account
(I think) of the disaster that I read
was reported among the saved.
I cannot now tell when my Short History
of the Civil War will
be published. Since coming here I have
worked like a nailer on it
and can begin to see its completion.
Until yesterday the weather
was so vile that it was conducive to
literary work. We are beginning
now to have sunshine and warmth and I
shall be able to take con-
siderable open air exercise which I need
to recuperate after a severe
illness of May & June last when I
was attacked with great vigor by
the colon bacillus but the surgeon, the
nurse, and I, with the assis-
tance of much hexamethylenamin downed
him and here I am. I was
much disappointed to be ill at that time
as I was very busy in
Massachusetts Historical Society
matters,2 and I had accepted long
ago the invitation to deliver the Phi
Beta Kappa oration at Harvard
3 At the Republican national convention
of 1884 Lynch was elected temporary
chairman by a combination of the
elements opposed to the nomination of James G.
Blaine for president.
4 John Patterson Green, author of Recollections
of the Inhabitants, Localities,
Superstitions and Ku Klux Outrages of the Carolinas (Cleveland[?], 1880).
1 This letter is not in the Rhodes
papers.
2 Rhodes was an active member of the
Massachusetts Historical Society, and had
been much concerned with the choice of a
new president of the society after the death
of Charles Francis Adams. Over some
opposition Senator Lodge was elected to the
office. Rhodes was named vice president,
with the understanding that he would do
most of the routine work of the
president, which Lodge was incapable of performing
because of his protracted absences from
Boston on public business.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 137
during Commencement. But I pulled myself
together and was able
to read my paper (oration so called) on
June 213 although I was not
as strong as I could have wished. I send
to you a notice of it, which
you need not return. I also send you
another in re the New York
Nation which I do not wish back.
President Wilson is making an admirable
President and deserves
re-election. He has acted with great
wisdom in keeping our country
out of the European war. It is not of
our making, and while my
sympathy is as strong as any feeling can
be for the Allies, we are not
called upon to send our best young men
to battle for what France
and England are fighting for.
MYERS TO RHODES, Cleveland, September 23, 1915.
Dear Mr. Rhodes: I am in receipt of your highly prized favor of
the 20th.1 Replying I would not detract
an iota from the credit due
Mr Wilson for his ernest [sic] honest
efforts and sleepless nights
spent in steering us clear of the shoals
of War. In my opinion and
estimation Mr Wilson is a great man,
developing with every con-
tingency that has arisen and met [sic]
every emergency as a true
American should, but like Roosevelt he
seems to have a "lucky star"
in his "Earthly Crown." It is
far from me to enter into any discussion
of Mr Wilson's foreign policy and I
could not if I would as I am
no diplomatic student. I share Sherman's
definition of War and
have all of [it] that I desire, in eking
an existence for myself and
family and trying to amass the
"pile" to which you refer. That
Mr Wilson is a good President, the right
one at the right time, in
this we are agreed. I am opposed to his
policy of Segregation2
forced upon him by the South--in fact to
me he seems under
southern domination. His Mexican policy
is directly responsible for
3 "Lincoln in Some Phases of the
Civil War."
1 This letter is not in the Myers
papers. A part of it, however, has been published
n M. A. DeWolfe Howe, James Ford
Rhodes (New York, 1929), 254.
2 A number of Wilson's cabinet heads instituted strict segregation
policies in their
departments.
138
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the contempt shown us by the Teutonic
Allies and their vacillating,
evasive replies to his demands.3 He has
my ernest and sincere
prayer for continued success. I am
enclosing an excerpt from Bur-
ton's speech at Dinner4 last
night, perhaps you may secure a fuller
account in one of the Boston or New York
dailies.
If you are not careful your reputation
as a historian will suffer by
your reputation as a humorist. In
reference to a writing of a history
of the negro "If ever you amass
your pile and retire from business.
Why do it yourself;"--First, no
barber ever amassed a pile. Second--
Every businessman no matter how
successful in business, could[not]
make a successful historian. Historians,
like gentlemen, are born not
manufactured. I was anxious for a
commendable reference from you
in your history for the "valor and
bravery of the negro as a soldier,"
that it might authoritively be handed
down to unborn generations of
Americans, that they may learn of his
deeds toward the establishing
of the Union (under Gen Washington) and
the preservation of the
Union during President Lincoln's
Administration. Such a statement
from you, would establish the negroes
place in history beyond the
preadventure of a doubt and help to dissipate
this damnable pre-
judice in the future, that we as a
people have to contend with now.
You cannot understand this because you
have not been discrimi-
nated against. I received the Harvard
Graduate Magazine and have
read your paper5 with
manifest interest. Using a common expression
it is great. I had Mayor N. D. Baker (one of your ardent admirers)
read it. His expression were [sic]
great. "A very remarkable paper,
perfectly written by a great man and
true historian--luminating to
him [i.e., Baker] and would
unquestionably be so to everyone for-
tunate enough to read it." I am
loaning it to Elliot H. Baker, Ed of
the P[lain] D[ealer] to read. I shall
read it over and file it in my
little library. I trust that you and
Mrs. Rhodes have been benefited
3 Wilson's "watchful waiting"
and refusal to take a strong stand during the
Mexican revolution, Myers is here
arguing, was responsible for Germany's equivocation
in response to Wilson's notes after the
sinking of the Lusitania.
4 Former Senator Theodore E. Burton,
speaking at a banquet of the Investment
Bankers Association of America, said
that he was a passive candidate for the Re-
publican presidential nomination, and
predicted that the tariff would be the principal
issue of the campaign.
5 Rhodes's Phi Beta Kappa address. Harvard
Graduates' Magazine, XXIV (1915),
1-19.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 139
by your stay at Seal Harbor. Often I
think of you and often would I
like to hear from you; but I know
perhaps better than many, what
a busy, methodical man you are and how
valuable time is to you,
hence I do not intrude by writing.
MYERS TO RHODES, Cleveland, October 14,
1915.
Dear Mr. Rhodes: Replying to your esteemed favor of the 27th.1
Permit me to say that while I think Mr
Wilson is due all of the
credit for our not being drawn into
this horrible war, I still stick to
my original utterance "that it was
more a matter of luck than
diplomacy," and I am willing to
give him the full benefit to be
derived from such luck. That he has
spent many anxious hours and
sleepless nights goes without saying,
that he is honest and sincere
must be added, but Mr Wilson has
received all the benefits of "the
breaks" as did your magnificent
ball club The Red Sox, added to
their superior all round playing.2
Mr Wilson's policy toward "big
business" and his niggardly
condescension to the Rail Roads is still
too fresh within memory,3 for
the people of this Country, like "Pistol
of old, to eat the leek." The
failure of his tariff bill to raise sufficient
revenue and the necessity of enacting a
War tax when we as a Na-
tion are at "peace with the world
and all mankind" coupled with
that still empty dinner pail will cut a
large figure and be a deter-
m[in]ing factor in the next
Presidential contest.
Anen't the mention of the Negro soldiers
and foot note on page
333 Vol IV4 I have carefully
reread what it says-and fully ap-
1 This letter is not in the Myers
papers.
2 In
the 1915 World Series the Boston Red Sox defeated the Philadelphia Phillies
four games to one.
3 By Wilson's "big business"
policies Myers meant the passage of the federal trade
commission and Clayton anti-trust acts,
which became law in September and October,
1914. The railroad legislation referred
to was a bill giving the interstate commerce
commission control over the issuance of
new railroad securities. This bill was passed
by the house of representatives, but
failed to reach a vote in the senate.
4 In his History of the United States
from the Compromise of 1850 (New York,
1893-1906), IV, 333-336, Rhodes
presented an elaborate footnote summarizing many
favorable comments on the actions of
Negro troops during the Civil War by such
observers as Lincoln, Grant, Colonel Henry Lee
Higginson, William James, and
Charles W. Eliot.
140 THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
preciate it. What I was and am still
after, is, if your new history
was one of detail, to have you give
them full credit for their valor
and bravery, that future generations
may know their worth and con-
tribution to the perpetration of the
Union. It is not the amount of
what is said, but who says it that
counts. Negro historians might
write until their hand palsied, and all
they might write would not
be given the credence of one chapter in
your history. Plainly speak-
ing it makes a difference in who says
it. In answer to your query
relative to N. D. Baker (and he is in
no way related to E. H. Baker
of Plain Dealer) I have to say that he
is honest and sincere and
utterly devoid of demagongism [sic].
