The Washington herald., 1908-09-04


Chorus sung by the triumphant Whigs-
II was the most exciting political race
Of our history. and it ended by the over
whelming election Of William Henry Hsr-
rison TO be President and John TyIer TO
be Vice President It was the first cam
paign in which cartoons. emblems- .popu-
lsr slogans. and political songs had a
vogue and il was the first in which a
candidate for President took the stump
to appeal 70 the voters directly.
And have you heard the news from Maine?
How il went
Heu-bent
For Gove-1c- ke1t.
Ard Tiupsca-oe ard Tyler. TOO
For Tippeoa1oe and Tyler. too"
That was one Of the thousand great
Whig SONGS Of the campaign It has lived
because OF the aIIiterative lit OF the re-
frain For Tippecan0e and Tyler. too
and because Of the memory of the tor
nadO OF enthusiasm which greeted It's ap-
pearance. Il was in September OF the
campaign Harrison was well in the lead.
but the Van Buren administration and
the old Jackson machine was straining
every effort 10 stem the Wing uprising
The September elections in Maine and
Vermont. were then. as now. taken as
sJraws 70 show the trend OF the political
air currents
Horace Greeley entered the arena Of IA
rionaI politics in this year He started &
campaign paper in New York called The
Log Cabin" In every issue II printed
from ten TO twenty Wing campaign songs.
On the day IL presented the glorious news
OF the redemption OF Maine for Maine
had been q strong Democratic State, it
also published the words and music Of
the song ''Tippecanoe and Tyler. Too"
The stanza about the Maine election was
evidently interpoIa1ed al the last moment
As It first appeared. il read.
On. nave yo1 heard the news f-un Maine. Maine.
Al honest and true7
Fer Governor Kent and 500 gain
For Tlppzcanoe and Trls-, too.
Il was not q week before the popuIace
had revised the particular staaza with
the famous triple rhyme OF "went-bent-
Kent" The first sranza Of the original
song. which many old men wiu sing for
you today with Gua-eriug voice. was
What has caused tie So -z5tioa,
Our c1u1--F through
i is the BAL a--1-ins On
Fer Tirpecaa1s and Tyisr. too.
Tlpre1loe --5 TTler. too
And with them ven beat little Va Van. Van.
Van Is q ussdup nan,
And With then ven beat little Van
The campaign Of 1ss0 IS called the Log
Cabin and Hard Cider campaign" Il all
came about because Of the conplacent
superiority OF the Democrats Van Buren
had beaten Harrison IN 1885,, and when the
Wings turned down their great Clay and
again nominated the venerable Harrison.
the Democrats could GO nothing but
laugh. Having beaten Harrison once,
sibIe for them 70 be beaten by Harrison
The sneers al the Wing candidate ap-
Peared IN every Democratic paper. but it
- Aned for the Baltimore Republican
70 ay-
e hin a barrel of hard cider. and
settl. a pension Of S2658 a year on him.
and. my word for it. he viii sit the re-
mainder OF his days IN his log cabin. by
the side OF a sea-coal fire. and study
moral philosophy That paragraph was
not so cruel perhaps. as the New York
Evening Posts appeal 20 the ladies 70
send in secondhand shoes and hats so
that the poverty-s-Ticken Harrison might
appear in decent clothing before the peo-
pie, but II struck the Wings as utterly
contemplate Therefore they turned the
tables. took up the hard cider and log
cabin" sneers at their candidate and pro-
claimed 10 the world that. as true demo
Gratis, they were supporting a man who
lived in a log cabin and drank hard cider
"a third Cincinnatus-
The Wings. and their predecessors in
opposition 10 the Democrats. had had ex-
ceIlent opportunity TO judge Of the eff
cheney Of The Hero in politics For four
Presidential campaigns Andrew Jackson
had been unconquerable with the people
IN 1886 Harrison had been a candidate.
but there was little reference 10 his war
record But IN 1910 he was put forth by
his ardent followers as a real. true. and
genuine war hero. He was the hero OF
the Battle Of the Thames. Of the Battle OF
Fort Meigs. and he had overcome the
mighty chieftain- Tecumseh, at the Bat
tie OF Tippecanoe- The Democratic caudi-
date for Vice President Richard II John
son, Of Kentucky. had slain TecUmseh
with his own hand, and a few Of the
younger Democrats tried 20 retallate with
johnson as a hero But it didn't so.
johnson was not popular to begin with,
and 1910 was distinctively not a Dsmo-
cratic year
The panic Of 1SS7, brought On BY over
speculation and TOO much confidence in
the great governmental prosperity as
prop for individual prosperity had re-
out OF work bank deposits had been IoSt
IN bank wrecks and the country was IN a
terrible condition. Whether rightly OF
wrongly. the party in power was held 10
be responsible and the Whig landslide
was inevitable
When the Wings net at Harrisburg
there were three candidates Henry Clay
the real soul Of the party. William Henry
Harrison. and Winfield Scott Thaddeus
Stevens made his first entry into the
realm OF practical-and dirty-politics in
this convention He was an anti-AIason
and he soon convinced the convention
that It would be impossible 70 get the
anti-1Iason vote for Clay. who was a
Royal Arch Mason With Clay eliminated
the race was between Scott and Harri-
son. both heroes Of the War OF 1S1Z Both
were born IN Virginia, as was Clay. and
curiOusly enough, il required the vote OF
the Virginia delegation to settle the is
sue Thad Stevens was for Harrison be
cause he had a letter from Harrison
promising hin q Cabinet position Il Har-
risOn was nominated and elected
Stevens also had a letter from Gen.
Scott written to Francis Granger. in
which Scott was flirting with the abo-