was an unconstitutional act which might subject him to impeachment. The
new Governor, undisturbed by this criticism, turned to the gentleman who
had challenged his right to be present at the conference, and said:

You can turn aside from the measure if you choose; you can decline to
follow me; you can deprive me of office and turn away from me, but you
cannot deprive me of power so long as I steadfastly stand for what I
believe to be the interests and legitimate demands of the people
themselves. I beg you to remember, in this which promises to be an
historic conference, you are settling the question of the power or
impotence, the distinction or the ignominy of the party to which the
people with singular generosity have offered the conduct of their
affairs.

Some of the members of the Legislature came to my office after this
conference and told me of the great speech the Governor had just delivered
and how defiantly he had met the attack of his enemies. This caucus gave
an emphatic endorsement of his legislative programme and in a few weeks
the House of Assembly had acted upon it, and the various bills that
constituted his entire programme were on their way to the Republican
Senate. How to induce favourable action at the hands of the Republican
Senate was a problem. There were very few members of the Senate whose
ideals and purposes were in agreement with those of the Governor.

When the bills reached the Senate, the Governor began daily conferences
with the Republican members of that body, discussing with them the items
of his programme and urging speedy action upon them. As a part of the
programme of inducing the Republicans to support him, a friend of mine who
was on the inside of the Republican situation reported to me that it was
the opinion in the Republican ranks that the new Governor was too much a