He is a great big broad liberal
hearted man, way ahead of his Party. A
gentleman and a scholar,
an orator possessing unusual expression
and magnetism that carries
conviction with his every utterance. To
know him is to admire him.
Mr Wilson made no mistake when he
tendered him the Secretary-
ship of Agriculture.5 But
being a better executive than a hayseed, it
has been Cleveland's gain that he is
finishing his elective term as
Mayor. I am glad to know that you have
such a favorable opinion
of him. I beg to assure you that it is
mutual. There is no special
news of interest here, other than the
fomenting of a Machinist strike
-the particulars you may read in your
Cleveland paper.
MYERS TO RHODES, Cleveland, November 4,
1915.
My Dear Mr Rhodes: It is very evident from the election returns in
the various States that held their
election on the 2nd, that a vast
majority of the people do not entertain
the high and exalted opinion
of Mr. Wilson, his Administration and
his policies that you do.
Likewise is it made apparent that your
erstwhile friend and patron-
saint Mr Roosevelt has lost his hold
upon the "Proletariat." Already
the Republican National Chairman Mr
Hilles foresees and predicts
Republican success in 1916. Was it not
that the War beclouds the
issue-"The Tariff and the Empty
Dinner Pail," there would be
but cold comfort for Mr Wilson and his
Administration. Ohio like
5 Actually Baker had been offered the
interior department by Wilson on two oc-
casions in 1913.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 141
the State of your adoption has spoken
in thunderous tones. The
gain of Republican Congressmen in N. Y.
is significant and demon-
strates the trend of sentiment in that
"neck of the woods." New
Jersey, the Presidents own State, has
repudiated him and all he
stands for, hence I say there is little
but cold comfort for Mr Wilson.
Our election demonstrates that no
matter how powerful a "Boss"
may become and how strong an
Organization he may bequeath his
followers, that no organization long
remains greater than its head:
This was true of the famous Hanna
Organization and history simply
repeated itself with the powerful Tom
Johnson Machine.1 When
Mr Hanna died his organization
disintegrated. Mr Johnson's
"weathered the gale" for a
while but it too has given up the ghost,
wrecked upon the shoal of extravagant
and useless expenditure and
petty jealousy. The Republicans will
assume the reins Jan 1st 1916
with a deficiency of $1.500.000, and a
Democratic enacted tax law-
like Mr Wilson's Tariff Law-that does
not produce sufficient
revenue to meet current expense in any
of the large Cities of Ohio.
Through retrenchment and the issuing of
short time Notes our
newly elected Mayor will endeavor to
meet current obligations until
a Republican Legislature can be elected
to relieve the situation.
While he is not what you call a strong
man, he has signified his
intention to pick the strongest
possible Cabinet, that they together
may give Cleveland an economical
administration. I sent you both
papers of this date with several
articles marked. The Bond issues
and other questions voted upon and
adopted shows that the voters
of Cleveland had a very clear
conception of the matters they ap-
proved. The results of Tuesday
seemingly gives satisfaction.
MYERS TO RHODES, Cleveland, December 16,
1915.
My Dear Mr Rhodes: Previous to the receipt of your letter,1 I had
learned with much regret of your
illness through Mr. Robert Rhodes,
1 Myers is referring to the Cleveland
mayoralty election in which Republican
Harry L. Davis defeated Democrat Peter
Witt, who had the support of the liberal
Newton D. Baker.
1 This letter is not in the Myers
papers.
142 THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
who said that he had postponed his
visit to you on that account. I
was therefor highly pleased to hear of
your improvement and hope
ere this like Richard III you are
yourself again. I note with much
pleasure your continued praise and
loyalty to Mr Wilson. He is
indeed a great big man. There is no
question of his growth since
assuming the Presidency. While it is
often said that circumstances
often make men, its no exception in Mr
Wilson's case, and I must
add highly flavored with
"Roosevelt luck." In this opinion ex-
pressed to you before, I seem to be
backed by the enclosed clipping
from the New Republic, handed me by Mr
Robert Rhodes. I am also
enclosing an excerpt of Mr Herrick['s]
Chicago speech, in which
he answers editorial criticism from the
Plain Dealer, also the
criticism of "The White
House."2 There is no little justification
to Mr Herricks opinion and views. Many
there are who coincide
with and endorse all he says. In fact
they are legion-the prole-
tariat who carried the empty dinner
pail-and they vote. The
empty dinner pail is just as
unanswerable as it was in the panic of
"93." I said to you recently
that an unemployed man in Cleveland
was an exception, not the rule, and
while it is even so now, the
prosperity we are now enjoying is
through the supply of war
munitions and will cease when the war
ends. I am not a pessimist,
but form my conclusions upon the
commercial man, who sells our
manufactured products, and the demand
for small steel products.
Iron and Coal are the supreme leaders
in Ohio, just as they were
when you were in business. All
permanent prosperity must emanate
from those sources. The bumper crops
and their movement, coupled
with the demand the war has made upon
this country was a God-
send for the Democratic Party, but
there is one thing you must not
lose sight of and that is that Mr
Wilson is the President by reason
of a minority vote and the next
election will find a reunited Party
to oppose them. Mr Roosevelt to the
contrary notwithstanding.
I have it from good authority the
program is to nominate Root3 if
2 Former Ambassador to France Myron T.
Herrick, a Clevelander, had claimed that
the nation's growing prosperity was a
result of the European war, and predicted a
serious depression unless the tariff was
raised. The Democratic administration had of
course challenged this statement,
calling him a calamity howler.
3 Elihu Root, then recently retired as
senator from New York.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 143
possible, he is the first choice. If
between this [time] and the Con-
vention it becomes apparant [sic] that
Root cannot be nominated
Mr Burton of Ohio is the second choice.
Should Burton develope
[sic] certain strength before the Convention Root will be
side-
tracked. Of course as they say and have
figured, this provided how-
ever that someone does not succeed in
stampeding the convention to
Hughes.4 Of course Roosevelt
is opposed to Burton, but it is getting
so now that but few take him seriously.
In a short time in my
opinion, he will be like the
"three little tailors of Tooley St"
Roosevelt, Perkins and Pinchot.5
It was a very sad blow not alone to me
but to the negroes of
America to lose Dr. Booker T.
Washington.6 There is no one to
take his place before the American
people. His work will go on
at Tuskegee and that too perhaps better
than ever, but as a leader
we are without one. We were close
personal friends. We are now
at or near the season of good cheer.
"Peace on earth good will
toward man." Aside from your
illness I hope it has been a fruitful
year for you. I have done fairly well
and could have done much
better under a good old Protective
Tariff such as we had in the
good old days of McKinl[e]y and Hanna.
RHODES TO MYERS, Boston, January 6,
1916.
Dear George: I was glad to get yours of December 16th with its
forecast of the Republican convention.
I have but one word of
advice and that is Hosea Bigelow's
"Don't you never prophesy
unless you know." Since your
forecast, our eminent Mr. Bird has
said that only Hughes or Roosevelt
stand a ghost of a chance to
4 Charles Evans Hughes, at the time
associate justice of the supreme court.
5 George W. Perkins and Gifford Pinchot
were associates of Roosevelt in the
Progressive party, representing,
respectively, the "conservative" and "radical" wings
of that organization.
6 Washington,
the Negro leader and head of Tuskegee Institute, died November 14,
1915.
144 THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
beat Wilson. Mr. Bird is a former
Progressive, the owner of the
Boston Advertiser, rich, respectable
and misguided.1
I saw something of Mr. Robert Rhodes
when he was here, but
our gatherings were so much of a family
nature I had little oppor-
tunity to talk with him about national
affairs. He implied, however,
that in Ohio and generally throughout
the middle West the desire
for peace was ardent, whence I think it
would follow that Mr.
Wilson had the support of the country
just as Mr. Roosevelt had
it in 1904 when my mugwump and refined
friends here were
reviling him. The fact of it is Mr.
