El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-06-06
TTASHINGTON. d. c., June g.
" In 1852 the Wing party again

] u4EuEg III oAQEA 10 Illuminate a y AAEA %
! for president and to win. as it vainly
/ hoped, a third vlctOry. But Winfield
| Scott was not destined to succeed Har-
/ risOn and Taylor, and in the election
/ ne was overcome Dy the second uarA
/ horse of our political istOry-Frank-
] lin Pierce.
( The Democratic convention met in
/ Baltimore on June T. the Wing con-
I ventiOn in the same city on June 16-
This was the last presidential year IN
/ which the conventions of both prlnc1-
I pal parties were held in Baltimore, and
I IL makes the end OF Baltimore pre-
/ miership as the convention city.
The Democrats met and as all OF
! them were content to abide by the
7 the brain of Henry Clay and pushed
! through congress by president Fillmore
AS the final settlement Of the slavery
question, there was little difficulty In
effecting an organization, the Barn
1 burner, or Free Soil. movement mad
/ collapsed, the abOlitiOnists were de-
, nOuncing the constitution, and IL was
] not good for respectable man TO IN
/ vite trouble by reOpening this vexa-
tious question. Therefore, the Demo
| cratic convention was harmonious.
This was the first national cOnven-
/ ton called to order by the chairman
| of the national committee, who was
| B. Z. Hallett, of Massachusetts, 1t was
! the first convention called by a ma
Uonal committee, and the first OF
which the temporary list of delegates
was made up by the national commit
tee. 1t represents for the first time
the organization OF nauOnal c0nNen-
ton on the plan still prevailing in both
the principal political parties, with the
exception that the number OF votes was
then equal TO the number Of electors
instead Of being twice as many as the
electors, as II is according to the pres
ent system
Its only question was whom TO nom
mate for president Lewis Case, who
had been defeated four years before.
was the principal candidate, but even
he could not muster a majority, much
less the tWO-thtrds required. James
Buchanan Of Pennsylvania, Stephen A
Douglas Of Illinois, and William l.
Marcy Of New YORK, were the other
prominent candidates From the first
il was predicted that none Of these
could win, and that a dark horse was
inevitable.
Boom For sam Houston.
The Democrats believed that the
Wings would nominate Gen Scott, and,
as they had met defeat in two cam
pa1gns by Wing war heroes, they were
anxious, If possible, TO nominate war
hero themselves to oppose Scott There
was a boom for sam Houston, then
senator from Texas. who had been
governor Of Tennessee, who had led The
rebeliOus Texans in their victorious
tight against Mexico, and who had
been president Of the republic Of
Texas But Houston had lately De
come a prOhibitiOnist, and that made
IL impossible to nominate him.
For several days before the conTen-
in the newspapers that Franklin Pierce
Of New Hampshire, who had dlstin- /
guished himself as brlgad1er general (
IT. the Mexican war, might be the COM
promise candidate. On the 35th ballot I
the Virginia delegation cast its vote
sOlidly for Pierce A New Hampshire I
delegate wild with excitement invited I
the people in the galleries to join in
the cheering They accepted with I
alacrity, despite the fact that thereto
fore, even in the most exciting mo-
permitted to express approval or dis
approval OF anything transpiring IN a
convention.
First Demonstration.
Thus was begun the first convention {
demonstration 1T lasted for eight {
minutes 1t resulted in the nomination /
OF Pierce, and it started that unhappy
custom which now requires the adher-
ents of aspirants In national cOnTen-
lions 70 attempt 10 keep up the dem /
CnStrauOu long enough TO break all i
previous records. On the 18th ballot I
the break occurred, the stampede was !
effected, and all but four votes were I
cast for Pierce.
Willard Fillmore. who had succeeded !
Gen. Taylor in the presidency was a
candidate for the Wing nomination i
against Scott and Webster. Fillmore
south, and he had the support Of the
OfficehOlders of the administration, but Z
he had aienated the conscience
Wings"
They had been forced to swallow the
compromise Of 1850, simply because it
was the most universally popular
measure ever put through congress Buc
luey would not swallow Fillmore. 50
they threw their strength to Scott,
whose sympathies were believed to be
with the antslavery wing Of the par
~. Gen. scott was nominated on inc
9Sd ballot after terrific struggle IN
which the few Webster votes always
neld the balance of power between
Scott and Fillmore
Q naH mr. ND
the most unfortunate letter writer Of
our political history. He had been
defeated by Gen. Harrison for the NOM
nation in 1870 because of letter he
had written to Francis Granger. flirt-
ing with the newly born abolition
movement In 1892 there was pre-
co on Eehtlon charge by the tlnmore men
lhar every Scott delegate had letter
from the general in his breeches pOck-
ct one or another Of which would put I
the general on any side Of any ques- |
ton. One of these letters, addressed (
lc Virginia delegate, was sprung ear
~ in the proceedings, and in it the I
general made Qualifled pledge to
support whatever platform might be /
adopted. This was to reassure the del
egates from the slavehOlding states.
SeOft's Letter Causes Disaster.
When the nomination was made. SEN
atOr Jones of Tennessee, that Lean
Jimmy" Jones who had twice defeated
James X Polk for governor leaped TO
the platform with a letter from Gen Z
81
cOUched in less than hundred words /
pledging Loyalty and exclusive support l
to the platform. AS IL had been writ
ten before the platform was made. or
the nomination decided, the all too
sudden letter helped to bring on the
disaster that met the Wing ticket
Cen Scott, several years before, had I
affiliated with the NatiYist party in
Pennsylvania, to the extent OF writing
letters attacking the Catholics and op-
posing the foreign element in politics
These old letters the Democrats used
against him with great effect Gen. .
scott took the stump himself and. al
though he talked much of the "ricd Z
Irish brogue' and the sweet German [
accent" Of some of his hearers. he :
could not win back the foreign vote . :
His campaign soon collapsed, and Ions
before the election IL was realized thar /
Pierce would be elected.
The election Of 184S had been the
inst in which the presidential electors !
lad been chosen in all of the states on i
he same day-the first Tuesday after
he first Monday in NOvember-and the I
Election of 1852 was the first in which 2
he telegraph wires were so extended I Y
hat the result OF the election was
-nown the next day Pierce carried am q
u