"For 'twas there to our Ulysses
That Lee gave up the fight;
Now, boys, to Grant for President,
And God defend the right."
Chief Justice Chase was treated with less favor by another poet, who thus described his visit to Ohio to rally his followers:
"Says Salmon P.
Chase, says he,
'I'll fish, by Jupiter Ammon!'
He went to Ohio,
And threw in his fly—oh!
But never a sign of a Salmon."
The Chief Justice was a prominent candidate for the Democratic nomination. His eldest daughter, Mrs. Kate Chase Sprague, was in New York when the Democratic Convention was held there, and her parlor was the head-quarters of her father's friends. Mr. Frederick Aiken, a lawyer-journalist, who had appeared at the trial of the conspirators as the defender of Mrs. Surratt, was her master of ceremonies, and introduced the delegates from the rural districts to Mrs. Sprague, but she failed to capture a majority. The Chief Justice saw plainly that the star of Grant was in the ascendant, and that his life-cherished hope of being President was doomed to disappointment.
General Grant was very positive in demanding that all officers of the Confederate army should enjoy their liberty. Among those of them who had been imprisoned by order of the Secretary of War was General Clement C. Clay, an ex-United States Senator from Alabama. He was taken ill in prison with asthma, and his wife came to Washington to solicit his release. She went to President Johnson, and he gave her the necessary order, which she took back to Secretary Stanton. Stanton read the order, and, looking her in the face, tore it up without a word and pitched it into his waste-basket. The lady arose and retired without speaking; nor did Stanton speak to her. She was filled with despair. She saw her husband, in whom her life was wrapped up, dying in prison, and she was unable to help him.
Soon afterward she was advised to call on General Grant, who ascertained by consulting his roster of the Confederate army that her husband was a Brigadier-General, and then wrote an order directing his release, under the Appomattox parole, on giving the required bond, and added: "I shall see that this order is carried out." Having signed the order, he gave it to Mrs. Clay, who the next day presented it to the Secretary of War. Mr. Stanton read it, then touched his bell, and when an officer appeared, handed him the order, saying, "Have that man discharged."
The extensions of the Treasury Department were completed during the Administration of President Johnson under the efficient direction of Mr. A. B. Mullett, supervising architect. The entire building is four hundred and sixty feet long and two hundred and sixty-four feet wide. The new portions are constructed of granite, and the entire cost of this elegantly finished structure was about eight million dollars.
Senator Ben Wade, of Ohio, as President pro tempore of the Senate, enjoyed the privilege of appointing the keeper of the Senate restaurant. That establishment, elegantly fitted up in the basement story of the Senate wing of the Capitol, brilliantly lighted and supplied with coal and ice, was enjoyed rent free by the person fortunate enough to obtain it. It was customary, however, for him to send a good lunch every day to the Vice-President's room without charge.
One day the restauranteur, hearing that he was to be superseded by a caterer from Cincinnati, called on Mr. Wade and said obsequiously, "I am the keeper of the Senate restaurant, Senator." "Oh! yes," replied Mr. Wade, "you run the cook-shop down-stairs, don't you?" "Yes, sir," was the reply, with a low bow. "Well," said Mr. Wade, "what can I do for you? what do you want?" "I have called to express my wish, sir, that I may continue to keep the restaurant, and anything you want, sir, you have only to send a page down-stairs and it shall be furnished quick as a flash, without costing you a cent, sir."
Just then Mr. Wade appeared to recollect something, and looking the man directly in the eye, said: "Oh! I don't want you to feed me; when I do I will pay you for what I eat, like other people. But, listen: complaint has been made to me that you don't treat the little pages fairly or kindly. They complain that they can't get anything to eat except expensive things, for which they have to pay a large price. Now, sir, just remember that these pages are our boys, and you had better overcharge Senators, who are able to pay, than these little chaps, who want to save all of their wages that they can for their mothers. You must be civil and kind to these pages, sir, or I'll have you moved out of your cook-shop and put in some one there who will treat the boys well." The restauranteur promised that he would do so, and bowed his way out. Mr. Wade after this made inquiry of the pages from time to time, and found that they were civilly treated, and that lunches of reasonable cost were provided for them.