The Portland daily press., 1888-08-14
Wages Level
What will be the effect if turnedq
the DEMOCRATIC SIDE.
What HamlIn, cilley, Clifford and the
MorriIIs did to Stem the Tlppeca-
noe Tide.



In what has recently been said of the mem
orable political contest of 1910 very little has
been told of what was said and done by the
Democrats. The Wings were the yictors.
and naturally the survivors of those who
followed the victorious army take more pride
In the story of the canvass than do those
who marched with the defeated army. We
hear OF the Harrison log cabins, Harrison
newspapers, Harrison songs, Harrison Alma
macs and Harrison banners; and recently
many mement0es of the campaign, preserved
by the rejoicing and exultant Wings, OF held
as heirlooms, have been exhibited to an ad-
mlrlng public. The Democrats had less to
De proud OF, and 1t Is not strange, since Van
buren, afterwards turned against his party,
that there are brought out no such memen
toes OF their part in the contest, though il is
probable that some Of them are still in exist
ence. Although the Wings had a large ma
Jority In the electoral college, there was
never a time until the returns began to come
IN that the Democrats were not hoping for a
victory. They had had full control of the
government, except for a brief period, for
nearly a third OF a century. They had
learned the power of patronage, and how to
use it. They bad the prestige Of successive
victories, and they were in possession of the
government. They had standard bearer
VINO was cunning, INSCRIPTIONS, and full of
devices, and he had reached the presidency
by successive steps that made his followers
look upon his as "a man of destiny" The
man having the second place on the ticket
was brave soldier, enjoying the credit of
having personally slain the greatest indian
warrior that the white men of this country
nave Known, and having many elements of
popularity. while the story that his wife-if
she were his wife-was negro and slave
was at that time no bar to his political adj
vancement. 1t was an era of political giants.
and the Democratic party had its full share
OF them; Even in Massachusetts, where it
was SAID that the party was kept conyen-
iently small" SO that the aspirants for honors
and patronage could be better served, the list
comprised such men as David Henshaw.
Robert Rantoul, Isaac Davis, Charles Thomp-
son. son Samuel B. Phinney, Marcus Morton,
thur W. Austin, Caleb Stetson and B. f.
Hailet. A few Of the leaders in other States
were Levi Woodbury. Isaac Hill, Franklin
Pierce, John 2. Hale, Charles g. Anterior
and Henry Hubbard in New Hampshire !;
Clifford and the Morrills of Maine; William
u. Marcy, Silas Wright, Thomas II. Benton,
John Q. Calhoun, Robert j. Walker, John
a. Dix, James K. Polk, James Buchanan,
Simon Cameron. Lewis Cass, and younger
men not so well known then. but prominent
leaders only a few years later. They
met argument with argument, ridicule with
ridicule, and Wing songs with Democratic
songs. They drank, and sang and shouted.
as did the Wings. Their song books were
carried into every township, and earnest
Democrats sang as loudly and as enthusiasts
ideally as did their opponents. One of these,
apar0dy OF one popular with the Wings, is
given from memory as follows:
Did you ever hear of the farmer
VINO lived out in the West?
OF all the men for President
The Wings call him the rest
They would put him in the capitol
Because they can't get Clay
so Lney sing Harrison song by night
They are ashamed TO sing by day.
When gathered In council
Among the wise and great,
He always sought to serve himself
And sometimes served the State
A statesman he Of yigor yet,
HIS guards and keepers say
And they sing Harrison song by night
They had their campaign newspapers one
Of which. called the Magician 1.-The Little
Magician" being pet name of Martin Van
Buren-which had many Of the characters
ties Of Greeley's sLog Cabin" They desig-
mated the Wing candidate as Granny Har-
rison," they attacked his war record, and
even went so far as to charge him with cow
ardice: Pretending that some of the women
OIL Indiana had once In derision given him
petticoat, he was nicknamed "The Petticoat
Candidate, and Wing professions often had
tnese articles Oh feminine apparel insulting
~ suspended near their line Of parch as they
passed BY the haunts of the people whom
they designated as LOcofocos And the vic
tory, great as 1t was, proved almost barren
one. The President was worried to death
by seekers of office, the Vice President, who
had been nominated as matter of policy
rather than because of character and princf-
pies, became traitor, and Congress, held by
slight tenure, soon passed into the control
OF the Democrats, who were really stronger
after their defeat than the Wings found
themselves when they began to gather the
fruits of victory. 1t was battle where en-
th9slasm triumphed over discipline, but the
moralized, and in the next Campaign il
gained victory, even though the Whig par
~ fought under the most popular leader of
bis generation, and for principles dear to the
American people. ''io