The Portland daily press., 1873-08-13
THE DEMOCRATIC STATE CON
vENTION



sembled in City Hail. They claimed to he dis.
ciples of Thomas Jefferson, but the shade Of
the great Republican would hardly have recog
nized them as his own. Among them were
men who were nurtured in the principles Of
Hamiltonian Federalism, and who came ovel
to the Democracy in the political cataclysm
of 1863. Others there were of no determinate
shade of belief, who from year to year, as theil
political aspirations were defeated, came to the
Democratic party as a house of refuge. The
members of the convention were as rule, in
decorously cheerful, considering the sad and
galvanizing occasion upon which they were as
sembled. There were among them few grey
haired, blue-coated, brass-buttoned believers in
the resolutions of 49, who stood ready, as in
years past, to build platform from the rotten
planks of ancient failures. The remainder of
the delegates were anxious to be spared the
trouble of thinking, and were ready to agree
to anything that had the ring of the old coun
terfeit coin.
During the hour before the assembling of the
convention the name of Andrew jackson was
frequently mentioned, aud at one time it was
thought that he would be nominated as candi-
date for Governor But the sober second
thought of the convention settled upon Charles
P. Kimball as more available man.
The convention was called to order at sharp
IL a. m by Mr.. S. d. Leavitt, Chairman of the
State Committee. Gen. +. s. NIckerson of
Searsport was called to preside. Gen. Nicker-
son had no speech to make and no advice to
give,-whch appeared to be a great relief to
the convention.
G. o. Gosse of Portland. w. H. Simpson of
Belfast and Marcus Watson of Biddeford were
chosen Secretaries
After the preliminaries, j. S. Rawson of Ban
gor moved a half hours recess. Everyone
looked surprised, and the gentlemen on the
platform held hurried consultation, which re-
suited in the withdrawal of Mr.. Rawson's mo-
ton The committee on credentials reported
55S delegates present, whereat the convention
smiled incredulously, and several young men,
new to the proprieties, snickered.
Mr.. Rawson then renewed his motion for q
recess, and it was carried.
The various county delegations then with
drew into little hooks and crannies in the hall,
and proceeded to select vice presidents and
committee men. They made noise enough for
four hundred men. The question of nominal
ton or no nomination was brought up in these
county caucuses, and several delegations fear
lessly resolved to fight to the death if the ques-
ton was brought before the convention.
The convention then came together once
more and excused Mr.. Simpson from acting as
Secretary. In putting the vote, the chairman
said that it was mistake; Mr.. Simpson should
be nominated for Governor. At this, Mr..
Simpson hastily arose and tartly remarked that
he didn't thank the chairman for the suggestion.
The chairman looked abashed.
This little untowarduess threw a chill over the
small assembly, and I. ii. Hubbard, ESQ.,, the
courtier of the Third House was called upon to
infuse little life into the dying embers. Mr..
Hubbard grandiloquentiated for full five min
utes, condemnine, after the good old Democratic
style, grievance that had no existence. Wis
ions of death had been dancing before the eyes
of the convention all the morning, and liz the
delirium which frequently precedes dissolution
they saw the flag on City Building at half.
mast. The omen affrighted them. After the
delivery of his little speech, Mr.. Hubbard
subsidized
At this moment, Mrs. Jane P. Thurston, pro
prietress of the State of Maine, entered the hall
to look after her erring tenants The sight was
appalling. In its terror, the convention instant
ly made the temporary organization permanent,
for they felt safe with gallant general at their
head. Mrs Thurston handed notice to quit
to the chairman, but was pacified by promise
to pay the hall rent
The convention then adjourned to afternoon
The committee on resolutions were F. o. j.
Smith, Cumberland; Oliver Otis, Androsceggin;
l.. b. Brown, Franklin; Alonzo Higgins, Han
cock j. E. Moore, Knox; Arnold Blaney, Lin
coin; Daniel Stanley, Kennebec; S. G. Andrews,
Oxford; Marcellus Emery, Penobscot; D. w.
Body, Sagadahoc; A. Moore, Somerset; Geo.
M. Drisco, Washington; L. FL. Murch, Waldo;
T. H. Hubburd, York; j. H. Hathaway, Aris-
took.
The State Committee for the ensuing year
are. A. w. Bradbury, Cumberland; j. w. Muir
ray, Andrescoggin; G. w. Clark, Franklin
Monroe Yonng, Hancock; J. Fl. Martin, Knox
r. I. Rundlett, Lincoln E. F. Pilsbury, Ken
ne &c; A. S. Kmball, Oxford; w. w. Veazie,
Penobscot; F. B. Tory, Sagadahoc; VIM. d.
Hayden. Somerset; S. D. Leavitt, Washing
ton; c. c. Murch, Waldo; John Bennett, York
J. c. Manigan, Aristook; Henry Hudson, Pts
cat aquis. -.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The convention was called to order, aud the
chairman announced that the Committee or
Resolutions were about ready to report. Mean
while, there was an opportunity for suggestions
in regard to nomination for Governor.
Upon invitation of the chairman, severa
elderly gentlemen of various degrees of grey
ness, took their seats upon the platform as vice.
presidents.
Mr.. Rawson, of Bangor, was called upon to
make speech, but failed to respond. MIR.
Chase, of Newport moved committee to re-
ceive sort and count votes for candidate for
Governor. Mr.. Jonathan Smith. of DeeriDg,
thought it best to wait until the Committee on
Resolutions made their report. The motion
was qualified in accordance with his suggestion.
The committee was then raised
Mr.. Carl of Watham moved that the convcn-
ton proceed to ballot else it would be dusk
before the proceedings came to an end.
So the convention proceeded to ballot.
While the ballotiDg was going on, Mr.. F. o
J. Smith of Deering appeared upon the plat.
form and said:
The committee on resolutions regard this con.
vention as one of the most important ever held
in the State of Maine The question of nom.
ination or a denomination is vital one and
the committee wish the convention to suspend a
nomination until the resolutions are read. We
must wait and see if the nominee can subscribe
to the creed. Many empty expressions in regard
to corruption were then given utterance to.
The speaker said that the major amount OF
money controlled the American people.
Mr.. Rawson was anxious to know how long
the convention must wait.
Mr.. Smith thought that it would require at
least fifteen minutes to decide npon the gr-r-eat
principles which were to find a response in the
American heart.
The voting continued.
Mr. O'Brien of Thomaston moved that the
ballots be declared null and void, and that the
tickets be empted from the hats upon the
platform.
Mr.. Rawson objected to this dramatic and
paper-wasting proceeding. He moved that the
report of the committee be withheld until the
resolutions were presented The amendment
was agreed to.
Mr.. V. D. Pinkham of Augusta wished to
know if the committee designed to withhold