—Have you ever seen a bull trying to stop a locomotive?
No.
—Well, if ever you do, you'll see something like a politician
trying to butt against the "party," alias the "machine."
Then is the great bootist afraid of the "machine?"
—I don't think he's afraid of anything. But he knows there's no use kicking against that.
By the way, you said Hayes had been put into office without being elected, had Conkling anything to do with that?
—No. He's too proud a man to stoop to any dirty work. He has held Hayes' administration at arm's length, and never gone near them except when he was on the "kick."
Then who did put Hayes into office?
—There were a good many in the job. Thirty-three in Florida and seventy-two in Louisiana; Garfield and John Sherman, chief "engineers."