The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-06-20
State Democratic Convention.
FIRST Days PROCEEDINGS.

The State Democratic Convention met in the
city of Columbia on Tuesday evening, June
.1lth, and was called to order by Capt. w. D.
Stanley, member of the State Executive
Committee, who proposed Col: Simeon Fair, of
Newberry, as the temporary chairman, and
Mr.. John F. Britton, Of Charleston, as the
temporary secretary. Mr.. Britton declined the
nomination for secretary, and suggested Mr.. E.
R. White, of Charleston, who was unanimously
electedto that position.
Col. Fair, on being escorted to the platform,
returned his thanks for the compliment con-
ferred upon him, and said that the occasion
was somewhat peculiar, but full of promise for
the State, and there was reason to congratulate
the Convention upon the auspicious circum-
stances under which it had assembled, in this
day of general amnesty, and under the restored
protection of the great writ of habeds corpus.
He then announced that the Convention was
ready for business.
When the roll of counties was called, dele
gates from nineteen counties responded, as fol-
lows: From Abbeville, Charleston, Chester,
Chesterfield Darlington, Fairfield, Greenville,
/ Horny, Kershaw, Lancaster, Lexington, New
berry. orangeburg, Pickens, Richland, Sumter,
Union, Williamsburg and York.
Gen. NJ. C. Butler then moved that COM
| mittee of nine be appointed to nominate per-
| lnanens officers of the Convention, but the
motion met with considerable opposition, chief
ly from the Charleston delegation, whose MEM
bers alleged that the motion of Gen. Butler
indicated that the whole affair was "cut and
dried" and they were not going to submit
quietly to any such arrangement. After con-
siderable debate, the whole subject was laid
upon the table, upon motion of NJ. 2. OCon-
nor, ESQ.,, of Charleston, who thereupon nona-
mated Hon. w. d. Porter as the permanent
chairman. of the Convention, which was carried
by acclamation and unanimously. This turned
the tables, and Gen. Butler intimated that
things looked very much as if they had been
"cut and dried" by the delegates from Charles
ton, which, he begged leave to add, had been
often done before.
Messrs. O'Connor, Butler and Kershaw were
appointed to conduct Mr. Porter to the plat
form, where,. upon taking the chair, he was
greeted with applause. Mr.. Porter returned
his cordial thanks to the Convention, and made
an appropriate, temperate and digni6ed speech,
strongly in favor of endorsing the Cincinnati
platform and nominees, and urging that dele
gates be sent to Baltimore for the purpose Of
preventing straight-out nomination. He
commended these subjects to- the serious,
thoughtful consideration of the delegates, and
he had no doubt that their action would re-
dound to the credit, and promote the highest
interests of the people they represented If
they could combine together the Democrats
and Liberal Republicans in one solid phalanx,
and march forward with locked shields, they
could carry aloft those two standard-bearers
who might be ftly termed their political apos-
ties of deliverance, Horace Greeley and B.
Gratz Brown. With them there was an assu-
rance of victory, bringing its blessed fruit of
lasting peace, public order and general pros.
perity.
The Convention was then declared open for
business, and Mr.. e r. White was chosen per-
manent secretary.
Resolutions were then submitted by NJ. P.
O'Connor, ESQ.,, Gen. E. NJ. Law, Mr.. John F.
Britton and Edward F. Stokes, Esq, all of
which were referred without debate to commit
tee on the platform, consisting of one delegate
from each county represented. The resolutions
of Nh. Stokes, as our readers might conjecture,
favored a simon-pure Democratic platform and
nominees by the Baltimore Convention, and
ignored the Liberal Republican movement.
The chairman then announced the commit
tee on resolutions, and the Convention ad-
.journe&-