The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-02-10

staTy.
horse-power-was only six years old;
that the first locomotive had been i'm
ported only three years before; and
only little more than one year had
elapsed since the first locomotive was
/ built in America, to be used on track
eighteen miles long between Baltimore
and Ellicott's Mills. It is a striking
Illustration of the hunger of the
American mind for progress, that the
new system was already thus being
discussed in the backWoodS villages of
Illinois, and no less illustrative of the
Wide-aWake intelligence of this young
frontier politician that he hailed ii as
! the infant Titan of transportation. But
he also used as an argument in favor
of his river scheme that its then in
surmountable cost made the adoption
Of the superior commercial agent an
impossible hope; and, in fact, ten to
fifteen years passed before the first
railroad train was run in Illinois.
Perhaps the most promising sign in
this maiden address is the almost
tinid phraSeolOgy and transparent sim
of his desire TO enter the public SER
vice. He said:
''llvery man is said to have his peculiar
ambition. Whether il be true or not ]
CAN Say, LOT one, IldC / nave no OJl2r so
great as that of being truly esteemed by
my fellow-men, by rendering myself Wor-
thV OF that esteem. How far | shall Sue
ceed in gratifying this ambition is yet TO
be developed. ] am young, and unknown
IN many of you. [ was born, and have
ever remained, in the most humble walks
OF life. have no wealthy or popular re-
latIonS or friends to recommend me. My
case is thrown exclusively upon the indie
pendent voters of the country; and, if
elected, they viii have conferred a favor
upon me for which 1 shall be unremitting
IN my ldborS to compensate. But, if the
good people in their wisdom shall see fit
TO keep me in the background, L have
been TOO familiar with disappointmeuts to
be very much chagrined."
The Course and Result of LiDcoIn.s
First Candidacy.
The whole world knows with What
fidelity he followed the pathway of I'M
selfshness which led him to the SUBJ
lime height of his ambition.
| 1t Was not Lincolns fortune to i'm
! nediately learn the effect OF his mani
festo upon the people of Sangamon
county" Just one month after it was
printed in the 'NSangamon Journal"
and while the community was yet re-
joicing over the arrival of the Tails
man" the governor of Illinois issued his
/ proclamation calling out volunteers for
the BlackhaWk Qndian) war. Within
! twelve days from the official summons,
I Captain Lincoln'S company was mus
tered into service at BeardStoWn, the
I rendezvous, and, receiving its arms,
/ Immediately began its march with the
rest of the army. towards the hostile
| frontier, leaving his candidacy for the
/ legislature in the hands of his friends
At that date Sangamon county had
| large limits, extending over forty miles
/ To an
north to south. Even allowing that
! the population was as yet concentra-
! ted in few settlements near it's CEN
tire, the obstacles to ordinary election
eering remained sufficiently obvious.
I When Captain Lincoln returned from
the campaign, on foot, only ten days
before the August election, his friends
had done manfuI duty for him, for
they gave him almost the unanimous
vote Of his precinct: but the entire
county had not so we'll learned his
worth and he was one of the nine de-
feated candidates. This was the only
time he was ever defeated in a popular
vote. The canvass had been what is
designated in the west, as a scrub
race" There were four members to
be elected in the county, and thirteen
ambitious patriots had announced
themselves as candidates The list of
successful and unsuccessful aspirants
and their respective votes was as fol-
lows:
E. D. Taylor, 1.127; J. 7. Stuart. 991;
Schiller Norris, 945; Peter Cartwright,
So The unsuccessful candidates
were:
A. Herndon, SOC; William Carpenter,
ia; John Dawson. III; Abraham Lin
coin, $50; T. NJ. Neale, 571; H. Quinton
45S; Zachariah Peter, PA; Edward
Robson, 169; Kirkpatrick, A The
returns also show that the total vote
: of the county was about 2,168. COM
pairing this with the vote cast for Lin
coin, we see that he received nearly
one-third of the total county vote
Notwithstanding his absence from the
canvass; Notwithstanding the fact thai
his acQuaintanceShip was limited t.
the neighborhood of New Salem; not
Withstanding the sharp competition.
Indeed, his talent for active, prac
teal politics was demonstrated beyond
question by the result in his home pre-
cinct Of New Salem, which, though III
, ran as a Wing, gave 277 votes for hin
and only three against him Three
months later it gave 1856 for the Jack
> son, and only 20 for the Clay, electors
proving Lincoln's personal popularity
: LincoIn's Four Terms in the LegfS
I Iature.
5 He was now in the attitude Of dis
r appointed office-seeker, but he did no
receive his defeat as a popular man
2 date to remain perpetually in TIT
= background. Another election for the
5 legislature coming around two year.
l later, he again sought the Office, a;
= appears by this notice in the San
5 canon Journal Of April %. 1884: ''Wt
Y are authorized to state that 4. Lin
S coin of New Salem is candidate fo
S representative for this county,
g was another scrub race with thir
: teen candidates for the four places
E as on the occasion of his first venture
= but this time the election returns il
S August show his name nearly at tn,
= head of the list of the four successful
| candidates: John Dawson, 1,376 :Abra
e ham Lincoln. 1876; William Carpenter
4 1,110; John. L. Stewart, 1884.
S The votes received by the nine sue
cessful candidates ranged from ,03
= to A.
5 From this time on, Lincoln appear!
f to have no serious difficulty in secur
/, ing an election to the legislature s.
2 long as he desired it. He was agail
! chosen in 1886, 1888, and 1916. But foul
r terms probably convinced him that b,
: had by study and experience become
: fitted for higher service, and he de
: clined further reflections. 1t is per
t haps worth while to quote his idea O.
the relation the representative should
] bear to the constituent, as defined il
hi of