Wilson has had something of
the same task as Washington, as he has
met with rare statesman-
ship the greatest crises we have had
since the Civil War and the
greatest Europe has had "since the
breakup of Roman civilization."
What Senator Lodge said in his Life of
Washington may with a
slight change be said of Wilson:
"The easy and popular course
was for our government to range itself
more or less directly with
the French and the refusal to do so was
bold and in the highest
degree creditable to the
administration." Little wonder is it that
Mr. Lodge further writes: "As we
look at it now across a century
we can observe that the policy went
calmly forward consistent and
unchecked."2 Probably
that will be the historical verdict on Mr.
Wilson.
But the present question is will the
plain people demand a second
term for Mr. Wilson as they did a third
for Washington?
I regret that you still hold to the
doctrine of a Protective tariff
and the "good old days of Hanna
and McKinley" and that you
cannot get over your talk of the
"empty dinner pail." I see that
you have cut loose from the proletariat
and entered the ranks of
"la haute finance." The Wall
St. Journal, like you, sighs for Hanna
and McKinley and undoubtedly in State
and Wall Streets you will
find many sympathizers. But since
"La haute finance" led me astray
in New Haven I have no confidence in their
judgment and believe
generally that their aspirations are
bad. We are safe when we
rely, as Lincoln did, on the
"plain people."
1 Charles Sumner Bird had been the
Progressive candidate for governor of Massachu-
setts in 1912.
2 H. C. Lodge, George Washington (Boston,
1889), II, 172.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 145
MYERS TO RHODES, Cleveland, January 31,
1916.
Dear Mr Rhodes: I enjoyed your very luminating favor of the 6th
and was it not that I am a "deep
dyed in the wool" Republican in
National affairs, I too might exclaim,
"Almost thou persuadest me
to be a (democrat) christian." It
is not hard for one to have the
courage of his convictions when he has
so much right and a pre-
ponderance of public sentiment upon his
side, as has [sic] the
followers of Mr. Wilson, at this
writing. Whether Mr Wilson can
be able to control this sentiment up to
the time of holding the
next Democratic National Convention is a
question, in the face of
internal dissension within his Party and
the rapid growth of op-
position to his plan of prepardness [sic].
I can discern no wave of
ectasy [sic], or concerted
disposition upon the part of the masses
(proletariat) to accept His plan in
toto--while a great majority
believe in prepardness, many there be
who differ with Mr Wilson's
plan or method.1 You must not lose sight
of the fact that many
of our manufactured Americans have
served compulsery [sic] time in
Military training in the Countries from
whence they came and they
are opposed to any plan that will compel
them to return to Military
duty or Service. I find a very
appreciable opposition to Mr Wilson
upon the part of many of german
extraction; with a twinkle in
the eye, they say just wait and see. The
middle West, covering the
present tour of the President2 is
honey-combed with this sentiment.
I understand the Pittsburgh reception
was not as enthusiastic as the
Cleveland reception. Here we united
regardless of parti[s]anship to
honor the President of the U. S. His
reception here was one as only
Cleveland can give and I am safe in
saying that Mr Wilson lost no
ground. Relative to my prophesy about Mr
Root and Mr Burton,
I spoke advisedly from Sen Smoot3 through
a personal friend. I see
the current issue of Puck says the
Democratic candidate for President
1 After resisting many efforts to build
up the armed forces, Wilson, in November
1915, proposed a plan to create a
"Continental Army" of some 400,000 men. This
provoked strong opposition, especially
in the Middle West.
2 In the effort to attract public support for his preparedness program,
Wilson gave
3 series of speeches in large
middlewestern cities in late January and early February.
This effort failed, and Wilson was
forced to accept a much less ambitious program.
3 Senator Reed Smoot of Utah.
146
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
is virtually settled and so is the
Republican. Roosevelt being the
Wall St. Republican Progressive
candidate though Puck admits
Root, Burton and Hughes now but stalking
horses. I cite you this
last sentence to show there was
something in the prophesy at the
time it was made. Of course you must
know that political combi-
nations are not as fixed as the
"law of the Medes and Persians" but
subject to change. Relative to my
seeming no longer to champion
or espouse the cause of the proletariat,
I think the recent happenings
at Youngstown4 will
demonstrate to satisfaction of the most skeptical
that the proletariat of that stamp need
a guardian more than they
do a champion. Turn thou not upon the
friend of thy youth (The
Protective Tariff) which didst enable
you to make your aero-plan[e]
flight in "la-haute finance."
It was not the "friend of thy youth"
but an error in judgement. Even at that,
present indications
are, that the New Haven will yet come
into its own and if you did
not let go, you will retrieve much of
your lamented treasure. Any-
way you have my best wishes. Mr Robert
Rhodes has practically
been confined to his bed ever since his
return with La Grippe. New
York was out yesterday, he says Mr
Rhodes does not look well at
all and has not had his clothes on for
three weeks. I dont think
him seriously ill, but you know Old grip
is a hard customer to
shake off. If I should hear of him being
seriously ill, I will advise
you.
RHODES TO MYERS, Coronado Beach,
California, March 23, 1916.
Dear George: Directly after I rec'd yr letter telling me that you
suspected my brother in a serious
condition,1 I rec'd one from Mrs.
Will. Rhodes of the same tenor; then on
the Saturday [sic] a
telegram telling of a graver state and
the imminence of an operation.
Had I been well, I should have gone
immediately to Cleveland but
4 In January 1916 steel workers in East
Youngstown, Ohio, went on strike for
higher wages. Riots followed in which twenty persons
were shot. Order was restored
only after the national guard had been called out.
1 This letter is not in the Rhodes
papers.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 147
I felt that I was on the verge of an
attack of my old malady and, as
the cold week had affected me badly, I
was eager to go to a warmer
clime and this eagerness the Doctor
shared. On Sunday came the
word that the operation had been
performed and that Robert had
stood the ordeal well. I did not then
know of the gravity of the
operation but, supposing the malady to
be phlebitis, thought it
rather of a simple one. So on Monday we
started. Our train did
not stop in Cleveland but I was ready to
turn back at Chicago, but
there I rec'd a still more reassuring
telegram and so I went on. On
Friday when at Pasadena a despatch came
that Robert was worse;
on Saturday that he was dead. Not until
a letter came, did I know
that the operation was the amputation of
a leg.
Although for many years past our
occupations have been different,
I was closely attached to my brother and
regret keenly his death. I
wish now that I had made a point of
seeing more of him recently
but during the past nine months, I have
been swayed by the feeling
of an invalid and I thought there were
influences wh. I was not
strong enough to overcome. And so it has
happened that I have not
done thoroughly what I ought to have
done and now I see that I
misjudged and misconceived the
situation.
On Mr. Baker's appointment as Secretary
of War, I wrote him a
letter of congratulations to which I
rec'd a courteous reply in which
he spoke highly of you and his regard.
It is well, I think, for you
to keep in with these distinguished men,
no matter to what party
they belong. . . .
RHODES TO MYERS, Santa Barbara,
California, April 19, 1916.
My dear George: I have your valued favor of 12.1 Of course all
that you tell me will be kept strictly
confidential. I do not under-
stand yr remark, "There was much
unfavorable comment on your
passing through Clev'd and not stopping,
especially as those around
Mr. Robert made it their business to
make it known." I cannot
1 This letter is not in the Rhodes
papers.
148
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
think you refer to Mrs. Will. Rhodes as
she had constant letters
from me and must have understood my
condition perfectly. When
I left Chicago I did not know what the
operation was and had
reason to believe that there was an even
chance of Mr. Robert's
recovery. Had I gone to Clev'd I should
have come down ill as
somewhat later I had an attack at
Pasadena and was laid up in bed
and the house for a week with this
abominable complaint of mine,
that does not leave me in seve[ri]ty[?]
in any climate. Of course
one can recover more quickly here than
in Cleveland or Boston.
I had supposed that Mrs. Will. was left
well off by Will and
that probably Mr. Robert had informed
her in general terms of the
nature of his will. I did not suppose
that she was making any com-
plaint but as to that you can enlighten
me.
I thank you heartily for your kind
expressions and wishes con-
cerning myself.
