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A Hundred Tears From Now.
Therein thZW fro ? now ’ 1 Unc 7'
Thtt we hm*kn(M™I 0,n j k° min ® 8 and ? ood cheer
A. trae
Svvsst i&szs^^zs-Ksr-
Sweet mother-lore will hold its mijrhtv ,wit
“‘5°“* etern »l *s it does to-dayf 7 7
Love s old new story will be just as sweet
To those who seek her happy, pulsing heart.
A hundred years from now! Aye! surelv. dear
God s best and fairest things will still be here!
|M\y Phillips Tatro.
FORGOTTEN HISTORY.
Brigte. and Breezu Things Remembered
When Recalled.
GREAT POLITICAL CONVENTIONS.
From Lincoln to Cleveland—The Unwritten
History of the Platform of 1864.
(Continued from last week.)
1880.
The greatest of all the Conventions was
the Republican gathering at Chicago in 1880,
and the greatest event of that Convention
was the speech of Mr. Conkling, putting
Gen. Grant in nomination. When the State
of New York was called, Mr. Conkling
stepped up to the reporters’ platform, where
he mounted a reporters’ table, and having
quoted the famous quatrain from Miles O'
Reilly, “When asked what State he hails
from,” began a speech which for aggressive
ness has never been equaled on a similar oc
casion. “Mr. President,” said he, “acting
under instructions from the Republican party
of the great State of New York—instructions
which I dare not (great emphasis on the “I”
and much on the “dare not”) disregard.”
As he uttered these words he shook his finger
at the anti-Grant members of the New York
delegation, who were seated very close to
him, as if to say to them that they had dis
regarded their instructions in a shameful and
Traitorous way. He raised" sTperfect storm of
alternate hisses and applause when, a little
further on, he said, “The candidate whom I
shall present has no telegraph wire running
from this hall to his home” Everybody in
the Convention knew that this was a refer
ence to the fact that there was a telegraph
wire in operation between the Convention
hall and Mr. Blaine’s residence in Washing
ton. Another storm of hissing and applause
followed. But the disturbance reached its
limit when Mr. Conkling said that if his can
didate was nominated no defensive campaign
would be necessary. The Blaine men took
this as an allusion to the Little Rock and
Fort Smith matter, and raised such a hissing
as was never before heard under any roof. It
was not all hissing, though. The Grant men
applauded quite as lustily as the anti-Grant
men hissed, and divided the time about
equally with their opponents. The storm
would die down slowly, and then rise slowly.
In one of the intervals between bursts, Mr.
Conkling, who seemed to be the only un
disturbed man in the 20,000 which the hall
contained, turned to the presiding officer and
placidly observed, “This does not come out
of my time, I hope,” alluding to the time
limit on nominating speeches, which, I be
lieve, was fifteen minutes. Mr. Conkling
kept Gen. Grant’s name out of his speech un
til he had reached the last sentence. When
he mentioned it there was a pandemonium of
forty-five minutes’ duration. His speech was
something to be seen rather than to be heard.
As between a blind man who could hear and
a deaf man who could see, the latter would
have had the more enjoyment. He was
dressed neatly, without a particle of gaudi
ness, and his clothes fitted him as if they had
grown upon him. In the outside pocket of
his coat he had a sheet of paper full of notes,
to which he occasionally referred, but never
to the detriment of his delivery. Next to
Conkling came Garfield, in a speech which
many think surpassed Conkling'sin liter
ary merit and literary finish. But it
was entirely devoid of the porcupine quills
which were thrust into everything and
everybody by Mr. Conkling. Mr. Gar
field began by alluding to the tumult caused
by Mr. Conkling’s speech, and reminded his
hearers that the depth of the sea was meas
ured from the ocean’s calm, and not from
the crest of the topmost wave. Not here in
this tempest would the contest be decided,
but in the quiet of domestic life in “the chil
ly days of November.” Somebody afterward
reminded him that the expression “chilly
days of November” might be reduced to rid
icule by the enemy during the campaign, and
he changed it to a less vulnerable phrase in
the speech given out for publication. It has
often been said that Garfield’s speech did
THE SUNNY SOUTH.
more for Garfield than for Sherman, in whose
behalf it was made. But Garfield was a
favorite in the Convention all the time, as
was manifested in the applause which he re
ceived from the galleries every time he en
tered the hall. The friends of both Blaine
and Grant might well have looked upon him
as a dangerous man to both. Garfield’s vic
tory was not to be predicted until the thirty-
fourth ballot. Then Wisconsin cast most of
her vote for him, and the announcement was
received with such applause that everybody
could see that he was to win the prize, which
he did on the thirty-sixth ballot.
