-To O’Mahony from J. Daly (Stephens)-May 20, 1864
Friday, 20 May 1864, Nashville.
'Private. Brother and friend. With large material and 171 members (some
of them excellent and the vast majority average) already enrolled, there is
something rotten in this Circle. Judge for yourself.
'And first
about this State Centre, Mr Tom McCarthy. He is a man of various callings —
market-master (or something of the kind), city magistrate (his election, as he
informed me, with a hard smile and a local bow, has been owing to the
Brotherhood), and play-actor. His character may
be good but he is one of those folk whose faces, manner, and words leave an
unfavorable impression. What to think of him on the whole I don't exactly know
at present, but I am disposed to think badly of him. Some of the other officers
are, I fear, more or less objectionable, and the whole Circle, with some 30
exceptions or so, has made an unpleasant impression on me. Still, as already
said, there is fine material here and a good deal of work has been done. Would
that the Circle had better officers or that I could think better of those it
has. I must give you details. 'You recollect that the letter of special
recommendation you wrote for me did not embrace the Tennessee district. This,
as you must also remember, was simply because we could not see far enough
before us to enable you to announce my visit on a certain day. It was far from
your mind, as from mine, to mean any disrespect to this State Centre in this
way; and you doubtless considered that, where a special letter could not be
written, your letter of credentials to the State Centres and Centres would be
ample and unquestionable endorsement of my action. So it has been hitherto and
so it would have been here also if Mr McCarthy were "the right man in the
right place". This State Centre is even without the excuse of not having
received special notice. On arrival in Louisville last Saturday I got Mr McGrath to forward to Mr McCarthy the special
letter you wrote to Louisville. I instructed Mr McGrath to add a few lines
himself telling Mr McCarthy to have his Circle ready to receive me on the
following (last) Tuesday. Now mark the sequel. By dint of perseverance I
succeeded in getting off (from Louisville) by the 7 a.m. train on Tuesday
morning and reached here at 5 p.m. the same evening. Nobody met me at the
station. As no one in Louisville could give me Mr McCarthy's exact address I
had to make inquiries. These inquiries were all vain— I could not learn
anything about his whereabouts. Fortunately, I got in Louisville the address
of a Mr Hugh Burns, who was spoken of as "a first-class fellow",
"a whole-souled man", etc.
'The first
impression made by Mr Burns was decide me one of those hard brassy fellows
who will make perfectly
clear to me that he was fully aware of my chance.
We began to talk. He was not satisfied with 1 There was a looseness about
everything. Officers not to be always found at their
posts. "Then", I said, "these officers
are not good men. Why not elect others? You have the affair in your own
hands". "Well, they were good men but they ————". "Could not be got to do their
duty", I observed. The man could not be got to give a straightforward
answer, and when a fellow of this kind shuffles you know what a hand he makes
of it and how pleasant it is to have to do with him. This Mr Burns is in the
wholesale spirit and, I think, victualling business and making money fast. He
furnishes the military and goes back and forward to the army. Consequently he
knows many of the officers — the very highest, as he finds it his interest to
make an occasional present of wine, etc. In fact he is a hard wide-awake
money-grub. Still, he makes great professions of nationality and may not be altogether
without some. He said it would be nothing more or less than
"nonsense" to go to the camp — I could neither meet the officers nor
do anything with them if we did meet. Though having my own opinion on this
latter point, still, from what he and others afterwards told me, as well as
from what I had learned from experience, I came to the conclusion that it would
be sheer loss of a great deal of precious time to go further south. So, I had
to abandon a move from which I had been expecting much, and give up my hope of
acquiring the sort of knowledge I am so anxious to acquire.
'Mr Burns
(very reluctantly and ungraciously) made up his mind to come with me in search
of Mr McCarthy, I had almost forgotten to mention that Mr Burns spoke about our
Mr McDermott ['Red
Jim']. Privately he thought well of him —
liked him and deemed him a fine gentlemanly young fellow, but he considered him
quite unfit to go about in a public capacity. He said he told him so. He had
also been informed tliat Mr McDermott had
come here without your authority. I
was surprised to hear this last circumstance. Why did you not tell me it was
so? I told Mr Burns I thought Mr McDermott had
your authority; at any rate you had since endorsed his action; and so the
matter was all right. As to his fitness for public business I could not but
agree with Mr Burns, who said emphatically that Mr McDermott's
action had done injury. I find this to have been almost invariably the
case; and, where there is no complaint, the work done by him is of small consequence;
it will be found, too, on probing the matter that the work might have been far better done by another. There is
a lesson in all this: better send out nobody than a man unfit to
represent us. Would that you had been able to go over a great deal — all — this
ground yourself. You could have done ten
times the service your presence in New York has been able to effect. Not that I
would have you absent from N.Y. for any
great length of time. But could you not make frequent tours of a week, a
fortnight, or even a month? Friend, there is certain ruin and shame before us
if ceaseless and judicious action be not our motto henceforth.
