Henry Clay Payne : a life

Front matter

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Contents

Chapter

I. Ancestry and Early Years i

II. Northampton 9

Chapter II

Henry's removal to Northampton, Massachusetts, was upon the advice of his former teacher, Miss Bowen, who coveted a wider field for her promising pupil. The exact date of this removal is not discovered, but it appears that Henry returned from Bernardston to his father's home in Shelburne Falls in the spring of 1861, and that within a year he had taken a position as a clerk in a store in Northampton. This was the store of F. R. Sherwin and Company — a partnership consisting of Frank R. Sherwin (a former Shelburne Falls acquaintance, somewhat older than Henry) and John Warner — dealers in dry goods and cloaks on Main Street, being the store now occupied by A. G. Fearing.

With this firm Henry remained until the senior member, inoculated with the Western fever, caused its dissolution, January 26, 1863. An advertisement in the papers of the next day, signed by Mr. Sherwin, informed the business world that "Henry C. Payne has power of attorney for the transaction of all business in the name of the subscriber. All business of the late firm is left in his hands for settlement." This was perhaps the first appearance in print of the name of Henry C. Payne — a name which, upon his death forty years later, filled the papers of the continent.

After closing up this business and after, for a few days, "assisting Stoddard and Lincoln in taking an inventory and in writing up their books," Henry accepted employment as bookkeeper some two miles from the center of Northampton, in the office of the paper mill firm of William Clark and Company. The partnership was composed of William Clark and his sons, William and Lucius Clark. This employment began March 23, 1863, and continued until about the beginning of October, 1863, the compensation being at the rate of two hundred and fifty dollars per year. On the fifth of the latter month, having himself contracted the Western fever, Henry, as his diary tells us, "bade good-bye to Northampton."

We pause before following him to the city of his permanent home, because the glimpses of his daily life in Northampton, obtained from his diary and from the reminiscences of his Northampton friends, are very useful in enabling us to picture, and to appreciate, a character now pretty thoroughly formed.

Employing the sermonic method of dividing the subject, it will be said that the following traits of the youthful Henry's character appear :

Firstly, he took a deep interest in the affairs of his country. The struggle waging so bitterly and so unsuccessfully in 1862 for the preservation of the union of the states, lay heavily upon his mind. His interest found sincerest expression in his effort to enlist, and in his urging his friends, Charles and Austin Maynard, then in Boston, to follow his example. His recruiting letter thus

reads :

Northampton, Aug. 22, 1862.

Friend Charley :

I am going to enlist in a company raising here. Now, won't you come and go, too? It is a good company and good men and

North AMPT- 11 fellows in it. Some of the first in town. I hear that Austin is with you. Tell him to come up here with you and go with me. It is only for nine months, and you know that will pass away soon.

1 leave as good a place as any one could wish. I never was so well pleased in my life. Have things all my own way. But you know we should not look to self as much now. We owe our lives to our country and to our God, and by the grace of God I will lay down my life for it.

Now come without fail. Don't mind your place. You can't be more pleasantly situated than I am.

Write me as soon as you receive this, telling me what you will do. Don't say you won't go. Write soon. ....

It is the fault of nature, not of Henry Payne, that his career was not military. He applied for enlistment in Company H of the Tenth Massachusetts Infantry regiment, but he was rejected as being too slight and as being undersized. This regiment and the Fifty-second Massachusetts regiment were largely composed of soldiers gathered from the neighborhood of Northampton and Shelburne Falls, and he followed the movements of these troops with great concern, marking their campaigns and the number of their casualties.* Moreover, his diary for the year 1863 shows how his mind was running upon the struggle. Thus, under July 14, "Began to draft to-day ;" under July 15, "Drafted in Buckland to-day;" under July 16, "Charles Fieldt drafted;" under July 16, "Came back to Greenfield, and saw them draft from Northampton.

*The Fifty-second Massachusetts was a regiment of nine months men whose service was in Louisiana. Its enlistment expired in August, 1863. The Tenth regiment served entirely in the Army of the Potomac. It was recruited June 21, 1861, and saw sanguinary service at Fair Oaks. Fredericksburg, the Gettysburg Campaign, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor. Its enlistment ended June 21, 1864, when ten officers and 137 men were discharged.

fCharles Field had been Henry Payne's roommate in the house of Mr. Henry Shepherd from the autumn of 1862 until the following spring, when Henry removed to the home of Mrs. Elihu Clark on Elm Street.

