El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-11-02


w 1884 illustrates upon what
small things a presidential election
may turn. If James G. Blaine had not
quarreled with Roscoe Conkling in
congress, ConkIing would not have
| sulked in his tent in 1884, and New
I York would have swung the Union to
! the Republicans again. Or, il Ben
Z Butler had kept out of the race as
/ the nominee of the anti AOnODOlv and
/ Greenback parties and the would be
/ nominee of the Democratic party,
J Cleveland certainly would have lost
! New York and the Democrats the
/ preSidency. Still another sff7' of that
! election was BUrchard's charge that
/ the Democracy was the party of rum,
! Romanlsm, and rebellion That in it.
! self was determination of the result.
Big and Little ifs y
/ Senator CullOm has another "if' for
I the "a fight. He says he told Blaine that
! If an accident could have befallen him
/ whereby he could have broken a leg
and remained in the west to the end
I of the campaign, he surely would have
| been president of the United States,
I and Blaine replied somewhat ruefully
I that there was not the slightest doubt
| OF II. And yet at DelmOnicO's, which
! ne would not have alienated 600 New
YORK state voters whose ballots de-
/ termined that Cleveland, and not
Blaine should occupy the white
. house for four years.
In fact, there were so many big
and little ifs in that campaign, any
( one of which might have changed the
result, that one is reminded of what
I Gen John B. Gordon said about Get
tysburg-that it must have been fore
ordained as a Union victory else at
least one OF the dozen ifs Of the
battle would have gone the other way
1 and have given a triumph to cOnfed-
crate arms.
Buffers Boom Collapsed.
When the time for nominating can
didates came the simultaneously party
was first in the field with a coRven-
ton It nominated Ben Butler. a for
mer Republican but then Democratic
governor of Massachusetts. The
Greenbackers met and also nominated
Butler. When the Democratic nation
al convention met Butler was there
as delegate with a pOcketful Of resO-
lutlOns- One OF the planks in his plat
form called for federal pensions for
confederate soldiers. for he thought
this would stampede the south to him
for the nomination. But he saw his
resolutions so hOpelessly defeated that
ne allowed his boom to collapse on
the spot and his name not brought be-
fore the convention.
Roosevelt Opposed Blaine.
President Arthur was a candidate
for his party's nomination in 1884
Senator HOar declares in his autobi-
ography that il Arthur had not made
an objectionable appointment of a
collector Of the port at Boston he
would have secured the Massachusetts
delegation, which would have brought
about his nomination. John Sherman,
John A Logan and George F. Ed
munds also were candidates, but
Blaine had the inside track in the
race. Theodore Roosevelt and Henry
Cabot Lodge were in the convention
and Roosevelt seconded the nomina-
Ilon or a negro, i r Lynch, for pre-
siding officer, after Henry Cabot
fa0rs had Mo Hrr
convention Powell Clayton was the
opposition candidate. but was defeated |
Dy Lynch by a narrow margin.
roosevelt and Lodge were support
ers OF senator Edmunds and did all
they could to encompass the defeat |
OF Blalne- COnkling was unsuccessful |
IN his effort to hand Blaine a third !
convention defeat, but when election
cient grudge.
Tammany Fought Cleveland.
me democratic national convention
met, with Tammany strongly opposing (
Grover Cleveland. It tried to defeat /
MIN by threatening to knife him at l
the pOIlS- Failing in this threat It |
sought TO break the unit rule by Of
Iering resolution that, should any of /
me deIeSates from state request it, 4
Iney could be pOlled separately. /
rms, too. was voted down. Then
Thomas F. Grady, Tammany spokes- /
man, began a long TRADE of abuse of !
stronger Cleveland became. and when
Cen Bragg followed Grady and said /
We love Cleveland for the enemies /
he has made" the verbal shot hit the
DuIIs eye and Tammany again was .
ridden over rOughshOd. Cleveland was :
nominated on the second ballot over {
Tammany's threats and protests.
The PrOhibitiOnists were in the
ueid with two tickets, although the /
one seems to have failed to nominate /
electors in any state. The irregu-
larly nominated Prohibition candidate
was Samuel c. PomerOy, of Kansas
and the nominee Of the regular con-
vention was J. P. St John, also OF {
the Sunflower state.
Mugwump Movement.
The nomination Of Blaine by the Re
publicans brought a big bolt George
william Curtis said that he was at
the birth Of the Republican party and !
was in danger Of having to witness
its death. Dozens of eminent men
like Curtis and Carl Schurz and Henry
w ard Beecher Joined the MugWump
movement against Blaine and for Gle
Veland. Between the adjournment of {
meeting of the Democratic convention /
the boilers met and declared that eve ]
look with SOlicitude to the coming /
nomination by the Democratic party; /
they have the proper men, and we (
nope they viii put them before the !
people for election
The Tammany contingent finally
got into line by a. personal appeal (
from the vice presidential candidate, I
Thomas A Hendricks. He told chief l
J ohm Kelly that he must not cut his
friend in order to get at his enemy,
and Kelly relented, resulting in the
Iammany vote in the main being cast
for the presidential candidate
The Republicans expected to see
Tammany hated.
COn6ling come back into the fold at
the eleventh hour just as he had done
when Garfield's candidacy was threat
ened with defeat, but COnkling acted
as David B. Hill did when he STAYED
close to ''WOIfert's RoOst7 in the
Bryan campaign. Had Conkling
opened his mouth or raised his finger. I
Blaine might have been president and I
the whole course of American poll
tics changed. But Conkling was not
heard from.
Blaine Popular In West.
Blaine was intensely popular in the
west, in spite of the innumerabIe
charges that were brought against |
him. His swing around the circle
created unprecedented enthusiasm in
the Mississippi valley. But when he Z
got back to New York it was differ
emit There the public opinion as to I
the prOpriety of some of his financial I
acts while in the service of the gov I
was decidedly adverse to I
him. 1t was this which led to a party
nj New York minister's ea11frcr on hin, !