The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-01-17
ELECTION OF CLERK = C0AIlrl0N 0f NhiCS
AND S0UTHERy DEMOCRATS.

Southern Democrats. MIR. Campbell is therefore
Clerk of the House, in virtue of coalition De
tween the Wing party and the following SOUTH
ern Democrats, who belong to the extreme pro-
slavery disunion school of the South
Colcock, Orr Wallace, and Woodward, Of
South Carolina; Ewing of Tennessee; Hubbard,
of Alabama Venable, of North Carolina; and
Mcqueen, of Mississippi.
The Wings at one time dropped Campbell, and
tried to elect Mr. Foote of Vermont, formerly q
member of the House They carried him up to
1903, but meantime the Union came out with a
short paragraph, showing, by quotation from
speech from his, and by reference to one OF his
votes, that he was opposed to the extension Of
slavery The result was, that three or four
Southern Wings refused TO sustain him. Could
their votes have been had, the few Free Soil men
who held off would have secured his election
Considering them impacticable, Mr. Schenck at
last withdrew his name, and Mr.. Campbell, q
Southern man and stakeholder, was immediate.
ly re-nominated
.Cbprsdov ojobt the Whigs beld caucus and
resolved, we learn, unanimously to adhere to this
nomination. Whether they had received assur-
ances of Southern support from the other side
the reader will be able to Judge for himself by
what transpired next day.
So much for the proceedings of the Wings
The Democrats in caucus assembled nominated
as we have seen, Cobb of Georgia for Speaker
Forney Of Pennsylvania for Clerk, Lane Of Ken
lucky for Sergeant-st-Arms Brown of Ohio for
Doorkeepers For many a weary day had the
party labored to elect its candidate tor Speaker
the Northern Democrats adheriug to him devot'
edly. He withdrew for a time that the strength
of other candidates might be tested, but not a
single Southern vote could be obtained for any
Northern candidate suspected of being in favor
of the Wilmot Proviso.
At last, portion of the Southern Democrats,
uniting with the Wings, carried the plurality
rule, under which Mr.. Cobb, STAKEHOLDER and a
Slavery Extensionist, was chosen Speaker by the
ocrats, with the exception Of messrs. Cleveland,
Booth, Doty, Wood, and Peck.
Last Thursday week, the House proceeded to
vote fer Clerk, and J. w. Forney of Pennsylvania,
the pet candidate of the Shareholders, man no.
torious for his undertaking support of slavehold-
ing pretensions, and for his abuse Of those of
his own party at the North, disposed to resist
such pretensions received the entire Democratic
vote, with the exception of that of MIR. Bingham
of Michigan, who voted for B. B. French, the
Democratic Clerk of former House. Not even
the Democrats who were supposed to be under
Oh IN tha me m
Cleveland, Booth, Waldo, of Connecticut, Peck
of Vermont, Cable Of Ohio, or Harlan and Fitch
of Indiana-evinced the slightest repugnance to
the support of man who had marked his career
as an editor by deadly warfare against the prin-
ciples they were elected specially to represent
The whole party, with the exception of Mr..
Bingham and the absentees, adhered to him with
pertinacious devotion for five days, although it
was obvious that no could not be elected, and
although it was known that b. B. French a
sound Democrat, could have been elected at any
period during the struggle. The Free Soil men
indicated their willingness to vote for him. as did
several liberal Wings.
Wednesday, after the House had been striving
to elect Clerk for five days, Mr.. Booth of Con-
necticut on the twelfth trial, for the first time,
joined Mr.. Bingham in voting for French. Ac-
cording to all party usages, the Democratic mem
bers were at perfect liberty, having repeatedly
failed to elect their caucus candidates, to try the
strength of other candidates. few, after this,
showed their hands for Mr.. French, until Friday,
when on the eighteenth trial. he received eighteen
votes; but not one of these was cast by Democrat
from New England, New York, the Middle States,
or the South, with the exception of that of Mr..
Booth, who, after having again voted for Forney,
on the 10th and 18th trials gave his vote to
French on the 18th With this exception, all
the Democrats who voted for French were from
the w est, and their names we're
Bingham, of Michigan; Brown, and Harlan, of
Indiana; Cable, Carter, Whittlesey and Wood
of Ohio Letter, of Iowa
Had they been supported by the Democrats
from Pennsylvania and New England, the demon
stration might have been effective. There was
time when the Shareholders placed their chief
reliance on the Western Democracy that time
has gone by: their main reliance now is the De-
mocracy of Pennsylvania and New England
On the nineteenth trial commenced series of
operations that resulted in the election of the
Wing candidate The call had been gone through;
Mr.. Forney had received his usual number of
votes when Mr. Venable of North Carolina, a
Calhoun Democrat avowed that he was DESTROYS
of seeing the contest terminated, and he would
vote for Mr. Campbell. MIR. Campbell of Ohio
changed his vote from French to Campbell then,
one after another, rose Messrs. Carter, Whittle-
sey, Cable of Ohio, and Fitch of Indiana, and
changed their votes from French to Forney
WHY they did this, we cannot say but the
impression was that they were frightened back
upon the caucus nominations, by the detection of
Messrs. Venabe and Hubbard, Orr and Wood
ward Southern Democrats, who voted for Camp
bell We should be unwilling to admit that they
could be SO easily whipped in, but nowadays we
are surprised at nothing.
The matter, however, we doubt not, was all
arranged. The Wing managers must have
understood what they were about the night
before, when they re-nominated Mr.. Campbell.
On the twentieth trial, all the Wings with the
exception of Horace Mann, came in to the sup
port Of Campbell all the Northern Democrats,
with the exception of Harlan, Bingham, and
Booth, who continued to vote for French came
up to the support of Forney; and eight Southern
Democrats of the Calhoun stripe bolted their
own caucus nomination, clst aside the man who
had deied the popular sentiment of the North to
please them, and, seeing chance to fill the Clerk
ship, as they had filled the Speakership, with a
stakeholder, voted for T. J. Campbell of Tennes-
see, nominated by the Wings in caucus the night
before; thus showing that with them Slavery is
first, Party subordinate.
OF course, such an act of treachery to their