It^was in this campaign that the word
“boom” was first used in the sense in which
it has since become familiar. It appeared in
the editorial columns of the “Globe-Demo
crat” July 18, 1878. In the expression “The
Grant movement is booming.” When the
Century Dictionary was being prepared the
editor of that publication wrote to me that
several newspapers were claiming the origin
of the word. I replied that the easiest way
to determine the matter was from the files of
the claimant newspapers. A careful investi
gation showed the “Globe-Democrat’s” use
of it to be at least six months earlier than
any other newspaper. Then the editor of the
dictionary asked me to explain how I came
to use it. I replied that the word came to
me from a Mississippi River pilot, who I
once heard to exclaim as he looked upon the
river overflowing its banks and sweeping
everything before it, “By Jove, but she’s
booming.” It was in this sense that I
applied it to the Grant movement, of which
the “Globe-Democrat” was then a strong
supporter. Tne English newspapers ridiculed
the word in its new application at first, but
they now use it freely, and frequently found
in their best magazines.
u The Democratic Convention of 1880 met
in Cincinnati and nominated Gen. Hancock
for President and Mr. William H. English
for Vice-President. Hancock was put in
nomination by the celebrated orator, Daniel
Dougherty, of Philadelphia, in a speech
which was a model of fine English composi
tion, but was somewhat tamed in its delivery
by being read from manuscript. His competi
tors were Senator Bayard, of Delaware, and
Speaker Randall, of Pennsylvania. He was
nominated on the third ballot, receiving
nearly the entire vote of the Convention.
Mr. English, the vice-presidential candidate,
was known to be very rich and quite ambi
tious for political distinction. He was
pledged by his friends as an inducement for
the bestowal of the honor to make liberal
contributions to the campaign fund, and he
realized these expectations by large checks.
During the campaign of that year I called on
Gen. Hancock at his home on Governor’s
Island. He talked like a man who believed
in his own success. He made a very favora
ble impression on all his visitors, and was
cordial, affable and quite communicative to
all. About the severest thing said of him
was by the Democratic New York “Sun,”
which estimated him as “a good man, weigh
ing two hundred and fifty pounds.”
:i88 4 .
The Republican gathering in Chicago in
1884 was more of a cattle market than a con
vention. Whole delegations, white and black,
which had been instructed for President
Arthur were bought for Mr. Blaine. I very
well remember an incident illustrative of this
fact which occurred on my way to Chicago.
At about twenty miles this side of that city
the train was boarded by a man who at once
sought the forward car, which carried a dele
gation of negroes from a Southern State,
which had instructed for Arthur. He soon
found the leader of the delegation, to whom
he introduced himself. “I am for Blaine,”
said he, “and I know you are for Arthur; but
we are all good Republicans. Have you any
place to go when you arrive in Chicago?”
The negro replied in the negative—that he
hoped the delegation could get good quarters
when they arrived in Chicago, but that no
preparations had been made. “Well,” said
the white man, “it's hard to get quarters if
you haven’t engaged them. But you come
with me, and I will see that you are taken
care of.” There were about twenty negroes
in the delegation, and on their arrival in
Chicago the Blaine emissary—for such he
was—marched them all off to a good board
ing-house, where he guaranteed their bills.
When Convention day came round most of
them appeared in the hall in new garments,
and some of them sported brand-new watch
chains. They all voted for Baine in spite of
their Arthur instructions. This is only one of
many instances of the same kind where
money was directly used upon men, without
regard to color, to persuade votes to change
from Arthur to Blaine. The headquarters of
Mr. Blaine’s chief manager at the Grand
Pacific Hotel looked on the evening after the
nomination like the cabin of a Mississippi
steamboat on her arrival in port—so many
delegates clamoring for their pay. Mr. Arthur
had made a quiet and decent campaign for
the nomination and as the only man who had
conducted himself properly from a personal
and political standpoint, after having reached
the presidency through the vice-presidency,
he was entitled to it. He had been three years
President when the Convention met, and had
made a faultless and flawless administration.
But the Blaine people had begun very early
to make war upon Arthur. Their first move
ment was to defeat C. J. Folger for Governor
of New York in 1882. Mr. Folger was
Arthur’s Secretary of the Treasury when he
received the Republican nomination for Gov
ernor. Mr. Blaine wrote a letter which was
widely published, advising Republicans not
to vote for Folger. His advice was so well
followed that more than 200,000 Republicans
stayed away from the polls or voted for Cleve
land on election day, giving the victory to
Mr. Cleveland by the enormous majority of
192.854. Mr. Blaine, in making himself the
father of the Mugwump party, also accom
plished his own defeat for president. He
could not allow Arthur to receive such an
endorsement as would be inferred from Fol-
ger’s election, and in constructing a gallows
for the execution of Arthur he simply made
one for himself. Cleveland was not nomi
nated and elected because he was Governor of
New York, but because he had been elected
by such a great majority. The candidates
named in this Convention were Hawley, of
Connecticut, Blaine, of Maine, Arthur, of
New York, Sherman, of Ohio, Edmunds of
Vermont and Logan of Illinois. Four bal
lots were taken. Mr. Blaine started out with
334/4 votes; Mr. Arthur with 278. Blaine
continued to gain and Arthur to lose until
the fourth ballot, which stood 541 for Blaine
and 207 for Arthur. With great difficulty
Gen. Logan was induced to take second place
on the ticket. He at first positively refused,
but his friends urged him in telegrams be
yond his power to resist.