List of drafted men" — then follows a list of two hundred and twenty men, not a few of them doubtless Henry's personal friends.*

We read further, under May 6 and May 7 that the defeat of General Hooker at Fredericksburg was the "saddest news of the war;" under May 24, "Great news from Vicksburg;" under July 6, "Good news from army Potomac;" under July 7, "News of taking of Vicksburg, great rejoicing" — laconic entries in a laconic diary, yet disclosing the public spirit and patriotism of the lad of nineteen.

Secondly, Henry was scrupulous as to his obligations to his employers. His service was not merely a matter of regularly drawing his stipulated wage, but rather of substantially advancing his employers' interests, which with loyalty and enthusiasm he invariably made his own. No clerk, shouting the praises of a competitor's merchandise, could outtalk or outsell Henry. No friend of either sex, with any blandishment, could entice him to recreations or amusements during the hours mortgaged to another's business. Thus early as ever afterward he conscientiously respected his contracts of service.

Thirdly, in Henry's opinion there were other things in life besides work and worry. His was essentially a happy, joyous, mirthful nature. He found keen pleasure in sports and games; his look was on life's bright side; his laugh was frequent, long and contagious. The limit of his love for fun and mischief was only reached when he caused grief or pain to others. His diary discloses many different kinds of congenial amusements — bowling,

*For account of the draft in Massachusetts in 1863, see War of the Rebellion Official Records, Serial Number 124, references in Index under Massachusetts.

Northampton 13 boating, ball, chess, cards, fishing, hunting; while sedater diversions — concerts, plays, lectures, reading clubs — were not neglected. He was accounted in Northampton an excellent singer, and under his leadership the old-fashioned tunes were sung with such relish and in such ringing tones that even Old Hundredth and Henley ceased to be doleful.

A person thus genial and blithe, and withal generous and high minded, must win and hold a host of friends. This was Henry's lot — he made friends and he never forgot them. The universal opinion of those who have written of his early years is, that, with an attractive personality, he was considerate of children, chivalrous towards young women, hearty and whole-souled with his fellows.

Fourthly, earnestness and concentration were his leading characteristics. Nothing was done by him in a halfhearted way. A Northampton friend has written that, when lie was reading, the surrounding world vanished from his thought. Seated one day in a boat, which he believed was moored to the river's bank, his face was buried in the pages of his book, only to be lifted to the realities of life when his bark bumped against a pier far down the Connecticut. The same earnestness was evident even in his games — they were played for results. He never sat at cards just "to make up a hand," simply "to the time away." but, like the celebrated Mrs. Battle, to win. and with all the "rigour of the game." Not a few entries in his diary disclose the name of his partner, the names of the opponents and the score, which almost always was liis victory. That same energy and desire to conquer, that same masterful spirit, ruled him later in the sterner conflicts of his busy career and brought him victory in the end.

Fifthly, it cannot be said that at this time Henry made prominent the religious side of his nature. Yet his diary discloses his regular attendance upon Sunday services, while his frequent singing of the hymns of the church suggests his familiarity with their truths. Moreover, the letter above printed in which he urged two of his friends to enlist, betrays that Henry needed only the stimulus of deep emotion to reveal his reliance upon "the grace of God."

That the traits of his youth followed him into his maturer years there is no lack of evidence. One who knew him long and well, his political opponent, but his warm personal friend, wrote after Henry's death the following expressions as to his business and social traits. They proceed from the pen of Judge James G. Jenkins, of Milwaukee, formerly of the United States Circuit

Court, seventh circuit:

He was a thorough business man, quiet, unobtrusive, but watchful and thorough. Once convinced of the proper course to pursue, he had the indomitable will to follow that course regardless of opposition, which only intensified his action. In that respect I have seen him tried as few men have been tested, and he came from the crucible refined gold. No consideration of mere business success could swerve him from what he deemed just and honorable. Against the opposition even of friends and associates in business, he stood for what he deemed the right. He was a high-minded, public-spirited citizen, generous to a fault, aiding every worthy public enterprise, helpful to the deserving needy.

