The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-05-06

but at last there was luil and Mr.
Bradley, Of Kentucky tnow GOVERNOR.
rose TO second the nomination o. Grant.
HIS speech was remarkably eloquent
ana had visible effect on the floor
and in the galleries. In closing he said
Kentucky. Mr.. President. holding In
her bosom the ashes of the great COM
moner tenry Clay) and in her heart
the memory of her best and greatest
native son. Abraham Lincoln. instructs
me in the name of these and OF her
hundred thousand brave soldiers who
marched under his command to second
the nomination of L. 8. Grant"
EMERY sToRRs.
There was one other speech that at
tracted wide attention, made In general
debate in the convention. by that
strange anomaly among men. Emery
Storrs. of Chicago. He didn't want the
anti-Grant delegates from Illinois ad-
mitted. They had spoken for them
selves. and he told how they were chos-
en- and who some of them were. 1t
appeared that a number had bolted
Republican nominations and some had
been prominent in organizing the liber-
al party in 1872. He further said:
Mr.. Pres.dent:-I have witnessed the ex-
traord!nary scenes of this convention with
deep sollc!tude. As l sat in my seat this
assemblage seemed TO me human ocean
In a tempest. l have seen the sea .aahed
into foam and tossed into spray and Its
grandeur moves the dullest man. but l
remember that it is not the billows, but
the calm level of the sea, from which all
heights and depths are measured. Gentle
men of the convention. when your enthu-
siasm has passed, when the emotions OF
this hour have subsided We shall find be-
low the storm and passion that calm level
Nf ny,tn xt,hi ha hnn
Of a mighty people are to be measured
and BY which their final action shall be de-
termned. Not In this brilliant circle,
whore 1900 men and women are gathered.
is the destiny of the republic to be decreed
for the next four years: Not here, where
! see tn faces of 75S delegates waiting to
cast their lots into the urn and determine
the choice OF the republic; but BY 100000
Mes wasGe aaG chen hs them S0ss S
the calm thoughts inspired BY love Of home
and country burning In their hearts-there
God prepares the verdict which will de-
termine the wisdom Of our work tonight.
Not in Chicago. In the heat OF June. but
at the ballot boxes of the republic In the
quiet of November. after the silence of de-
llberate Judgment, will this question be
settled.
There was more general applause
when StOrs closed. that IL, applause In
which all sides took part, than at any
other time.
THE BALLOTING.
On Monday the balloting began. and
continued for two days and thirty-six
ballots. A remarkable thing. probably
forgotten by most of the delegates and
spectators, was speech by General
Sheridan. A delegates from Wyoming
had cast n vote for him, and Sheridan,
always so loath to stand before the
Sv,o Hast o,,rnricod hoi
man by asking permission to say q
word, a request which was granted.
though in defiance Of all rules. The
general simply said that 1t was of no
use to vote for him, for all he could
do with such a nomination, even IL he
had 1t, was to turn 1t over to his best
friend, Grant.
Some idea Of the remarkable feeling
aroused may be gained from the fact
that this brilliant soldier, 80 retiring
and diffident, was sufficiently wrought
almost a breach of propriety to aid the
cause Of his old commander.
By what strange accidents do we rise
or fall, escape or encounter disaster!
Was 1t Carnot, who. gliding out from
dinner party, put his hand by mistake
into tha pocket Of Robespierre's great
coat and pulled out list Of persons to
be beheaded, with his own name at the
top?
On the fifth ballot after sheridan's
speech Grants vote ran up to 3l3 There
was imminent danger Of stampede to
him; but the field united against him,
and on the next ballot came the break
for Garfield. He saw 1t and turned al
ternately pale and red, then rose in his
seat, with deprecatory gestures. but
sank back, while his breast heaved with
excitement.
Before every public man." he had
said once upon a time. "yawns a preci-
pice. Sooner or later he shall stumble
and fall over It," Grant had reached
the brink. The chasm which was to
swallow up the man from Mentor was
just around the summit. concealed
from view, but he went on to its mortal
peril none the less surely and swiftly.
If that convention could have looked
forward with prophetic eye for a
twelvemonth to that scene in the Balti-
more and Potomac depot in Washing
ton, how 1t would have shuddered and
hesitated. Nay, If Garfield himself
could have seen, as in a vision, that
spectacle In the rOtunda Of the capitol
fourteen months later, how he would
have drawn back, and how hollow
would have sounded the cheers that
greeted his great triumph.
"Often when We yield to hope and
calculate on success" says Nine. de
Stael, the sable thread Is blending
with its tissue and the weird sisters
dash down the fabric we have reared"
THE END.
The end came quickly! The flood
swept all before it-all save the faithful
3O6 who had linked themselves with
bands Of iron to the man OF Appomatox
and who went down with their ranks
unbrOken.
Immediately after the nomination
Conkling moved to make 1t unanimous,
! and was followed by the chairmen of
many state delegations. Finally a
short rather stout man from the left of
the hall arose He was not very widely
known at that time. but on the third
ballot some delegate had given him q
vote for president. He was Benjamin
Harrison. Of Indiana.
He said that inasmuch as he had re-
ceived this one vote. the Kentucky
delegation behind him insisted that he
was defeated candidate and ought
to give in his adhesion to the nominee.
$50 ] want to say to the Ohio delega-
tion," he continued. that they may
carry to their distinguished citizen the
, assurance of my ungrudsing support.
I bear him no malice and later, on the
stump in Indiana and whatever else my
voice can help. hope to be found"
And so ended the convention. What
most impresses me at this distance
from that great gathering is, first. the
| gross injustice done Grant. one of the
most tenacious and unflinching sup
porters of a republican form Of govern
ment ever known. In charging that he
| was an ambitious Caesar, intent upon
| establishing an empire on the ruins of
the republic. 1t was one of the violent
| and diseased products of an ill-tem-
pered campaign. to be sure. but it made
| a wound deeper and more lasting than
any bullet, a wound scarcely healed by
the striking proof of love exhibited by
the whole nation a few years later.
! The second reflection is on the brevlty