The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-09
FAoTIoNAL NIckxAuEs.
some OF the Prodacts Of American /
Political Contests.


When the followers OF 'Sockless" jerry
I Simpson and the beHhiskered PETER be-
gan singing the old negro song Keep IN
I tie Middle Of the Road" as a gentls pro-
/ test against any fusion Of their newborn
/ populist party with the old Kansas de-
I mOcracy. they probably little thought
/ that they were helping TO make history.
Y But such seems TO have been the result
7 Of their unpremeditated action. They had
I broken loose from old party ties, and
/ Joined their fortunes with those Of the
/ Sage OF Medicine Lodge" and his senior
/ colleague. They objected to the idea Of
being absorbed into one Of the Old parties,
and they gave voice to their sentiments in
song. That was four or FIVE years ago.
/ Last week they awoke to find themselves
I famous. Every dispatch sent out from St
Louis contained some reference TO the
] Mld1ie-of-the Road" faction in the pop
/ ullst convention. Ii was the faction which
/ still wanted to keep in the middle OF the
| road 1t declined 10 turn TO the right"
/ or turn 10 the left" but insisted on the
/ populists maintaining their own identity
ana individuality as q party. putting can
| dloates Of their own IN the field and run
| ming their own campaign regardless Of the
| Old parties What they achieved in the
| convention does not matter. The inter-
! estlng fact remains that they have made
| q hNNN4AeA dlll Suggestive a0ultl0n 10 The
long list Of original factiOnal names with
fun.
Some Of these names have been attached
10 factions in derisiOn by their oppOn-
ents, and explain themselves; others have
been adopted deliberately, almost as
tradesmarks; and there are a few whose
| origin IL would be hard to trace. The
first real faction known to Ameri-
can politics under the cOnsti-
futon escaped being labeled by
any derisiye appellatiOn, which has
| been handed down. though If such a fac
ton We're TO crop out now It doubtless
would be fitungly charact erized. These
were the people who lent aid and comfort
10 CITIZEN Genet, who came here III
| Washing toms second administration as
the representative OF the French repuo-
lie. His followers were animated by an
| intense hatred of England and organ
| lzed clubs after the manner Of the Jaco-
bin clubs of Paris They addressed each
| other IS Citizen" and "Citers," and did
all in their power to stir up trouble for
the administration and the government.
As 1t happened, they adopted a name
which was afterward taken up by the an
u-federalsts, then known as republicans.
They called their clubs Democratic clubs,
and the name, If not the principles, has
become historical.
When the federalist party was in its de-
cline during Jeherson's second administra-
ton, there arose a republican faction
known as the "Quids." the adherents Of
John Randolph, whose exertions gave fresh
life to the federalist cause in congress, and
who made themselves for a time an active
and useful opposition party. Their exis-
tence was brief. BY the time Of jackson 8
ascendency the anti-federalists OF repub-
leans had become generally known as
the democrats, and the wings had succeed
, ed the federalists. But 1t was not long be-
> fore the wings were all calling their Oppo-
= nents "Loco-Focos.' This term like many
{ other OF its kind, grew out of fractional
dissensions in New York state. A loco-foco
was seIf-igniting match. At democratic
meeting in Tamamny hall, in 1895. one fac
ton, fearing that the other faction had
2 control Of the gathering, put out all the
| lights. Matches were produced, the lamps
= were relighted, and within a short time
. the whole party was known as "Loco-ITo-
3 | cos" name which chung TO them for
years.
J 1t was not many years before another
l | split in the same party in New York add
! | ed two more choice terms to the politi-
Z | cal vocabulary. Silas Wright was the
: leader of the party in the state. He was
a friend of Van Buren,, and was not al
ways on the best of terms with Presi-
dent Polk. In 1916 he was defeated fol-
= reelection as governor and his friends
t | attributed his downfall to the secret op-
t | position of the administration faction
( whom they dubbed ''Hunkers," because
Y of their persistent numbering" for of.
5 | fee. The "Hunkers'' were pro-slavery in
q | their sympathies The Wright faction
were such radical anti-slavery men thai
: | they became known as the "Barn-burn.
: ers" In allusion to the story of the Dutch.
e man who burned his barn to clear it Of
) ! rats and mice. The "Barn-burners" were
: practically identical with the Free Soil.
8 | erS, - who, as every one knows, were mere
Q | ly the free soil democrats, who opposed
tories.
i Politics for some years before the wal
1 was in a very mixed condition, and re.
e vival on a national scale of what was
. known as the Native American move
ment (again originally New York move
a menp resulted in tie formation of tn,
4 AMERICAN party An elaborate code Of
signals and passwords was adopted, and
i all operations of the Americans" were
n wrapped in profound secrecy. If a. mem
s Der of the order was asked about its prac
n tees or purposes he answered that ht
s knew nothing about Them and the
E Americans" for that reason soon came
to be called Know Nothings."
\ The "COpperhead" faction of the democ.
n racy during the war furnishes another
: well known example of name applied ir
= derision by opponents The Copper.
i heads" were the southern sympathzers
b in the north, and were, naturally, named
. after the venomous serpent common in
Z many sections of the country.
: The origin of the name Greenbackers, as
i applied to party, is of course obvious
= The men who formed it were advocates
E of unlimited issues of United States notes
r and the United States notes early in their
career We're characterized as greenbacks
s from the color of their backs.
; 'Stalwarts' and Half Breeds" were
S the outcome of the Blaine Conkling strife
as 1t found expression in this state. Mr.
Blaine invented the former term as ap-
| piled to 1apublicans, but Conklings ad-
herents appropriated it. They 'pointed
| with pride" to their stalWart republican,
ism, and the name was, in their eyes, a
badge of distinction, until Guiteau, afteI
the assassination of Garfield, proclaimed
3 himself "Stalwart of the Stalwarts' "
The "Stalwarts' called their opponents
: 'Half-Breeds'' in derlsion, that being the
term which best conveyed the confemDt
they affected to feel for them and Their
political attitude
Two Virginia factions which not MANY
r years ago attracted national attention
n were the "Funders" and "Readjuster-s
n Their differences were over the settlement
n OF Nirginia's reconstruction debt and witt
= the disposition of that matter they faded
5 from view. The "Snappers" and ANTI
t Snappers" in this state are still too WV
e idly impressed on the public mind to re
: quire more than mere mention. The
: origin of the term everyone knows
Finally, there are the "Mugwumps. >
t This genius as it is known to-day appear
); ed on the stage during the Blaine cam
mi erFl Of