I note carefully what you say regarding
the political situation. By
the same post I rec'd a letter from a
friend in New York who with
others are endeavoring to secure the
nomination of Mr. Root. I en-
close you herewith a statement of Mr.
Choate2 which gives a cogent
reason why Mr. Hughes should not be
nominated. I do not know
a tithe about the matter that you do but
I suspect that Mr. Wilson
has as strong a hold upon the people as
Mr. Roosevelt held in 1904;
and that is the reason of the frantic
efforts which are making on
the behalf of the G.O.P.
I note carefully what you say about Mr.
Lynch for whose char-
acter and ability I have profound
respect and admiration. It does
not surprise me that he thinks I am
inaccurate unjust and unfair
for he was a severely partisan actor at
the time while I, an earnest
seeker after truth, am trying to hold a
judicial balance and to tell
the story without fear, favor or
prejudice. Please do not make any
arrangement for me to see Mr. Lynch
before next autumn or winter
as I shall not be well enough to enter
upon a discussion of the
matter. Why does not Mr. Lynch write a
magazine article and show
up my mistakes and inaccuracies and
injustice?
2 Joseph Hodges Choate, former United
States Ambassador to Great Britain.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 149
MYERS TO RHODES, Cleveland, April 26, 1916.
My Dear Mr Rhodes: Your favor of Mar 23rd made such an im-
pression upon me, that I had Mr Fred
White, who married Miss
Norton read the same.1 It was he who
sent to you the telegrams
and acted as the friend to the family.
Mrs. Will Rhodes [sic].
Knowing of the unfavorable comment
heretofore spoken of, I
deemed the tone of your letter the best
means to offset the same
and for that reason alone, let Mr White
read it and take the same;
that the family could know just how you
felt and how much you
thought of Mr Robert. Of course you must
understand that I am
writing you in strict confidence and
as an evidence of the same, I
am enclosing you Mr. White's letter
written when he returned mine,
and which corroberates [sic] the
statement in my previous letter
relative to the same. I did not mean to
infer, if you so understood,
that Mrs Will Rhodes was making any
complaint or comment about
Mr Robert's provision for her. I
intended to say and if memory
serves me right did [say], that there
was much comment because
of Mr Rhodes not doing more for her. I
also offered to send you
the full text of the will if you so
desired. Please return to me Mr
White's letter. Mr White dismisses the
matter in the second
paragraph of his letter and its far from
me to mix into any affair
not my own. I wrote to you as I did
because of our intimate ac-
quaintance and relations of which I feel
proud and honored in
having. I still can't help but feel that
Mr Robert overlooked me,
one of his best friends who had served
him faithfully and loyally.
But such is life--"One soweth, the
other reapeth." I regret exceed-
ingly to hear of your sickness in
Pasadena, I sincerely hope ere you
turn your face to the Rising Sun and
seat of Enlightenment, that
you will have fully recovered. It still
looks like Justice Hughes,
despite Mr Choate. Mass voted an
uninstructed Delegation with
Gov McCall2 at the head, Iowa
and Ohio favorite Sons,3 who are
in the combination against Roosevelt.
Whiteman4 will head NY.
1 Fred R. White, manufacturer of
electric motor cars, married Miriam Norton.
2 Samuel W. McCall.
3 Theodore
Burton of Ohio and Albert Cummins of Iowa.
4 Governor Charles W. Whiteman, who
supported Hughes.
150
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Ford5 is breaking in on both
sides. There is some talk of Bryan and
Ford making a combination. This reminds
me, "that a drowning
man will grab a straw." Of course
where you are, its all Roosevelt.
Mr Wilson has his hands full. Many there
be who claim he should
have taken the action over and at the
time the Lusitania was sunk,
that he has over the Sussex.6 I
have no criticism to make. He is a
great big man and more capable to handle
the situation than many
of his critics. Of course the great
majority know that Mr Roosevelt
is a politician. The Lynch matter will
be treated as you have
indicated.
RHODES TO MYERS, Santa Barbara, May 2,
1916.
Dear George: I duly rec'd yr. letter of the 26 ult and ret. Mr.
White's letter at once. I did not write
to you for I was indignant
at Mr. White's action and remark and
desired to let my indignation
cool before writing. I am amazed to hear
that it was he who sent
me those favorable telegrams, as, taking
into account the sad result,
I thought it was entirely natural that a
woman, who did not ap-
preciate the gravity of the case, should
send them. But until I
reached Pasadena I did not know that
Robert's trouble was aneurism
and that his leg was amputated. I
supposed he had phlebitis and
that the operation was a minor one
sometimes resorted to, I believe,
in such cases. Had I known his serious
condition I should have
gone to Cleveland at once whatever
happened to me. The gravest
news I had, until I reached Pasadena,
was your letter. Had I been
well I should have instituted
telegraphic inquiries and as their re-
sult gone to Cleveland at once.
5 Henry Ford had carried the Michigan
and Nebraska primaries, despite express
statements that he was not a candidate.
6 After the torpedoing of the Sussex in
March 1916 Wilson sent an ultimatum to
Germany that resulted in the ending
(temporarily) of U-boat attacks on merchantmen
without warning.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 151
RHODES TO MYERS, Seal Harbor, June 14, 1916.1
Dear George: I duly rec'd yr letter in Oakland Calif. but was too
busy with the Commencement exercises in
Berkeley to write. I re-
member all you said. The mistake you
made was in sending Mr.
White's letter to me. As it was a
dictated letter, it was probably
the "half-baked" thought of a
"tired business man" and I attributed
to it a greater importance than it
deserved. Naturally as matters
did not turn out as he thought they
would, he felt that he had
given to me in his telegrams a too
confident assurance; this I ought
to have appreciated and estimated
rightly his hasty attempt of
laying the blame upon someone else. But
I see now that, instead of
criticizing him, I ought to thank him
heartily.
Affairs have turned out as you surmised
and Mr. Hughes has been
nominated. I am much disappointed in
him. I thought that he would
stick to his assurance of last summer in
wh. as I remember the
letter he said that no one on the
Supreme Bench sho. be a candidate
for political office.2 It is
a dangerous precedent going to the Supreme
Bench for a Candidate, but the G.O.P.
hungers after the "loaves and
the fishes" and believes that it
can win with Mr. Hughes.
But what is the German American Alliance3
which supports
Hughes, and what meaneth it that three
German papers have de-
clared in his favor? I cannot believe
that he is pro-German. From
his telegram of acceptance, I assume
that, had he been President, he
would have conducted affairs much as Mr.
Wilson has done. It
must certainly add strength to his
candidacy that under him the
country may expect a continuance of
peaceful policy. It is not con-
sistent, but it is thorough politics
that the G.O.P. should denounce
1 This letter is printed in part in
Howe, James Ford Rhodes, pages 263-264, under
the incorrect date, June 11, 1916.
2 In May 1915 Hughes had released a
statement saying: "Justice Hughes wholly
disapproves the use of his name in
connection with the Presidential campaign. Not
only has he no desire to re-enter
politics, but as a member of the Supreme Court he
is not available." New York
Times, May 5, 1915.
3 The German-American Alliance, which
maintained a lobby in Washington to
work for friendly relations between the
United States and Germany, was actively
supporting Hughes's candidacy.
152
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Mr. Wilson for doing just what they will
do themselves should
they secure the power.
I suppose it is too soon to talk about
the chances of election but
next Oct. I will ask you who will
probably succeed.
MYERS TO RHODES, Cleveland, June 27, 1916.
My Dear Mr Rhodes: I have your favor of the 14th. Noting the
same written by you, I take it that you
are greatly improved, as I
hoped you would be, in health. I
sincerely hope this improvement
permanent and ere this you have resumed
your labor upon your
unfinished history of the Civil War. I
also note that you say, "as
I surmised Mr Hughes has been
nominated." If memory serves me
correctly, I think I said to you that
"Sen Dick told me that the
favorite Sons had gotten together in
Washington and decided to
throw their support to Mr Hughes
(thereby taking Mr Roosevelt at
his word, inasmuch as he had stated upon
his return from Cuba that
he would support Hughes), and upon the
strength of this he (Dick)
was going to enter as a candidate for U.
