St. Paul daily globe., 1892-06-08
Some Of Those Who Are Prom
inent in the Grand Old
Party.
Men Who Have Made Records
in Past Conventions and
in Congress.
A Great Infusion Of Young
Blood Which Takes to
Machine Politics.
Reed and Mckinley Two
Prominent Figures Be-
fore Their Party.

The people are usually interested in
the men who make up a great national
political convention. In such gather
ingS are found many of the best known
and brightest men of the nation, of
whom all, without regard to partisan
bias and prejudice, have a right to feel
proud. The national conventions of the
United States really choose our rulers,
and they are, as one Of the greatest
writers on our institutions has remarked,
1.-The greatest triumph of the American
republic" In these conventions the
representatives of the political parties
in every state in the Union meet.
and choose the men they will
put forward for the highest Of
flee in the republic. Sometimes
a candidate is not selected until after Il
prolonged struggle, in which the fac
tlOnal feeling grows almost as intense
as the partisan feeling displayed in the
ensuing election.
But out of all this confusion and
struggling and bitterness comes the
party declarations, the candidates, and
a certain degree of harmony. Party
discipline is not now W hat it has been
in the great American republic, but it
is still strong, due in measure to the
great leaders who have ambitions and
hopes for preferment at the hands of
the party. Each Of the 1,S00 men who
sit in the convention that is now in
session at Minneapolis. either as dele
gates or alternateS, is MAI Of more
or less prominence or influence in
the councils of the Republican
party in his own district and state, or
else he would not be there. Of course,
some of these men may be parts of a
great compine like that of Tom Platt
i'll New York, but he must still have in
fiuence and ability. for that great leader
and manipulation, a type of the political
''boss" at the highest point yet reached
in their evolution from the local heeler
to the president-maker. never advances
an untried man.
About once in four years the fever
strikes the American people and they
plunge into politics as they do in every
thing else. Business cares are tempo
rarily laid aside and politics is the SUBJ
ject of conversation everywhere and
at all times. Every good citizen
feels himself called upon to take part
in debating the issues and choosing a
ruler. InaSmuch as, uEder our system,
no man can he elected without first be-
ing placed in nomination by one of the
political parties, the people take an
interest, and lively and laudable one,
too, in the men who are charged with
the selection of the candidates, and it
has always been considered great
honor by a good party man, a member
of one OF the leading parties, 10 be sent
to national convention.
The convention now in session at
Minneapolis, while it does not contain
some of the great leaders OF the
Republican party, has a great many
men whose names have become
familiar from ocean to ocean.
The witty and eloquent Chauncey
Depew; the sarcastic and brilliant Jay
Hawker. ex-senator ingalls,: the slender
and reS0Iute Gen. Malone; the antique
senator from the Sucker state, Shelby
M. Cullom; Fire-Alarm Foraker; those
silver enthusiasts, the handsome VOL
cott and the studiouS Teller; eX-Gov.
''Dick" Oglesby, of Illinois; the imam
with the iron nerve" and long head,
Matt S. Quay; the venerable Galusha A.
Grow. who was speaker of the national
house a generation ago; eX-GOvernOrS
Bracket and Grape, OF the old Bay state,
are some of the men in this convention.
A very large proportion OF the people
of this country do not agree on queS-
tions of politics, but all know them as
men of ability and brains.
A national convention is, in
a manner, liberal political ed
ucatlon sin itself. 1t brings together
men from all portions of this great coun-
try, and while in some cases it changes
the opinions of observers regarding the
abilities and greatness of some idols, it
elevateS others. Yesterdays session Of
the convention was short and afforded
no opportunity for the leaders to dis
tinguish themselves. But two men
were brought into contrast, men who
in the future are likely to be the Conk-
lings and BlaineS of their time. These
men, who have crossed swords already
in contest for the Speakership OF the
national house, are Thomas b. Reed. of
Maine, and William Mckinley, of Ohio.
Both are men of great ability and both
have their eyes fixed on the presidency.
Reed is the stronger man in point of
ability, but Mckinley has popular
qualities not possessed by the congress
man from Portland.
Reed is a natural fighter. and when
he was forced to make speech to the
convention he did it with the air of a
man fully conscious Of his power. He
hurled his words forth for the people to
take and think and decide as they
pleased. He made no effort to play to
the galleries, and there was no affect
alton about him or his words. His rival
was in some respects equally as careless
of whether he pleased and caught the
delegates and the crowds or not. From
the time Gov. Mckinley took his seat
until the end of the session came he
never relaxed the Napoleonie cast of
his features. The convention demand
ed that he speak after Reed, but he shook
his head in answer to the calls and
when this would not do he simply arose
and bowed in all directions, and, still
without relaxing his features, sat down.
A great many of the coming leaders
of the Grand Old Party were in yester-
days convention, many of them whose
names have not yet grown familiar to
the country. "Chris" Magee, the hand
some boss of Pittsburg, whose star Will
be in the aScendent i'll case of President
Harrison's denomination; Senator An
thony Higgins, of Delaware; Louis E.
McCOmas, of Maryland; William War
ner, of Missouri; ex-Congressman Clay
McCormick, Of. Pennsylvania; and Ii.
Clay Evans, of Tennessee. are some of
the other men who may be expected to
cOulG W Tic ITOlL Ill Ltlc luLuI6 do lCdu-
ers and workers in the campaigns of the
party.
The hold which the heads Of the ma
chimes in the various states have upon
the rank and file of the Republicans was
Illustrated in an incident of yesterdays
when the state of PennsyI-
vania was called. The convention knew
that Senator Quay had been chosen by
The delegation, and as he did not get up
shouts went up for him. These were
hearty and testified that however much
Mr.. Quay may be dlscredited with the
nan his tactics elevated to the presi-
lency, the great heart of the party
hrobs for him. But no amount of
cheering could raise Mr.. Quay out of his
seat He sat looking as stolid and indif
'erent as the great Ohioan.
While there are not so many of the
I'D veterans in this convention as there |
we're in the Chicago gatherings of 1880,
1884 and 1883, their places are
illed with young hustlers. many
If them, perhaps, more on
machine order than the men whose |
places they take, but brighter and |