The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-06-20


was reported to the convention. the |
struggle between the contending eie-
ments was renewed with increased bit |
terness. Every scandal that had at
tached to the name of Blaine. his bor- |
rowing OF money from Pacific railroad |
officials. his ownership Of Arkansas. |
Little Rock and Fort Smith railway \
bonds, the famous Mulligan letters, and |
other things derogatory to the man |
from Maine We're used without stint. |
The dramatic investigation Of these |
matters was even then pending in con- |
gress. A more bitter fight was never |
waged In convention, but Conkling |
and Cameron held their forces SO well |
in hand that they We're able to make |
Hayes the nominee. by somewhat lib
eral promises to the friends of Wheeler
and Morgan of the homer OF second
place on the ticket.
BRILLIANT SPEECHES.
Never were more brilliant speeches
made for the purpose OF placing c:ndi-
dates in nomination. That of Inger-
soil nominating Blaine has been placed
among the political classics. Stewart
l.. Woodford nominated Conkling.
Noyes made the speech for Hayes ana
was seconded by old Ben Wade. Upon
the first ballot Blaine had POI votes,
A'ASsS" A'"' >OhNAibs Sot .hot tpi i<o,
Hayes g.. There was no material
change until the fifth ballot. The anti
Blaine managers held their men steady
and Blaine stock went down. On the
sixth the break was made for Hayes,
Indiana withdrawing Morton and lead
Ing the stampede, and the nomination
was a fact.
A foolish story has recently been re-
vived telling that the anti i-Blaine man.
n fN1
preceding the day of balloting by secur-
ing statement from the mana gers Of
the building that the gas pipes were out
OF order, and therefore no illumination
could be had. 1t was asserted that
Elaine could have been nominated had
Il session been held that evening. The
truth Is the announcement i'm regard to
the gas was made u hours before
the balloting, and the pipes could have
been repaired If the Blaine managers
had thought an evening session Of any
Importance. Frye, OF Maine, Blaine's
fast friend, made the motion when the
session of the day previous to the
nomination was ended.
ON THE OTHER SIDE.
The great struggle in the Democratic
convention of that historical year, when
1t met at st. Louis was between the
forces Of Tilden and Hendricks. The
latter was immensely popular and the
speeches nominating him We're many,
long and eloquent. The Tilden speeches
were barely more than a reference 10
the great reform-record OF the "SMge
OF Gramercy." Tilden had q long LEAD
in the first ballot. however, and was
nominated on the second by 43 votes
more than enough.
In that year greenbackism took q
great spurt. and Peter Cooper and Sam
Carey were nominated to witness the
political death of themselves and the
lapse OF their theory.
In the Republican convention of 1880,
at Chicago, "Caesarism'' was the great
cry of the opponents of the Grant
COnkling combination. Grant had re-
turned from circling the world, and was
as great popular figure as ever All
the machinery of expert management
was brought into play to ensure the ex-
presidents nomination. Contests were
acutely arranged The unit rule was
enforced to the fullest extent possible.
Garfield came to the front at once as an
open antagonist of these crafty meth
DDS, and was looked upon as a likely
dark horse. His eloquent nomination
of sherman gave him much additional
popularity. Joy Of Michigan nominated
Blaine, and created much amusement
by MISLEADING his candidates initials,
calling him james a. Blaine" when he
rounded his final period. Conkling
nominated Grant in an eloquent speech.
The long ballotlng and intense excite
ment have been euualed in no other
convention. The famous 306 phalanx of
| Grant was rsver seriously broken, and
| when tn stampede came for Garfield on
| the seth ballot giving the latter the
nomination, the Grant delegates never
For the Democratic nomination In
Cincinnati in 1880 productions had been
generally favorable to Hancock, provid-
| ed Tilden persisted in his refusal to
stand. Bayard, Randall, Thurman and
other great names were upon the BAN
ners of the delegations. The necessity for
soldicr-candidate was argued. Payne
| and Thurman demolished each other,
and Hancock was triumphantly nomin-
| ated on the second ballot One of the
| features of the convention was the
| sqelching of the contending Tammany
delegates.
MORE RECENT TIMES.
The year 1884 was a golden one for
the Democrats. The tremendous Re-
publican slump in the New York state
elections placed Cleveland in the fore
front of candidates. The old DEM
ocratic guard was practically obsolete.
Tammany was the only opposition in
evidence against the Buffalo man at
Chicago. Madness against Cleveland
ran riot with the Tammany end of the
| New York delegation. Grady and
Bourke Cochran made violent speeches
| against the governor, assuring the con-
vention that he. could not carry their
state. But the Independent Republl-
can influence carried the day. Clevc-
land, Bayard. Carlisle. Randall, Me-
Donald and others We're put in nolni-
nation. Hendricks spoke for McDon-
aid. but when the balloting began and
a vote Of an Illinois delegate was cast
for him, 1t appeared for a time as
though Tilden's running mate would
sweep the convention from it's moor
ings.
1t was one of those grand scenes when
a name sets vast assembly wild with
enthusiasm. The entire convention
arose and applauded as though it
would never stop. Watterson and Bel
mont warmly embraced the old man
who stood bowling and trembling, with
tears streaming down his cheeks.
voorhees, withdrew Mcdonald in favor
of Hendricks, and again the convention
went wild for ''one of the men wronged
in 10" But when the voting began 1t
was seen that the Cleveland forces had
not been shaken, and upon the second
roll call the New York man was nomi-
mated. and Hendricks was again given
second place.
The Republican convention at Chi
cage of 1884 avs again the scene of the
contention Of the Blaine and anti
Blaine forces. Arthur, made president
by the assassination of Garfield, hoped
for the nomination, and to some ex-
tent the ofiice-holding element was
controlled for him. Robertson, how
ever. who was collector of the port of
New York, was staunch friend of
Blaine. Arthur, Sherman, Logan, Ed
munds, Hawley and Blaine were the
great array of names eloquently pre-
sented to the convention. This time
popular sentiment was triumphant.