S. Senator from Ohio." It
was not a case of surmising upon my
part, simply writing you and
saying to others, what this wily
pussy-footing politician said to me.
I am immensely pleased with Mr Hughes
nomination, even though
his pre Convention Manager, Mr
Hitchcock,1 is afflicted with a very
acute case of negrophobia--(that is, he
has no use for a self re-
specting, intelligent negro who asks for
and demand[s] his manhood
rights). I have no apology to offer for
Mr Hughes accepting and
acceding to the call of his Party. The
office certainly sought him
and considering it, as he subsequently
stated, his duty, it was evi-
dently a case of "love and
duty." He however is big enough to take
care of himself even to the most
skeptical and to the eminent satis-
faction of his friends. You also ask,
"what is the German American
Alliance which supports Hughes and what
meaneth that three Ger-
man papers have declared in his
favor"? In answer thereto, I know
1 Former Postmaster General Frank H.
Hitchcock had been an active supporter of
Hughes in the pre-convention campaign.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 153
nothing about the German American
Alliance, but can they find
comfort in the excerpt above [below]
from Mr Hughes message to
Mr Davis2 Secy of the
Progressive Natl Committee? "We strongly
denounce the use of our soil as a base
for alien intrigues, but the
responsibility lies at the door of the
administration. For that sort
of thing could not continue if the
administration took proper meas-
ures to stop it." Some there be
who may style this demogogeism, to
me it is the conviction not only of an
honest man (now seeking the
Presidency) but of many other honest
people. I cannot criticise
Mr Wilson, because I am not
sufficiently informed. I believe he has
done his best and I believe him honest,
but "Oh my, oh me," what
a mess he has made out of it in Mexico.
To me it seems now, that
Mr Hughes' election is assured. I take
for my cue Mr Roosevelt's
action, and of them all he is the
greatest politician living. He
possesses some of the intuition of
Uncle Mark relative to diagnosing
the trend of the future in politics and
feeling the pulse of the
American people. Everything and
everybody here is war. Many
there are who remember Sherman's
characterization and they facing
the crisis with much perturbation and a
full realization of what it
means. I suppose the East is as wrought
up as is the West. Mr
Wilson is the President of all of the
people and its our duty to
support him regardless of Party, Race
or Creed.
RHODES TO MYERS, Seal Harbor, August 3, 1916.
Dear George: Before answering yr valued favor of June 27 I waited
until Mr. Hughes made his address of
acceptance.1 This I have read
with care. It is quite disappointing to
me who thinks himself an
Independent. He devoted 3/4 of a column
to a criticism of the
President's European policy but on
reading between the lines, it is
evident to see that he wd. have pursued
the same policy substantially,
but he is so swayed by partisanship
that he has not the manliness to
2 Oscar King Davis.
1 Hughes's acceptance speech,
"America First and America Efficient," was delivered
in New York at Carnegie Hall on July 31,
1916.
154
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
say so. His criticism is the sort that
Homer referred to when he
wrote "After the event may e'en the
fool be wise."
He devoted nearly three columns to a
criticism of the President's
Mexican policy. What a disproportion 3
columns to Mexico 3/4
to Europe. 15 million people against
untold millions. Indians
against Caucasians.2 A low
civilization against one highly developed.
Could partisanship go further? While I
suspect that much of what
Mr. Hughes said respecting the
President's policy in Mexico is true,
his wearisome sentences do not compare
with the grave indictment
in Mrs. O'Shaughnessy's letters3 which
are charming to a high
degree and been [sic] evidence of
truth by their womanly incon-
sistency. It was a great hit to say that
Huerta's constant companions
were Martel and Hennessey.
Mr. Hughes's remarks on the tariff are
reactionary; he can only be
pitied that he has felt obliged to
declare himself on the woman's
suffrage amendment to the Constitution.
I agree with you that Col. Roosevelt's
support is evidence suffi-
cient that Mr. Hughes is not pro-German.
I can understand his
gingerly remarks on the subject by his
evident desire not to alienate
the German-American vote.
There is much in his character and life
that is attractive. I sup-
pose if elected Mr. Hughes will make
some such a President as did
Mr. Hayes. I am reading an excellent
Life of R. B. Hayes by
Charles R. Williams4 published
two years ago and a President like
him would be a great boon to the
country. Mr. Wilson has the hard
lot of being in the lime-light, forced
to act on different subjects
while Mr. Hughes can stand back and
criticize. If I had a vote in
Maine it wd. be important in the coming
State election, Sept. 11,
but my vote in Massachusetts is not
important as that State is sure
to go for Hughes. I should indeed like
to get back into the Repub-
lican party, but I am not sure whether I
shall not be prevented from
2 In
view of Myers' race and Rhodes's general attitude, this seems a strange remark
indeed.
3 Edith L. O'Shaughnessy, wife of the
American charge at Mexico City during the
early years of the Mexican Revolution,
published two volumes of letters describing
her experiences, A Diplomat's Wife in
Mexico (New York, 1916), and Diplomatic
Days (New
York, 1917).
4 Charles R. Williams, The Life of
Rutherford Birchard Hayes (Boston, 1914).
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 155
returning to the fold by its unfairness
and partisanship. But it is a
long time from now until Nov.
MYERS TO RHODES, Cleveland, August 15, 1916.
Dear Mr Rhodes: I have your very interesting letter of Aug 3rd.
No surgeon ever dissected a human body,
with the care and pre-
cision, that you have Mr Hughes's
speech of acceptance. Of course
you must know that in Mr Hughes laying
aside the judicial ermine
and again joining the ranks of the
proletariat and assuming the
leadership of his Party, he is first
aiming to suit or please the
majority and it is but natural that he
should say some things that
do not conform to your views and are
not pleasing to you. Especially
his allusions to Mr Wilson, of whom to
me you have expressed,
from time to time, the greatest
admiration. To a close student of
men and the times as you are, it would
be almost a hopeless task to
find anyone that would conform to your
views. I seriously doubt, if
Mr Lincoln was alive that he would. I
am quite sure that Mr
Roosevelt would not. I read the speech
very carefully and con-
sidered it an able document, especially
his plea for Americanism.
I know that his views on the Tariff
would not please you, because
you have always been an advocate of a
low tariff. The Woman
Suffrage business, like National
Prohibition, is sure to come and Mr
Hughes like any other candidate without
an issue (except I want
the office) is seeking to curry the
favor of the advocates of these
two great issue[s]. I feel safe in
saying that if Mr Hughes speech
of acceptance was disappointing to you,
that his speeches in the
Middle-West were more so. As one near
friend of mine has so
nicely expressed it: "The people
are really expecting of Mr Hughes
dignity, urbanity and poise. Instead of
that, they are getting decla-
mation and a very obvious attempt to
talk down to the common
mind, with the result in his case, as
in most others who tried it,
that he is diving too deep and getting
below the average." That is,
he is getting out into deep water and
will soon have to hoist the
156 THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
S.O.S. signal. Another good friend, Col
Flannigan of Cinn, was
just in. He said Myers whats the matter
with Hughes? All they
have got to do is to let him talk long
enough and he will elect Mr
Wilson. Fortunately as you say its a
long time until Nov 7th. In
the meantime Mr Hughes may grow wise. I
have just finished
Thayers life and letters of John Hay
(in which I read a letter of
yours to Mr Hay).1 The book is very
interesting to me, because as
you know I use to cut Mr Hay's hair. I
was not pleased with
the efforts of the writer showing up
Senator M. A. Hanna as he has.
Some of his references are not only not
true, but to me libellous,
especially where he charges on page
307-2 Vol that Sen Hanna held
up Cromwell the Agt for the Panama
Canal Co. for $60,000 cam-
paign fund contribution.2 Sen
Hanna never held up anyone. His
reference to Sen Hanna's letter to Mr
Hay requesting that Doctor
Webber be permitted to come and see
him, while he was at Aix-La
Bain and that the Doctor's salary,
travelling expenses and cable-
grams were undoubtedly paid by the U.
S. is another dirty dig.3 He
is entirely wrong when he claims that
in 1890 M. A. Hanna was a
prosperous whole-sale grocer and Coal
Operator. In volume 1 Page
191 he publishes an extract from Hays
diary-"On Sunday morning
Sept 21st 1862 the President wrote the
Emancipation Proclamation."
