Republicanism that we have a candidate. We have been too long used to fighting for principle for that; but we do say that you can, by granting our request, lighten our burden, and make us a confident party, with victory in sight, even before the contest begins.

"Will we carry Colorado, Montana, and Nevada this year if the Democracy declare for silver at 16 to 1? Let us hope we may. New Jersey has as many electoral votes as those three States together.

"Will you not make New Jersey sure to take their place in case of need? We have, in all these long years of Republicanism been the "Lone Star" Democratic State of the North. Our forty years of wandering in the wilderness of Democracy are ended. Our Egyptian darkness disappears. We are on the hill-top, looking into the promised land. Encourage us as we march over into the political Canaan of Republicanism, there to remain, by giving us a leader on the Republican National ticket to go with us. "We are proud of our public men. Their Republicanism and love of country have been welded in the furnace of political adversity. That man is a Republican who adheres to the party in a State where there is no hope for the gratification of personal ambitions. There are no camp followers in the minority party of any State. They are all true soldiers in the militant army, doing valiant service without reward, gain, or the hope thereof, from principle only.

"A true representative of this New Jersey will offer you to-day.

class of Republicans

He is in the prime

of life, a never faltering friend, with qualities of leadership unsurpassed, of sterling honor, of broad mind, of liberal

views, of wide public information, of great business capacity, and withal, a parliamentarian who would grace the Presidency of the Senate of the United States. A native of our State, the son of a humble farmer, he was reared to love of country in sight of the historic field of Monmouth, on which the blood of our ancestors was shed that the republic might exist. From a poor boy, unaided and alone, he has risen to his renown among us.

"In our State we have done for him all that the political condition would permit. He has been Speaker of our Assembly and President of our Senate; he has been the choice for United States Senator of the Republican minority in the Legislature, and had it been in our power to have placed him in the Senate of the United States, he would long ere this have been there.

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His capabilities are such as would grace our position of honor in the nation. Not for himself, but for our State; not for his ambition, but to give to the nation the highest type of public official, do we come to this convention, by the command of our State, and in the name of the Republican party of New Jersey unconquered and unconquerable, undivided and indivisible, with our united voice, speak for all that counts for good citizenship in our State, and nominate to you for the office of Vice-President of the republic Garret A. Hobart of New Jersey."

CHAPTER XXXIII.

HOBART AS A BUSINESS MAN AND PUBLIC CITIZEN MRS. HOBART AND THE HOME LIFE AT CARROLL HALL.

An Able Man of Affairs - A Bankrupt Railroad Placed on a Successful Basis — His Co-operation and Services Sought by Numerous Enterprises - Uniformly Successful in his Management A Generous Man and a Peacemaker - Other Characteristics - His Home Life - Mrs. Hobart - Handsome, Accomplished, and Inheriting her Father's Keen Intellectuality - Death of their Daughter Fannie in Italy - Garret A. Hobart, Jr. Carroll Hall - A Model of Refined Elegance The Hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Hobart — Their Charities.

A

LTHOUGH Hobart entered active life as a lawyer, and, while much of his time was occupied with politics, his abilities as a business man demanded a wider field than either the law or politics afforded. His genius for business developed early, and he was still a young man when his aid and influence were sought, both in the management of important enterprises and in the straightening out of difficult undertakings that had come to grief for lack of just the executive ability that Hobart possessed.

A man who can successfully manage his own business is regarded as a safe man to place in charge of the business of others, especially when the others have not been so successful in their management. So, in 1874 the stockholders

of the New Jersey Midland railroad, now the New York, Susquehanna & Western, seeing the concern going to general ruin through extravagance and mismanagement, unanimously selected Hobart as the one they wanted as the receiver of the road, and he was appointed to that position. by the court of chancery. He managed the road so well that in a very short time it was placed on a good footing, and the stockholders were astonished at the receipt of a substantial dividend. In recognition of this service Hobart was, on the reorganization of the company, elected the president, and its improvement continued. When it had been placed in first-class condition, he resigned the presidency of the road in consequence of the pressure of his other business, which had become to be something immense. About the same time he was appointed receiver of the Montclair railroad and of the Jersey City & Albany road, both of which he lifted out of the mire and put in good condition before turning them again over to the stockhold

ers.

The reputation of Mr. Hobart thus achieved by his ability to put defunct and bankrupt corporations on their feet naturally suggested him as the right man for receiver of the First National Bank of Newark, when that institution went under. The condition of the affairs of the bank was very bad, and the stockholders and even the depositors despaired of ever getting their money back. It was in 1880 that he was appointed receiver of the bank, and inside of six months he had so managed its affairs that the depositors were paid in full and the business of the institution was closed up to the perfect satisfaction of everybody concerned.

This achievement attracted the attention of big capital

ists and the directors of large concerns, who desired to secure the advice and co-operation of such a wonderful financial manager. The consequence was that he was induced to go into one company and another.

His work as receiver of the First National Bank was fulfilled with an energy and ability that drew from the comptroller of the currency the warmest expressions of approval. Such evidence of business skill as this quickly won him a prominent place, not only in Paterson, but in the whole State. If any enterprise got its affairs in a dismal tangle Hobart was the man selected to do the untangling. He had a peculiar combination of legal knowledge and business acumen, pre-eminently fitting him for a successful man of affairs. No man is connected with so many of the enterprises in New Jersey as he. A full list of them would more than fill a page of this book. He is a director of several national banks, and on the directory board of several railroads and other companies, and devotes his energies to securing the best services to the public.

A glance at the character of Mr. Hobart is sufficient to account for the success which has followed him in whatever channel he chose to direct his energies. He is a man of unruffled temperament at all times, who evidently believes in paying manifold the debt of cheery friendliness which every man owes to his fellows. No matter how overwhelmed he may be with business, he is always ready to listen to those who call on him for advice. In Paterson, where Mr. Hobart has spent all his life excepting the days of his childhood and boyhood, he is considered the leader in every project tending to the advancement of the city. The whole State is his friend. He is endowed with nearly