Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-10-26

BY Frederic J. Has<in.
In many ways the campaign OF 1S4s,
which resulted in the election Of
Zachary Taylor, resembled the ono
now drawing to a close. Then an ex-
president was leading new party
just as an ex-president 10 now leading
a new party. Then the new party was
launched by a bolt from a regular con-
vention, just as a new party was
formed by bolt from the Chicago Re-
publican convention last summer.
Whether the similarity stops there.
only the future can tell. VIII the ex-
president today meet the same fate
that the ex-president Of 1s4s met
Will the new party Of today fare a. the
new party of 1S4S Jared?
There was difference in the stu
alton then as compared with now. Just
as there were points of similarity. The
ex-president who then was a candidate
had been out of office two terms in
stead of one, and had held It but for
four years. He himself had been de-
feated for re- election when he was the
nominee Of his party to succeed him.
self, and in the succeeding national
convention Of his party had been de-
feated by a dark horse in his candidacy
for a third nomination.
The political pot began to boil early
in preparation for the campaign of
1S48. The first convention OF the
campaign was that of the Native
Americans, held in the middle period
OF 1847. 1t nominated Henry A. S.
Dearborn for vice president. and rec
ommended' General Zachary Taylor
for the presidency. Later In the same
year the Abolitionists met and nom
mated John 2. Hale Of New Hampshire
and Leicester King OF Ohio. But when
the Free Sellers nominated Martin Van
Buren,, as we shall presently see. the
Abolitionists regarded him an good
enough -abolitionist" for them, and
Hale and King withdraw in his favor.
The Democratic Convention.
The Democrats held their national
convention the last Of May. 1s4s. There
had been for two years in New York
bitter feud between two factions In
the Democratic party. One was called
the Hunkers They were the national
administration element in the state,
and they got their name from their
supposed "hankering" for office, 1t being
said Of them that they hungered and
thirsted more after office than after
righteousness. The other faction was
called the Barn Burners, because. 1t
was said, they were like the Dutch
farmer who burned down his barn In
order to rid 1t Of rats. Some of their
enemies claimed that they came by
the title because they actually acted as
more modern might riders" have acted
in our recent history.
Behind Van Buren,, who had been
defeated four years before for third
nomination by the two-thirds rule Gust
as Champ Clark was this year, stood
the Barn Burners. Silar Wright, chief
lieutenant of Van Buren,. had run for
governor of New York in 1874 to save
the state for Polk. and had won. Polk
promptly recognized the Hunkers In
administration matters, and in 1916
Wright was defeated for reelection. q
defeat which the Barn Burners charged
in It's entirety to the Hunkers.
When the national convention came
off both factions sent contesting dele
cations. The Barn Burners were head
ed by Samuel j. Tilden, and the Hun
kers by Daniel f.. Sickles, the aged vet
eran who still lives, and who, after Ga
years, is now in the political arena as
a Bull Mooser. The convention tried to
patch up the New York situation by
compromise. II decided to seat both
delegations with half a vote EACH But
the Barn Burners wanted no compro-
mise: they wanted blood or nothing.
The other side felt the same way about
II. SO both factions refused to vote.
The convention nominated Lewis
Cass OF Michigan for president. and
william @. Butler of Kentucky for vice
president After this. young Sickles
made an impa ssioned speech to the con