A Secret Life_ The Lies and Scandals of President Grover Cleveland - Charles Lachman [106]
Twining had just turned fifty-two when he showed up in Buffalo to speak with journalists, lawyers, clergymen, and other gentlemen of influence—“the noblest Christian men in the city.” Though he spent only two days there, he called it a “most thorough” investigation. Twining’s bias was obvious in the first sentence of his report, which states that he refuses to republish the “grosser” particulars of the accusations facing Cleveland. “Those who want it can get it from the publisher of the Buffalo Telegraph, who will be glad to sell copies.”
There was a “kernel of truth” in the Cleveland scandal, Twining acknowledged, namely this: “When he was younger than he is now, he was guilty of an illicit connection.” For his part, Twining said, “I can forgive it.”
“But the charge, as brought against him, lacks the elements of truth in these substantial points: There was no seduction, no adultery, no breach of promise, no obligation of marriage. After the primary offense . . . his conduct was singularly honorable, showing no attempt to evade responsibility, and doing all he could to meet the duties involved, of which marriage was not one. There was no abduction, only proper legal action under circumstances which demanded it.”
Twining made no effort to communicate with Maria Halpin, Dr. Ring, Milo Whitney, Mrs. Baker, or any other key witness in the affair. As for the broad assertions that Cleveland was a drunk and a libertine, Twining said, “They are, I believe, the product of the imagination of the stews. Every attempt to trace them led back into the merest gossip of saloons and brothels.”
Twining concluded his report by waxing poetic about Cleveland. “He is a man of true and kind heart, a born ruler of men. He has the heartiest respect of the best families in the city.”
Also snooping around Buffalo was another ostensibly impartial investigator whose objectivity was open to question. G. C. Hodges was a Boston lawyer who had been dispatched there by a board of mugwumps from Massachusetts who were calling themselves the Committee of One Hundred. They made no secret of their political convictions: A sixty-page pamphlet pointing out the “dark side” of James G. Blaine’s character was in the process of being printed and distributed, at the committee’s expense, to “everybody and his eldest son” in the state of Massachusetts.
Hodges spent several days in Buffalo. His investigation took him to the offices of Charles A. Gould, collector of the port of Buffalo, who didn’t have much to offer but steered him to a local businessman, Henry C. French. Supposedly, French knew all about Grover Cleveland’s drinking and bawdy behavior, but when Hodges asked him whether he had ever seen Cleveland drunk, French was incensed, using language so “vigorous” that Hodges fled for his physical safety.
Proceeding with his investigation, Hodges tracked down a wealthy Buffalo manufacturer who was said to have firsthand knowledge of Cleveland’s debauchery. The manufacturer said he had heard the allegations from his plant foreman. Hodges interviewed the foreman who said he got it from a saloonkeeper. It was like a 19th-century game of telephone.
When Hodges departed Buffalo, he was said to be “indignant and disgusted with the people who were making such reckless and unsupported charges.” Upon his return to Boston, he reported back to the Committee of One Hundred that he had given George Ball “every opportunity” to lay out the evidence and offer up supporting witnesses, but Ball had refused to cooperate.
Finally, there was the report issued by the National Committee of Independent Republicans. Its name conveyed clout and broad national influence, but it was an illusion; in truth, the committee consisted of sixteen