Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-10-25


The presidential election Of 1910 was
fought without an issue. The opposi
ton to the dominant Democratic party
was made up OF 80 many diverse ele-
merits that it was impossible to adopt
a platform upon which all could unite.
Therefore the Wings passed up the
making Of platform. nominated war
hero and set about campaign of
clamor with victory as its only object.
The Democrats had their troubles in
this campaign when they got into their
convention. which, by the way, like
several others. had convened upon the
call. not of any national Democratic
organization, but upon that Of the
Democratic members of the New
Hampshire legislature. When the con-
vention tried to nominate vice presi-
dent to run with Van Buren,, there was
a hopeless split. Vice President john
son had been elected to that position
by the senate no one having received
a majority of the electoral vote for
vice president in 1887. The opposition
to Johnson had not forgotten it's
grudge against him, and his friends
were the more firm for him because
Of that fact. The result was that the
convention adjourned without choos-
! ing a vice presidential candidate.
| This led the Wings to remind the
country that the Democrats could not
agree on candidate, which brought
| the retort that it was better to agree
on issues and disagree on men, than
| it was to agree on men and be split
| hopeessly over principles. i.
There have been two occasions in
| the history of the presidency where
an unfortunate remark by the OPPOSE
ton gave a party its cue and swept 1t
f, into the White House. one Of these
/ was when the editor of Baltimore
| paper wrote OF William Henry Har-
rison that If he were given IA barrel of
hard cider and a pension of $1,000 a
| year he would sit content by his sea
coai'' fire in his log cabin in Ohio the
rest of his deys and study moral
philosophy.
Appeal to Class Prejudice.
That settled 1t. What finer oppor-
tunity could there be for an appeal to
| class prejudice? The Wings took il
up and straightway it became the lo,,
cabin and hard cider campaign, a cam
paign in which a war hero was simply
sung and shouted into the presidency.
There was absolutely nothing to 1t
after that. With sucn rallying cry
as a Democratic editor had given the
Wing forces. arguments We're wholly
! lost, and a supply of songs and shouts
and campaign lies the like of which
has never been equalled in American
! politics was soon on tap.
The Wings got busy early in the
| ion ~ h,Il hat
tional convention the first week in
| December, 1889. Before that time the
| party leaders were busy appealing to
the rank and file to send uninstructed
delegations to the convention What
was wanted was "a man upon whom
all antiVan Buren, sentiment could
unite. Victory was the thing the
| Wings were seeking, and they sim
cerely wanted to pick the strongest
| candidate. Henry Clay was again in
the race, but his Freemasonry weak
ened him in the east and his tariff
views hampered him in the south.
L 1t was admitted that General Har-
rson had carried the Wing banner
nohy four years before, and many
| leaders thought him the strongest en-
try in the lists. Clay wanted to be
| president, but he early announced
himself as for the man who had the
best show to win He wrote that IT, his
name should create any obstacle to
union and harmony, then away with
it," Clay led on the first ballot, but
II Harrison was nominated on the third
John Tyler was nominated for vice
II president, it was claimed, as a result
of deal between Henry Clay and
Il Tyler over Virginia senatorship.
Tyler, rather than obey instructions
from the Virginia legislature. resigned
his seat in the senate. and he and
II William c. Rives were candidates for
the senatorship in 1889. Clay agreed
with Tyler that il he would leave the
senatorship to Rives. he would use his
best efforts to put Tyler into the vice
!! presidency. If this well attested story
be true, Tyler got to be president
simply by giving up what seemed a
i losing fight for a senatorship.
II The Wings Worked Hard.
The Wings worked themselves into
a fine frenzy over their candidate.
They built log cabins on wheels with
ers: cities and towns had whig cabin
raisings and housewarmings. Mini
AZURE cabins with a barrel OF hard
cider. and a coonskin allied on a piece
Of plank by the door were everywhere
/ in evidence. In big parades there
would be log cabins on wheels With,
live coons disporting themselves on
the roof and loyal Wings sitting inside
eating johnny -cakes and chewing
home grown tobacco. The latchstring
In the Harrison establishment, they
were given to understand. was always
on the outside.
Contrast with the simple life of
this man Of the people," exclaimed the
Wings, that of the court OF Van
Buren,. with its rufIled shirts, it's