This is in conflict with not only your
History, but your speech before
the Phi Beta Kappa. I took the time to
look up what Nicolay and
Hay said in their life of Lincoln. Vol
X Page 1 & 2 states that on
Sunday morning the President wrote the second
draft of the Emanci-
pation Proclamation and the next day
read it to his Cabinet, as stated
by you in your History and Speech. Thus
do Nicolay and Hay
contradict Thayer. He should have said
the second draft or gone to
1 W. R. Thayer, The Life and Letters
of John Hay (Boston, 1915).
2 In 1900, with agitation for the
construction of an inter-oceanic canal reaching a
peak, there was some uncertainty as to where such a
canal should be located. A French
company which had begun work on a canal
in Panama wished to sell its interests to
the United States, but other interests favored a route
through Nicaragua. William
Nelson Cromwell, an agent of the French company,
contributed $60,000 to the Re-
publican campaign in 1900 to prevent that party from
going on record in favor of
the Nicaraguan route. Actually, Thayer
did not say that Hanna "held up" Cromwell.
"In 1900 [Cromwell] urged Senator
Hanna to include . . . a plank advocating the
construction . . . by way of Panama. Senator Hanna
demurred, and only after
Mr. Cromwell had contributed sixty thousand dollars to
the Republican campaign
fund, was such a plank, in very general
terms, adopted." Ibid., II, 307.
3 The statement about Hanna and the
doctor is Hay's, not Thayer's. Ibid., I, 190-191.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 157
the trouble to properly inform himself.
I take it that his statements
about M. A. Hanna are on a par with
this incorrect and misleading
one. I hope that you will look into
this gentleman's statements.
I shall call L. C.'s attention to them.
I have Williams life of R. B.
Hayes and about a year ago sent to you
the criticisms from the P. D.
stating that in so doing, I was calling
your attention to the work
because of the high and excellent
manner in which you spoke of
Mr Hayes in your "Essays and
Papers."4 I have not read them, but
will. I have just got Olcott's life of
McKinley5 and am now read-
ing the Major's war record. Have you
read Facts on Reconstruction
by Lynch, I sent it to you sometime
ago...
RHODES TO MYERS, Seal Harbor, August 26,
1916.
Dear George: I have your valued favor of 15 and agree with you
regarding your criticism of Thayer's
Life of Hay, wherein he refers
to Mr. Hanna. The author's slurs have
given me much trouble.
Thayer is a personal friend but I did
not want to break friendship
with him as he had consulted me many
times about this work but
never in regard to Mr. H. While at work
on the biography, he
called to see me three times when I was
not at home and he may
have been intending to consult me
regarding his objectionable state-
ments. The book was in a publisher's
sale1 and had to be ready last
autumn. Just as it began to go through
the press, Thayer had an
unfortunate attack which deprived him
of his eyesight for a number
of months and he cd. not give his
personal attention to getting the
book through the press; this misfortune
will account for some of
the inaccuracies. The "Life"
had an enormous sale for a serious
book2 but, despite the fact
that he is a brilliant writer, it has added
nothing to his fame with thinking men.
Two of yr. counts, wh. I
4 J.
F. Rhodes, Historical Essays (New York, 1909).
5 C. S. Olcott, The Life of William
McKinley (Boston, 1916).
1 This word is not clear in the
manuscript.
2 According to Thayer's biographer,
Charles R. Hazen, the sale eventually reached
almost 29,000 copies. Charles R. Hazen, The
Letters of William Roscoe Thayer
(Boston, 1926), 257n.
158
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
knew about, I took up with Mr. Thayer
& told him what I thought
of such reckless statements.3
Your recommendation of Williams' Life of
Hayes passed entirely
from my memory. It must have come
between Nov. and Feb. last
when I was practically ill all of the
time. I think the poison must
have gone to my brain as I have
forgotten many things during those
months. I did practically no work during
that time and, while up
and around from the middle of Dec., I
was a miserable being. You
do me the courtesy to ask after my
health. I am pretty well, but not
very well. I have not considered it prudent to attempt any
of the
high mountains here which in former
years have been my delight.
I read all of the second vol. of the
Life of Hayes with great care
and attention. It is a splendid
biography of an excellent man. It
is a much better book than Olcott's Life
of McKinley. While the
material for the Life of Hayes is
superior, I do not think Mr. Olcott
made the best use of his. I do not
consider it equal to Croly's Life
of Hanna. "Uncle Mark" as you
and President Roosevelt used to
call him, was fortunate in his
biographer. Olcotts book confirms me
in the impression I have long had that
if Mr. Hanna had been
President, the Spanish-American War wd.
not have occurred. The
Spaniards wd. have been negotiated out
of Cuba and we should
not now have the "gold brick,"
the Philippines.
"Poor Hughes." He has made a
wonderful failure in his speeches
out West. The N. Y. Times in a sarcastic
article "If Hughes had
stayed at home"4 says at
the end, "And President Wilson would not
have had occasion to make that
blistering comment on the character
of Mr. Hughes's campaign, that silent
but terrific comment that he
delivered when, having made all his
preparations for an active fight
on the stump, he changed them after
watching Mr. Hughes's per-
formance for two weeks and decided that
is was not necessary & he
wd. stay at home."
But I think Mr. Hughes, if elected, will
make a good president,
a president like Hayes. I have no doubt
but that he will continue
Mr. Wilson's European policy. He will
undoubtedly do better in
3 Rhodes in 1913 had expressed
"grave doubts" to Thayer about anyone writing
a life of Hay so soon after his death. Ibid., 225.
4 New York Times, August 19, 1916.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 159
regard to Mexico. Do you think our good
friend Mr. Baker has
been a successful Sec'y of War? Has he
not been a sort of a misfit?
He has much ability and honesty but wd.
have done better, I think,
in the first place offered him.5 What
sort of a man is the new
Justice from Cleveland, Clarke?6 Verily
Cleveland is becoming
famous!
MYERS TO RHODES, Cleveland, September 27, 1916.
Dear Mr Rhodes: I have sent to you under seperate [sic] cover
the
P. D. and part of today's Leader, both
containing Mr Hughes speech
in Cleve'd last night. I have read the
speech carefully and it
bristles with the Republican doctrine of
former days. Mr Hughes'
position upon the Tariff, Mexico and the
Adamson Bill1 is sound
and logical and to an old deep dyed in
the wool republican like
myself unanswerable, but how it seems
and what impression it will
make upon the proletariat is a horse of
a different color. To me
Mr Hughes seems to be talking over the
heads of the common
people and making no votes. He seems to
lack spontaniety [sic] of
driving home his argument--speaking in
the vernacular, of saying
things and making them like it. To the
upper or intelligent class
of people he and his speeches have been
a sad disappointment.
Perhaps we expected too much of the man,
but as Governor of New
York and a Supreme Justice, Mr Hughes
certainly made good; con-
sequently our hopes were cast high. Of
course at this writing no
one with any degree of certainty can
prophesy the result. As it is
today Mr Wilson is stronger in the
Middle West than he was before
Mr Hughes tour. Oct will bring forth the
harvest, after the spell-
binders of both parties have expended
their energy and oratory upon
5 Newton D. Baker became secretary of war after Lindley M. Garrison had
re-
signed when Wilson accepted a compromise
in the fight over preparedness.
6 John Hessin Clarke, a Cleveland lawyer, served as associate justice of
the supreme
court from 1916 to 1922.
1 In order to avert a threatened
railroad strike, Wilson approved the passage of
the Adamson act fixing an eight hour day
for railroad employees. Hughes seized
upon this issue to help his faltering
campaign, claiming that Wilson had capitulated
to the threats of labor leaders and undermined the
principle of arbitration.
160 THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the people who vote. Roosevelt may be
able to retrieve the ground
lost by Mr Hughes in the West. The
germans and the catholics are
strong for Hughes and will remain so.
