The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-17

pore the Amazon, the citizens failed to see broad man in Fillmore and only remembered what had happened at home.
 When the whig convention met in Balti- more, Fillmore was the leading candidate for the Presidency. being opposed by Gen eral Winfield Scott, of New Jersey, and Daniel Webster
 It was necessary to have 147 votes to be nominated. Fillmore never got more than 1S3 during the fifty-three ballots. Scott was nominated. receiving votes from both Fillmer and Webster. He became the candidate of the know nothing party in 1856 and carried one state-Maryland.
 Andrew Johnson became vice president of the United States as a matter of polit- ical expediency. He had been chosen to catch the votes of the war democrats He had been governor of Tennessee and United States senator. He stood for the union, supported President Lincoln and denounced secession. He returned to his state, from Washington, and, risking as- sassination, organized the union party.
 Lincoln appointed him military governor of Tennessee, and Johnson was regarded as an energetic, brave and loyal man. When Johnson became President, after the assassination of President Lincoln, he denounced, in one of his first utter ances, the Instructions that were being placed in the way of the government and declared that treason was crime that must be punished"
 The country breathed a sigh of relief and regarded Johnson with high favor The new President for several months had everything his own way, congress not being in session, and he proceeded to organize governments in the southern states after ideas which filled the north with alarm. Vagrancy laws and other measures adopted in these states made it practically certain that slavery wouldy be continued in a new form
 He suspended that man of iron, Secre- tary of War Stanton. and quarreled with his cabinet When congress met it thwarted him at every turn and he in turn thwarted congress. He vetoed bill after bill and the situation became intol- erable In the summer of 1866 Johnson made tour of the north and west. He appealed to the country to support him, denounced congress as rebellious. and in every way endeavored to make good the stand he had taken
 At the congressional elections that year the tide went strongly against him. The fight with congress went on so that in 1868, instead of being the candidate of the party for the Presidency, he stood at the bar of the senate on trial for impeach- ment after a resolution passed by the house of representatives.
 Johnson escaped because the two-thirds vote necessary to remove him from office was not obtained. The vote stood 35 guilty and 19 not guilty. In that year General Ulysses s. Grant was nominated for the Presidency by the republican par ty without dissenting vote, and elected over Horatio Seymour. Johnson was the only accidental President" whose party was successful in the following Presiden- tial election.
 Chester A. Arthur, when he became President on the death of President Gar field, was actuated by motives in adminis- tering his office that were new to the country He was a surprise to the practi- cal politicians of the country, because General Arthur. IS the chairman of the New York county committee, had been a follower of Conkling, who was one of the greatest representatives of the idea that to the victors belong the spells.
 General Arthur frowned on the spoilsmen and jobbers. He quarrelled with the pol iticians and many of these represented the "stalwart school' which had fought under the Grant banner. He vetoed river and harbor bill. in which politicians all over the country had an interest. The Blaine faction in the party took advan- tage of Arthur's weakness in the faction which had named him for vice president in 1Ss0 and Blaine actively entered the lists as a candidate. ta
 The representatives of the spells system and monopolistic interests in the conven- ton prevailed, and after a memorable contest, in which Blaine and Arthur were the leading candidates. Blaine was nomi- mated on the fourth ballot.
 Platt of New York, who had followed Conkling out of the senate during the fight against the Garfield administration, in which Blaine was the principal counsel Tor, headed the delegation from New York for Blaine. The best elements in the re- publican party fought for Arthur and in the ensuing election cast their strength for Cleveland, the democratic nominee.