The Indianapolis journal., 1896-06-26
THE TWO-THIRDS RULE
IN IT'S SURVIVAL LIES THE HOPE Of
sOUND-MONEY DEMOCRATS.
Unless Ii In Abrogated the Free
silver People VIII Not he Able to
Nominate Their Candidate.
washington Letter in New York Sun.


the interest of any candidate on the Demo-
cratic side has arisen for many years, the
'.two-thirds rule" as item of usage in
Democratic national conventions may prove
to be the turning point this year of the
fight between the sound-money and sill
verite Democrats in Chicago. The two
thirds rule is political legacy of the Balti-
more convention of 1874. In the election of
that year there were twenty-sx States.
and thirteen of these-exactly half--were
Southern States. the other thirteen being
north of Mason and Dixon's line. The
Southern States, in which the Democratic
party had its strongest hold. were fearful
of being outvoted in the Democratic con-
vention under plurality rule, and they
therefore enforced upon the party in the
interest of sectional autonomy the rule
whereby the thirteen Southern States. act
ing collectively might have for the protec-
ton of their material interests practical
veto power upon the proceedings of Demo-
cratic conventions. and be enabled there
fore to defeat any hostile candidate. Not
until sixteen years later did the two-thirds
rule lead to a severance of harmonious re-
lations between two Democratic factions
in the Charleston convention of 1860. The
Northern Democrats were able to summon
to their support 165 delegates to 13S from
the Southern States. a majority. but not
two-thrds majority. In 1860 there were
thirty-three States. Forty-seven ballots
were taken at Charleston without result.
and as no choice was possible the conven-
ton adjourned, and later on there were
two Democratic electoral tickets in the
field. Historically the twc-thirds rule was
established twelve years before the con-
vention OF 1874. but before 1t was first
May. 1892. presided over by General Lucas.
an Ohio man. and it was then engrafted on
Democratic usage as future precaution.
for there was no contest in that conven-
tion. the nomination of Jackson being
unanimous. In the succeeding Democratic
convention of Baltimore in Nav. 1895. there
was no contest either. Van Buren being
unanimously nominated for the presidency.
ard still again in 1S4o at the June conyen-
tion of that year in Baltimore Mr.. Van
ly chosen as the candidate of the Democ-
racy for President.
FIRST USE OF THE RULE.
While therefore, the two-thirds rule had
existed at three national conventions pre-
vious. its power was not invoked seriously
until 1884, and there it operated to defeat
the nomination Of Van Buren. the leading
candidate. on the first ballot. and to bring
about on the last ballot the nomination of
a compromise candidate. Polk: since that
time the two-thirds rule has been regarded
as an agency for killing off, favorite cam
didates in Democratic national conven-
tions, though with no very good reason,
for at all recent conventions the delegates
have come to choice with great rapidity
and without recourse to many ballots un-
der the twO-thirdS rule In 1872 there was
one ba lot only. In 1876, at St. Louis, there
were two ballots. In 1880 there were three.
In 1884 there were two In 1883 there was
one only. and in 1882 there was only one
rule in Democratic conventions has been to
act a bar to sectionalism and as a
means of maintaining the truly national
character of the Democratic party. This
year the utility of this venerable Demo-
cratic rule appears in new and unex-
pected way. Many of the delegates from
the sectional discrimination which has
been perpetuated by the Republicans since
1869, when in ten States of the country no
Republican electoral ticket was run, have
allied themselves with the delegates from
some Western States which have never
contributed an electoral vote to the Demo
against the protests of the Eastern States
of a platform Objectionable to the latter,
and upon which Eastern Democrats can
not. without qualification of all their past
utteranceS and promises, support. Not sat-
isfed with this programme for. the adop-
tion of a radical. free-silver declaration,
these Southern and Western extremists
are clamoring for the nomination of a can
didate for the presidency who is in perfect
accord with such a platform, and who
stands willing to accept 1T as a deliberate
and binding tenet of Democratic party
Democratic security and representa-
tive character. intervenes. The hard
natney the States Of Of the County, In
the Democratic party stands for sound
money will have collectively more than
cago convention of July T. Whether this
quota of membership shall be preserved in
accordance with Democratic rules or, shall
be diminished by the Intervention of a
free-silver committee on credentials. one
fact is certain: Without abrogation of the
tvo-thirds rule, for more than half a
century the thea accepted prancinle OF Demo- Demo
members of the Chicago convention cannot
put in nomination a candidate who stands
for the views Of one or other geographical
section of the country. They cannot put
up cast-off Republican under any pre-
text of promoting the cause and the use OF
1.-The white metal" They cannot override
Eastern and middle States which are fr-
revocably opposed to the adoption OF Pop
ulst notions as articles of Democratic
party faith. and they cannot force upon a
reluctant minority Qf the soundmoney
men in the Chicago convention of next
month should prove to be the minority,
anu tnty CdIlIlOl StdhOcuc thc Sohs schtiOii
in favor of candidate whose nomination
would be equivalent to the SUMMARY sacrf-
flee in. advance Of all possibility of secur-
ing the thirty-six electoral votes of New
York cast for the Chicago ticket in 1892:
the ten electoral votes of New Jersey,
which have been Democratic, with one
break only, for thirty-five years. or the
nine votes of Connecticut and Delaware,
steadfastly Democratic in every national
election in which the Democratic party has
made fight for the election of its candi-
dates Nor is this list of sound-money
Eastern and middle States complete with
out the additions of Maryland, with eight
electoral votes. bringing up the total of
these States to sixty-three, with Demo
cratic vote at the last election of 1,O40,cC.
A SIGNIFICANT CIRCUMSTANCES.
1t is perhaps significant circumstance
which, if attention were not called TO II
here. might. by some Democrats be lost
sight of, that in these five States-and in
them only--the total Democratic vote al
the last national election was exactly the
same in thousands the total Populist
vote in the United States. The Democratic
vote in these five States was 1.040.O00. The
total Populist vote in all OF the States OF
the country combined was 1.0io.000. but
while these States represented to the vic.
torious Democratic column sixty-thret
electoral votes, the Populist electoral vote
in 1892 was only twenty-five, pr less col
cast in that election. 1t Is the two-thirds
rule which gives the Democrats of the
country, who are now fighting against the
most serious odds. the battle for SOUND