Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-06-12

MAJOR JACK eDOWNINGS ACCOUNT OF THE DE
MOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.

| MOCBATlC NATIONAL CUNVENTlON.
! BALTIMORE SATURDAY NIGHT, JUNE 5, 1852
To Joshua DowSING, Esq.
Postmaster, Downngviue, State Of Maine
Dear Uncle Joshua The job is done, and it's
been about the toughest week work that ever did
I've sweat like tiger all the week, and Pm as
hungry as bear; not but what there's been vttles
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 time to eat.
guess I've made out to ketch lunch of a few
mouthfuls about twice day, and got chance to
sleep upon an average about two hours 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 no
minaton-the ratification of Downingville 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 tits to handle
logs, and pile EN- the bank and roll EN- into the
river; and I've worked on burnt fields in clearing
up, and know what tits to chop and pile from Mon
day morning till Saturday night but declare to
man this has been the tuffest week Of log-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 Democratic party
again, that we thought last fall was as dead as a
doornail. We've killed off Abolition, we've choked
to death Secession, and gin Freesoil the fits; and
expect we've thunderstruck Whiggery SO that it
never'n get over ii. We've got the Democratic
party fairly on its legs again. standing the good
old platform that Gineral jackson left it on; that
is, agn the Bank, agin the Tariff, and agn Internal
Improvements; and now we've nothing to do but
go ahead.
But must tell you something about the duins
| Onf in IF fho al
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 Downing, I'm
very glad to see you here; you can come in SUI
pernumerary, and you can do great deal more good
than if you was regular delegate, for you can 90
round quietly among all the delegates and help to
make EN- harmonize; there's great deal of that
work to be done before we can get along, and l
don't know Of any body that can do more in that
line than you can. In fact, Major, if you hadn't
been sent as delegate from Downngville, you
would readily be admitted to take part in the pro-
ceedings Of the Convention out of respect for the
great services that you rendered Ginera 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 any thing But | off coat, and elbowed my
way right through EN- from one end of the hall to
tother; 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, 1
knew jest when to take hold Of their coat-tails and
pull EN- down on to their seats And sometimes l
had to go into the gallery, too, to keep the people
straight up there and in spite of all could do they
would sometimes hoorah and hiss in the wrong
place. So you may Judge I've had my hands full
all the week But l was determined to have no
mination, if worked my hands off up to my elbows
1t was very hard to get 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 the platform business that is to say the
question whether we should 90 to work and make
platform first, or take right hold and to nominate
first 1t was knotty question, and seemed to
bother some of the members good deal. Mr..
NABERs and Mr.. WISE, and some Others insisted
upon it that we should begin at the foundation and
make platform first for the Democratic party to
stand on, and then make candidate to fit to it. No
work would ever stand well unless you begin at the
bottom and lay good foundation first. Here's
dozen parties here every one fighting for their par
ticular candidate and each one hoping to get the no
mination As long as that hope lasts it will hold
EN- all together, and we can make EN- all work to
help build platform. But the moment one gets
the nomination, the rest will all fly off in tangent;
there will be no more working on platform, and
your candidate will be left standing upon nothing
But Mr.. SoULE, of Louisiana, and Gov. FLOYD, of
Virgnny, rowed jest as hard t'other way. They de-
clared we never could make platform first If we
undertook to 90 to work upon it now, every one Of
the dozen parties would be pulling and hauling agin
each other, and each one hewing and cutting and
carving to make the platform to suit his own candi
date. In that way we never could make platform
if should work from the first Of June to the end
Of time. The fact is the platform must be made for
the country that is, for the Democratic party, and
not for candidate. AS soon as the candidate is
ketched and battered and tied to a stump, we can
all set down calmly and work together, and make
platform to suit the whole Democracy. The dispute
went on pretty high nearly all day, and got over
at last by sort of compromise to have the platform
and the nomination both going on together. So
committee of one from each State was appointed to
go to work building the platform while the Conven-
ton went on to nominate them as soon as the can
didate was nominated, the platform could be all
ready to set him right on to it,
Then come the nominating, and that was all an
uphill business for about three days and two or
or three nights. II was found on the first pull that
| the Old Fogies was a good deal too strong for
Young America, and if there hadn't been so many
Old Fogies in the field we should got candidate
the first haul Gineral Cass and Mr.. Buchanan
each started with very smart team. Mr.. Cass
was little ahead, and he kept the lead for about
twenty pulls, and we thought by sticking to him like