'To return
to Mr Burns, who by the way is fully compact of impudent conceit. We met
several persons — Fenians — not one of whom could tell us where Mr McCarthy
resided! Mr Burns was equally ignorant of his place of residence. Let me here
observe that I had to make at least
twenty inquiries before I could find out Mr Burns himself, and that everybody
here I have met seems utterly ignorant of where every other body lives;
finally, that information of any kind can be got only at the cost of immense
trouble. An amiable and interesting People! At length, somebody told Mr Burns
we might find Mr McCarthy at the theatre. I then discovered that Mr McCarthy is
a professional play-actor. Now, an actor may be an excellent man but could
he make a suitable State Centre? I think not, even if he had nothing else to
attend to; and Mr McCarthy has two other callings to occupy him. On our way to
the theatre I met a friend from St
Louis. We instantly recognised each other; and on inquiry I found he had only
just arrived and had seen and given Mr McCarthy his credentials. He came with
us to the theatre. Mr McCarthy was not to be seen till next day!
'On parting
with me, Mr Burns said that he and some friends would call on me about ten
o'clock that night. Nobody called on me. I was beginning to feel that my time
was being spent rather fruitlessly down here. By the way, I had learnt from Mr
Burns that there could be no meeting before Thursday night! Though
desirous of being brief, it is my duty to give all these details. This Circle,
I am next to certain, is in a dangerous position owing, I am convinced, to the
incapacity if not dishonesty of one officer if not more. Still, the material is
great; and if you now handle the matter with skill and promptitude, this place
can be made one of your strong points. I shall tell you bye and bye what I
consider best to do.
'About ii on Wednesday forenoon I had a visit from Mr
McCarthy: I have already told you the impression made on me. He seemed to think
— rather, he spoke as if — he was managing matters admirably. Spite of his
brass, however, I could easily detect a lurking consciousness of loose screws.
He unwittingly let out, too, that he found the Brotherhood a good thing — for
himself. On hearing how much I thought of Mr Donovan
of Memphis he said something about resigning in his favour at the next
Convention. There was evident anxiety, though, to know when the next Convention
would be held; and [unless] I am much mistaken about this, he showed this still
more on hearing that it might anticipate the anniversary of the first one. Mind,
the man has impressed me most unfavorably, so that in going into this
analysis I may be doing him injustice. He prides himself on his knowledge of
parliamentary usages, and to this and his ability to crack a joke he seems
to attribute his success with the body! I had previously learnt that the Hall
is frequently made the scene of witless jest and merriment, and what I
witnessed last night confirmed this to some extent.
'He
promised, on going, to be with me again at 2 p.m. He certainly did not
come at 2 or any other hour on Wednesday. I say certainly because I
remained in the whole day and till I went to bed at night. Yet he stated at the
meeting last evening that he called twice on me the day before! Nobody called on me the whole of Wednesday!
Again, on leaving me on Wednesday forenoon he said he would advertise the
meeting for Thursday evening in the local papers. No such advertisement has
appeared! In short it was clear to me by Wednesday night that, for some
reason I could not be sure of, the State Centre and Mr Burns — with
probably some others — did not wish
to meet the Circle. It was equally clear to me that Mr Burns, while pretending
to be dissatisfied with Mr McCarthy, had a thorough understanding with him!
What could it all mean? Determined on probing the matter I called on Mr McCormack yesterday morning. This gentleman has
made a good position here and resides next door to Mr Burns. From the first I
liked this man; he is genial, earnest, and unpresuming.
He received me well, and his astonishment was considerable — he was indignant —
at finding I had been left alone all the previous day. He went into Burns, who
was ungracious — discourteous indeed — and dogged: "things were done
loosely; should have been done in such and such a way". All this was for
McCarthy, with whom nevertheless there was a thorough
understanding. You shall
see. On leaving, Mr McCormack
promised to call on me about 7 in the evening to bring me to the Hall. I
understood Burns to say that he also would call on me. If so, he as usual broke
his word. About six, Mr McCarthy came with a friend of his whose name I have
forgotten though he called him his Vice-President.
McCarthy said the meeting could not be got together before 8 or 8^ o'clock, and that he would call again at 8 on
his way to the Hall. McCormack was true to his appointment and he chatted till
some minutes past 8. In the course of conversation Mr McCormack said, smiling,
that he thought he ought to tell me he had heard that I might not be the right
man; but of course I had credentials. I laughed and said I had 4 of the best.
He evidently made nothing of the matter.
'We then
went to the Hall. There were a good many men at the outer door waiting for
admission. Dissatisfaction was expressed by more than one at not finding the
door open. They did not seem to know how to get the key — where to find the
doorkeeper. After waiting a while they decided on picking the lock and going
in. All the members who came were soon present. The State Centre (who here, as
in Louisville, is local Centre also) arrived and called the meeting to
order. The ordinary business was proceeded with but soon suspended in order to
hear me. I spoke and spoke well. There could be no mistake about the
impression made on the vast majority of those present. Let me here state that
the members present were but 63. Evidently nothing had been done to bring the
men together; nay, it looks as if they had been kept away;
for I was told that they frequently have 80 to 100 at an ordinary
meeting. But what were there were, for by far the most part, very favorably
impressed. My statement was clear and tellingly
to the point. We came to the gist of the matter. Burns' name happened to be
first on the list. He rose to his legs and, with an absurd mixture of modesty
and brass, pretended he required time to think over the matter. He was taken by
surprise and wished to see his way. He did not mean to give one dollar or five
dollars; he meant to give all in his power when satisfied that all was right,
etc.
