The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1884-04-17


ie hero out Of The war failed. The
line officers appointed from civil life
behaFed calamity. The volunteers
under their command we're exception
ally excellent - almpet coui1etent
themselves 10 the eOnauct- N eal1
uairnl The political genersls wno
fadlted from law Ofiee5 lnfO the Co.'S
mand Of brigades and -divssOns were
furnished BY the War rspaTiment
With stan officers carefully chosen
from the best educated and most
skillfnl Of the regular army. All
would not sufdce. however, 20 dis
place Taylor and Scott from the post
Of chief heroes. "Old Rough and
Ready - a. Taylor 9as called by his
troops, becanie q popular favoFlte 81
irresistible strength, and In the Whig
Convention Of 1913 was chosen over
Mr.. Clay a. the standard.bearer Of
the party. He was placed before the
people on his record as a soldier, un-
hampered by thepOlltical declarations
which make up the modern platform.
MF. Clay had expected the nOmina-
tion, and Generaf Scott had offered to
run on the same ticket as Viee-Presi-
dent bat against the constantly Tis-
ing tide Of Tayl0r's popularity both
ordinary and extraordinary political
combinations EGve-Way. Even the
KentuekY delegzfloTE 1iTided-in &C.
cordancs with Mr.. -Cnittenden's jud0-
msnt, though not By his- advice. To
the over Whelming chhRfin- and NOR
tifieaiiOn Of Mr.. CIay, a. man m
known in political circles Wa pre-
feFred as the candidate Of the party of
which he felt himself to have been
the creator. Mr.. Clay was enraRed
by the result, and never became rec
Onciled to It. Though be gave in the
end q quiet vote for TAYLOR. he stub
bornly refused during the campaign
70 open his lips OF write q word in n
vOr OF his election. MF. Webster.
though without the keen personal dis
appointment Of Mr.. Clay, was equal
~ discontented with the nomination.
he had spoken In . seini-public way
for several minutes previous to the
convention Of the folly OF nomina-
ting swearing, sWaggering, front.
Ter Colonel" for the Presidency-sn
illusion 70 General Taylor, which was
scandalously unjust, and which was
contradlcted by his whole life When
Taylor was finally nominated, Mr..
Webster resented the selection IS an
lndignity TO the statesmen Of the
Whig party. His only ray Of comfort
was the defeat Of Abbott Lawrence
for the Vice presidency by Millard
Fillmore. Mr.. Lawrence was a man
Of wealth, the most prominent man.
ufaeturer at that time in the country,
Of high personal character, and Of
wide political influence. He was the
leading Taylor Whig In New Eng
land and his course had given offense
70 Mr.. Webster, TO such an extent in
deed that on q public occasion, after
the Presidential election, he referred
to Mr.. Lawrence In an unfriendly
and discourteOus manner.
The situation became still further
complicated. The Wings believed
they had avoided the responsibility Of
positive declaration on either side Of
the Issue embodied In the Wilmot
Proviso, by selecting a military hero
as their candidate. In the phrase Of
the day, he could make ''Star and |
Stripe" canvass, with fair chances Of
success on both sides OF Mason and |
DiXOn's line. There was a loss 10 be |
incurred by either course. The
Wing managers saw plainly that an |
anti-slavery policy would give almost |
the entire North TO the Democrats,
and q pro-slavery policy wOule rend
the Wing party throughout the |
North. They wisely concluded, n |
the canvass were merely a game to |
win votes, that the nOn-cOmmitial |
plan was a safe one. But this eyaslye /
course was not wholly successful.
There was q considerable body Of /
men In New England, and especially !
in Massachusetts,, known as Con |
science Whigs,' who had deep con-
victiOns on the subject Of slavery, aud |
refused to support Gen. Taylor. Con |
apieuOus among these were Henry |
Wilson, r. lockwood Hoar. and |
Charles Francis Adams. A detection |
Of the same kind among the Whigs |
Of New York was prevented by the !
active influence Of Mr.. Seward, but II |
developed rapidly in the northern
section Of Ohio. Throughout the
country the Wings began 10 fear that
q mistake had been made, and that /
the old leaders had been thrown over.
board without due thought of conse-
quences. Mr.. Ciay's private. CORES
pOndenee exhibited unmistakable |
at this aspect Of affairs.
for he felt assured that the influential |
Wings who were now organized |
against Taylor would have supported |
him as cordially as they had done in
1874.