The Cameron machine, later known as the Quay machineAugust 16, 1886. QUAY'S MACHINE. The New York Times. Retrieved February 18, 2022.August 1, 1901. TO FIGHT QUAY MACHINE.; Pennsylvania's New Union Party to Hold a State Convention. The New York Times. Retrieved February 18, 2022. and Penrose machine,August 5, 1922. PENROSE MACHINE FALLING TO PIECES; Pennsylvania Republican Factional, Strife Threatens Lossof Power to Democrats. MUDDLE ON GOVERNORSHIP Grundy Rises as Party Force--Mellons and Vares Attempt Harmony Deal. The New York Times. Retrieved February 18, 2022. was a Republican political machine in Pennsylvania that controlled much of the state's politics for seven decades. Founded by antislavery Know Nothing and Republican Simon Cameron, it passed into control of his son J. Donald Cameron, later controlled by Matthew Quay and finally Boies Penrose. The organization was financially and fiscally conservative, favoring higher protective tariffs and representing business interests.
The elder Cameron's leadership skills were contrasted with the weaker political abilities of his son Donald, and several Republican defeats resulted in a transfer of machine power into the hands of Quay, who utilized the machine's powers with shrewd effectiveness. The baton of machine boss was then passed for a final time to Penrose, whose death ended its power and influence.
History and timeline Simon Cameron establishes the machine
The state Republican machine of Pennsylvania was first established by Simon Cameron,Chapter One: 1. Pennsylvania's Bosses and Political Machines. ExplorePAHistory.com. Retrieved February 18, 2022. originally a Jacksonian Democrat who became a Know Nothing and eventually joined the Republican Party. Cameron, who previously in 1845 organized a coalition of Whigs, anti-Catholic activists,Park, David. Cameron, Simon. House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College. Retrieved March 6, 2022. and protectionist Democrats that elected him to the Senate, rode the coattails of the rising Republican Party influence around 1860 to form the machine that would prove influential for decades to come.Simon Cameron. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
Previously a businessman, Cameron wielded power over state jobs and contracts to exert and cement his influence after his election to the United States Senate in the 1866 elections. Among patronage decisions, he transacted loans from Middletown Bank to loyal Republicans.
Role of machine boss handed from father to son In 1877, J. Donald Cameron became a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania following the resignation of his father. Despite obtaining such an important post in addition to assuming leadership of the elder Cameron's political machine (which resulted in effectively being the Pennsylvania Republican Party "boss"),J. Donald Cameron Historical Marker. ExplorePAhistory.com. Retrieved February 18, 2022. his political skills were lacking, in addition to charisma.August 11, 2019. Matthew Quay: The Political Boss Who Made Two Presidents! Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History. Retrieved February 18, 2022. While a consistent party loyalist, Cameron seldom spoke on the Senate floor or introduced legislation.
Although generally quiet, Cameron was outspoken in his support for protective tariffs, a position held by most Republicans.
During the 1880 presidential election, Cameron served as the chairman of the Republican National Committee. Aligned with congressional conservative stalwarts led by Roscoe Conkling,James Garfield (1831-1881). The Latin Library. Retrieved February 18, 2022. he supported nominating former president Grant to run for an unprecedented, non-consecutive third term.Weisberger, Bernard A. James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
In 1882, factionalism divided the Pennsylvania GOP and handed a victory to Democrats when roughly 40,000 Liberal Republicans, pejoratively deemed "Half-Breeds" by the Republican machine, bolted from the party in the gubernatorial election that year to vote for an "Independent Republican" candidate. Several years later in the mid-1880s, Cameron was replaced as machine leader by Matthew S. Quay, who proved to surpass the former in influence and capabilities.
The Federal Elections Bill of 1890 introduced by conservative Republican Massachusetts congressman Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr., narrowly passed the House by a party-line vote and faced a blockade in the Senate. Western liberal Republicans who advocated bimetallism, later known for forming the Silver Republican Party, opposed the bill under the belief that the stance would draw support from Southern Democrats into their pro-free silver cause, while some Northern pro-business Republicans such as Cameron and Quay emphasized protective tariffs.Koenig, Louis W. Benjamin Harrison. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved February 18, 2022. Although the Pennsylvania senatorial duo did not oppose the legislation, they prioritized the tariff issue and did comparably little to help pass the Lodge bill, which ultimately died as a result of the blockade.
