The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1860-05-04

The Charleston Convention, after being in ses-
sion for ten days, has adjourned without accom-
plishng the work it had assembled to do. 1t has
adjourned to meet again in this city on the 18th
of June. On the seventh day of the session the
delegations from seven States formally withdrew
from the body, and being reinforced on the fol-
lowing day by delegates from other States,
formed a separate Convention, and resolved
themselves to be the true National Democracy,
pure and simple The seceders were chiefly from
the cotton-growing States, and the cause OF the
secession was failure TO agree upon the question
of what the Party-Platform should be in relation
to the subject of Slavery in the Territories. Upon
this point an excited debate took place in the
Convention, and after various unsuccessful efforts
to reconcile their differences of opinion, the dele
gates from the Cotton States withdrew. Appa-
rently, therefore, and at first blush, the secession
wears the appearance of a radical split in the
Party which argues anything but well for its
success in the coming Election. 1t is only
upon the surface, however. that it wears
this serious aspect. 1t is perfectly obvious
that the real difficulty with the Convention
was in relation to the Nomination, not the
ment about Principles had there been none about
the Candidate. Had the Convention been able to
unite in the choice of man who was acceptable
to all sections of the Party alike, a very simple
Platform, or none at all, would have suficed for
the purposes of the canvass, 1t was the dread of
the nomination of man in whose principles they
had not implicit confidence, that led the delegates
of the Cotton States to insist with such pertinacity
upon the adoption of their Platform. 1t having
been agreed that the adoption of the Platform
should precede the Nomination, they naturally
sought to avail themselves of the opportunity so
TO word the former as to effectually exclude from
the competition the Candidate whose nomination
they feared Failing in this attempt, as already
stated they withdrew. The adherence of the
main body of the Convention, however, to the
rule requiring a vote of two. thirds of the whole
number, in order to a Nomination, gave to
the seeding delegations the same voice and
weight in the Convention, after they had with
drawn that they would have had, if present, and in
the divided state of opinion even among those who
remained, effectually precluded a choice. After
number of fruitless balottings, this fact became
apparent to everybody. In the meantime, the
session of the Convention had been protracted
much beyond the usual time. Many of the dele
gates were remaining in Charleston at considera-
BILE personal inconvenience and very heavy ex-
pense, particularly those who had come in steam
ers chartered for the round trip, and who were
consequently at extra charges. The chance of
making Nomination within the week appeared
almost hopeless. 1t was even clearer that the
Nomination when made would be the Nomination
only of a rump of the Convention, from which the
delegations of twelve States either in whole or in
part, had withdrawn. Under such circumstances
adjournment became inevitable, and the
Convention adjourned. Whether better sue
cess will attend upon its labors when it
re-assembles will depend altogether upon the
extent to which its members shall profit by the
experience of the past ten days. If the attempt
should be renewed to foist upon the Convention
Candidate to whom any considerable portion of the
Party are infexibly and obstinately opposed, the
attempt will fall and the Convention be broken up
again, it before. None but perfectly
National man, of conservative and moderate views,
ought to be put forward, or can be elected at such
q crisis. With such man, we apprehend there
will be little difficulty about Platforms, and in
support of such there will be no trouble in
rallying all portions of the Party.