El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-06-07

The Democrats met IN Cincinnati on
June 2-the first national convention
ever held west of the Allegheny noun
tains. The extension Of the telegraph
by this time had so increased the
scope OF newspaper reports that Tor
the first time columns upon columns
were printed about the precOnyention
campaign. President Pierce was a
candidate for reelection, but the sup
porters of James Buchanan were con-
fident that their favOrite would win
Stephen a. Douglas, of Illinois, was a
candidate early in the year, but, so
the newspapers said, he had realized
that it was impossible successfully to
oppose Buchanan and therefore he
would be content to make d showing Of
strength in the convention with a
I view to winning the nomination FOR
! himself four years hence
Has Record Attendance.
The interest in the convention was
manifested by the fact that there were
no less than 10000 strangers IN Cln-
cinnati, the biggest crowd that up to
that time, had ever been attracted by a
national convention 1t was estimated
by the newspapers that the delegates
and lOOkersOn spent no less than a
quarter Of a million dollars in Cincin-
natl. One hotel, the Burnet house,
alone sold $500 bottles Of champagne.
This feature Of the convention was SUI
ficiently unusual TO attract the atten-
ton of the 10O newspaper cOrrespOn-
dents who were in the press gallery,
the largest gathering OF Geographic
~
time had ever met in the world.
The Democratic national committee,
just before the convention met, under
took for the first time to pass on
contested delegations, establishing
pI ecedent that has since been followed
by all parties, and that has been
brought into especial prominence by
the precOnEentlOn campaign IN the Ike
publican party this year. There were
only two contests in Cincinnati; one
from New York and one from Nilsson
RI The two Missouri factiOns-Ben-
tcnian and Observation-Disclosures omitted
their case to the national committee
which decided in favor Of the anti
BentOnians and placed the names OF
those delegates on the temporary roll.
The two New 1Ork factions, known as
''Hards' and '-Softs' refused to &C
knowledge the jurisdiction of the ma
tiOnal committee and both claimed JUS
tice" at the hands of the convention
a.Paps Prices Entrance.
A few minutes after the convention
had been called to order and opened
with the usual prayer. there was a
great commOtiOn in the rear OF the
hall which threw the whole gathering
into confusion, many thinking the
building was cOllapslng and others that
il was on fire 1t turned out to be the
BentOnian faction from Missouri, led
by governor Sterling NJ Price-after-
ward Pap Price, Of the Confederate
army-engaged in getting into the
convention by means Of kicking down
the doors. After a great deal of trOu-
bic the BentOnians were silenced, and
the New York contest was settled by
a compromise which gave the two fac
tiOns equal voting strength, but which
favored TO a slight degree the -'Hards-'
The HardS' WERE generally speaking,
successors to the old "Hunkers," and
the "SOfts" had inherited the traditions
Of the now defunct "Barnburners."
Pierce had a considerable vote on
tie first "G!iot, but his strength ~4p-
IDLY fell away. and on the 18th ballot
James Buchanan of PenLsy lrSnia haV-
ing received the necessary tWO-thirds,
was given the entire vote and was nom
mated unanimously. After one test
vote, in Wni-n 10 fav1rII9 sons were
c. mplimenteG, John G. Breckenridge, Of
Kentucky. was unanimously named for
the second place on the ticket
The platform adopted declared IN
equivOcally in favor of the policy OF
nOninterference OF congress in slavery
IN state and territory or in the District
Of Columbia, asserting that all queS-
lions had been settled by the cOmprO-
mise Of 1850. This was the apple Of
dlscOrd- Although the split did not
come at once and although the nom
inees of the Cincinnati convention were
destined to be elected at the polls, the
Cincinnati platform was the death knell
OF the Oldtime Democratic supremacy
That some Democrats saw this, is evil
dent by the fact that the day after the
convention adjourned the newspapers
carried a dispatch from Bangor an
uOuucing that the chairman Of the
Democratic state committee of Maine
Mr. Lot Morrill,, had announced his re-
pudiatiOn of the Cincinnati convention
and all its works. 1t was this same
Morrill, who afterwards served for
more than a generation as a RepuoH-
can senator from Maine
Birth of Republican Party.
The Republican party. as an OrSanl-
cation, was born at Jackson, Michigan
on July o, 1854, when the first state
convention of the organization was
neId- 1t was convention OF wings,
Free Sellers and anti-Nebraska Demo
Gratis. The name Republican was
suggested by Alvan Z. BOvay, OF RipOn, I
Wisconsin, who applied il to mass /
meeting Of the opposition, held at /
EdpOn In February, 1874. Horace Gree
upon the name Republican" as the I
historic name of the old party OF JEFF I
1ersOn and Jackson
In the very first year Of its birth the I
Republican party gained many Veto |
rles, and in state elections IN 1890 Il I
mad become so strong IN the north and /
east that the Democrats were forced |
to fuse with the remnant OF the old \
Wing party in a last stand against the I
common enemy. a republican was I
elected speaker of the house OF repre- |
sentatives in 1879, although the party /
did not nave majority and no organi- [
cation. The Republican association o. [
Washington city took the first step to |
ward forming a national organization ]
a
Pittsburg on Washington birthday,
1856. That convention was fairly rep |
resentative Of all the factions opposed |
TO the dominant Democratic Organiza- ]
tiOn. 1t decided to fight. formed a ma I
tiOnaI committee and called a national /
convention to meet in Phil
on June L.
Gains Many Followers.
Between February and June there
was evidence that the north and west
were receiving the new party with
even greater enthusiasm than was ex-
pected. and the delegates to PhiladeI-
phia thought they could name a man
who could defeat Buchanan. While a
great many OF the delegates were op-
posed to slavery they Obeyed the stern |
dictates of political necessity and
adopted platform making it clear that
the new party stood, not for abolition. I
but only for the restriction Of slavery I
to its present boundaries and for the !
admission of Kansas as a free state !
The convention was attended bv del !
egates from all OF the free states and
a few OF the border slave states, but in J
was more Of a mass meeting than l
delegated convention, as there was no
orderly system of apportiOnment VIII
liam II. Seward. John Mclean and Sal
mon p. Chase were the favorites for
the presidential nomination, but thew
did not share the enthusiasm of the