The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-08-08
The Days Of '48 and the Days of '84.
now ZACH. TAYLOR WAS OFFICIALLY IN
FORMED OF Ills NOMINATION AND
now HE RESPONDED.

hOW HE htsfONDED
Nowadays train of cars il barely
sufficient to accommodate those who
travel hundreds of miles charged with
the important duty of informing a eau
didate that he has been nominated for
the Presidency. Long speeches are
made, and the notification costs many
thousands of dollars. But this is not
all. The candidate must write a letter
Of acceptance, giving his views on
pretty much every subject he can think
of. These journeys, parades, speech
makings, and long letters are of com
paratively recent origin.
The Convention that nominated Gen.
Taylor met in Philadelphia June I,
1S4S. The Chairman was the Hon.
John Morehead of North Carolina. On
the 10th of that month Governor More
head addressed Gen. Taylor letter of.
ficially notifying him of his nomination.
The distraction into which the Whig
party was thrown by Gen. Taylors
nomination was not made less in the
ensuing thirty-five days by the silence
of Gen. Taylor. Gov. Morehead in
reply to inquiries by leading Wings
notably Mr.. Weed--said he had posi-.
lively written The General, and he knew
of no reason why the reply was not
forthcoming. Gen Taylor was such a
crotcbety old fellow, and Wing lead
ers in general knew so little of him
personally, that it was not thought
best to stir him up on the subject. Let
ters from the old soldiers were appear.
ing in different quarters, some of them
not altogether satisfactory to Whig
leaders, but not word came from him
about the nomination. 1t began to
look like an indignity Mr.. Weed, to
whom more than any other man Gen.
Taylor owed his nomi nation, was des-
perate under the suspense. Meetings
were proposed, and one was actually
celled in Albany, looking to the repu.
diation of the nomination. When it
met, however, other counsels prevail
ed, though the suspense continued.
On July 22 the Postmaster at Baton
Rouge, where Gen. Taylor lived, ad-
dressed the Post master General let
ter, saying that with the report for the
current quarter from that Office two
bundles of letters were forwarded for
the Dead Letter Office, they having
been declined on account of the non
payment of the postage by the senders
1t was in the ten.cent and non-pay
ment time. OF the forty-eight letters
thus forwarded to the Dead Letter OF
fee, the Baton Rouge Postmaster said
a majority were addressed to Gen. Tay
lor, who had declined to pay the. pos
tage on them and take them ont of the
Office because his mail expenses had be
come burdensome. The General ha(
since become aware that some of th'
letters were of Importance and asked
for their return. In duecourse tn
letters were sent back to Baton Rouge
Among them was Gov. Morehead's let
ter notifying Gen. Taylor of the actiol
of the Philadelphia Convention.
Gen. Taylor's response was date,
July Is, month and five days afte
the letter of notification was written
~ hdu iaiii III bhc DdIOu iNOukc OS
Office four weeks, after Gen. Taylo
refused to pay the ten cents postage.
Gen. Taylors acceptance was couch
ed in respectful terms, in letter no
exceeding 250 words. He expresse,
his thanks for the nomination, said h
did not seek it, and that if he wer
,, elected President, for which position
he did not think he possessed the r.
, quisite qualifications, he would do hi
, best. He discussed nothing, laid dow
no principles, and gave no indication
what course he would pursue. In thi
the General cut it too short to satisf
! the Wings. He had to write anothe
letter-one of considerable length-t
his friend, Capt. Allison, in which h
; set things right. The authorship q
this letter was the subject of no lit
conjecture. If living, Thurlow Wee
and Alexander II. Stevens could she
light on the subject.
After that the campaign went ahea
smoothly and successfully. Althoug
; Mr., Weed makes no mention OF tn
matter in his book, it was one of III
most annoying episodes in his eventf'
life.