This is the substance, infinitely
better expressed, of what he said 'I rose to
order, not however till some had followed Burns' example and that it became
clear to me that, if unchecked, the great majority if not all would have done
so; nor would I have risen at all had I not a strong suspicion of foul play. I
spoke of the necessity existing for the action I had proposed, telling
them that all depended on a favorable response to my call. I said that
if Mr Burns and others did not choose to do so that others might be willing to
act differently, and I called on them to act. Somewhat more than half the
meeting cheered and backed me out. Mr McCormack rose
and said the time had come to prove their words — that there was no time to
lose — that those who made big promises had now an opportunity of making them
good — that he himself would open the subscription with 50 dollars to be
increased at will. His words were well received, though the poor man speaks
with much difficulty. With evident reluctance, Mr State Centre had to go on. A
few more than half the members present subscribed, the total being 345 dollars.
Now, but for Burns and the State Centre there would have been 1,000 dollars
subscribed; nay, if a proper example had been set by these two men, it is
likely that McCormack alone would have subscribed that sum.
'In the
course of the evening it came out that these folk were in doubt about me —
that, in a word, they felt it their duty to treat me as an impostor. Mr Burns
proposed that the secretary be called on to write to Mr John O'Mahony asking if he had authorised my action,
etc. I said that had Mr Bums known Mr O'Mahony he would have spared him the
trouble; as, if Mr O'Mahony had not endorsed my action fully he would never
have written the letter of credentials already read to the meeting. Then the
question was put [to] the State Centre, was that letter genuine? Your letter to
McGrath was lying before the State Centre.
He read that and gave it as his opinion and the opinion of the secretary
that the body of the letter was not genuine! This was done in a very
bad way. I kept my temper well. Walking up to him, I produced your general
introduction to the Centres and State Centres, asking if that was
genuine. McCarthy tried to shuffle — to get out of giving a direct answer. I
pressed for it and got a favorable one from the secretary first and then from
Mr State Centre; several other parties appeared to recognise the writing.
my best thanks. I trust that
others whose conduct has been strange, to say the least, will atone for that
conduct when they come to know better".
I exhorted them to pull well together and do their very best on this occasion.
Burns and McCarthy began to pull in—said they only wanted to be sure of what
they did — that if you said all was right they would do their part, etc. The
secretary was directed to write to you.
'Now what I
fear is that there is dishonesty in the case of these two men at least;
or, what comes to the same thing,
that they want to use the body without losing anything by it. They both
spoke of the body as being "heavily taxed". In the mouths of these
folk such language is disgusting. Burns is well off and making money in piles,
and the many callings of Mr State Centre (one of which he owes to the body)
must bring him something. Note that the poor hardworking man utters no complaint
of this mean kind; his only regret seeming to be his inability to do
what his heart prompts him. Overtaxed! The mean dogs! Why, their miserable
monthly dues would be drunk at the first corner in five minutes. I heard this
cry, fortunately, in but very few places. Yet almost every place has been taxed
more than this. They have sent you up 100 dollars, it seems. Now they admit
having 400 or 500 dollars still on hand. From a tolerably good source I had
previously learned that they had 800 dollars. Can there be any dishonesty in
this way? Could the opposition last night have arisen from the fact of their
having made away with this money or a fear of its being now called for? I shall
leave instructions with Mr McCormack to take
a vote on this at [the] next meeting — to vote that all the money be forwarded
to you at once.
'Now as to
how they should be dealt with. You must be very prudent and not let them have
the least notion of your having any suspicion of them. They will
probably write to you by this post. Whether or not, do you write immediately on
receipt of this. Say in the blandest way that you are sorry to hear from Mr Daly [James Stephens] that, owing to a doubt of my
having been fully authorised to take action here, the meeting last night was
very unsatisfactory. Not one word, mind, of details. Then add how fully you do
endorse my action, saying all you deem wise of me and the men I represent. End
by showing the great and urgent necessity for one general and final effort. Add
that every man who now answers this special and extraordinary call shall be
exempt from the like in future. Should McCarthy tender his resignation, say
that from the work done by him (work being the great test) you cannot accept;
at least you cannot do so for the present. But remind him of his monthly report
and keep him to it, strictly as you can.
'I am now
tired and must moreover see about the practicalability
of getting off today. It is by no means certain that I can do so, or even
tomorrow. Send me a line to Cleveland. Any letter you may keep till I get to N.Y.
'P.S. Of
course, while exempting those who now subscribe from a similar call again, you
will not exempt them from the ordinary dues of the body. All new members, too,
will not only have to meet these ordinary dues but may be called on for an
extraordinary subscription. The first sentence of this P.S. should be
written; the latter not, as it might deter men from joining'.
Endorsed: (Page i). No. 7. CE
May 20, 65. (Page 6), CE May 20,1864. (Page
10), May 20, 65.