, 1906-06-16
FIFTY YEARS OF THE REPUBLI
CAN PARTY,

Charles NJ. Harvey, the able editorial
writer for the st. Louis Globe-Demo-
crat, presents the following compre-
hensive and intensely Interesting his.
torical sketch of the republican party
in a recent issue OF his paper. The
golden jubilee OF the great organiza-
ton will be httingly celebrated in the
hall at Philadelphia where Fremont
was nominated at a convention held on
the 18th, 18th and 18Th Of June, 1856,
the meeting beginning on Monday OF
next week. Wyoming unites with sis
ter states in the general rejoicing and
the history of the great party should
be familiar to old and young republi-
cans alike, so the editorial is repro
duced in full. True, indeed, is tho
declaration which Mr.. Harvey makes;
1.-THE annals OF the United States in the
fifty years between Fremont's nomina-
ton in 1856 and these days OF Roose-
welt is the history Of the republican
party" The sketch Is as follows;
"A year or two before he died George
w. Julian said the republican party
would have been born before the sos
ended, even If the Missouri compro-
mise had not been repealed. Mr.. Julian
was one of the founders OF the Republi.
lican party. AS u leading spirit in the
free soil party, which was born in 1913,
and which participated in the presiden.
tial canvasses of that year and of 1852,
he necessarily was well acquainted witt
the anti-slayery sentiment of the time,
and that little party furnished the
creed and also the nucleus for the big
coalition of all the enemies of slavery
extension, which came together in 1854
as a result of the Missouri compromise
repeal. and which became the republi
can party. Most persons, however, will
believe that 1t needed that overt act to
force all the friends OF freedom in the
various parties into harmony on the
slavery issue. Under the Missouri com
promise of 1920, Missouri. after max
ing one or two s%tipulations which
many of its people did not like. came
into the union as a slave state in 1921,
and slavery was excluded from all the
rest of the Louisiana region north of
SO degrees 80 minutes, which is Mis-
souri's southern boundary throughout
the greater part of its length.
when Douglas, in 1854, pushed
through congress the Kansas-Nebraska
territorial act, signed by Pierce, which
removed this Missouri barrier, he gave
slavery an equal chance with freedom
in the region which had been set apart
Tor freedom by the legislation of a gen
GRAFTON earlier, and he aroused a storm
of protest INT denunciation through
the north. The great parties of that
day were the democrats and wings, and
the minor parties were the know-noth'
ings subsequently called Americaus),
and the free sellers, who also included
the the abolitionists. All the free soil,
ers, nearly all the northern wings, NOSE
of the northern know nothings, and a
small element of the northern demo-
Gratis We're opposed to the extension
of slavery beyond the limits of the
states in which it then existed. The
repeal of the Missouri compromise
brought the issue of freedom for the
territories up in such a menacing shape
that parties were compelled to drop ey.
erything else and divide on this burn
ing question. This forced all the anti
slavery men, of every partisan COM
plexion, into an alliance which absorb
ed the free sellers and abolitionists
bodily, and which took in the bulk of
the wings from the free states, and
considerable numbers of the democrats
and know nothings. Though the wings
composed much more han half of the
new party, neither their name nor tina
of the free sellers could be adopted 70
it, and a distinctive designation had {,
be invented. Thus the name republi
can, which had been the original it'll,
of Jefrerson's old party, was adopted.
So far as can be definitely traced. the
first formal movement toward the for
nation of an anti-slayery party bearing
NS +SFNbAASdA name was aue at the
little town Of Ripon, Wis, on February
rs 1854. This was n few days before
Douglas had pushed his Ne
braska bill through the senate but
when its passage in that chamber, and
also in the house was seen to be ineyi-
table. The participants in that Ripon
gathering were drawn from all the PAR
ties-whigs, democrats, free sellers
and know nothings, with the wings in
the majority. The leading spirit in that
meeting was Alvin E. Boyay, n whig.
Mr.. Bovay and other leading speakers
at that meeting said that its partici.
pants ought to abandon their old party
Affiliations and join in opposing the ex,
tension Of slavery, and they pledged
themselves 10 do this. and carried out
their pledge, Mr.. Bovay declared then.
and at a subsequent meeting.
March 20, that he name of their new
organization should be the republican
party. Two months later Douglas bill
went through the house and n fevv