It is, however, in the light of his social character that I love to consider him. Here he shone resplendent. When he could for a time lay aside the burden of life's cares and troubles, with boyish enthusiasm he revelled in the delights of social life and friendly intercourse. Here he was at home and at ease. He was loyal, sincere, true. His friends he "grappled to his heart with hoops of

Northampton 15 steel." He loved their society. He loved their fi hip, and to a

marked degree he compelled the love of those who felt constrained to oppose his course. Bright, joyous, sympathetic, he delighted in the innocent pleasures of life with the ardor of youth. Only with the passing away of the friends who for a time remain, shall the memory of his genial and lovable character perish from the earth. The memory of his service to his country is secured in the history of the nation.

A single sentence from another political opponent, a dweller in a far distant state, Congressman Ariosto A. Wiley, of Montgomery, Alabama :

I knew him well and never met a more gracious and kindly, natural gentleman.

CHAPTER III GEarlp Life in a^itoaukee

The influence of his former employer doubtless brought Henry Payne to Milwaukee. Not a few jottings in the diary of 1863 refer to the subject: Under August 15, "Am going to Milwaukee;" August 17, "Morton* is going to M. with me;" August 28, "Sherwin is to pay me $700 per year;" October 5, "Went home on P.M. train for good;" October 11, "Start for Milwaukee at 12 o'clock to-night."

But the day before this start was made Henry returned to Northampton upon the invitation of the employes of the paper mill to accept their tender of a dinner to take place in the evening of October 10. at The Prospect House, upon Mount Holyoke. The dinner, which was attended by sixty-three persons, was followed by dancing, singing and walking upon the mountain roads until the night was fully consumed. The register of The Prospect House is still preserved at the hotel and contains Henry's autograph, with the address "Milwaukee, Wis." — evidence of his pride in the new life opening before him.

And now began Henry's sojourn from his home — a home which lie did not see again for eighteen years. His father conveyed him and his mother by vehicle to North his was Josiah L. Morton, a Northampton friend, often mentioned in the diary. Me left for Milwaukee earlier than Henry and was for a time his fellow clerk. Eventually Mr. Morton began business for himself on Spring Street.

Early Life in Milwaukee 17

Adams, where the train was taken for Troy, New York. At Troy a farewell visit was paid to his sister, Imogene, then a pupil at the seminary of Mrs. Emma Willard.* He then visited in and near Salem, New York, with kinsfolk of his mother and hade her farewell on Saturday, October 17. His diary for Tuesday, October 20, records, "Rode all night and got to Chicago somewhat behind, took noon train for Milwaukee, got there at 9 p.m., took room at Newhall House" — a hotel which friends in Northampton had recommended. October 21 recites, "Began for Sherwin, Nowell & Pratt. Board on Jackson Street."

Milwaukee, to which city Mr. Payne made his bow in the fall of 1863, was a very insignificant municipality in comparison with the metropolis to which his lifeless body was returned in the fall of 1904. It was a city of about thirty-five thousand inhabitants, having nine wards, and with Mr. Edward O'Neil as mayor. No buildings of especial size or ambition lifted themselves skyward, there were no public water works, no park system and no show avenues. The post-office — an insignificant structure — stood on the northwest corner of Wisconsin and Milwaukee Streets, Mr. John Lockwood being postmaster. A street car company, known as the River and Lake Shore City Railway Company, with Mr. George H. Walker as president, had a single track on East Water Street, from Walker's Point bridge to Division Street,t and a branch to Prospect Street by way of Wisconsin, Jefferson, Biddle,

*At the suggestion of Miss Diana S. Bowen, Miss Payne was attending this seminary to qualify herself as a teacher. The entire expense of her transportation and tuition was met by her brother Henry.

t-\'<nv Juneau Avenue.

Van Buren and Division Streets — the rolling- stock, three two-horse vehicles and two one-horse vehicles. What is now the Public Library, with its ornate building- on Grand Avenue, then consisted of a meager collection of literature belonging to the Young Men's Association, housed in rented quarters at Number 91 Mason Street. The shipping to and from Milwaukee was then meager; the steam railway service was feeble, and the various roads unconnected. Indeed, the present full-blown rose Milwaukee was, in 1863, just beginning to bud.