Ohio (according to Dick2
yesterday) is a very doubtful State
among the doubtful States. Our
own Myron T.3 will have a
plenty of troubles of his own. I think
that he will be elected, but at this
writing his seems to be a case as
was Senator Payne's-only Myron T. spent
his money with the
masses, while Senator Payne (like my
Uncle Mark) spent his with
a few (the members of the
Legislature).4 Dick confidentially told
me of an enormous expenditure and
further intimated that if Herrick
is elected the Senate would not permit
him to be seated. Yesterday's
dispatches intimate a secret connection
with Myron T. furnishing
War munitions. Of course you know the
moment a man steps into
the political limelight he becomes a
target for abuse and calumny.
Uncle Mark got his and some. I
supported Herrick because he was
my home candidate and the Senate as a
whole today is composed of
men of Herrick's calibre. A little
later on I may be able to glean
something authentic that may interest
you. I am occupying a peculiar
position, being out of active politics,
all factions in my party come
to me with their woes and I am very
friendly with the local head of
the Democracy, hence I learn much of
what is going on in both
parties and I make it a point to keep
my counsel and not let the
other know what the other fellow says
about him or [what he] is
doing. I was glad to learn that you had
taken Thayer to account for
his reckless statements. Admitting the
same to be true, I think it
entirely out of place and not germane to
the subject Thayer was
called upon to write about. What if
anything the Hanna family
will do or say I know not. I have
brought it to their attention and
that is all I could do. I remember
something of an old adage which
says-"Speak only kind things of
the dead." Perhaps Thayer had
a grievance against Uncle Mark, anyway
one who knew Mr Hanna
2 Former
Republican Senator Charles W. F. Dick.
3 Myron
T. Herrick, Republican candidate for the United States Senate in 1916,
was defeated by Atlee Pomerene.
4 Henry B. Payne was elected to the
senate from Ohio in 1885 after a campaign
in which money was used freely.
Subsequent efforts to unseat him on this account
failed, but it seems clear that Payne's
seat in the senate was purchased rather
than fairly won.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 161
so well as I did, would form that
opinion. I think Olcotts chapters
on the Tariff and Protection were great.
Of course this is but natural
to one sharing my views upon those
subjects. I will read Williams
life of Hayes later. I am glad to learn
that your health is improving.
Will write you about Judge Clarke later.
RHODES TO MYERS, Boston, October 18, 1916.
My dear George: I found yrs of 27 ult on my return to Boston.
I was glad to get your political ideas
although I regret that you are
still a hide-bound protectionist,
thinking those chapters of Mr. Olcott
on Protection etc excellent. You remind
me of Miss May Phelps
who thought the same. To me they were
the veriest of disproved
commonplaces. Olcott wd. have made a
better book had he con-
fined himself to one volume and stuck to
those charming views he
gave of McKinley's domestic life and the
extracts from Mr.
Cortelyou's memoranda and Justice Day's
recollections and com-
ments.1 I am for Hughes, but I am sorry
he is putting the protec-
tion argument so to the fore. You may
rest assured that the Demo-
cratic tariff bill is on the whole the
best revenue bill that has
passed since the Civil War and the
imposition of the income tax
(although it hits me harshly) progress
in the right direction. Legis-
lation shd be for the greatest good of
the greatest number. To my
mind the President let his foot slip in
siding with the Brotherhoods.2
I do not suspect his motive, and he is
probably more longheaded
than I am, but I do not like the idea of
the President and Congress
of the great United States surrendering
to a threat. Mr. Hughes
showed great courage in attacking the
Adamson Act and the action
of the President right on the eve of the
Maine election, and Mr.
Roosevelt spoke solid truth at
Wilkesbarre.3 I cannot longer stay
1 George B. Cortelyou, McKinley's
private secretary, and William R. Day, his
secretary of state.
2 In connection with the Adamson act.
3 Speaking at Wilkes-Barre on October
14, 1916, Roosevelt attacked Wilson's stand
on the Adamson act.
162
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
out of a party led by such courageous
men, although as evidence of
my not full conversion, I must write it
with small letters, g.o.p.
I read with amazement and sorrow that
our Boston papers con-
sider Ohio doubtful as I supposed it
was certain for Hughes. If
Hughes cannot carry Ohio he cannot be
elected. He will carry Mass.
and Senator Lodge & Governor McCall
will be reelected by hand-
some majorities. It is thought here
that New York will go for
Hughes. I wish that I might be assured
of it. On the whole we
shall be better off with the
Republicans again in power. I trust they
will [have been] chastened by their
defeat.
I do not quite understand why the
Germans & the Catholics [are]
for Hughes. We certainly do not want a
pro-German president but
since Mr. Hughes came out so
courageously in Maine, I am ready to
trust him in every respect.
Let me know the probable result in Ohio
before election. "Trust
in God but keep your powder dry."
MYERS TO RHODES, Cleveland, October 26,
1916.
My Dear Mr Rhodes: I thoroughly appreciated your favor of the
18th and I am exceedingly glad to learn
that you are again "on the
Lord's side." I trust that your
conversion may be permanent and
that you will never again wander from
the "old fire side of the
G.O.P.," even though you have to
put on the soft pedal and spell
it with small letters. Like our
"Father's Mansion in the skies," there
is always room in the Grand Old Party
for all, the vilest sinner is
ever welcome to return. For the sake of
argument I will admit all
you say about the Wilson-Underwood
Tariff to be true; but I would
like to ask, Was it ever found
necessary under a high protective
"Tariff" to enact an Income
Tax and to further increase it? Was it
ever found necessary to enact a War tax
in times of Peace under a
high protective Tariff and furthermore,
What was it, if not the
Wilson-Underwood Tariff, that caused
the depression in 1914 and
the early part of 1915, when thousands
were idle and our Industries
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 163
prostrated? I agree with you about the
President and his being
coerced into having Congress under
pressure enact the Adamson
Bill. But you must realize that the Mr
Wilson as a candidate for
the Presidency in 1912 and Mr Wilson as
a candidate for reelection
under the domination of his political
advisers, are two different
persons. The enactment of the Adamson
Bill was wholly and solely
for political gain and from a politician
standpoint good politics--Mr
Wilson will gain more labor votes than
he will lose among the
thinking and reading public. In 1912 Mr
Wilson was a theoretical
College Professor and Scholar, today Mr
Wilson is an astute and
crafty politican seeking reelection with
a record of actual accom-
plishments. And "a foeman worthy of
any man's steel." Mr Hughes
is as you say a bold and courageous man
and a man with a vision.
Mr Hughes knows as well as many others
that the Adamson Bill
will never stand the test of the U. S.
Supreme Court,1 but his having
been an Associate Justice of that Court,
propriety and deference does
not permit him to say so at this time.
Mr. Hughes bold utterance
on the sinking of the Lusitania, his
reply to the "Alliance" and his
views upon the Mexican situation has
been the means of having
many return to his support, who thought
him--speaking in the
vernacular--a "weak sister,"
forming that opinion from his speeches
on his first "Western Tour."
There is no denial that his first West-
ern trip was a dismal failure and cost
thousands of votes. Mr
Hughes needed some firm man, as was
Uncle Mark, to tell him of
his short-comings; until he ascertained
what they were he lost
ground. This with improper management in
the early stages of the
Campaign, both National and here in
Ohio, where we have a
Kindergarden [sic]--so to
speak--in charge of affairs, is wholly
responsible for the existence of doubt
in Ohio Indiana and Mich.
At present the situation is greatly
improved and fortunately the
Election comes on Nov 7th instead of Nov
2nd. Cuyahoga Co will
go for Wilson, in all probability.
Herrick will carry this, his home
1 The belief that the Adamson act would
be declared unconstitutional was wide-
spread. However, in Wilson v. New
(1917), the supreme court upheld its con-
stitutionality in a five to four
decision.