The Democratic Convention for this year
met in Chicago on the 8th of July, with Mr.
Hubbard, of Texas, its temporary Chairman
and seven candidates in the field—Bayard, of
Delaware, McDonald, of Indiana, Carlisle,
of Kentucky, Cleveland, of New York, Thur
man and Hoadly, of Ohio, and Randall, of
Pennsylvania. Cleveland was easily the most
popular man, but he was vigorously opposed
by the Tammany delegation. Gen. Bragg,
of Wisconsin, came to his defense in a
speech, which will long be remembered for
a few of its phrases. I think it was Mr.
Bourke Cockran, of the Tammany delegation,
who claimed for himself and his associate
anti-Cleveland men the special championship
of the hard-handed labor element. To which
Bragg replied that the Tammanyites had
hardened their hands principally in turning
the crank of the political machine. This
made a great hit, of course. But the most
memorable sentence in Bragg’s speech was
that in which he said “we love him for the
enemies he has made.” This brought the
house down in laughter and applause, which
completely drowned out the Tammanyites and
led to their utter subsidence. It took but
three ballots to decide in favor of Cleveland.
His strongest competitor was Mr. Bayard,
whose vote, however, dwindled down from
170 on the first to 81% on the third, while
Cleveland’s vote increased from 392 on the
first to 683 on the third ballot. Hendricks
received 145)4 votes on the third ballot and
was soon after nominated for Vice-President
and was elected, but lived through less than
a*year of his term.
1888.
*The Republican Convention of 1888 met
in Chicago and gave Benjamin Harrison an
easy introduction to the presidency by a nom
ination which was really bestowed upon him
by Mr. Blaine. The man from Maine had
made three fruitless efforts to be king, and
had now resolved to play Warwick. A good
many messages had passed between Washing
ton and Indianapolis; most of them bo r ne by
Stephen B. Elkins, to whom the arrangement
of details had been assigned, and who was the
authorized spokesman for Mr. Blaine on all
political topics. When the Convention met
it was well understood that Mr. Blaine had
withdrawn in favor of Harrison, but, not
withstanding this fact, he received votes on
every ballot, 35 on the first, rising to 45 on
the fifth, and falling to 5 on the eighth
and last. John Sherman was again a candi
date, and received as high as 245 votes on the
third ballot, but fell off and had but 118 on
the last ballot. Chauncey M. Depew was
voted for through three ballots, receiving as
high as 99 votes and at the close of the third
ballot, his name was withdrawn. Harrison
started with 80 votes, began to gain on the
third ballot, and was nominated on the eighth
by 544 votes. There is every reason to be
lieve that Mr. Blaine subsequently regretted
his espousal of Mr. Harrison’s cause, but he
was chiefly urged to it at the time by his de
sire to defeat John Sherman, against whom
he had held a grudge since 1876, when Sher
man had come out strongly in support of
Hayes and against Blaine. The Sherman
movement was acquiring a gc<yl„
strength when the Blaine-Harrison combina
tion was made. I have often said of Sherman
that he would be a hard man to nominate,
but an easy man to elect. What I meant was
that the qualities of heart and temperament
which made him unpopular among the com
paratively few who control nominations
would not affect him among the masses, who
knew little of his coldness, but much of his
greatness. He was caviare to the few who
nominate a President, but not to the many
who elect a President. The percentage of
those who nominate a President to those who
elect a President is very small, but it is
necessary to be nominated before being
elected, and Sherman never could pass the
barrier which Convention erected against
him, although once before the people he
would have been a popular candidate with a
record full of reasons for his election. Levi
P. Morton was nominated for Vice-President
on the first ballot. After the election of
Harrison Blaine lost the methodical magnet
ism which had characterized him for many
years, and sank into moodiness and morose
ness, until the quarrel between himself and
the man whom he had made his chief became
open and nnconcealed. His conduct in 1892
is so well remembered that it need not now
be recalled.
The Democratic Convention of 1888 met
in St. Louis on the 5th of June. Its proceed
ings had long been foreseen in the renomi-
nation of Mr. Cleveland, which was by accla
mation. There was a little struggle for the
Vice-Presidency, but it was finally given to
Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio, on the first bal
lot, over Isaac - . Gray, of Indiana, and John
C. Black, of Illinois. Thurman’s friends
made their fight rather picturesque by adopt
ing the red bandanna as their symbol, but be
yond this there is little to remember to that
Convention.—“Mack” in St. Louis Weekly
Globe-Democrat.
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