f and Hill,--of Hill especially,
since he was on the ground at the time of the election, which enabled
him to take personal charge of the campaign before the Legislature in
the interest of Mr. Bruce.

Hill had been elected Secretary of State on the ticket with Ames in 1873
and, after the expiration of his term, was, through the influence and
support of Bruce and myself, made Collector of Internal Revenue for the
State of Mississippi. The office of Secretary of State, to which he was
elected in 1873, was one that the Democrats did not take possession of
in 1876. Unlike the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, the removal of the
incumbent was not necessary to put that party in possession of the State
Government.

I, Lynch, was at that time a member of the National House of
Representatives, which position I was able to retain for a long time
with the active assistance and support of Bruce and Hill,--especially of
Bruce.

That we three should work in perfect political harmony was both natural
and proper, since, in doing so, we protected our own interests and
secured for ourselves, and for our friends and supporters, appropriate
official recognition. At nearly every State convention either Bruce or I
was made chairman of the convention, with Hill as floor manager.

The State committee was organized and controlled in the same way.
Through that thorough and effective organization I was Chairman of the
Republican State Committee from 1881 to 1892, and I could have retained
it longer had I consented to serve; notwithstanding the dissolution of
the combination, which took place about that time, as will be shown and
explained later.

There was a faction in the party that was opposed to the leadership of
these three influential colored men, but it was never strong enough to
organize or control a State Convention as long as we three worked in
union. While this union had the effect of keeping us at the front as
recognized leaders of the party it could not be said it was detrimental
to the party organization, for the reason that under that leadership the
organization never failed to support the men that the party believed to
be the strongest. In other words, while we used the party machinery to
prevent our own political extinction we never allowed our own ambitions
to conflict with what was believed by other influential members of the
party to be for the best interest of the organization.

It looked for a while as if the State Con