Richmond daily times. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1853, 1852-06-14
THE DAILY TIMES

National Conrention.
BALTIMORE, SATURDAY NIGHT, June 5, 1862.
To JOSHUA DowNINa, Esq.
Postmaster, Do,eniHgUilie State Of Maine.
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
ashungry as bear; not but what there's been Wit!
ties enough, plenty of it, and good too. and plen
ty of liquor too more than the Maine liquor law
| could upset and spill in six months; but the trou-
BILE Is, we had so much to do we couldn't gettin
to eat. | guess I've made out to ketch lanch of IL
few mouthfuls about twcea day, and got chance
to sleep upon an average about two hours night.
After I've writ this letter to you mean to turn i'll
and sleep overtill Monday and the streak it homo
and help get up the meeting to ratify tho
nomnation-the ratification of Downingye must
be You better be getting things ready
for it till come. | wish | could give you some
idea of the weeks work we have had here. Eve
worked in the logging swamp. and know what
tits to handle logs and pile EN- on the bank, and
role EN- into the river; and Eve worked on burnt
fields in clearing up, and know what It's to chop and
pile from Monday morning till Saturday night
but | declare to man this has been the tufiest
week of log-rolling ever see. But don't be-
grudge the work bit, we've made such nice
job Oft and saved the country. We've put life
into tho Democratic party again, that we thought
last fall was dead door nail. We've killed
off Abolition, we've choked to death Secession,
and gin Freesoil the fits and expect we've thun-
derstruck Whiggery that it never'll get over
it. We've got the Democratic party fairly on
its legs again, standing on the good old platform
that General Jackson left it on; that is agin the
Bank, agin the Tariff. and agin Internal Improve.
ments; fand now we've nothing to do but go
ahead.
But I must tell you something about the duins
l couldn get in as one of tho regular delegates
e.. W.. IL. D.
wasn't on the list. But as soon as I told him [
was the delegate from Downingve, he took mo
by the hand, and says he ''All right, Major
Downing, I'm very glad to you here; you can
come III as supernumerary, and you can do
great deal more good than if you was regular
delegate, for you can go around quietly among all
the delegates and help to make exl harmonize;
there's great deal of that work to be done be-
fore we get along, and 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 dele
gate from Downingvile, you would readily be adj
mltted to take part In the proceedings of the
Convention out of respect for the great services
that you rendered Gineral Jacks on in the times
that tried the souls of Democrats. So l went
right in and took hold, and went to work. There
was an awful jam; it seemed most impossible to
do anything. But off coat, and ebowed my
way right through en- from 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 hanspikes and lift.
And when the members got up to make speeeh-
es, and got up to talking too much, talking the
wrong way, knew jest when to take hold of their
coat-tails and pull EN- down on to their Seats
And sometimes 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 was
determined to have nomination, if | work
my hands off up to my elbows 1t YVES very hard
to get nomination this time, and i'll 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 como
across was the platform business; that is to say,
the question whether should 90 to work and
make platform first, or take right hold and to
nominate first. 1t a knotty question, aud
seemed to bother some of the members good
deal. Mr.. NABERs and Mr.. WISE, and some 9TH
ev insisted upon it that we should begin at the
foundation, and make platform first for the Dem
Ociatc party to stand on, and then make a capdi-
dato to fit it. No work would ever stand well un-
less you begin at the bottom and lay good founda-
ton first. Here dozen parties here, every one
fighting for their particular candidate, and each
one hoping to get the nomination. AS long as
that hope lasts it will hold EN- all together aud
we can make EN- all work to help build up plat
form. But the moment gets the nomination,
the rest will all fly off in tangent there will be
10 more working on platform, and your cand-
date will be left standing upon nothing. But Mr..
SoULE, of Louisiana, and Gov. FLOYD, of Virgin
ny, rowed jest as hard t'other way. They de-
cared we never could make a platform first. If
we undertook to 60 work upon it now, every one
OF the dozen parties would be pulling and hauling
agin each other, and each one hewing and cut
ting and carving to make the platform to suit his
date In, fl,n%
make platform if we 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, aud not for candidate
AS soon as the candidate is ketched and battered
and tied to stump, all set down calmly
and work together, and make platform to suit
the whole Democracy. The dispute went or
pretty high nearly all day. and was got over at
last by cort OF compromise to have the platform
and the nomination both going on together. SO Il
committee Of one from each State was appointed
to 60 to work building the platform while the
Convention went on to noininate; then, as soon as
the candidate was nominated, the platform could
be all ready to set him right on to it.
Then come the nominating, and that was all at
uphill business for about three days and two or
three nights. 1t was found on the first pull than
the Old Fogies was good deal too strong Tor
Young America and if there hadn't been SO
many Old Fogies in the field we should got Il
candidate the first haul. Ginea 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 stick
ing to him like wax we might be able to get him
over the hill. But his team begun to lag after
ten or dozen pulls, and now at the twentieth
pull 1t seemed to be slowly backing down hill, and
the Buchanan team struggedup and got ahead
Then we thought we better hitch on to Buchauan,
and may be we might fetch him over the hill. We
spurred up for n few pulls pretty WE'LL but didn't
get near to the top before the Buchanan team got