164
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
County, and some of the Republican
County ticket will win. I am
afraid that Wilson's vote will be
sufficiently large to cost us our
Legislative delegation. Present
indications are that Mr Hughes will
have a safe margin in Ohio, by that I
mean that his plurality will be
sufficiently large so that the vote for
the leading elector will be
large enough to pull the lowest through
and that Mr Hughes will
secure the entire Electoral vote of
Ohio. Had Gov Willis2 not
listened to his
"kindergarten"--his immediate associates and politi-
cal advisers--and followed the advice of
Herrick, Daugherty,3 Dick
& et al, Ohio would never have been
regarded as Debatable. The
new crisis in Mexico4 will
help Mr Hughes, Secy Baker's break5 will
do Mr Wilson no good, and last but not
least Mr Wilson's Segrega-
tion policy at Washington. His breaking
faith with the Negro
Democrats and those followers of Bishop
Walters,6 and his Southern
inclinations have solidified the Negro
vote in N.Y. Md. N.J. Ohio
Ind. Mich. Ill. Mo & Ky. Also West
Va. These States Negroes are
in large numbers, they vote and their
votes are counted. While I
am not active in the game, I am in touch
with it to a certain extent
and speak advisedly so far as the Negro
is concerned. Glad to learn
the good news from Mass. We have with us
tonight Mr. W. H.
Lewis of Boston, former Asst. U.S.
Attorney, and Cleveland is as
usual growing very rapidly. In fact you
would be a stranger here
in a strange land. Not only has the City
grown,7 but most all of
your former acquaintance[s] have passed
on to their reward. I am
glad your health is improving and trust
that you will write at your
convenience.
2 Frank B. Willis, who was defeated in
this election by James M. Cox.
3 Harry
M. Daugherty, later Harding's attorney general, had been defeated by
Herrick in the Republican senatorial
primary.
4 Presumably Myers is referring to the
election of a constituent assembly by the
Mexicans on October 22, 1916.
5 In a speech at Youngstown, Ohio, on
October 19, 1916, Hughes accused Baker
of comparing the Mexican bandits
operating under Villa to Washington's ragged
Continentals at Valley Forge. Baker
heatedly denied that he had done so.
6 Bishop Alexander Walters of the
African Zion Church was, in 1912, president
of the National Colored Democratic
League. Wilson had written him a widely
publicized letter promising "fair
dealing" for Negroes in the event of a Democratic
victory.
7 In 1916 the population of Cleveland was approximately 700,000. In 1890,
about
the time of Rhodes's departure, it had been 261,353.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 165
RHODES TO MYERS, Boston, November 20, 1916.
My dear George: I duly rec'd yrs. of Oct. 26 and I used your con-
fident assurance therein with some of my
doubting friends to make
them feel that Ohio was certain for
Hughes. Two have already
taken me [to] task regarding my
"confidential advices" and I expect
an excoriation from the third, who is my
physician guide and friend.1
Luckily I was in New York last week when
he called. Meeting Mr.
Theodore Roosevelt on the Academy stage,
from which he read a
learned paper,2 I was invited
by him to luncheon to which I went
with gladness. The party was ten so that
the conversation was
general, conducted mainly by Mr.
Roosevelt and Senator Lodge.
The talk was on the election and the
mismanagement of the cam-
paign. All that you say in yr. letter
was repeated in other words and
from other points of view. From your
letter and the talk at the
luncheon I have arrived at some
conclusions:
I. That the g.o.p. made a great mistake
in going to the Supreme
Bench for a candidate.
II. That Mr. Hughes made a great mistake
in stepping down from
his dignified place into the arena of
politics.
III. That his first Western tour was a
dismal failure and his conduct
in California that of an infant!
IV. That the Republican campaign was
badly managed with no
comprehension of the weak spots.
V. That Mr. Wilson is a very great man,
abler than Hughes, stronger
than his party and received his reward
for keeping the country out
of war.
Thus might one go on but the two great
personalities politically
are Roosevelt and Wilson, both men of
education, culture and
ability. It is a great country to have
two such men at the head of
the two great parties! I see nothing for
us to do but to be at the
back of the President in all foreign
matters and to criticize him
freely in matters domestic. His
surrender to the labor unions was
1 Despite Myers' predictions, Wilson had
carried Ohio.
2 On November 16 Roosevelt had addressed
a joint meeting of the American
Academy of Arts and Letters and the
National Institute of Arts on the subject,
"Nationalism in Literature and
Art."
166 THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
fraught with mischief, but it is idle
to say how the thing will turn
out; it seems to me, however, that the
President inclines to socialism,
and that his work will tend in that
direction. The appointments of
Brandeis and Clark[e] would seem an
indication, and it is a cruel
thought that our sacred Supreme Bench
will be filled with men who
will incline to the labor unions and
socialism.3 Unfortunately you
have seemed to sympathize with la haute
finance. Take my advice,
forsake these men and join the
proletariat, who will undoubtedly
be in the ascendant!
I ran into Mr. Myron Herrick in New
York but unfortunately we
were both in a hurry, but he told me
that organized labor, and the
foreign vote went in the cities for
Wilson; and unfortunately the
farmers in the country voted likewise.
He seemed to regret his defeat.
I don't know what is going to happen to
the world. The outlook
is certainly dreary. Let us hope that
we may keep out of the
European conflict and have no more than
our domestic troubles
which will be quite sufficient.
I hope that you are making enough of
money to give you a living.
MYERS TO RHODES, Cleveland, December 7, 1916.
My Dear Mr Rhodes: I have your valued favor of Nov 20th and
heartily agree with your post-mortem
diagnosis of the recent
unpleasantness of Nov 7th. Formed as it
was after such a "gather-
ing" and by one with such gifted
aptitude in getting the meat from
every kernel it should be readily
accepted. The "confidential in-
formation" sent, came from the
inner circle of the Rep State Ex
Com, through a member of the same that
I named, and the same
was sent to the Republican National
Com. Our State managers,
mediocre at best, have yet to learn
their limitation[s] and are still
trying to explain. Much as Dick, who
never lost a battle, and
Daugherty are discredited, either could
have carried Ohio, especially
with the enormous campaign fund there
was at their command. Of
course Mr Hanna had no use for
Daugherty because he found him
3 Wilson's appointment of Louis D.
Brandeis in particular was considered by
conservatives to be a dangerous move in the direction
of radicalism.
MYERS-RHODES CORRESPONDENCE 167
to be a crook,1 but
Daugherty held the organization intact in 1912
and was in line and should have been
chosen to manage the 1916
campaign. Dick offered his services and
was acceptable to Mr
Herrick, who urged his selection, but
the kindergarten around Gov
Willis, (referred to above) were too
jealous of Dick and would not
agree; consequently Mr Herrick was
placed to the additional expenses
of maintaining his "primary
organization" through the entire cam-
paign. This accounts for his large
admitted expenditure. How much
he really expended no one knows and
never will through him. Mr
Herrick heretofore was known as a tight
proposition; "believe me"
he paid for it all and some, in this
campaign. He is an awful dis-
appointed man, Mrs Herrick is more
disappointed than he. Mr
Herrick, so rumor has it, was so sure
of Election (and bear in mind
the Democratic organization conceded
his election) that he was
arranging a Reception for 2000 at The
Union Club. I supported
Mr Herrick; not that I had any
particular love for him, but because
he was my home candidate and the
further fact that the U. S. Senate
now composed (as a whole) have
gravitated down to men of his
ability and calibre. What the future
has in store for Mr Herrick,
no seer or prophet can tell, but with
his unlimited gall and nerve, he
is liable to "bob up serenely from
below." I am enclosing an
editorial from The Leader of Dec. 6th
which is indeed surprising
and readily shows that the Rep State
Com was not so far off in
their figures, but they under-estimated
the other fellow. Like my
good friend Elbert Hubbard2 I
claim "Explanations explain noth-
ing," therefore I attempt to make
none; nor do I offer an alibi. We
got licked good and plenty and the
atmosphere is cleared of the
little would-be bosses. We now have the
opportunity to get to-
gether and get busy. Like you, I can
only see the two big men of
today Mr Wilson and Mr Roosevelt, and I
can see no other man
in the Democratic Party so large as Mr
Roosevelt...
1 Myers provides more exact information
on Hanna's opinion of Daugherty in his
letter of December 22, 1922, which will
appear in a later installment.
2 Elbert Hubbard, the
"cracker-barrel" philosopher and author of "A Message to
Garcia," once called Myers' shop
"The Best Barber Shop in America," a slogan that
Myers promptly emblazoned across an
entire wall of his establishment.
[The remainder of the correspondence
will appear in succeeding issues.]