Daily American telegraph. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1851-1852, 1852-06-11
AMERICAN TELEGRAPH.

From the National Intelligencer1
Major Jack DoWniag's Account of tho
Democratic National Convention
BALTIMORE, SATURDAY NIGHT
June 5, 1852
| To JosnUA DOWNING, esq,
Postmaster, DoWmgV2te, State Of Name;
DEAR UNCLE JOSHUA The job is done, and it's
been about the toughest weeks work that ever
did. I've sweat like tiger all the week, and
I'm as hungry as bear not but what there s
been vittles enough plenty OF it, and good too,
and plenty of liquor too, more than the Maine
| liquor law could upset and spill in six months
but the trouble is, we had SO much to do we
couldn't get timo to eat | guess Ivo made out
to ketch lunch Of few mouthfuls about twice
a day, and got chance to sleep upon average
about two hours a night. After I've writ this
letter to you, | mean to turn in and sleep over
till Monday, and then streak it home and help
get up the mass meeting to ratify the nomination
the ratification of Dowingville must be roarer.
You better be getting things ready for it till |
come. wish | could give you some idea of the
weeks work we have had here. I've worked in
the logging swamp, and know what 'tis to handle
| logs, and pile en- on the bank, and roll EN- into
the river; and I've worked on burnt fields in
clearing up, and know what tbs to chop and pile
from Monday morning till Saturday night but
| declare to man this has been the tuffest week of
| og-roling ever see. But don't begrudge the
work bit, we've made such nice job of it, and
saved the country. We've put life into the Dem
ocratic party again, that we thought last fall was
as dead as u door-nail. We've killed off Abolition,
we've choked to death Secession, and gin Free
soil the fits and | expect we've thunderstruck
| Whlggery so that it neverll get over it We've
got the Democratic party fairly on it's legs again,
standing on the good old platform that Gineral
Jackson left it on that is, agin the bank, agin
the tariff, and agin internal improvements and
now we've nothing to do but so ahead
But must tell you something about the duins.
| couldn't get i'll as of the regular delegates
from Maine, because the President said my name
wasn't on the list. But as soon as told him
was the delegate from Downingville, he took me
by the hand and says he, . All right, Major Down
| ing, I'm very glad to see you here; you can
come in as supernumerary, and you can do q
great deal more good than if you was regular
delegate, for you can go round quietly among all
the delegates and help to make en- harmonize
there's great deal of that work to be done be.
fore we can get along, and don't know of any
body that can do more III that line than you can.
In fact, Major, if you hadn't been sent as dele
gate from Downingville, you would readily be
admitted to take part in the proceedings of the
Convention, out OF respect for the great services
that you rendered Gineral jackson in the times
that tried the souls Of Democrats SO | went
right in and took hold, and went to work. There
was an awful jam; it seemed most impossible
to do anything. But Of coat, and elbowed my
way right through Gun from one end of the hall
to 'tothcr; and pretty soon got the swing of it,
| so could tell where to pull, and where to push,
and where to put under the handspikes and lift.
And when the members got up to make speeches,
and got to talking too much, or talking the wrong
way knew jest when to take hold Of their coat
to,la apI IL l,,p 4, ,l,,s,. ,,I
; sometimes | had to go into the gallery, too, IL
keep the people straight mp there, and in spite
of all could do they would sometimes hooral
and hiss in the wrong place. So you may judge
I've had my hands full all the week But was
determined to have nomination. If | worked my
hands of mp to my elbows. II was very bard TO
get a nomination this time, and if hadn't been
here, though say it myself, don't believe they
would got one at all.
The first real hard piece Of Shedding we come
across was the platform business; that is TO say,
the question whether we should 90 to work and
make platform first, take right hold and
nominate first 1t was Il knotty question, and
! seemed to bother some Of the members n good
deal. Mr.. Nabers and Mr. Wise, and some others,
insisted upon it that We should begin at the
foundation, and make a platform first for the
Democratic party TO stand on, aud then make a
candidate 10 fit to it, No work would ever stand
we'll unless you begin at the bottom and lay o
good foundation first Here's Il dozen parties
here, every one fighting for their particular can
didate, and each one hoping to get the nomlna-
ton, rs long that hope lasts il will hold EN-
all together, and can make EN- all work Il
help build platform. But the moment ono gets
the nomination, the rest will all fy off in a tan
gent there will be no more working on a plat
form, and your candidate will be left stnndius
upon nothing. But Mr. Soulc, Of Louisiana, anC
Gov. Floyd, of Nrginny, roved jest as hare
t0thcr way. They declared we never could make
platform fret. If we undertook TO 20 to work
upon II now, every one Of the dozen parties woulc
! be pulling and hauling agin each other and oac
one hewing and cutting and carving 70 make the
platform 10 suit his own candidate, In that way
we never could make platform II We should
work from the first Of June T. the end Of time
The fact i, the platform must be made Tor the
country, that is for the Democratic party, and
not for a candidate .is soon ms the candidate
is kclched and haltcrcd and tied TO stump, VIC
can all set down calmly and work together, and
make Il platform 10 suit the whole Democracy.
The dispute went on pretty high nearly all day,
and was got over at last by sort OF compromise
to have the platform and the nomination 10th
going together So a committee Of one from
each State was appointed to 20 to work building
the platform, while the Convention went on to
nominate then, rs soon ms tho candidate was
nominated, the platform could I've all ready to set
him right on to IT,
Thcu come the nominating, ant that was Hl al
up- hill business for about three days and two ol
three nights. II was found on the first pull tha
the Old Fogic, was good deal too strong fo
Young America, andi there hadn't been 50 man,
Old Fogics iii the field we should a got candi
date the first haul Gincral Cass and MIR Blu
chanm each started with very smart team
Mr Cass was n little ahead, and he kept th'
lead for about twenty pulls, and we thought by
sticking to him like wax VIC might be able to ge