Semi-weekly herald., 1912-07-01
DEMOCRATIC BATTLES.

nomination DatJleS are recdlleu Dy the
lineup of candidates whose support
ers met in Baltimore last Tuesday to
fight for their nomination to The pres-
dency OH The Democratic ticket. No
table among these past battles OF the
Democracy are the Democratic con
Nentions Of 1914 and 1896. Each Of |
these was held under conditions SIM
liar in many respects TO those which |
will enshroud the present convention
and in each of them dark horse"
carried off the prize.
The national convention Of 1S44, |
perhaps most resembles the present
Democratic meeting. Then, as now,
the candidates for the presidency went
to Baltimore without sufficient dele
gates irrevocably pledged to them
to make their nomination certain; yet
then as now, one candidate was the
favorite in the prenomination fore
casts. The strong Democratic oardi
date for the nomination at that time
was Martin Van Buren,, up for tue
nomination to the presidency for a
second term. Van Buren was defeat
cd by James X. Polk, the first dark
horse" to carry off national hono-s IN
either party.
Van Buren's name came before the
national Democratic convention at Bal.
tinore in much the same plane in
poin. of strength as will the name OF
Champ Clark in the present fig,l. lie
was regarded as the STRONG man"
of the party and ever since his de-
feat for reelection to the presidency
in 1s40 his friends had been quietly
working for his nomination tarougn
party newspapers and mass meetings.
Consequently, when the convention
met many of the delegates had either
been instructed for him or were elect
ci an his friends. Van Bureh NEST
dangerous rival was General Ca IS of
Michigan, who held about the samo
relative position with regar'l to pledg
co delegates as does Governor Wood
row Wilson of New Jersey Today.
The other possible Democratic nomi-
nees were John C. Calhoun and ex-
Vice-President johnson. EACH Uf these,
however, had only a small following.
When the convention convened the
Democrats faced much the same prob
lem as they did on Tuesday. This
problem was the selection of man to
wage successful fight against the
nominee of the opposing party, who at
that time was Henry Clay, leader of
the Wings. There were many how
ever who believed Van Buren would be
unable to win against Clay.
This sentiment grew and was fos-
tered by the cohorts of Andrew Jack
son, who had become estranged from
Van Buren on account of his agree
ment with Clay to eliminate the Texas
annexation question from the cam
paign. These men set about secur-
ing Van Buren's defeat by forcing
motion through the convention to OBJ
serve the wo-thirds rule which had
been adopted by the Democratic ma
tional body in 1882 and 1886 The |
motion was carried and the ballotirg
began.
There were 267 delegates to the
convention, and in order to secure the
nomination Van Buren needed ITS
votes. On the first ballot he secured
146 votes to 100 for all the others.
On the second ballot Van Ruren Sc
cured 1877 votes, Cass SO, johnson Pa,
Buchanan A, Woodbury. 2, Stewart /
Calhoun 6.
On the third ballot Van Buicn's
votes slumped to 121, on the fourth
he registered Ill, on the fifth l03 and |
OF the sixth 101 votes.
On the seventh ballot General Cass
OF Michigan took the lead with 1913 |
votes, with Van Buren next with 20 |
and Buchanan and Johnson bringing |
Up the rear with % and 21 votes re-
spectively.
At this time Van Buren's waning |
power before the national body and |
Cass' corresponding gains seemed to
indicate that the latter would be the
Democratic presidential nominee. On
the eighth vote however, James X.
Polk of Tennessee, the dark horse"
made his entry in the race by receis-
ing "A votes. The score now stood
Van Buren l04, Cass la, Buchanan 2,
Calhoun 2, and Polk IA.
Polk had not been even talked Of
for the presidency until after the
opening of the convention, but a few
of his friends had previously urged
his nomination as a candidate for the
vice presidency. The appearance Of
his name on the eighth ballot was
therefore considerable surprise, both
to the delegates and to the party lead
ers. 1t seemed, however, as though
he was almost universally recognized
as the only man to pacify the warring
factions and lead the Democrats to
success, for on the ninth ballot there
was stampede in his favor. The
vote on this ballot stood, Polk 1888,
Cass 90 and Van Buren 2.
So sudden was the change that the
Democratic leaders in Washington,