The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1892-01-23
VOL. %, NO. 26.
ABOUT CANDIDATES..
YOU CANNOT TELL WHAT NOMI-
MATING CONVENTIONS WILL DO.

MATING CONVENTIONS WILL DO.
Dark Horses Have Often Won the Presi-
dentinl Prize-N1en of Great Wealth
Feareh-This Is Il Nominating Year
and Here Are Pertinent Facts. '4...-.
Especial Corrcspondencc.i
New YORK. Jan. lit may be as well
said Of presidential conventions as it has
been said of juries that no one can pre-
dict accurately what they will do With
the exception of the great soldiers who
have been nominated and whose selec-
tion was indicated unerringly before the
conventions which nominated them met.
and with the exception also OF two
cases where the denomination of a presi-
dent has been inevitable it may be said
that ever since the national caucus sys-
TEN was adopted, some sixty years ago,
the action of the conventions Of all the
parties has been in the nature of sur
prise. 1t is the unexpected which ap-
pears to be most likely to happen with
national conventions. Nobody, for in
stance, expected that James K Polk
would be nominated in 1874. He was
almost unknown. Martin Van Buren,
was regarded rs the certain candidate,
and he did have in fact a majority in
the convention, but curiously enough,
rule which he had himself devised to
secure his nomination in 1886, which
provided that a two-thirds vote must be
secured before any candidate should be
declared nominated, prevented his re-
ceiving the honor in 1874
In 1913 it was thought for a time that
General Scott or possibly Daniel Web
ster would be chosen by the party they
represented but single remark BY
Zachary Taylor uttered in the heat Of
battle in MeSico, Is well as certain
Vaccinations Of tile politicians brought
him pf \ sudden ~ the front and he CAP
TIRED the prize. leaving sucll greAt lnen
Of his party rs Scott and Clay and Dan
lei Webster behind in the race for tile
honor. +nm"
Perhaps the most striking case Of sir
prise occurred in 1882 The convention
OF the Democratic party Scetncathen mn
ab4 to agree upon anybody I'lp'
strength Of all the leading men in tho
Democratic party w;ts tested The lit
tie giant Of the west, stephen a. Dong
las. then barely forty years Of asr, wus
unable to secure the vote Of the con!vo1i-
tion. although he was immensely lt5pu-
lar with his party, and in despair tile
managers turned to the little delegation
from the state Of New Hampshire ana
said TO them, Name your man and We
Will take HIM and thus it happened
that il person So obscure that most OF
his party had never heard of him, Frank
lin Pierce, became president of the
United States. ...-. --...+. ....
In 1876 the result of tho Republican,
convention was surprise to the country.
Blaine had run noble race; Morton,
Conklins and Bristow We're splendid
competitors. and Yet the man who tool;
the prize was SO inconSpicuous ut the
beginning Of the balloting that his name
attracted but little attention The nomi-
nation of General Garfield in 1880 and
that Of Benjamin Harrison in 1883 We're
signal illustrations Of the tendency of
conventions to do those things which are
surprising.
Thurlow Weed used to say that in the
race for the presidency tile dark horse
has the best chance, and he always felt
that William Il. Seward would have re-
ceived the nomination for president in
1860 had he been as obscure as Abraham
Lincoln was
National conventions have always
been afraid Of men OF great wealth.
Washington was the richest president.
as he was the first, The two Adamses
and Madison had very small property.
jefferson: WAS dependent upon his salary
left the White House in debt and was
obliged to borrow money and sell some
Of his books to support himself IN his
old age Martin Van Buren, was worth
about $50, ,OO0 when elected. and he nc.
cumulated property after he left the
presidency. William Henry Harrison
was SO poor that he was dependent upon
his tritiing earnings as clerk Of a little
court in Ohio for his support while the
presidential canvass was progressing
Henry Clay might have earned a large
fortune by practice at the bar, but he
was an ilnprovident man. He had con-
tinnally to borrow money on notes. and
he was III some pecuniary embarr;lss-
ment, it is said. when he became the
candidate in 1874. General Pierce had
u small property. Buchanan an income
of some $1,000 and General Scott was
absolutely dependent upon his salary as
!, general in the United States army
when he wt.s nominated.
Llncoln was very poor. In the Win
ter Of 1850, some three months before he
was nominated, he was in New York
city and he there met IL friend whom
he had known in Illinois
Said Lincoln to this friend, "Wen
how are you getting on in worldly
goods since you left Illinois,,
Oh, | suppose I'm worth 500,
was his friends reply.
well that ought to be enough to
keep you handsomely the rest of your
life" said Lincoln Il haven't done SO
we'll have $1,000 in money and my
hollse in Springfield, which is worth
about Sb. 600. Then he added with a
merry twinkle i'll his eye: Some Of my
friends say they are going to nominate
me for vice president with Seward for
president, Well, if they do and I'm
elected. ought to save $40 900, AMI that
with what I've got will be enough for
me. | reckon = Lincoln was then fifty
one years ii age. and he seemed to look
forward with content to the possession
of about 100000 as enough for him i'll
his old age, His aggregate salary in the
fonr years that he served was 100000,
and he was able to save about $40 900 of
that and counted on saving rs much
more during his second term, SO that he
thought he would be worth about $780,
600 when he left the presidency, "a sum
which he regarded as very great for
tune. = ---------- = y ----. -