Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1892-06-15
THE NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONVENTION.
The Nominees, Benjamin Harrison for
President, and WhitelaW Reid
for Vice President.

The National Republican Conven-
ton met in Minneapolis, Mimi, on
Tuesday. June 9th. On Tuesday, j.
Sloat Fassett of N. Y, n Blaine man,
was chosen Temporary Chairman. In
his speech he favored the adoption by
Congress of the Federal election law,
known as the Force Bill, and was en-
Enthusiastically cheered Reed of Maine
was called for and he also favored the
Force bill. The committees on per-
manent organization. resolutions, ere
| dentials, rules, &c., were appDinte /, aud
the Convention adjourned till Wc,lnes-
day William Mckinley, of Ohio, was
chosen permanent chairman of the
+ Convention. In his speech, he also
| favored the Force Bill, and, like Fassett
and Reed, was wildly cheered, and, of
course, lauded the policy of high tar
| if. In is evident that the two great
issues of the Force Bill and high tariff
will in the ensuing campaign dwarf
every other, and they should have the
effect of unifying the vote of the South
and preventing any one from the GRIM
inal folly of supporting any other than
the nominees of the Democratic party.
The work of the Credentials Com
mittee was the magnus opus. There
being many contestants among the
| Southern delegates, it furnished an
opportunity for the skillful and unscru-
there were many actively engaged, to
get in their work. and they worked
like beavers day and night. The
Blaine men, seeing they were in the
minority, fought for delay, in the hope
that, by hook or by crook, they would
be able to win enough of the Harrison
delegates to get a majority for Blaine.
The scenes, as reported by the papers,
were such as to beggar description,
and such as were shameful beyond pre-
cedent. Each faction suspected the
other of bribery, and each had a num-
Der of detectives employed to watch
the other.
The struggle, attended by great ex-
element and ill-feeling, was continued
till Friday evening. The Harrison
delegates from the South, composed in
great part of office-h holders and colored
men, were kept from DESERVING; the
former because of their bread and but
| f1,a To- L
that Harrison was a warm advocate of
the Force Bill and Blaine was not.
Blaine lost his chance to be nomin-
ated by the letter he wrote to Clarkson
in February in which he said his name
would not be presented to the Conven-
ton for many Blaine men, then con-
sidering him out of the race altogether,
pledged themselves to Harrison, and
were elected as delegates instructed to
vote for Harrison This is sufficient
to account for his defeat; but what
added to it's certainty was his resigna-
ton from the Cabinet at the time he
did, which was understood to mean
that he was candidate notwithstand-
ing his letter to Clarkson, and that he
had acted in bad faith to Harrison.
/ Finding that it was futile to contin-
ue the struggle longer, the Blaine men
agreed on Friday to make no further
opposition to the adoption of majority
report of the Committee on Creden-
tials, when the report was promptly
adopted.
Nominations being then in order,
Richard Thompson, of Indiana, placed
Harrison in nomination, and the sec
onding speeches We're made by Chaun-
cey Depew, Senator Spooner and
others. Blaine was nominated by Sen
ator Wolcott, and the nomination was
seconded by W. H. Eustis, Warner Mil
Ter, and others. One ballot decided it.
The opposition divided. Half of the
so-called Blaine men went to McKin-
ley. The ballot resulted: Harrison
5354 votes, Blaine 1872 1-6, Mckinley 1872,
Reed 4, Lincoln 1. Upon motion of
Gov. Mckinley, the vote was made
unanimous.
Necessary for choice 453. One. dele
gate from Kentucky was absent.
The delegates from Virginia voted as
follows: Harrison 9; Blaine 10; McKin-
ley 2. Mckinley was not put in nomin-
alton. He was voted for by the Blaine
men to prevent the Ohio delegates
from voting for Harrison.
| The Convention, after a scene of
great enthusiasm, took a recess until
evening, when Whitelaw Reid was
placed in nomination for Vice-Presi-
dent by delegate O'Conner, of New
York. General Horace Porter made
the seconding speech, and Mr.. Reid
was chosen by reclamation for the sec
ond place on the ticket. The Conven-
ton then adjourned sine die.
There is quite difference of opinion
as to the strength of the ticket nomin-
ated. Some think it the weakest that
could have been made and some the
strongest. We do not consider it either
the weakest or the strongest. 1t
pleases us very well, for we think it
can be defeated if the Democrats act
wisely at Chicago next week.
The Republican platform adopted at
Minneapolis is too long for the space
we have at command. 1t is very
| wide net, with various kinds of bait,
to catch birds of every feather. Its
general character may be understood
from the following notices of it. The
Alex. Gazette says
''That the republican party sees and
appreciates its impending danger is
made apparent by the fact that in its
Minneapolis platform it clutches after
the votes of all manner of men; of the
manufacturers, by endorsing the Nc
Kinley bill ; of the farmers, by support
ing reciprocity, which is free trade; of
the silver men, by declaring for bi-met
alism of the gold bugs, by declar
| ing that no dollar shall be worth less
than q GOLD dollar and of the naUrOaS