Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1892-05-06
An Incident of 1860.
Vermont as u Factor in LincoIn's NOM
inntIOn.


inRtIOn.
In the last Sunday issue of the New
York Press Carson Lake quotes a recent
conversation with Hon. John w. Stewart
of Vermont on the present political situa-
ton, in course of which Mr.. Stewart said /:
sit is exceedingly gratifying to a man who
has spent his life in the activity of politics
as Republican, but is now a private citi-
zen like myself, to note as the daily re-
ports are printed concerning the election
of delegates to our national convention,
that they are nearly all going there un-
! pledged and uninstructed. That is the
best thing that could happen to the Re
publican party. When delegates so elect
ed come together in national convention
they will be able to judge calmly and judi
ciously of the strength or weakness of can
didates in states like New York, Indiana,
Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and others which
| may be considered doubtful and choose the
leader who is best fitted to secure victo-
| rous electoral vote. Instructions given to
state delegation count for very little com
| pared with the influence eXerted by the
| expressions of delegates from the states in
which the battle is to be fought for the
electors who will decide the issue
An incident of 1860 will show you the
! drift of my thought on this subject. You
will remember that there was contest for
| the Republican presidential nomination in
| that year in which the names of "A number
of great men figured. William II. Seward
of New York was thought to be the logical
candidate of the situation, and was sup
! posed to be supported by all the New Eng
! land states as well as by New York. Penn
| sylvania was to present Simon Cameron,
not anticipating his nomination, but by
way of complimentary honor to that great
leader and of Withholding her vote until
| she could cast it where it would determine
a satisfactory nomination. The newspa-
pers in Vermont were all for Seward. The
! sentiment of the people there was for Sew
ard, but when the delegates, of whom |
was one, arrived at the convention we found
that Pennsylvania was likely to go for a
| Western man. We also found that it was
considered doubtful because of the old
time connection of the people of southern
Indiana and southern Illinois and other
states touching the South, whether these
states could be carried for Seward, whose
record on the anti-slavery question had
made him marked as an aboltionist, and
we decided to swing our vote for Abraham
Lincoln. We had been elected unpledged
and unnstructed to do the best thing that
could be done for the party Outside of
the leaders of the Pennsylvania, Illinois
and Indiana delegations, our decision was
unknown until the roll was called. Thur
low Weed, the great New York leader, had
been assured by the editor of our leading
state paper, that the Vermont delegation
was solid for Seward, and that he would
guarantee it to be so.
The roll calls in national conventions
prior to 1860 were not alphabetically made.
They were begun in the old geographical
method of naming the states, and began
with New England. Under this rule Yer
mont was the third state on the roll call,
Maine and New Hampshire having proceed
ed her. When | rose and announced the
ten votes of Vermont for Abraham Lin
coin of Illinois could see the gloom gath
er on the faces of the New York delegates,
many of whom We're great men, their
chairman being William NJ. Evarts, for
they recognized in this break in New Eng
land the fate that was in store for their
favorite If We had been instructed foI
Seward there might have been different
result in 1860 and possibly in subsequent
years. Uninstructed, we acted for the
best interest of the party in whose princi'
pies we believed, and time has justified
our decision