The herald., 1896-06-14

southern city for its meeting place since
the war. In the second place, exactly
forty years ago the first convention of
the Republican party was held in Phil
adelphia on June 16. 1856 General John
c. Fremont was nominated at that con-
vention and Abraham Lincoln was de-
feated for the nomination of vice-pres-
ident, receiving $50 ballots against 259
cast for William L. Dayton of New Jer-
sey.
Lincoln was an unknown quantity at
that convention. A delegate from an
eastern state stood up in the hall and
said: who is this man Lincoln; can he
fight?"
The man from Illinois who presented
his name responded: "Sir, Mr.. Lincoln
is a native of Kentucky" There were
no further inquiries concerning his ca
pacity for yNlrfare. There was but one
ballot taken a this convention.
1t Is the opinion Of shrewd politicians
that the forthcoming convention will be
either very short or a very long one.
There will be more than 900 delegates
to handle the greatest number that has
ever attended a national convention,
and the number of contesting delegations
will be very large. This latter fact
means many dreary waits before actual
business begins.
The second G. O. P. convention was
held in Chicago May 16 to is, 1860 and
but three ballots were taken, There
We're eight candidates in the field, and
William H. Seward led with 1872 votes.
Lincoln received 102 votes on the first
ballot. On the second ballot the vote
of Seward went up to 1S41a, while that of
Lincoln jumped to $50. On the third
ballot Lincoln was nominated, receiving
2S11a votes to $50 for Seward.
In 1864 the Republican National con-
vention met in Baltimore on June Z. and
Lincoln was renominated on the first bal
lot. No other candidates were in nom
ination before the convention, but the
Missouri delegation voted for General U.
S. Grant, who was then engaged in his
famous campaign in Virginia.
In 1868 the convention was again held
in Chicago. 1t met on May 20, and was
in session only two days. That con-
venton was a mere formality so far as
the nomination of a candidate for pres
ident was concerned. There was no op-
position to General Grant, and he was
nominated unanimously on the first bal
lot.
In 1872 the Republican convention came
East again, and met in Philadelphia on
June 5th. The convention was in session
only two days, and President Grant was
unanimously renominated.
A FAMOUS CONVENTION.
In 1876 the convention of the party met
and was in session two days. There were
seven candidates for the nomination for
president and seven ballots were taken.
1t was in that convention that James G.
Blaine was first called the "Plumed
Knight" The words were used by Col.
Robert G. Ingersoll in his nominating
speech. There was a hard and bitter
fight in that convention, but Hayes of
Ohio was nominated on the seventh bal
lot, receiving 3S4 votes to 351 for Blaine.
The now famous convention of 1880
met in Chicago on June 2 and was in
session only two days. In that time there
were thirty-six ballots for candidates
for president. On the first ballot Grant
received 304 votes. His vote then f1uc-
| tuated between 302 and 313 He received
| 306 on the last ballot when James A. Gar
| field of Ohio was nominated, receiving
| 1893 votes.
The convention Of 1894 met in Chicago
! on June g. and was in session three days.
| There were seven candidates for the
! nomination for president. Blaine was
nominated on the fourth ballot, receiving
/ 5A1 votes.
The convention of 1884 met in Chicago
on June 81. In that convention there
We're ten candidates voted for, and eight
| ballots were taken. John Sherman of
Ohio led for five ballots. Harrison was
nominated on the eighth. ballot, receiv
ing 5a4 votes.
In 1892 the Republican convention
| went further west than ever before, and
met in Minneapolis on June Z. A hard