Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1903-09-02

and other states of their locality mean
that the Republicans have failed once
more in their endeavor to gain an I'M
portant foothold in the Southern
states? 1t looks that way. The Re
publicans. of course, have controlled
Delaware, Maryland and West Nir-
ginia for several years. and they are
likely to hold those states With the
possible exception of Maryland, IN
1907. When it is remembered, how
ever, that in the political divisions OF
nalf a century ago and earlier, the
Wings used to control many of the
slave states in most Of the elections,
the Republicans success in their
proselyting propaganda in the South
has not been marked. Moreover. there
is no reason to suppose that outside
of Delaware. Maryland. West Virginia,
Kentucky and Missouri the RepubE-
cans in 1901 Will make any attempt to
win any of the states in which slavery
existed in 1860.
1t WAS natural that at the outset in
its career the Republican party would
find very little favor in the South. 10y
its program of hostility to slavery
in the territories the Republican party
did not assail The institution directly
in the states in which it existed, yet
as the dominant sentiment in those
states was that extension was neees-
sary to its maintenance there. the
Republicans were necessarily assailcd
by a majority of all the slaVeholdlnS
communities. In the convention st
Philadelphia i'll 1856, the first national
nominating gathering of the Republl-
can party. only four slave states were
represented These were Delaware,
Maryland Virginia and Kentucky. The
patry was confined to the free states
almost solely. Although Fremont, the
Republicans first presidential noml-
nee. had | 300 600 votes in the coun-
try at large. as compared With 1900.
600 for Buchanan. the Democratic can
didate. he had little less than LOO
votes in the slave states, and these
were obtained in the four just men
toned. The Democrats opponent IN
the South in the canvass OF 1896 was
the Know Nothing Cor Amerlean
party. whose candidate was eX-Presl-
dent Fillmore. Fillmore received a
large vote in every slave state; he won
one of them, Maryland. and he was
only a little way behind Buchanan IN
Kentucky. Tennessee. Florida and Lou
isiana.
1t NAV be asked. How was it tnat
Missouri. with which Fremont had
quasi-connection through marriage
ties and brief residence, and in which
the Bentonian antislavery element OF
the Democratic party was strong. dld
not figure among the slave states
which cast some votes for the Repub'
lican ticket of 1856? The reason was,
the Republican party did not nave
regularly formed organization III MIS-
souri, in 1856, but got one soon after
ward. Benton himself. who was
candidate for governor in 1856 on an
Independent Democratic platform,
supported Buchanan, as against ms
own son-in-aw, for president, al
though Benton held precisely the same
attitude on the dominant issue of the
day, hostility to slavery extension INTO
the territories. that was held by ERE,
mont and the Republican party \
man who has heen a member OF a
political organizaticn fer half cen
tuYv and Benton l.aI been q Demo-
crat for that length Of tjnae. usually
finds it difficult 10 cha0se hls party
name. even theugh. as il Benton 3
ease. lie has changed lis eeeed or ha
diyereed from his party en- th&t-eree4
While Benton was lalAi"e far tree
sol. Ii 1S52 and =IS-tt He Hsed= Sc Pre-.
test =yiglrous}y y a.sa IS. =heing calico 4
Free soIer lie eluas 1o ~ aanylla,
tfan Democrat 70 Vie en3 ef his active
davs II politics. 1876 even thoreh the
Democratic candidate stood on=a niaI
fern al tha. time which he rejected.
a4d the Republican romiuee creed
vss identical VIII that winch he pro
c.a:-a3. TIE principal reason how