Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1896-06-03
THE VICE PRESIDENCY.
Republicans May Make rheir-Choice with
D~libcratens-.

Delibcratcns~s
In 1896 the republican party can give
more time To the consideration of the
claims of different aspirants to the vice
presidency than il had an opportunity
10 90 IN recent canvasses. There is not
much uncertainty as TO who will We
nominated for president. IL is clea-
now. that Mckinley is the choice OF the
republican masses for that office. and
the party should soon begin to turn it's
attention TO the selection of the man
for the second place on the ticket. In
rev conventions of the past the only
contest was that on the vice presidency
The democratic gatherings OF 1882.
1886, 1870 and 1855, in which jackson,
Van Buren and Cleveland. respectively,
were the unanimous choice for presi.
dent, were of this order. So was the
wing convention of 1874. which nom.
mated Clay by reclamation. The re-
publican cor ventions of 1864. 1865 and
1879 were of the same kind. for the Mis-
souri, delegations vote for Grant in.
1904 was an empty formality To obey
the instructions given by the state when
there appeared to be some chance of OPP
immediately changed and Lincoln's
nomination made unanimous.
The trouble which has come TO parties
from mistakes made i'm the choice of
vice presidential candidates would make
long story. or the four vice presidents
Tyler, Fillmore, johnson and Arthur
who went To the presidency on the
death of it's incumbent, only one
Arthur-gave satisfaction to his party.
Fillmore, IL is true, pleased faction of
ms party, and. in the trying circum-
stances in which he was placed, he did
fairly well. Tyler, however. immediate
~ after going to the higher Office, got
into wrangle with the wing leaders
on vital question of policy, and from
the effects of that fcud the party did
not fully recover until three or four
years before his death. The reason why
the republicans did not suffer from the
johnson disturbance was that the
democracy's punishment for secession
had not yet been completed. TYLER. of
course, was really IA democrat on The
chief issue of the day and not n whig.
and the wings who nominated him To
attract the democratic vote framed no
platform, while Johnson's nomination
was concession to the war democrats.
The convention in neither case thought
of the possibility of the death of the
president.
1t is well-known fact, of course.
that conventions seldom give any intel
Igent consideration to the question of
the choice of vice-presidential candi-
date at all. The selection OF the man
for the first place on the ticket in the
only thing that these gatherings or
dinarily concern themselves with. Even
in the instances in which this man il
determined upon beforehand, geograph-
zeal or factional considerations gener-
ally dictate the nomination of the sec
ond officer. Some other locality and
some other element of the party than
the one which gets the president is al
lowed TO name" the vice-president.
Thus the second Office becomes n sort
OF consolation prize for the side which
was beaten in the contest for the first
Office. But even under these limitations
the conventions seldom take intelli-
gent advantage of their opportunities
In the conventions in which there nre
contests for president the delegates are
usually exhausted and anxious 10 get
home when these are ended, and they
rush the nomination of the vice-presi-
dent through without any thought Of
the fitness of the candidates for the
higher Office to which he is heir contin-
gent There will be no cXcufc for any
such precipituncy in ls06.-St. Louis
GtOba- Dcnocr,t