In the 1896–97 elections, Cameron declined to run for another term due to the increasing intraparty power of Quay.August 31, 1918. DON CAMERON DIES; 20 YEARS A SENATOR; Once Republican Leader of Pennsylvania, Aged 85, Spent Last Days on His Farm. GRANT'S WAR SECRETARY In Business He Started as Clerk in His Father's Bank—His $4,000,000 Estate in Trust. Mme. Helen von Doenhoff. The New York Times. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
Quay replaces Don Cameron as boss Amidst discord among the Pennsylvania GOP, Quay developed a shrewd strategy to prevent another party demise. He raided the state treasury, exerting sharp control over the office and dispensed patronage in the forms of loans to political allies.Blair, William Alan. A Practical Politician: The Boss Tactics of Matthew Stanley Quay. Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved February 18, 2022. Quay would state on the matter:
Quay raids the treasury and executes a developed strategy Although such actions were considered robbery, treasury-raiding was prevalent during the era due to treasurers often being selected by state legislatures.A Practical Politician, p. 80. However, growing demands for civil service reform in the 1880s, particularly following the assassination of James A. Garfield, would eventually lead to elections of state treasurers by popular vote. Quay's strategy emphasized three principles:A Practical Politician, p. 86. Ensuring his own victory of the Treasurer election. Electing Beaver Governor of Pennsylvania. Getting himself elected U.S. senator from Pennsylvania by the legislature.
In Quay's view, securing a Republican victory in the state treasurer election of 1885 would bolster party efforts in the 1886 midterms, which, if successful, could coalesce a solid party base that sweeps him to victory in 1887. He began in 1885 by meeting with newspapers and independent voters who had opposed the main GOP candidate in the 1882 gubernatorial election, successfully ensuring in most circumstances that they would be supportive or would only voice minimal opposition. The New York Times commented:
Following the 1885 victories came spring of 1886, where Quay worked to elect Beaver. Aside advising Beaver to emphasize the protective tariff in speeches, Quay admonished him to remain quiet and stay behind the scenes, asserting:
At the GOP convention held in July that year, Beaver clinched the nomination and would proceed to emerge victorious in the general election.A Practical Politician, p. 87. Pennsylvania Republicans thus returned to power in the state government, and Quay would be rewarded the following year.
U.S. Senate In the 1886–87 midterm elections, Quay ran for and won election to the U.S. Senate,PA US Senate Race - Jan 18, 1887. Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 22, 2021. his victory ensured by grateful Republicans in the Pennsylvania legislature. He soon became the leader of the powerful Pennsylvania political machine, replacing the relatively weak leader Donald "Don" Cameron.Matthew S. Quay Historical Marker. ExplorePAhistory.com. Retrieved February 18, 2022. A newspaper favorable towards the Democratic Party commented:A Practical Politician, p. 82–83.
"Practical" referred to a tendency to use "whatever means necessary" in order to be elected and maintain power. "Loyal" meant granting patronage to political allies and followers.
In the Senate, Quay, who had American Indian heritage, notably emerged as a defender of Indian tribes and opposed excluding the Chinese from immigrating to the United States.Matthew Stanley Quay. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved February 18, 2022. He voted for higher protective tariffs and bills friendly to business interests, though on other issues maintained an independent streak.
Overt corruption The Quay machine employed shrewd patronage tactics in an effort to ensure their power would not face disruption. "Ward heelers," employees of the state and city, were assigned to certain neighborhoods to grant favors for faithful loyalists of the machine. This included the granting of city construction jobs, freeing of juvenile criminals from jails, and rewards in the form of monetary payments or alcohol.
In cities dominated by the coal and steel industries, the Cameron machine solidified its political grip over immigrant residents, many of whom were illiterate. The immigrants were marched to polls with pre-marked ballots and told to vote Republican with the threat of losing their jobs if refusing to follow orders.
1888 elections During the 1888 presidential election, Quay was selected by party leadership to serve as the campaign chairman. New York, run statewide by GOP machine boss Thomas C. "Tom" Platt though controlled in New York City by Democrats, was viewed as a crucial state to target. Due to the fact that New York voted for Bourbon Democrat Grover Cleveland in the previous presidential election cycle, Quay established national headquarters for the GOP campaign in New York City.
On election day, poll watchers were sent by Quay to New York City to inspect Democratic election fraud, ironically concurrent with election fraud also taking place unchecked in Pennsylvania cities controlled by the senator's machine. Quay also started a fund that paid for information leading up to voter fraud convictions, and compiled lists of residents used to determine if voters were "imported" from other states. Republican nominee Benjamin Harrison ultimately won the election, defeating Cleveland.
In the concurrent congressional elections of 1888, Quay ensured a Republican takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives. He funded Republican campaigns in swing Southern districts, where detectives were also sent to safeguard the voting rights of blacks and white Republicans from Democratic Party violence.
1890 elections In the 1890 midterms, Quay proved unable to adapt to the "political winds" of the Pennsylvania GOP leadership and the voter base. There were theoretically at least 14,000 job posts he could have overseen, though likely would have been unable to single-handedly manage all of them. Although Quay knew the importance of putting party unity over personal priorities, he did not follow this principle in 1890 and faced disastrous consequences.
Amidst criticisms by the media of Quay's handling of the treasury, the senator attempted to ram through his personal choice for governor, who lost due to national pressure and pushback from cities in the state. According to A Practical Politician: The Boss Tactics of Matthew Stanley Quay:
Quay maintains GOP patronage through loopholes