The firm with which Mr. Payne became associated — for now that he has approached his majority, he must no longer be styled Henry — was composed entirely of men then new in Milwaukee. Mr. Sherwin had preceded him from Northampton by a few weeks only; Edward F. Pratt was a young merchant, recently from the East, who lived at first at the hotels, but later, upon his marriage, resided upon the lake front : Winslow A. Xowell had arrived this same year from the city of New York, a youth seeking his fortune.* The firm was established in the business of selling dry goods at wholesale and retail at Numbers 372 and 374 East Water Street, a store on the east side of the street between Wisconsin and Michigan Streets. Among the competitors of this new partnership there are still existing in Milwaukee under varying change of name, T. A. Chapman and Company, Goll and Frank, Kroeger and Brother and H. Stern. Junior and Brother. But the new firm as first constituted was of short dura-

*Mr. Nowell also made Milwaukee a permanent home. He was a friend and political associate of Mr. Payne, and died in Milwaukee,

I sixty-five years, April 26, 1905. Mr. Pratt died February 25, 1886.

Early Life in Milwaukee 19

tion. Indeed, in January, 1864, a dissolution had taken place, the senior partner had removed to New York, where his interests were now located, and Mr. Payne, with a power of attorney, was conducting the business in the same store, he being the silent partner in the firm. The new business continued some two or three years and then came to an end. There was too little capital for success; Air. Payne, whose sole resources when he arrived in Milwaukee in 1863 were fifty dollars, was in no financial condition to bolster up a business in which competition was eager and brisk.

In 1868 the firm of H. C. Payne and Company was in existence at the same numbers on East Water Street, in the same general line of trade.* This partnership was also of short duration, and the business passed into other hands. In 1869 Mr. Payne opened a store with Mr. William H. Crombie at Number 385 East Water Street, also for the sale of dry goods. But it was not intended that Air. Payne should succeed as a merchant. The new firm existed somewhat more than a year and in 187 1 Mr. Payne was out of business — convenient opportunity for the now approaching career in which his name was to shine resplendent.

Mr. Payne's early domestic life in Milwaukee was migratory. He tells us in his diary, of date next after his arrival, that he went to "board on Jackson Street." Then we read. "Went to minstrels in eve with Morton and his uncle." On December 16, 1863, he notes, "Went to Mrs. Saxes' on Main Streetf to board — room at store." In

*Mr. John G. Gregory, now of the Evening Wisconsin, Milwaukee, who worked for above firm in 1868, states that Mr. Payne invariably "enlisted the loyalty of his workmen."

fMain Street became, later, Broadway.

1865 Mr. Payne was living on Prospect Street near Knapp Street, but in 1868 he enjoyed hotel life at the Newhall House. Thence he went to board at Number 210 Biddle Street, and was dwelling there at the time of his marriage. Thereupon the couple kept house for a brief period at Number 1 14 Prospect Street.* From 1889 until their removal to Washington, they resided at Number 586 Astor Street.

Some five years after Mr. Payne's arrival in Milwaukee, there visited in that city at the residence of her sister, Mrs. Charles P. Jones, at Number 570 Waverly Place, a young lady from the city of New York, Lydia Wood Van Dyke.f Mr. Payne formed her acquaintance, gained her friendship, sought and won her in marriage — an event which occurred in Mount Holly, New Jersey, October 15, 1869.

Upon the privacy of the home thus established this book seldom intrudes. Suffice it to say here, that not long after her marriage Mrs. Payne became afflicted with rheumatic gout, resulting in chronic invalidism and in a daily routine almost completely sedentary. Those intimate with Mr. Payne in his early wedlock delight to recall the affectionate care with which he waited upon his wife, wheeling her in her chair either for exercise or social visits, and otherwise watching over the fragile existence

* Prospect Street did not become Prospect Avenue until about 1876.

tShe was the daughter of Richard Van Dyke. Junior, and Mary Ware Thomas, both of the city of New York. Mr. Van Dyke commenced his early business life as a member of the firm of Bleeker and Van Dyke, real estate auctioneers. Mr. Bleeker was much older than the junior partner. The latter soon withdrew from this partnership and formed with Mr. Blcekcr's relative. Theodore Malaby, the real estate firm of Van Dyke and Malaby. Still later Mr. Van Dyke went into other business.

Early Life in Milwaukee 21

entrusted to his love with unwearying- anxiety. That devotion never flagged during a union which, although childless, was congenial and sympathetic. The career of the invalid thus tenderly cared for outspanned that of her husband. This wreath is placed upon his tomb by the wish of his wife, in loving memory of him who, during his early manhood and in his advancing age, in his poverty and in his affluence, in his obscurity and in his renown, made her his constant and affectionate solicitude.

