The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1892-08-03
THIRD PARTY TICKETS
""o'es that Have Floated For a Wb;,a
on the Political Sea.

'Aas aave FIoated For While
on the Political Sea-
from the San Francisco Argonaut.l
:, inifd parties are the tramp ships on 8
we ocean of politics. Many become
oefeilcts, and most of them sink to the
pfo1ound depths of that ocean deeper
.nan ever plummet sounded. The first +
IN the United States to hold convention z
ana nominate presidential candidates .
was the Anti-Masonic party Of 1882
with William Writ for president. The
organization had barely one object-the
ostfacism Of Masonry-and it carried
tneeiectoral vote of zone State, Vermont.
out Of the twenty-four States which
comprised the Union. That one cam
paign was its beginning and its end, &
and it passed into history.
Since that time, of third parties,
there have come and disappeared the
abolition party, the free-soil party, the
American party and the greepbaek
party. The American party was the
only one of them that had votes in
every State, and it carried the electoral
vote OF one State. The abolition party
caused the defeat of.Henry Clay for
president by running the Birney ticket
in New York, which drew away from
Clay over $1,000 whig votes; and gave
the ELECTORAL vote of the State to Polk.
To rebuke Henry Clay on account of
his slavery sentiments, they in effect
elected Polk and put in power the De-
mocratic party devoted to slavery.
The free-soil party was founded and
organized by Democrats who had be-
come dissatisfied with the party. In
184S the movement was made to defeat
Gen. Cass for president by carrying,
New York against him. 1t was G5S
expected to prevail in any other State.
With the Democratic vote divided be-
tween Cass and van Buren,, the cleo
toral vote of New York was cast for the.
whig nominee, Gen Taylor, and made.
his election sure.
The free-soil party wrought the de-
feat of Gen. Cass and the Democratic
party in 1S4s, just as the abolition
party had effected the defeat in 1SM of
Henry Clay anu the Wing party In
each instance it was the work of men
who had become disaGected with the
party in which they had before held
fellowship. In 1s4+ it was resolate
rebuke, in 1913 it was partisan rer
venge.
Neither the abolitionists nor the free
soilers obtained the electoral vote Of a
single State, whereas the anti-Masons
and the Americans each carried the
electoral vote efa State-anti-M -Masons,
of Vermont; the Americans, of Mary
land.
In 1880 the greenback party and the
prohibition party entered the field with
presidential candidates. Neither of
them carried an electoral vote Of the
tnirty-eight States. Their candidates
for president, Weaver, Of Iowa, and
Dow, Ct Maine, were both, former Re-
publicans-the one disafected, the
other crank on his chief hobby.
Again, in 1884, the two organizations
put up candidates for the presidency
Butler, greenbaeker; st. John, Prohias,
bitionist. <
Tie prohibitionists had19gzin, in
1888, a presidential tiek In the field,
and this year General Bidwell, Of
Chico, is theircandidate for president.
He is a pioneer of Californian hon.
est, upright, conscientious man. He
was formerly Democrat; has since
been a Republican member of Congress
and an independent candidate for gov
ernor. He is farmer of great wealth,
and is too sensible to imagine that he
will be elected president. His candidacy
is to attest his devotion to the cold
water cause. The union labor party is
in the ist of organizations Of the period
which can never expect direct results.
The farmers, alliance, or peoples
party, is the most recent Of the third
party organizations. It started with
local, widely segregated, phenomenal
sweeps. It elected nine members of
Congress in 1S90-five from Kansas,
two from Nebraska, and one each from
Minnesota and Georgia. It displaced
ingalls,, United States Senator from
Kansas and chose Pefer in his place,
and Kyle Senator from South Dakota.
It caused the defeat of Senator Wade
Hampton in South Carolina, and
raised the much inferior Irby to the
exalted station. It made Tillman gov
ernor of South Carolina, and, with the
prohibitionists, Bsies governor of Iowa.
On this coast, in Oregon, it has elected
several members to the legislature, but
it did not succeed in the election ofanys
State officer.
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