The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-06-13

kan, Dy a single flight OF Grarory, cap
tureo a great national convention. and
nominated himself for the presidency.
IL has truly been said that no mere
starting individual triumph has been
recorded in the politics Of the century
than that which followed the one ef-
fort which enabled William Jennings
Bryan 20 emerge from mist ana OBJ
security into the bright sunlight But
brilliant as was This victory, il IS like
~ in the words of a veteran statesman.
20 prove "a transient fash ca which
the midnight closed
This remarkable triumph naturally
directs attention % the power Of pOite-
zeal OEatory and its ability TO sway the
emotions and the reasons Of men. The
convention halls Of great political par
ties are the national forums wherein
the abiest and most eloquent of Amer
lean orators are melted 10 their lOftlest
efforts. II we except Blaine's eulOgy
Of the martyred Garfield and John
Hays admirable grafton on the muir
dered Mckinley, both OF which are sure
10 be numbered among the classics lew
great political OTatiOns are comparable
with those notable efforts which some
times illuminate the proceedings OF ma
tiOnal political conventions.
1t has often been doubted whether
OratOry, or even elOquence. has any
part Ga bringing about the deliberate
results Of these large conventions.
James A. Garfield. i'm the speech which
he made in the national Republican
convention at Chicago In 1850, nominate
ing John Sherman for the presidency
put this doubt into words He said that
not i'm that brilliant gathering, where
600 men and women were assembled
was the destiny Of the republic 2 be
decreed; not there, where ne saw the
enthusiastic faces OF I56 delegates wait
ing 10 cast their votes into the urn and
determine the wishes Of their party
but by 100000 Republican hreSdes,
where the thoughtful fathers with
wives and children about them, with
the calm thoughts inspired by love OF
home and love of country, with the his
tory of the past the hopes Of the tu-
ture, and the knowledge of the gfeat
men who had adorned and blessed the
nation i'm days gone by-tneir COD
would prepare the verdict that should
determine the wisdom of the work
about 10 be performed by the conFen-
ton. Some of these sentiments cannot
be gainsaidi but it is quite certain that
in the days gone by men have captured
the multitude by the magic Of their
voices, and it is possible that history
may still repeat itself.
The late Roscoe CCnkling had few
equals as a speaker. and his address
nominating General Grant Ior the
presidency at the Chicago convention
in 1850 still stands forth as master
piece of nominating Oratory, HIS open
ing sentence captured the cOnFentlon'
or at least that portion OF Ii when
stood by Grant so loyalty TO the last
1t was.
when asked, whence comes our
candidate we reply, from AppomatoX.
That single sentence east a hood or
light upon the whole history of the
candidate who was about TO be placed
ia nomination. 1t showed the grim, un-
pretending soldier who had little TO
say, but who always achieved notable
results. Some Of the other paragraphs
I'm that notable address viii live for
ever, and have been used and reused IN
their entirety and i'm modified forms by
political orators from that day to TINS
For instance, not this sentece against
the enemies of Grant: The ammunl-
ti0n of caIumuy has all been exploded
the powder has all been burned at
once; its force is spent and General
Grants name win glitter as bright
and imperishable star i'm the dladem
of the republic when they 1NhO nave
tried to tarnish it viii have mOldered
in forgotten graves and their memo
ries and epitaphs have vanished ut
terly.' And then its conclusion, when
was, eve have only to listen above
hour to behold the Republican party
advancing to victory, with its greatest
marshal at its head Senator Conk-
ling's OTatOry breathed OF his person
aliUy-it was dOgmatc, majestic and
imperioUs; but in spite of all this and
the Unwavering persistence OF the 316,
Grant did not obtain the nomination
IN that convention.
Another notable nominating speech
was the oratiOn-f0r such it was
wherein robert q. IngersOl placed the
/ name OF James @. Blaine before the
republican delegates who had gath
eIed IN national convention at Cincin-
AaI ia 1876. IngersOll said that the
country, crowned with the vast and
/ marvellous achievements of it's first
century. asked for man who was wor-
I my OF the past prophetic of the fu-
Luie5 asked Tor a man who had the au-
I uaclty or genius asked for a man who
/ was the gFandest combination of heart.
Z conscience and brain beneath her flag.
1hen ne pictured Blaine as a statesman
/ VINO had preserved in congress what
I our soldiers had won upon the field.
I ana from this proceeded 10 discuss the
/ charges that had been made against
Z Blaine by his enemies. He accounted
T Tor them by saying that Blaine was
the man who had torn from the throat
/ OF treason the tongue Of SANDER, and
VINO was moreover, an intellectual
! aLnlete who had stood I'M the arena of
! DEBATE and challenged all Corners Then
came lhaI I'M -rlsnaDIe sentence: Like
/ an armed warrior, like a pIumed
/ knight. James G.. Blaine marched down
/ the halls of the American congress and
I threw his shining lance fun and fair
/ against the bTazeu fOreheads of the de-
/ Iamers of his country and the malign-
eIs OF ms hOnOr.' This is the portion
I OF IngersOl's address which viii live
/ when the other parts OF il have been
} forgotten. And yet his perOration
aroused his hearers to state of almost
| hysJeFlcal enthusiasm, 4 1t was when he
/ said that Illinois in nominating Blaine
/ for the presidency, did SO in the name
[ Of the republic, in the name of all her
/ defenders, in the name of all her sol
I diers living. i'm the name of all the sol
I diers dead upon the field of battle. and
/ in the name of those who persisted ia
/ the skeleton clutch of famine at Auder-
sOnville and Libby. 1t was also in
/ this speech that IngersOll gave Blaine
I the other caption, THE Prince Of Par
/ iiameutarians"
General Garfield was a splendid
/ orator. fact that he demonstrated
I both on the floor Of the house Of rep
reseEtatives and the United states SEN
ate. His speech in the national Re
{ publican convention at Chicago in 1880
I in dominating Sherman, has probably
been one of the most discussed and
most criticised pieces of nominating
/ OratOry in the last half century. Car
/ fields unexpected nomination for the
T presidency I'm that convention brought
I with it a mood Of rumors regarding his
I loyalty TO John Sherman. Those who