CHAPTER IV OBatlp (Elections

Not long after removing to Milwaukee, Mr. Payne connected himself with the Young Men's Association of that city, whose collection of books and periodical literature and whose winter lecture courses were well calculated to avert loneliness, occupy leisure and supplement an education all too limited. Mr. Payne became an influential member of the Association and, on May 8, 1866, was elected a trustee in one of those mimic skirmishes, characteristic of the Young Men's Association, which had all the elements of excitement and vigor peculiar to a political contest. Mr. Alfred L. Cary of Milwaukee has written an account of this election which I cannot refrain from

transcribing :

For several years I had been secretary of the Association and active in its management, and became ambitious to be its president. I came out as a candidate for that office at the annual election in May, 1866. As there were to be two tickets in the field and a lively contest, I sought to make my ticket as strong as possible, and with that view solicited Mr. Payne to be a candidate for one of the trustees. He readily assented, and entered into the contest with a remarkable activity and zeal, which could only have been prompted and guided by a natural love and aptitude for conflicts of that character. The battle was a royal one, and when its smoke had cleared away and the result ascertained. Mr. Payne was found to be the only candidate upon our ticket who had been elected. It was his personal popularity which made him successful at this time, and I have often thought that perhaps this little experience and success at an election of the Young Men's Association was the initiative of that

Early Elections 23 larger experience and success which Mr. Payne afterwards had in the city, county, state and national campaigns, and which made him famous as a political manager.

It was Mr. Payne's genial companionship which endeared him to his friends, and in the enjoyment of which they would forget that he was one of our most distinguished citizens.

Mr. Payne continued to support the Association during the presidencies of Loyal R. Durand (Mr. Cary's competitor), John Nazro, Henry H. West, James G. Jenkins, John E. Eldred, Robert Hill and Charles L. Peirce.* On May 13, 1872, Mr. Payne was elected the secretary of the Association, and on May 11, 1874, he succeeded Air. Peirce as the president and served for one year.t Thereafter Mr. Payne was never a candidate for any elective office, civil or political.

But Mr. Payne's mind had long been occupied with contests of wider scope and larger import. The state elections of 1863 were of intense interest throughout the north. These elections afforded the voters their first opportunity to express their opinion on the attitude of the party in power in continuing the enlistment of soldiers for the war for the Union, even to the extreme of drafting them. Mr. Payne's diary for 1863 shows his interest in this subject, even though he had not then reached voting age: November 3, "Went to Union headquarters under Newhall House; great rejoicing over result;" November 4, "Republicans carried all the states; made a clean sweep."

*Of these young men two, Judge Jenkins and .Mr. Eldred, survive as citizens of Milwaukee. Mr. Hill died July 3, 1906, while this chapter was in writing.

tSome two years or more after Mr. Payne's term as president expired, the Association, which had existed since December 20. 1 transferred its property to the city of Milwaukee. This took place March 8, 1878, under the authority of Chapter 7, Laws of 1S78, approved February 7. 1878. The present public library of the city is the result of this action.

Mr. Payne, although an ardent Republican, did not become actively connected with his party organization until the year 1872. At that time a great wave of disaffection had spread over the country, affecting very many German Republicans, while political paralysis had seized the Republican leaders in Milwaukee. It was the year of the second campaign of General Grant for the presidency of the United States, Horace Greeley, the talented but eccentric editor of the New York Tribune, being his opponent for the high office. As the campaign progressed Mr. Payne became restless at the inactivity which prevailed in his home city and he invited several of his friends to meet at his office, to consult if it were not the duty of the young men to work together systematically and vigorously to save the Republican party in Milwaukee from annihilation. The outgrowth of this conference was the formation of the Young Men's Republican Club — an organization destined to become of great political influence. Mr. DeWitt Davis presided at the initial meeting of the Club; Mr. Charles L. Peirce was the first president, Mr. Payne the secretary, Captain Irving M. Bean the chairman of the executive committee. Other of the very early members were Mr. Henry Fink, Mr. Robert Hill, Mr. Louis Sholes, Mr. Akerley Townsend, Mr. Frederick W. Payne, Mr. Lemuel Ellsworth, Mr. David Vance, Air. Winslow A. Nowell and Mr. John M. Ewing. The objects of the Club were to dispel the lethargy in the ranks of the party, to bring out the full Republican vote in the election then imminent and to spread abroad such documents and other literature as should constitute an apostatizing propaganda. Milwaukee was not then a Republican city — the trend of sentiment was intensely

Early Elections 25

Democratic. To overcome this sentiment, to convert the individual voters by the leaven of argument and instruction working through the inert or opposing mass — these results the Club hoped to accomplish. In this work Mr. Payne was the active, ruling spirit; the ceaseless, untiring plodder.

