The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-05-21
POLITICAL.
About Dark Horses.

just now while the country Is discussin
the probable nominations of the two Ch
eago Conventions 10 be held in June an
July respectively, and while the merits &
prominent candidates are being activel
- canvassed, it must not be forgotten tina
there are large number Of dark horses
being quietly groomed BY their keepers
ready to be put on the track at favorable
moment. Since the convention method o
= making nominations came in vogue il
1882, il is significant that the dark horss
/ has four times successfully made the race
James X. Polk was the first Of this class oI
= candidates. The four leading candidates
. before the Democratic National Convention
' OF 1874 were Martin Van Buren, Lewis
|. Cass, Richard NJ johnson and James Bu-
: ehanan. The convention met at Baltimore
on the 9th of May. The two-thirds rule
was adopted and the balloting began on
the 2Sth. On the first ballot Van Buren
had majority of the votes, but not enough
to nominate him, he receiving l46 to S3
for Cass, and 40 for other candidates.
Seven ballots were taken during the first
day, in each of which Cass gained on Van
Buren, the seventh standing, Cass l25, Van
Buren 80, johnson SO, Buchanan 6. Up
to this time the name OF Polk had not been
mentioned for the Presidency, though il
was understood that his Tennessee friends
would urge his name for the second place
on the ticket. During the night, at, the
suggestion of John G. Calhoun, an arrange
ment was made between the friends of Mr.. |
| Polk from Tennessee, and the supporters
of Van Buren, that Polk's name should be |
brought out in the morning for the pur-
pose of defeating Cass, who now seemed |
almost certain of the nomination. This /
was done on the first ballot on the 29th of /
May, and Mr.. Polk received "A votes. On
the next, the ninth ballot of the convention,
he was in convention parlance nominated
with rush, receiving 2S2 votes to % for
Cass, > for Van Buren and for Marcus
Morton, Of Massachusetts,. Polk was em-
phatieally adark horse. Governor Letcher,
Of Tennessee, wrote to Buchanan soon after
the convention: "Polki Good, Good, what a
nomination! The party deserves TO be de-
feated for il, as have no doubt it will be-
Yet Polk made the race neck-and-neck
with Henry Clay, and at the finish came in
ahead. Franklin Pierce was the next sue
cessful dark horse. The Democratic Con-
vention met in Baltimore, June /, 1852,
and the two-thirds rule, fatal to the aspi-
rations of so many Democratic statesmen,
was put in operation. Lewis Cass, James
Buchanan, Stephen A. Douglas and Viii
liam L. Marcy were the favorite candidates
On the first ballot Cass received III votes,
Buchanan SO, Douglass 90 Marcy - and
Pierce, of New Hampshire, was
of. As the ballotings progressed
from day to day, it was evident that Gen
eral Cass, while now and then dropping off
in his vote, was steadily gaining. On the
thirty ballot he received 123 votes,
and on this ballot the name of Pierce
was first heard, Virginia giving him
her 10 votes. On the thirty-fifth Gen
aral Cass touched his highest vote,
l3l, Douglass receiving So and Pierce
30. General Cass from this point rapid
" fell off, and on the forty-ninth bal
lot the dark horse came in ahead, distanc- :,
ng all competitors, Pierce receiving 232
votes outof the 23S cast. His highest pre-
1ious vote had been 55. The circumstances =,
the two successes of dark horses u
It Republican National Conventions, the
irst in 1876, when r. B. Hayes defeated :,
Blaine, BristOw, Conkling and Morton, II
md the second in 1880. when the long fo
truggle between the friends OF Grant, OF
Blaine, Sherman and Edmunds was ended m
" the nomination OF James A. Garfield, &C
ire too fresh in the minds of our readers
o need dwelling upon. Abraham Lincoln m
n 1860 was not perhaps a dark horse, aAd l
ct his nomination was hardly looked for IN
" the Chicago Convention of that year. bI
n the latter part of 1859, a volume by ID. n
N. Bartlett, well-known political writer IL
( that period, and the Washington cores 10
,Oudent of the Traveller, entitled "Presi- h;
ential Candidates, containing sketches, y,
personal and political, of -
rominent candidates for the Presidency T
n lS60," was published by New York ~ -
house. 1t contained sketches u
t William II. Seward, of New York; ~
tephen A.. Douglas, of Illinois, Salmon p. II
'hase, of Ohio; Edward Bates, of Missouri; al
)aniel B. Dickinson, of New York; John W
Iell, of Tennessee: John p. Hale, of New bi
Alexander H. Stephens and
lowell Cobb, of Georgia; Nathaniel p 81
'anks, of Massachusetts; Joseph Lane, of Iii
)regOn; John Mclean, Of Ohio; Henry A. tr
Wise. John Minor Bolts and Robert NJ. T. th
Iunter, of Virginia; Henry Wilson, of es
Jefferson Davis, of Missis- OF
ippi; James L. Orr and james III. Ham L,
lond, of South Carolina; John G. Breckin- te
idge, of Kentucky, and John c. Fremont. 90
his list of names was distinguished one. i;
'wo subjects of the sketches-Douglas and La
Presidential nominations. -
oseph Lane, of Oregon, was nominated for &c &c
ne ce-Presidency. Seward, Chase, Bates 10
nd Mclean were prominent candidates Ia =.
efore the Republican Convention at Chica- ~ n
0. Hunter and Dickinson were also lead I'll
lg competitors for the Democratic nomi.
alton, and John Miner Bolts was one of TIL
ne competitors of John Bell for the Con
itutional Union" nomination-but the bl
anne of Abraham Lincoln, who on the bl
lird ballot was nominated at Chicago, ev
nd who in November was elected Presi- Of
ent, was not considered in 1859 by Mr.. ha
artlett of sufficient importance for a rl,
lace in his book. He hit upon all the ed
ther prominent candidates before each m,
the various conventions except the one ~
no was, both at the convention and at the nj
oils, successful. Lincoln may certainly AZ
most be classed among the successful or ns
residential dark-horses. az az