| Show EW news daa tt T t TE Z dj ay how lincoln was re harry vanderbilt obtained nearly to pay for tle tl e campaign b by y personal appeals to wealthy men tn in the east As a remarkable remark aole instance of how it t Is possible for a man to ish a work regarded at the time as of supreme importance and still remain in comparative obscurity the case of harry vanderbil a nephew of commodore vanderbilt who died recently in new york city at a green old age after making a fortune tor for himself as a manufacturer Is of es pedal interest for this vanderbilt on the authority of his lifelong life long friend B J jayne who earned a name and a fortune for himself in the seven ties by uncovering a nest of great customs frauds should be accredited with the honor of having made it pos sible for abraham lincoln to secure his election reelection re to the presidency in 1864 for some years prior to 0 the out bleik of the civil war said mr jayne who Is now almost eighty years of age harry vanderbilt held a responsible position lu in he ports mouth new hampshire navy yard bit b it when salmon P chase became lincoln first secretary of the tre s ury mr air went to t that at de e apartment part ment as appointment clerk remaining there for more than ten years or until the middle of grant grants s administration it was during lin coin coln a first administration that ir I 1 vanderbilt ander bilt s ability as a trusted po lotical worker was discovered and I 1 roved on sev ral occasions by the party chiefs it Is well known that following lincoln s the party leaders in charge of the campaign greatly feared that mr lincoln boil wo il fall of re election reelection on account of the inability of the national committee to obtain funds sufficient to carry C a thorough and aggressive campaign it was at a vey anxious period of the war ar the drain on the resources of the nation had 0 n exhausting and no immediate relief was in sight taxation had reached what appeared to bethe ace the limit of safety ad aid all demand demands for money for pol i 1 ur poses were met by sullenness or ab solute refusal the national committee seemed to be powerless to find a way out of the uncompromising situation its chair man henry J raymond the distin gulshen newspaper cd tor was not an adept in the art of campaign funds and be he had a profound distaste for ordinary political methods of get ting money for campaign purposes gov E D morgan of new york his predence predecessor sor in the national chairman ship had collected upward of a hun dred thousand dollars to conduct lin coin coln a first campaign but it was es unmated by the party leaders that con sider ably more than double that that sum rum would be required to re elect their can dilates to whom should be allotted the herculean task of obtaining Is immense sum it was at this trying moment that the name of harry vanderbilt was suggested as that of a man who knew new many prominent men in the money centers who put forward his name mr air vanderbilt never learned but im m mediately med lately thereafter he be was asked to undertake the raising of the c campaign fund and with characteristic mod esty he implied that he would do his best to get together the badly needed funds quietly and with his miss migs on known to only a few mr air vanderbilt began the task of trying to raise at least two hundred thousand dollars and as much as three hundred thou sand dollars if possible the first city that he visited as I 1 now remember it was boston there he made personal appeals to men of wealth who vere ere of the republican party and at last secured from them either elther in actual cash or pledges 8 next te I 1 e ea caa cassed philadelphia where be he also secured a large sun surl then new corto and several other cities in none wasi wat his mission known to or even su bus suj j pecked by any one on whom he did not call and in this manner he a at last got together a fund that totaled close on to three hundred thou and dol dollars larr to the great delight and relied relief of the national committee commit tte thena thena having been assured by those in thee secret that he had performed t grea great service in behalf of the union mr air vanderbilt went back to his duties as a appointment clerk in the treasury department part ment just how mr air vanderbilt induced the men he visited to contribute tw t the campaign fund no nc one ever knewl knewl exactly added mr air jayne A all I 1 I 1 any one ever learned from him was chati that he made personal appeals he ile never boasted about the important part ha ho played in making ros possible sible the reflection of abraham lincoln I 1 am one of the very few men with whom harri vanderbilt ever talked about this feat of bis his and I 1 aia am certain that I 1 am the only one now living who now personally that it was he who raised he the lincoln campaign fund of 1864 copyright 1310 1910 by I 1 E J 12 edwards dwards |