The result of the presidential election of 1872 in Wisconsin was in favor of General Grant, by a majority over Mr. Greeley of 18,515 votes — a large majority in those days of even party strength. Along with this success came a Republican majority in the legislature of Wisconsin, insuring the re-election of Mr. Timothy O. Howe to the senate of the United States, an event which took place January 21, 1873, an< ^ was t0 De of great moment to Mr. Payne. In Milwaukee county the result of the fall election of 1872 was a majority against General Grant of 3,171 votes — a number showing how gigantic was Mr. Payne's self-imposed task of converting Milwaukee into a Republican county. That he succeeded fully in this task before he laid his armor off, no Democrat will deny.

The activities of the Club during the campaign of 1872 had been so promising that Mr. Matthew H. Carpenter, who was then serving his first term in the senate of the United States, insisted that the organization, instead of disbanding as had been contemplated, should become permanent. Moreover, he declared his purpose to strengthen it in every way within his power and as a token of his good will he in November, 1872, tendered to Mr. Payne, then twenty-nine years of age, the position of postmaster of Milwaukee.

Early in 1872 Mr. Payne had established himself as an insurance agent at Number 17 Newhall House block, where he was connected more or less intimately with Air. Benjamin M. Weil* and where both gathered around them a profitable clientele. Therefore Mr. Payne, although flattered by the offer of an influential federal position, had the courage to decline it and to continue his occupation. This occupation he continued at the same place until, early in 1876, the offer of the post office was again made to him and accepted.

This renewal offer grew out of the bitterness which had been engendered in the Republican ranks during the contest in the legislature of 1875 over tne election of a successor to Mr. Carpenter in the Senate. The defeat of Mr. Carpenter as his own successor, which occurred, was very disheartening to his friends in Milwaukee who constituted ninety per cent, of the Republicans there. Mr. Angus Cameron having been elected February 3, 1875, Senator Howe tendered unsolicited the Milwaukee post office to Mr. Payne as one of Mr. Carpenter's most zealous, active and trusted friends. Concerning Senator Howe's offer Mr. Payne himself stated later, "If I did not take it, it would go to some one who had been identified with the opponents of Mr. Carpenter. Believing that such a result would prove a most disastrous calamity to the party organization in Milwaukee I somewhat reluctantly consented to take the place. This is how 1 came to be postmaster."

He was then a little more than thirty-two years of age.

*Mr. Weil died in Milwaukee, October 24, 1001, aged fifty-one years.

The Milwaukee Post Office 27

Chapter V

Mr. Payne was appointed postmaster of Milwaukee as successor to Mr. Samuel C. West, on the fourth day of February, 1876, his commission bearing the signatures of President Grant and of Mr. Marshall Jewell, postmaster-general. Upon the expiration of his term of four years there was an attempt made by some political enemies to discredit him and to cast odium upon his management of the office. However, his reappointment was asked by the most influential business men of both parties, headed by Mr. Alexander Mitchell. Moreover, his record at the office of the postmaster-general in Washington was of the highest. He was recommissioned for four years on the twenty-ninth day of January, 1880, his commission being authenticated by President Hayes and by Mr. David M. Key, postmaster-general. He was confirmed by the Senate without opposition. On the fifth day of February, 1884, he was reappointed for a term of four years, his commission being signed by President Arthur and by Mr. Walter 0. Gresham, postmaster-general. But these four years of service were not permitted to elapse. A notice, dated May 31, 1885, from President Cleveland suspended Air. Payne from office "in accordance with the terms of the 1768th section of the Revised Statutes of the United States" — a section clothing the president with such suspensory power during the interim of Congress. The cause of Mr. Payne's removal was, of course, his "pernicious activity" as a "politician."