him by rising
in the caucus and himself nominating Mr. Blaine. This secured
Blaine's unanimous nomination. Butler, however, still pressed
eagerly his own claim for the Chairmanship of the Appropriations.
Blaine was altogether too shrewd to yield to that. The committees
were not appointed until the following December. Butler suspected
somehow that there was doubt about his getting the coveted
prize. He accordingly went to the door of the Speaker's room,
which was then opposite the door of the House of Representatives,
by the side of the Speaker's chair. He found Blaine's messenger
keeping the door, who told him that Mr. Blaine was engaged
and could not see anybody. "Very well," said General Butler,
"I will wait." Accordingly, he took a chair and seated himself
at the door, so that he might intercept Blaine as he came
out. Blaine, learning that Butler was there, went out the
window, round by the portico, and entered the House by another
entrance. Somebody came along and, seeing Butler seated in
the corridor, said: "What are you about here, General?" "Waiting
for Blaine," was the reply. "Blaine is in the chair in the
House," was the answer. "It isn't possible," said Butler.
"Yes, he is just announcing the committees." Butler rushed
into the House in time to hear Mr. Dawes's name read by the
Clerk as the Chairman of Appropriations. He was very angry,
and bided his time. They had an altercation over the bill
to protect the rights of the freedmen in the South, the story
of which I tell in speaking of Grant. But as the end of the
Congress approached, Butler endeavored to get up an alliance
between the Democrats and what were called the "Revenue Reformers."
There was a large number of Northwestern Republicans who were
disposed to break away from the party because of its policy
of high protection. This included representatives of a good
many States that afterward were the most loyal supporters
of the tariff policy. Butler showed me one day a call he
had prepared, saying: "How do you think something like this
would answer?" It was a call for a caucus of all persons
who desired a reform in the tariff to meet to nominate a
candidate for Speaker. I was never in Butler's confidence,
and I suppose he showed me the paper with the expectation
that I should tell Blaine. Blaine circumvented the movement
by giving assurances to the friends of revenue reform that
he would make up a Committee of Ways and Means with a