El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-06-15

WI The Democratic victory OF
w 1884 was repeated in the con-
gressionaI elections Of 1856 and presi-
dent Cleveland believed that the cOun-
try Rad given him its mandate to re-
form the tariff downward He sent
message to congress toward the end
of his first term that set the two par
ties az loggerheads on the tariff issue
and that would have di gided the cOun-
try into two distinct bodies Of opinion
had it not been fer the strong cross
current of the currency problem
Wheu the time came to make NOM
nations in 1855 there was much grumb-
ling among Democratic politicians who
were displeased with CleVelandS in
dependent attitude in the matter of the
dispensatiOn of pie, but Grover CleVe-
land was the only man the Democrats
had put in the white house since the
war and the masses of his partisans
would not hear to any opposition to
his denomination
Cleveland Again Nominated.
The Democrats met at St Louis and
Cleveland was promptly nominated by
reclamation, an honor that had come
to no man in a Democratic convention
since Martin Van Burens second NOM
inatiOn in 1910. Allen G. Thurman, Of
Ohio, the Old Roman" was given Sec
ond place on the ticket and while there
tariff plank in the platform, the sur
face indications were that the party
was more nearly united than it ever
had been since MOnrOe's time
The Republicans. on the other hand.
were at sea True, the tariff reform
element had been almost eliminated,
and the party was unit in favor OF
protection, but there was no leader TO
claim as Of right the captainCy Of the
Republican hosts
The organization Republicans were
for John Sherman-an old and trusted
leader who had been bidding for the
nomination for president for many
years. The 'mugWump' element was
for Walter @ Gresham, of Indiana.
the favOrite of the labor leaders Rus
sell A Alger was for Alger, Chauncey
" DepeW was for DepeW. William b
Allison and some others were for Al
lisOn- ingalls, Of Kansas, Hawley Of
Connecticut Phelps Of New Jersey and
Rusk of Wisconsin were the prOprie-
tors Of state bOOms and highly polished
lightning rods. Benjamin Harrison had
two ambitions, to gain the nomination
for himself If possible, and to keep it
from going to Gresham in any event
Harrison was able. he had been men
toned as possible compromise can
didate in more than one convention
heretofore, and he was the grandson OF
William Henry Harrison. the hero of
the never to be forgotten Log Cabin
and Hard cider campaign of 1910.
The precOQventiOn fight saw Sher-
man well in the lead The Sherman
forces carefully and extensively
bought up the southern delegations,
many of which were then frankly on
the bargain counter. only to lose them
TO Alger. whose men with equal care
and expense bought them away from
Blaine stim the Idol.
The other factor was James G.
Blaine. The defeated favorite in the
conventions of 1876 and 1880, and the
a. 60 81
yet the idol Of the Republican masses
and was looked upon as the Henry Clay
Of the Republican party. Once more
he wanted the nomination, once more
many of the voters wanted him TO
have it. But he was the only Republic
can candidate since Fremont who had
suffered defeat at the polls and the
politicians believed him TO be unaVail-
able He never got more than As votes
in this convention. but until he cabled
from Europe, on the sixth day OF the
session. Withdrawing his name, the
deadlock could not be broken
sherman Leads.
On the first ballot John sherman led
with 2Zy votes, followed by Gresham
with III, Depew with 90, Alger with
81. Harrison with so Allison with 70
Blaine with s.. ingalls, with 2S. Rusk
and Phelps with % each. Filter, Of
PENNSYLVANIA, with "A. Hawley with
IS, Robert T. Lincoln with and Wiz
liam Mckinley with >.
On the second and third tests Sher-
man, Gresham and Ager made great
gains at the expense OF the favOrite
sons. The opposition to sherman was
determined. The HarrisOn-G Gresham
quarrel was bitter. The Alger boom
was artificial Allison gained a few
votes on each ballot and to some OBJ
servers it seemed certain that the
Iowa man would land the prize Nc
kinley was getting a fairly good com
plimentary vote and he was talked OF
as a possible dark horse.
But Gresham's strength on the third
ballot-he had gone Up to 123-SO
frightened the strict party men that
leaders like Quay turned TO Harrison
as the solution OF the problem. On the
fourth ballot Harrison had forged
forward until he was second in the
race with 213 to his credit But ALI
with the man who kept the town IL
brary at his home. After working az