Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 August 1888 — CAMPAIGN COMMANDER. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CAMPAIGN COMMANDER.

*\ —• — THE PERSONALITY AND CHARACTERISTICS Of SENATOR QUAY. '

A» AOjnlmMe Selection of Uw Wan fcq the Work—Brief Biognvpity of the Man Who Hu Fairly Earned the Poattloo to Which He Is Choeen. Tlie Bepnblican national oonmjittee has shown a wisdom which fitly supplements the excellent work dona at Chicago to the choice of Senator Matthew Quay, of Pennsylvania, to take charge of, the campaign work at its national headquarters. As the work of Senator Quay is of

the utmost importance, and as he will necessarily be a prominent figure in the great campaign, our readers will, no doubt, bo glad to become familiar with the personal characteristics of their general who i 3 to lead them onto victory. Matthew Stanley Quay was bom Sept. 30, 1833,, at Dillsburg, in York county. This was the same year in which Senator Don Cameron was bom and four years after Simon Cameron had entered public life as adjutant general of Pennsylvania. That rugged old Democrat, George Woll* was then, governor, and the places Ip the United States senate now filled by Quay and Cameron wore then occupied by William Wilkins and c ,George Mifflin Dallas. Quay’s father, recalling the struggles and friendships of his early life, named his son Matthew Stanley Quay, after Gen. Matthew Stanley, of Brandywine Manor, in Chester county. * ll

Senator Quay traces hl3 family back to Scotcb-Irisli origin, and to the sturdiest of that sturdy race. The senator’s grandfather, Joseph Quay, was. a farmer and storekeeper in Charlestown township, Chester county, when he made a runaway marriage with Ascenath Anderson, a,daughter or Patrick Anderson, who was a captain in the Revolution and the first child of European parents bom in Charlestown township, Ascenath was also a sister of Isaac Anderson, who was a member of congress for two terms at the beginning of the present century. Of this w»naway union—which, however, seems to have turned out very well— Senator Quay’s father was born. He was given the name of Anderson Beaton Quay, the first name coming from the family of his mother and the second from that of his mother’s mother, who was Ann Beaton, a sister of Col. John Beaton, who. had charge of military affairs in Chester coiinty during the Revolution. Anderson,B. Quay early ip. life showed a disposition for the ministry, and, following the traditional bent of his race, he became a Presbyterian clergyman. He made a circuit westward beyond the Susquehanna river. The stories told of Quay’s very early days make him out just the kind of human boy that thousands of others have been. One of his earliest recollections was that his father one day brought home to DUlsburg a small Bible and a tin sword, and gave the boy his choice. It is a favorite way of testing the inclinations of vary young people which parents have not yet outgrown. The small boy in this case was but, 6 -years of age. He had even then, however, some of the quick wit which has since boen so useful to him. He knew very woll that his father had no one else to give that tin sword to, and he chose the Bible, greatly to his father’s delight, and the sword was thrown in, as the boy know it would be. This kind of diplomacy ho cultivated as the years went on. On the first fly leaf of the book thus presented the father had written a few Fines of inscription from Scott.' On the next leaf the mothor ha£ inscribed some verses. Young Quay carried this book with him when he went from home; it was with him in all his subsequent wanderings, and today is a part of the library at liis Beaver home—a quaint little book in very fine type and stout leather binding. '•lt would have been far better for me,” said Senator Quay recently, “if 1 had kept out of politics and settled down to the law.” This will strike with astonishment those who look upon the political career of the new sonator as one of success almost from the beginnings Had he Baid if at any time during the year or two preceding his election as state treasurer it would have been understood by all; but it was said affpr he had been chosen to the United States senate, and when it wds on all sides recognized that ho held a greater political power than any other man in the state. What ho said, however, was unquestionably sincere. In the stormy politics of the state for the last twenty-five years Col. Qqay has taken more than his share of responsibility, which has not always been desirable. His sturdy friendships have cost him a great deal—a great deal more than can ever be calculated oven by himself. His friendship for Andrew G. Curtin through a series of years made hi 3 political path a rough one at the time, and he had to fight almost hand to hand over every Inch of the way. And when he found that political friendship parted and he found himself going over other ground and with those whom be had previously opposed in the party management, he was still fighting his way, but he was now doing stllT more for others, and responsibility for theix methods and blunders was pretty steadily shared by him, if not wholly loaded upon his shoulders. It is little wonder that he should even now feel that he would have boen better oft had he settled down to the practice of law at the outset. , Jtwould doubtless have brought him wealth, and certainly reputation, and political distinction might then have been had with no exertion which has now come after years of turmoil and sacrifice which few can comprehend. It was not alone Quay’s ability which "excited thg'TeSlgtlsy''l6nd"oppoflition~7?r some whom he "had sought to serve, for it is undeniable that such feeling regardTug hiriraaftrist. although But cautiously manifested. He was always restlesa under any purpose to drive the party, and this feeling Baa grown npon him. In the Btgrny conflicts » fgw yeer» ago against

bpselsm he never had bat one opinion, Mid that was that the party had an indisputable right to con tool Itbelf. His methods would have saved it from disruption at that time, and it was due to his exertions in 1888 that there was such a complete and speedy reuniopof the different elements, m 1880, when it was desired by Cameron that the national delegation should be instructed for Grant for Ktident, Quay was opposed to it. He w that the popular sentiment of the party was against it, and while It might be possible, with the party machinery to force the convention, he indicated in the plainest terms what the result would be. Having done all this, he yielded his own opposition in the party counsels, and the result was what ne had foreseen and foretold. It ledto the defeat of the caucus candidate for United States senator the following winter and cost the party the state election in 1882. When In the latter. year Col. Quay sought the nomination of Charles 8. Wolfe for lieutenant governor on the ticket with Gen. Beaver it was because he felt that thq party lu its every element should have the broadest recognition. Gen. Beaver had been put in a false petition by malicious publications. That Senator Cameron desired Beaver’s nomination was true, but tfiat the candidacy had been agreed upon at a caucus in Cameron’s house in Washington was untrue. Yet that statement was printed as a fact, and it aroused a resentment in many quarters at a time when Gen. Beaver had the popular support of the party for the nomination without any urging from Cameron, and undoubtedly could liavo been nominated in opposition to him. Quay’s efforts to reconcile the party did not cease with the failure to nominate Wolfe, hut extended throughout that campaign. They failed, but the work was accomplished the encceedingyoar by his successful support of Jerome B. Niles for auditor general.

These facts are illustrative of Quay’s method. Those who have assumed that ho believes in bossing the party totally misundorstand him. His power in politics has its mainspring in his keen and close observation of the current of public thought and feeling, his quickness to grasp its significance and readiness tp yield to. Us will. He has ever sought tp know the temper and desir-o of the people. Ip the party councils this has always been his position, and though often defeated by those who were more powerful at the moment, his course has been consistent. He has never failed in his fidolity to those who have been true to him. Coming into political life at about the time the Republican party was organized, he has ever had earnest and steadfast belief in its principles. Many of these he had helped to formulate, and he has always been a little In advance of general thought on those questions which have given the party much of its best force. Senator Quay is not a fluent orator, but it will be seen that he is a man of great and good influence and of wonderfufexecutive ability. His management of the campaign is sure to result in a grand victory in November.

MATTHEW STANLEY QUAY.