The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1892-03-03
A "Reminiscences.

says:
81 was member of the Charleston Conven-
ton and the Baltimore Convention of 1861, and
know that the unit vote Of New York was
largely instrumental in producing the disrup-
ton of tie former, the nomination of Douglas
and Breckenridge, the defeat of the Democratic
party, the war between the States, and the rev
olution by which the Republican party accom-
plshed the overthrow CT the Constitution"
The writer of these lines was also
''Tenth Legion District of Virginia. He
knoaDs that it was not so much the unit
rule of New York, DIS the two-thirds rule
of the Convention that brought about
the results mentioned. While the two
thirds rule had been the common law Of
the Democratic party since 1645, it was
applied uniformly up to 1860, in confirm
ing the meioritY rule. In 1855, MIR.
Buchanan received a majority of the
votes in the Cincinnati Convention, and
by reas )n of that fact, the nomination
was given him ny twothirds vote
That had been the practice of previous
Conventions, and it was not broken I'M
til the Charleston Convention gave
Douglas majority of it's votes. Pre-
cedents justified his friends in claiming
his nomination by a two-thirds rule, but
the claim was denied and flibuster-
ing was inaugurated either to defeat his
nomin stion, by the literal enforcement
of the two-thirds rule, or the disrup-
L. n 1.,tt .,
was the result, and Gen. johnson was
one of the extreme men who assisted in
bringing it about. 1t was not, therefore,
the unit rule of the New York delega-
law of the party, in refusing Douglas
two>thrds vote after he had received a
maj ority vote of the Convention.
The unit rule had been the common
law of the Democracy of Virginia, in Ma
tional Conventions, until it was broken
in the Charleston Convention. This was
done by the delegates from the "Tenth
Legion District DIR. S. H. Moffett and
this writer. After voting for Hunter,
until his support became simply factious
|
resent the sentiment of their constitu-
ents, and cast the vote of the District for
Douglas. This precipitated the disrup-
| tion of the Convention, for it resulted in
| giving Douglas the majority of the votes
east, and forced the secession wing of
| the party to show their hand-which
was either to nominal Southern man
or break up the Convention. Several
| delegations withdrew from the Conven-
ton. Then it was that a telegram was
received from Hon. Roger A. Pryor, then
a member of Congress from the Peters
burg district, now Judge in New York,
addressed to this writer, suggesting that
! the Virginia delegation move in the
| Convention the next morning to adjourn
over to Baltimore The delegation adop-
ted the suggestion. The resolution to
adjourn over was offered and passed,
and the Convention adjourned to meet
| in Baltimore. In that adjourned Con-
/ vention the same rule or ruin element
| appeared determined in their course
/ They had won over Caleb Cushing, the
|
and with him at their head, after failure
to agree upon q compromise, seeceded,
and nominated Breckenridge and Lane.
| The friends of Douglas remained in the
| Convention, elected Mr.. Cox, Of Ohio,
Chairman, and proceeded to give ems
phasis to the majority rule at Charles
ton by confirming the nomination of
/ Douglas. Herschell V. johnson, of Geor
gia, was placed on the ticket with him.
Gen. johnson, although a young man
this political tragedy. He worked shout
der to shoulder with Yancey, of Alabama
Jackson, OF Georgia, Harvie, of Virgin
! ia, and Ben Builder, of Massachusetts,, to
defeat Douglas who, by precedent, was
entitled to the two-thirds vote, after re-
ceiving majority, and to bring on the
calamities which followed.
| 1t was not therefore, the unit rule of
the New York delegation which disrupt
ed the Charleston Convention, but the
refusal to recognize the common law
of the party in giving Douglas the nomi-
nation by two-thirds vote after he had
received a majority. Had Douglas re-
ceived the nomination at Charleston,
and the party acted in good faith at the
polls, he would have been elected the
war averted, at least for the time, and
the South. through Il friendly President
from the North, and Democratic Con-
gress, gotten all she in reason could have
asked. The opponents of Douglas acted
upon mere theory, at best, impractical
of enforcement-the right to take slaves
TO Kansas, where no slave owner wanted
to take them. The civilized world was
hostile to the institution of slavery, and
to recognize its demands was to defy not
only the dominant sentiment in this
country, but in all the great govern
ments of the earth 1t was a contention
for a mere abstraction relating to great
social and political issue, that broke up
TIE Charleston Convention, nominated
Douglas and Breckenridge as contesting
democratic candidates, defeated the De-
mocfacy, brought on the war, humili-
ated and devastated the South, and re-
constructed the political, industrial and
social systems of the Nation.
The lnside history of the Charleston
Convention has never been written.-
There was a we'll lnatured conspiracy
then for the extreme secessionists either
to rule the Democratic party and the
government, or to disrupt the govern
ment. The Scarlet Letter" of W. L.
Yancey, written in 1856, we think, was the
inspiration of the scheme. The six cotton
States were to be the first to secede and
form Confedoracy. The border slave
States, including Virginia, Tennessee,
Kentucky, Missouri and Maryland, were
to stand as a defense to the Confederacy,
and by degrees to secede, and join the
new government. A war of subjugation
was not contemplated. New York dele
gates pledged that an army of invasion
would be met by a phalanx of Southern
T. l,,P u IapL M