fficult situations were created by contentions
among Congressmen over appointments. It was Cleveland's habit to
deal with these cases by homely expostulation and by pleas for mutual
concessions. Such incidents do not of course go upon record, and it is
only as memoirs and reminiscences of public men are published that this
personal side of history becomes known. Senator Cullom of Illinois in
his "Fifty Years of Public Service" gives an account that doubtless
fairly displays Cleveland's way of handling his vexatious problems. "I
happened to be at the White House one day, and Mr. Cleveland said to
me, 'I wish you would take up Lamar's nomination and dispose of it. I am
between hay and grass with reference to the Interior Department. Nothing
is being done there; I ought to have some one on duty, and I cannot do
anything until you dispose of Lamar.'" Mr. Lamar, who had entered
the Cabinet as Secretary of the Interior, was nominated for associate
justice of the Supreme Court on December 6, 1887. He had been an eminent
member of the Senate, with previous distinguished service in the House,
so that the Senate must have had abundant knowledge of his character
and attainments. It is impossible to assign the delay that ensued
to reasonable need of time for inquiry as to his qualifications, but
Senator Cullom relates that "the nomination pended before the Judiciary
Committee for a long time." Soon after the personal appeal, which
was made by the President to every Senator he could reach, action was
finally taken and the appointment was confirmed January 16, 1888.

Senator Cullom's reminiscences also throw light upon the process by
which judges are appointed. President Cleveland had selected Melville W.
Fuller of Illinois for the office of chief justice of the Supreme Court.
According to Senator Cullom, Senator Edmunds "was very much out of humor
with the President because he had fully expected that Judge Phelps, of
his own State, was to receive the honor.... The result was that Senator
Edmunds held the nomination, without any action, in the Judiciary
Committee for some three months." Senator Cullom, although a party
associate of Edmunds, was pleased that the President had selected an
Illinois jurist and he was determined that, if he could help it, Edmunds
should not have the New Hampshire candidate appointed. He therefore
appealed to the committee to do something about the nomination, either
one way or the other. The committee fina