El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-10-29

B. uleL
realized that civil war was the newt
able outcome, and there were some who
/ were willing that it should come early
I and be over with. When Alexander II
/ Stephens, afterWard vice president of
/ the southern cOnfederacy, left the
] United States senate, he said he was
| leaving Washington perhaps never to
I return, except it be as a prisoner of
( war He said he regarded war as ineV-
! liable if Lincoln were elected, and it
/ was fairly certain that he would be
/ after the Democrats split so hOpelessly
/ at Charleston and at Baltimore.
Lincoln Secures Electoral Vote.
/ There was possibility in that cam
paign that the opposition to Lincoln
/ could poll enough electoral votes to
{ prevent him from getting a majority
and q hope that the election would
| thus be thrown into the house. 1t was
! inquired that IN house election the
best Lincoln could do would be to get
the votes Of Is states. while Breckiu-
ridge could expect u states. The other
states would probably go to Douglas
first and then to Breckenridge. giving
! the latter the presidency, or failing in
that, Lane, the vice presidential can
didate on the Breckenridge ticket
would in the meantime be elected vice
president by the senate and would sue
coed to the presidency.
But all these calculations proved
vain, for when the returns came in,
Lincoln although receiving only two
ffths of the popular vote Of the cOun-
try, got a clear majority Of the cleo
tOral vote. There was a fusion of the
anti-LincOln tickets in Pennsylvania,
New York and New Jersey, but even
fusion could not stem the Repu blican
tide which was to sweep the Democracy
out of power and precipitate histOry's
blCOdiest war.
LineoIn's Fight with Douglas.
Lincoln always felt that he won his
q Trfa~
tOrial canvass with Stephen A Doug
las in Illinois, in 1858. Against the
continued advice Of his friends he per-
sisted In asking senator Douglas if ter
rltory could determine for itself Wheth-
ct it should be slave or free" They
told him Douglas surely would answer
that it could. and that answer would
re-elect him to the senate. That's all
right answered Lincoln, its bigger
game than a senatOrship I'm stalking
If he answers yes he breaks with his
party in the south and loses the presl-
dency. And the battle of 1860 is 60
ing to be worth hundred Of this
one"
Lincoln's prophecy proved true. The
south was determined to haVet the
right to take its slaves into any OF
the territories Of the country, and as
serted that the only time the question
could be settled was when a territory
became q state and the citizens could
vote upon the question Douglas went
to the Democratic national convention
at Charleston with majority of the
delegates in his favor, but California
and oregon, voting with the south,
gave the anti-DOuglas element control
Of the committees and the convention
locked horns over the platform.
South BOIted From Douglas.
The Douglas adherents wanted the
sort Of platform the party had when
1t elected Buchanan four years before
The other platform pronounced slaves
mr. aHs#r~ raf# ~n -re-HnH
to take them wherever he would. About
so delegates bolted. the anti-D0uglas
platform prevailed. the convention
came to a deadlock on candidates with
Douglas possessing a clear majority
but not the necessary twO-thirds, and
then 1t adjourned to Baltimore TO fin
iSh its work. Here, when the south
ern delegations found the Douglas peO-
pie in the saddle, they promptly with
drew, taking with them the permanent
chairman, caleb Cushing, Of Massachu-
sets The regular convention nOmi-
mated Douglas, the boiling convention
chose breckenridge as its standard
bearer, and the boilers from the Char
lesion convention in session at Rich
mond. ratified the choice Of Breckin-
ridge.
There was large party in the cOun-
try made up of old line Wings who
were conservative. They were neither
secessiOnists nor rabid auti-sIavery
men, but they were for the preserva-
ton OF the union They adopted
short platform. simply announcing
their faith in the constitution and their
1ealty to the union. They nominated
Bell and Everett and their appeal was
for peace
Stormy Convention by Republicans
The Republicans met in Chicago, and |
there in the first "WigWam," sur
rounded BY 10000 spectators. adopted
their platform and nominated their
ticket The leading candidates before
10 ant lion
ard, of New York, with the field against Z
him, Abraham Lincoln, strong in the
west, but little known elsewhere: and
Edward Bates, an old line Wing of
who was put forward by Hor- /
ace Greedy and others as an answer 10 {
the charge that the Republican party /
was geograp hical or sectional
Stewards Identification with Know I
and his famous -'irrepress- /
lDIe cOnIlcJ speech, hurt him in many Z
sections. William Cullen Bryant pro-
nounced him good man in bad COM I
pany doubtless having in mind the
story that ThurlOW Weed had proposed /
to give charters to certain New York !
street railways if they in turn would I
give half a million dollars to the Re
publican campaign fund il Seward were /
nominated
When the bauOting began it looked !
as If 1t would be impossible TO defeat /
Seward, whose candidacy was in the /
hands OF the master politician. ThurloW
" eed- Even so hostile an observer as {
Greedy telegraphed his paper that it .
looked as though Seward had the bulge /
on the situation, and Murat Halstead /
advised his papers to the same effect /
But during the night David Davis,
who was managing Lincolns fight I
against explicit and underscOred in
structions from his chief not to enter
upon any deal, agreed with Caleb Z
Smith that he should have a cabinet I
position if Indiana's vote were swung I
TO Lincoln. and made the same sort of I
4 deal with Cameron, of Pennsylvania. /
Seward Brigade Locked Out.
Another incident believed to have had ]
4 bearing on the result, was the organ
cation of a big claQUe in the galleries
IN favor of Lincoln. Determined that
the voice OF Illinois should be heard /
literally in the convention, a citizen of
Chicago, famous for a voice that was
able to make itself heard above the
roaring of the mightiest tempest. was
employed to lead the Lincoln cheering
He was assisted by a Democrat. DR.
Ames of the same city. Meanwhile |
he Seward enthusiasm brigade" was
)ff parading the city with a string Of
BRASS bands, and by the time they re-
urned to the "Wigwam' the galleries
were filled with Lincoln supporters
md the fire doors closed
One of the amusing Incidents of the
convention was the Introduction by
Joshua Giddings of an amendment to
he ulaffOTu1 rn1 fffru7iucr fha doctrine I