The Portland daily press., 1870-06-30
rDNvENTEnN or FEE FIRST CON
GREsslONAG pEsTRiDT,
denomination of Hon, John
lynch

| Of Mr. Lynch held a preliminary caucus in one
| of the rooms under the hall to tx upon plan
| of action. After the choice of chairman
Mr.. Butler, of the Union and Journal stated
| that the object of the meeting was to concen.
| trate the strength OF York so that they might
! present solid front for some York county
man, leaving the selection of the individual to
| be su. sequeriy determined. He favored the
| introduction Of resolution to the effect that
| York county was entitled by precedent and
usage to the nomination Several other speak
ers followed in much the same strain, and
| many brave words were spoken ano some
threats uttered abont the consequences if their
| wishes were disregarded. Hon. Nathaniel
| Hobbs, of North Berwick, after some remarks,
| told them that in his opinion they were "throt-
| tied any way" How to vote down the 152 del
egates from Cumberland with only 12O from
York when thirty or forty of these were for
Mr.. Lynch presented an awkward mathemati-
cal problem which none of the speakers could
devise a way of getting over. After discuss
ing awhile the outraged rights" of York
county vote was taken which resulted in a
nearly unanimous determination to concentrate
upon some York county man. After which
the Spontaneous outburst of popular feeling"
subsidized. We are informed that many dele
gates from York county favorable to Mr..
Lynch were not notified Of the caucus.
The Convention was called to order by M.
A. Blanchard, Esq. chairman of the District
Committee, who nominated Hon. Nathaniel
Hobbs, of North Berwick, as President of the
Convention.
On motion of Hon. s. e. Spring, of Port
land, the temporary organization was made
permanent.
The District Committee were chosen Com
mittee on Credentials. 1t was voted that a
Committee on Resolutions be selected by the
chair. After these preliminary proceedings
were over, the halfsuppressed symptoms Of i'll
feeling began to break forth.
Mr. Grant, of Lebanon, offered the following
resolution:
Resolced, That the usage in this District has
been to alternate in the Nominations between
the two counties, and that if usage is to obtain
it is right aud polite to make the nominal
ton from York county.
Timothy Dame, Esq, of Eliot, denied that
this resolution expressed the unanimous wish
OF the county, and inquired what the delegates
from Eliot, Lmington, Kennebunkport, Al,
fred and Waldoboro should do if the resolu
ton obtained passage. 1--WE were elected to
vote for Mr.. Lynch" said he, "and came here
for that purpose. IF you pass that resolution,
must we vote against our will or must we re-
turn to our constituents for new instructions?'
Capt. Seth E. Bryant, of Kennebunk, said
he was in favor of the spirit Of the resolution
fbat ha of bo
cans of York county was for York county
man; that there was an implied agree ment to
this effect tw" years ago. All York county
| wanted was fair play. He warned the Conven-
ton that the county would be likely to go
Democratic if the views of her delegates were
disregarded.
Judge Davis, of Portland, moved to amend
the resolution by substituting for it the follow
ing, which he read
Resolved, That each Congressional District
is unit, established upon the basis Of the
whole population, and entitled to one Repre-
sentative, who should represent the whole.
And any attempt to limit the choice of any
p,rticular section of the District would tend to
obstruct the free expression OF the popular
will, to create sectional discord and strife, and
would degrade the office and endapger the
public welfare, by making the mount ent the
instead of the whole constituency.
Resolved, That in selecting candidate to
represent this District in Congress, personal
wishes and interests should not be consulted,
as they have no claim on the constituency, but
the interests OF the District, the State and the
na'lon only should be considered.
The Judge then commented on the resolu-
tions, making, what was agreed by all, to be a
most admirable speech He said the choice
should fall upon the best man without regard
to localities. Mr.. Lynch had represented the
achole District, and had cared for the interests
of York county. II the principle was once
settled that the nomination was to alternate
among localities, every petty town would have
to have its turn. The result would be that
any man who wanted to go to Congress would
only have to get the support of his own locali-
ty and all The rest OF the District would have
to accept him. Mr.. D. thoroughly exploded
the idea Of any inflexble rotation of office, par
ticularly as applied 10 members of Congress.
He cited precedents from Maine and other
States to show that the usage referred to had
| never been considered of any binding force.
There was no way to get the best man bat to
disregard it.
Mr.. Grant, of Lebanon, said YORK county
yielded the nomination to Mr. Lynch two
years ago with the understanding that York
should have the nomination this year, and
threatened consequences if their demands were
| not acqniesced in.
Gen. Neal Dow then took the floor in sup
port Of Judge Davis position. He said it was
not contest between York and Cumberland.
1t was merely a personal scramble No new
man could for long time fill Mr.. Lynch's
place. His experience made him more valua-
BILE than any enc else. He alluded to the high
position Mr.. Lynch had gained and to the re-
spect paid 10 his opinions on financial subjects.
After the transaction of some business the
Convention adjourned till two o'clock in the
afternoon, Mr.. Butler Of Biddeford being EMIT
led to the floor. On assembling in the after
noon it was ascertained that there had been
another caucus of the York county delegates
and that they had resolved to ask for, and il
the request was not granted, to take recess to
consult. MIR. Butler yielded the floor to Mr..
Burbank of Limerick, who said that unless
the harmony of the party were preserved
neither John Lynch nor any other Republican
could be elected. There was no reason for the
nomination of Mr.. Lynch now which would
not be equally good for twenty years to come.
Nine tenths of the people of York county were
against Mr. Lynch, and though they had not
yet agreed on any one candidate, they could do
SO in five minutes. The spirit of the speech
was that the delegates from York meant to
"rule or ruin" Gen. Neal Dow thought many
of the sentiments expressed were not well con-
sidered. They were threat to Republicans,
that unless personal wishes were regarded,
they would be defeated and the threat had been
twice and thrice repeated.
Capt. Bryant, Of Kennebunk, thought men
could be found in York county who would do
as much for the navigation interest as Mr.
Lynch. The question was whether York coun-
ty had any rights which the convention was
bound TO respect. The usage was historical
fact. The gentleman Who had spoken did not
mean to make q threat. If the object was to
preserve the entirety of the party the wishes
of all localities must be consulted
Judge Davis amendment was then substi-
tuted for that of Mr.. Grant
Joshua II. Sanborn, Esq, of Kittery, then
moved for recess of an hour, and amid con-
siderable disturbance said that unless it were
granted the York county delegates would take
it anyway.
General Neal Dow asked how many more
threats they would make, and added some
further remarks
George @. Yeaton, Esq, of South Berwick,
asked if the convention would allow recess