El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-06-03

in the history Of the United
states was tlat of 1910, in which VIII
liam Henry Harrison defeated Martin
Van Buren, for president The Demo
cratic party lad then been dominant
in the naIio1. for 40 years, and in this
campaigu the younger generation re-
VOTED. il was young men I'm
paign and, although their candludte
was the oldest man ever elected 70 tnc
presidency, the yadvOcated MS cause
with a frenzy of enthusiasm lldL SUN
marks the high tide Of political excite
ment i'm America 1t was the famous
log cabin and hard cider campaign
a campaign in which the opposition 70
the Jackson Democratic party, athOu5A
rot united on any pOllLlcdl pEluCl PIE
sunk their faCtiOnal Quarrels IN their
hatred of Jackson and Van Buren, ana
with the newly conceived articles OF a
popular campaign, pressed on 10 gam
The First WING Convention.
The national convention that nomln-
ated Gen. Harrison was neId AT mar
/ rIsburg. Dec. 4. 1888 This was the
first Wing national convention prop
erIv socaued. The WING party mad
been organized I'm 1888, but the opposl-
ton TO the Democrats held no na-loldl
convention in 1886. How inconsruOus
were the elements that made up the
new party is proved by the Nv hlS
Almanac for 1888, which said that the
party was composed OF I'D most on
he Rational Republicans who had sup
ported Adams and Clay, ana ADVOCATED
a protective tariff; % most OF tliose
who had been stigmat1Zed as nul4illefs
and states rights men, ana VINO We
thrown into armed neutrality toward
the government by the proclamation
against South CalOrina; majority OF
the anti MasOus and many jackson
men who had condemned the Ilsll on
the bank; Cd and those opposed 10
the palpable usurpattOns of the eNecl-
tive and the imminent peril TO the
o ~ M o.
pie" Thus, the Wings comprised 1otA
the high protectiOnists of PennsylVa-
MIA and the freetraders Of SCUM caro-
lima: the Federalists of New England,
and the states rights men Of the SoutA-
Their first national convention ola not
dare adopt platform, because the del
egates never could have agreed upon
any statement of principles Ihelr
one bond of union was their hatred OF
the Democratic party and their de-
termination to prevent Van bureh re-
election.
The first Wing convention was no
table for two things II made Its NOM
inatiOn by means Of a unique system
that has not since been revived ana
ii marks the beginning or the sra OF
practical policies IN naLlonal conFen-
tiOns. Indeed, the first innovation was
the result Of the latter, because the
scheme was got up for the purpose OF
defeating Clay for the nomination
A special rule was adopted by which
the delegation of each state selected
committee of three. these comm tLee-
men TO assemble as committee or
the whole. The state delegations N
separate meetings were TO ballot ana
then deliver their ballots TO their COM
mittee Of three. TO be later compared
by the committee OF the whole me
selection, of course, was made in these
state committee meetings, but only
the result was made known in the con-
The Plot Against Clay.
After a three day struggle, Harri-
son had received a majority, having
las votes as against 80 for Henry Gay
and is for Winfield Scott That clay
was the popular iaTorite even In the
convention is proved by the fact that
on the first ballot he received lu5 votes
to 81 for Harrison and 81 for scott
Thaddeus Stevens was the master OF
the convention He had cOnspired Win
Thurlow Weed 10 overthrow cay
whose popularity was dangerous from
the viewpoint OF q practical politician.
Stevens had been an anti Mason. and
he soon convinced the convention that
they could never get the anti Masonic
vote for Clay who was a Roya1 Arcn
Mason He also urged that the con-
yentiOn nominate a military man, so
that the Wings could use the war hero
machinery that the Democrats had so
Of Cen Jackson Both Scott and Har-
risOn were heroes" of the war OF
1912. Both were natives Of virginia,
as was Clay, and curiOusly enough, 1t
~ =
gates TO settle the issue
stevens had managed 70 get a let
ter from Harrison, promising MN q
cabinet position if he were elscteq'
and this decided the Pennsylvania lead
er. Stevens also had letter from
Cen Scott. who lis, perhaps, the most
famOusly unfortunate letter writer IN
our political history. This letter was
written TO Francis Granger, and in II
Scott flirted with the abOliuOnisI SEN
timent in the north stevens, oy a
carefully planned accident, let TINS
letter drop on the floor Of the room
occupied by the Virginia delegation. IL
was found. Instantly the virginia del
egates sOldified in support or Harrl-
rewarded by Stevens throwing the
nomination of vice president 20 Jonn
Tyler, a Nirginian who haQ IeLt lle
Democratic party because he was
states rights man OF the OalHouh
First Boosters Appear.
At this first Wing convention the
marching clubs and boosters orsaillAa-
tons made their first appearance,
notable one being the Ilppecanoe eluo
from Philadelphia stevens organic
ton. This convention was Oelhs held
at the very time that John quincy Adj
ans was bringing order out Of chaos
in the house OF representatives, Where
the balance between Wings and Demo-
Gratis was so close thal we Ho~se lot
weeks was not able 10 organize vol
lowing the example of the old NATIONAL
Republicans. this convention called
national convention Of younS men
TO meet in Baltimore on May 4, which,
BY coincidence of course, was the cate
named for the meeting of the national
Democratic convention
The Democratic convention met in
Baltimore as usual, and is notable as
being the last national convention that
failed 10 make nominations for both
president and vice president. The re-
nomination of Van Buren, was a fore
gone conclusion. and was made by ac-
Clamation But the opposition 70 r. NJ
Johnson for vice president that had
almost disrupted the convention four
years before was so marked that it
was deemed eXpedient not to nomin-
ate any candidate for vice president
but to leave the matter to the electors.
IL was. perhaps the most uneventfuI
OF am Democratic conventions before
the war SO far as the convention it.
self was concerned
Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.
The Young mems Wing convention
meetfna i'm Baltimore at the same
time. was nothing more than an inn
rnense -rallv." Already the enthusiasm
for arTfpDecanoe and Tyler too had
sDread over the country, and the
sneakers i'm the Democratic convention
sneered contemptuously at the antics
of their rivals. IL was too early for