The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1856-03-12

administration corciIissed all parties and thsrs
TO oppose him for his second term h received
ell the electoral votes but one.
This brings down 70 the memorable oaucus Of the
l4h OF February, 1924 which was insisted upon by Mr.
Van Buren, and other frnds Of Mr. Crawford and which
brought about severxl changes First /. killed OF Gre
ford and nearly ell his friends second killed the
system, which had grown to be nolerabis dsspotsm
and third 1t broke the back Of the repub csn party
which did not rise again until resusoated by the
Of jackson. This CAUCUS interesting, worth atten
tcn.
Congress now had oG1 members Of which 2l6 held af
inity with the republican democrahs party. These
not all era Word men, however and were divided In
opinion to the propriey Of making Congressional
nomination Mr.. Van Buren, WAS especially indignant at
this hesitation and raised that cant cry of Greg
1nraons" TO which he rhould have added 'when thsy
please U.S." The bullying system adopted and it
declared that any who opposed the good old rxle
should be considered enemy Of the deuoerao party
1t then stated the other ie that $50 republican
members opposed to . caucus nomination.
Notwithstanding oil these warnings, combiued with
strong popular clamor against the measure, . meeting
Of the democratic members Of the Legislature called
the date above mentioned. Only SO out Of 2t8 at.
tended, and King Caucus dead at last Mr.. CrAw-
ford received CA votes The great ,y of the party
throughout the country Indignantly repudised the no
nation
Mr. Crawford had lost much Of his popularity, and he
In such bad health that 1t doubtful whether II
elected be would live to take his seat. But Virginia,
Despair ing Of anything better insisted upon having h
The members cf the nearly all Senat rs. and
paper says that only eight members Of The ,ular
branch OF the Congress In ATTENDANCE from xenty
States out Of the twenty -four. Everything was fixed BY
Van Buren and the vi gnans but the people refused to
adopt the regular nominations, and the majority sup
ported General Jackson who had been twice mated
by the Legislature OF Tennessee OF the electoral vo.es
Jackson had 99 j. O. Adams (federa'st 81; Crawford,
al; Clay, Chen acting with the repubhcaus,) Al.
Tie elec ion going to the House the friends Of Mr. Clay
voted for Adams defeat Jackson and succeeded In their
efforts Thus the republican party broken mp after
m uninterrupted sway of twenty four years. It
killed BY it's friends, and died from the effects Of too
much prosperity clique at Washing on attempted to
dictate to the people, AVID reapei tie reward Of their
folly. SO little to DO depended party chsins. VIII
the wepuers of the present day be guided by the lamp
OF fexpefisnces
General Jackson placed early In the lsd by the
LgsatuIe Of his Sate and found 1t easy to organ
ize strong opposition to Mr. Adams who was only
minority President, after all. There
cusirg and General Jackson received large maj riy OF
electoral votes He again put nomination BY the
elected and his administration brings to oonsidora
tion Of the
CONVENTION SYSTEM.
The first convention for the nomination of President
and Vice President the anti Masonic meeting held t
Baltimore, In Sep ember 1851. Thts party faction Is
IN interesting one inasmuch 1t brought Mr. serard
and Mr. Fillmore into public life. The party orginaed
In the western part New York. and grew out of great
and sksully managed popular excitement. man Of
-
ed 10 be expose Of the three first degrees OF the Masonic
Order lie suddenly disappeared, and some ridiculous
story WAS circulated about his being murdered by the
Free Masons. The politicians far to trump up
something resem bling human body, which asserted
to be that of Morgan and from this shallow imposturs
storm Of anti Masonic excitement which inflicted
blow upon the Order from which 1t has never entirely
recovered. The humbug body WAS said by Thurlow
Weed to be good enough Morgan until after election"
Soft proved to be- The anti party thus orginat
ing in this State in 1885, achieved partial in
vera Of the Northern states in the local elections Of the
next two three years, and he'd called National
Convention ut Philadephia in September, 1885, at which
delegates present from eleven States After adopting
IN antiAasoric platform and calling q convention t.
meet at Baltimore in September 1851, the PhilsdephiA
meeting dissolved
At this time the opposition looked to Mr. Clay their
leader in the contest to be commenced. He
the only in the xhig party wbs thought to be
strong enough to cope with Old Hickory bat Mr. Clay
bling ardent supporter Of and an affiliated member
Of the Mascn Order his nomination. by that sectisn Of
tie opposition which organized the basis OF hos
tiy to that fraternity, out Of the question and
thus the enemies Of General Jackson divided st the
start.
The opposition had assumed the name OF national
republicans and the Baltimore Convention called 20
concentrate all the factions against the democracy John
Mclean CT Ohio lately prominent Know Nothing can
ddate and now talked Of by the NIGER WORSHIP
ras was the favorite Of the anti -Masons, but was
strongly opposed by the national republicans. he de-
clined; and the Anti-Masonic Convention nominated
William Writ, of Maryland, formerly Attorney General,
for President and Amos Eniaker Of Pennsylvania, tor
Vice President.
Here may be pardonsd for DEPRESSING so far s t,
point ont curious fact Milard Fillmore nov the cau
ddae OF secret political or Ter, brought into publ
life on the basis Of litter hostility to secret orders Of al
kinds political and Social while Judge Mclean who is
the choice OF the Northern Know Nothings narrowly
caped the nomination given to william Writ.
In December, 1881, the first National Republican Con-
yention was held at Baltimore and nominated Henry
Clay of Kentucky, for President and John Sergeant Of
Pennsylvania, for Vice Presden.. Thus Mr.. Clay and
Mr.. Writ were paced in the field to lead the opposition
ard was hoped that the election would be thrown into
the House.
Ger eral Jackscns position strong one, and the
administration party thought Of else for the
cesscn. Nr. Calhoun, then Vice President, had quar-
relied with the President and it important to select
strong for the second place on the ticket for
the succession. MrCAhoun's in the Senate had,
1t was thought, caused the rejection Of Martin Van Bu
rem a. Minister to England, and that willy politician,
IL is believed commenced operations ~ early o. 1850 TO
secure Jacksons nomination and his rider
for the ticket and sort Of hereditary candidate for
the succession Jackson accordingly nominated BY
the administration members Of the New York Isgsla
ture and the State Of New Hampshire has, in ad
dion TO the glory Of presenting President in the person
of the present incumbent the further gem in her pot
cal crown OF having originated the system of National
Conventions Of the worst features of party despotsm
ever corcocted BY the Van Buren Bourb,ns. The
Legislature OF Now Hamp SHIRE doubtless at the suggss